Steps to Buying Your First Home

Understanding all the factors that are involved can help you through the purchase of your first home.

Buying a first home can feel intimidating and nerve-racking. However, by understanding the process, you can have a great experience with buying your first home.

1. Begin the loan process with a prequalification
One of the beginning stages in buying a home is finding out how much you can afford. Prequalification determines an estimate of a loan that a lender may give to you. To get prequalified, you would contact a lender and provide basic financial information, such as your credit history, income, assets, etc. Prequalification is not binding, which means that they do not guarantee your loan amount. The next step is to get preapproved, which occurs when the lender verifies your financial information. By getting prequalified and preapproved, you will be in a better position when shopping for a home.

2. Find a Realtor
Once the mortgage process is started, you are now ready to contact a Realtor. They can help you to find the right community and the home that best meets your needs.

3. Property Search
Allow plenty of time to look at as many homes as you can and analyze the best home that best suits you. When you find the home you would like to buy, the next step is to make an offer. Your realtor will assist you with the pricing and paperwork.

4. Home inspection
Once the owner accepts your offer. You now have a contract on your home. You must arrange a home inspection to make sure there are no problems with the property. The inspector will provide you with a list of potential problems that you can ask the seller to fix. You and the seller then negotiate on what to fix before the transaction can be completed. The seller will then have to make appropriate arrangements to correct those issues.

5. Arrange homeowner’s insurance.
You need to have homeowner’s insurance on your first home. Start by calling your insurance agent. Your agent will ask you questions regarding your home, such as the address, square footage, type of roof, number of bathrooms, etc. The agent gives you a quote and then coordinates with your lender. At closing, you pay the premium as part of your closing costs.

6. Take a final walk-through
Prior to closing, make sure to take a final walk-through of the home. This is an important last step. It ensures that any repair issues that were included in your contract, and raised during the home inspection, are taken care of, and also that the house is ready for you to move in.

Remember, there’s always a flurry of activity once you have a contract on a home. Keep a list to help make sure that you have done all that you need to do. This should help your home-buying process go smoothly.

7. Closing and move.
The final step in the process of buying your first home is closing and then actually moving in. At closing, you sign the papers from the lender and any others that the state requires that make the home yours. You will also have to pay closing costs. Once the paperwork is done and your check is signed, you can move your possessions in to your first home. After weeks of preparation, the house is now yours.

There are many benefits in buying real estate, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

I specialize in the cities of Alhambra, Monterey Park, San Gabriel, Rosemead, Temple City, Arcadia, Pasadena, South Pasadena, San Marino, El Monte, Irwindale, Monrovia, Bradbury, Sierra Madre, Duarte, Altadena, La Puente, Covina, Azusa, La Verne, San Dimas, Montclair, Claremont, Upland, Rancho Cucamonga, Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, West Covina, Diamond Bar, Walnut, Chino Hills, and surrounding areas.