Real Estate Buying Process


STEP 1 - Budget

Determine how much house you can afford. Consider the amount of your savings and how much you can use for downpayment and size of loan for your house budget. Will your annual income cover the loan and other debt requirements? Tip: use the basic mortgage calculator for a rough estimate.


STEP 2 - Real Estate Agent

Finding a real estate agent early is invaluable in helping you with your home search. Refine your needs and wants with your agent to narrow the search. As your agent they should know the market, write competitive offers, negotiate price differences, inspection repair requests and smoothly handle the transaction process. Josh Gainer and Eleete Real Estate deliver an incomparable client experience from first time home buyers to seasoned investors.


STEP 3 - Financing

Unless you're buying a property with all cash, start the pre-approval process with your lender of choice. They will consider multiple factors like your credit score, annual income, debt, and savings. The pre-approval gives you a baseline for your house search budget. People often confuse pre-approval letters and pre-qualifications. A pre-approval letter requires supporting income and expense documentation for lender verification whereas the pre-qualification is simply an estimate of loan amount. The pre-approval letter lets sellers know that you're serious about buying their property. In a hot market when there is increased competition having a pre-approval letter is essential for a stronger offer requiring financing.


STEP 4 - Property Search

This where the fun starts. Josh sends a list of homes/properties that meet your criteria, in addition to receiving an alert of any new listings. Josh previews the properties and will show you multiple properties to find the ideal home . During this search process you'll likely weigh the importance of different needs and wants. Trade-offs can occur between priorities, such as location, schools, bedrooms, home quality, attributes and budget.


STEP 5 - Offer

Once you've found a house you love it's time to make an offer. Josh will analyze similar sold houses in the area and prepare a CMA (comparative market analysis) to determine the offer price. After reviewing any available disclosures you'll meet with Josh to prepare the Purchase Agreement. Offers can vary drastically. Good offers take great attention to detail, negotiation savvy and comprehension of financing. Josh will guide you through your offer, from determining the appropriate earnest money deposit, contingencies to realistic closing dates.


STEP 6 - Negotiations

Counter-offers and contract addendums are often negotiated after the initial offer. The Purchase Agreement will also stipulate disclosures the seller must provide the buyer and any contingencies that must be agreed upon for the sale to finalize. When financing, your lender will likely require an appraisal contingency while 82% of home buyers included an inspection contingency in their offer, according to Zillow. Familiar with the ins and outs of a home's building components, Josh will help review inspection reports and discuss options. Often contract adjustments and credits are negotiated after property inspections.


STEP 7 - Finalize Sale

After agreeing to release the contingencies the earnest money deposit becomes non-refundable and part of your down payment. As you finalize the lending process Josh organizes the lender's appraisal and verification of completion. If you choose to have a final walk-through Josh will accompany you the day before closing to make sure the home is in the same condition as when offer was written and seller has performed agreed-upon requested repairs. You'll finish up signing closing documents with the Title Company and paying any remaining closing costs. Welcome to your new home.