Steps to Buying a House.

I get lots of calls from potential buyers who say, "I've never bought a house and I don't really know how to get started."  So here follows some of the steps to buying a house.
1.  Get prequalified by a lender.  This does not get you the loan.  It takes about 5-15 minutes.  All it does is say what amount of loan it appears you could qualify for.  Later when you get a contract and they get more information, you will get preapproved.  Approval comes at the end after underwriting gets all your information. 

A prequalified letter from a lender, lets a broker know you are serious and not wasting their time as they show you house after house.  Further, it tells a seller that your offer is serious and you will go through with the loan process. Best of all, it tells you what price range to stay within so you don't look at nicer homes than you can actually afford and waste your and the broker's time, and gets your hopes up for something not within your means.    THIS STEP IS UN-NECESSARY IF YOU ARE PAYING CASH FOR A HOUSE, BUT VERY FEW OF US CAN DO THAT!!

2.  Pick a realtor to work with.  Why?  A realtor has access to all MLS listings.  You can find something you like on line, but you can't get in to see it without a realtor.  But that is not the only reason.  There is a lot of paperwork involved in buying a house.  I've written as many as 4 contract offers for the same customers, each one was 9 pages long plus the third party financing addendum which is 2 pages and the non-realty addendum.  Further you might have lead based paint addendum, addendums to change closing dates, or to make repairs, etc.  Do you know how to fill these forms out?  A lawyer could help but at what cost per hour.  A realtor is trained to fill these forms out and to know which ones to use in each situation, and they charge you nothing.  The seller pays their fee at closing - unless you chose a house listed by a realtor that doesn't include the buyer's agents commission in their listing.  Then it might cost you.  But it's your choice whether to look at those listings or not.

A realtor will save you time.  They can narrow down the houses to look at based on the criteria you give them.  They can make all the appointments and make a schedule of the order to view properties that will save the most time.  I do mine in a circle.  Starting with south of my office moving counterclockwise and ending north of my office.  I make appointments for 30 minute durations but overlap them.  For example 5 to 5:30, then next one 5:15 to 5:45. etc.  This helps if we pull up to one and they hate the location, we don't have to wait 30 minutes for the next appointment.

Besides scheduling and paperwork, realtors help you know the next steps and when they occur, and can be there for these events if you have to work:  setting up inspections, appraisals, repairs, measuring rooms if you have a question such as if your refrigerator will fit in the space, run addendums to title companies, etc. 

3.  After you select the realtor you feel comfortable with, be sure and sign a buyer's representation agreement.  This makes sure that the realtor works for YOU and not the seller, and that you can trust them to work for your best interests and to hold information confidential that you share with them. 

Other steps in the process which your realtor will explain are:  making an offer on the one you want, negotiations, inspections, getting insurance arranged, choosing home warranty company (your realtor will be sure to put this in the contract offer for your benefit), doing walk-thru before closing, appraisal, survey, closing. 

Buying real estate is time consuming, but with a realtor to assist, it can be less confusing and flow smoothly.  Don't be afraid, you can do this and in the end have the American dream of home owership.  So.... go get prequalified.