Thinking about buying a house? Then let’s get you ready for it! When buying a home, whether it’s your first time or you’re an experienced buyer, there are steps you need to take to get ready. If you are not buying in cash, your loan approval needs to be done in advance, and that does not just mean answering a few questions online but actually uploading all of your finances, expenses and income.
An underwriter should have already reviewed it and approved it, and your lender should have had a thorough conversation with you about your affordability. You should understand what you’re approved for, what that’ll cost you per month, what you need for a down payment, how much additional money you need saved for repairs to the house (all houses need something!), and how much will it cost you to live there outside of the mortgage cost (yes, water and electricity and gardening, oh my!). Plus in this competitive market, you need to know your “stretch” number in case the bidding war pushes you a little over what you hoped to spend.
It’s important to understand that if you just decide on a whim to look at an open house and then want to write an offer, we will all have to move at lightening speed to get you ready to buy this house. That is almost impossible to do when looking at a house on a Sunday and offers are due on Tuesday. It’s not just getting your finances in order, but you need the time to review all the disclosures and inspections that have been completed.
Your experienced and knowledgeable Realtor can help review them with you so you understand what you’re getting into, what are red flags and what is standard, and what costs are involved to fix the repairs called out. No home is perfect (including new construction) so you want to be prepared. Give yourself enough time!
Your Realtor should be sitting down with you to review the market, what is to be expected, how quickly things are moving, and really understand what you’re looking for so you can jump quickly on the houses that match your needs. If you do it last minute, everyone is frustrated, stressed, and mad. So let’s get you prepared, set goals, timelines, and acclimate you to what is happening out there so your home buying experience is a pleasant and exciting one.