How to Buy a House
You’ve decided to make the leap to home ownership, congratulations! Figuring out how to buy a house can be a daunting task, we’re excited to help you along the way. Our realtors find this article by Forbes to be helpful in showing what aspects to consider before contacting a realtor.
Organizing Your Financials
The first step in preparing to buy a home is figuring out how much you can afford. We recommend you start by looking at your budget and spending trends. With interest rates at a low level, it’s more affordable than ever to buy a home. We provide more information on financial necessities here.
Broker/Agent documents
This is a good time to take a look at some of the Vermont documents used by your Broker/Agent when you have found a home.
Typical Documents:
Searching for a Home
Internet connection, shopping, commute, can your vehicle get up the mountain? Times have changed, a Realtor no longer plays tour guide since the buyer has access to a wealth of information; public records, satellite maps with property boundary lines usually before we get the call.
We will be reminding you to take into consideration the home’s storage space, yard size, location and needed maintenance while looking at each property.
If all your requirements are met and you’ve found a place you really want to call home, the next step is to make an offer.
Making an Offer
From learning how to buy a house to finding the home of your dreams can be an emotional process. While it’s easy to have your heart set on a property when it’s time to make an offer, we also remind clients to prepare for disappointment. Real estate is a competitive market and clients should be ready to negotiate and sometimes make an offer over asking. It is in this step of the process we urge clients to hire a real estate lawyer. In most cases, clients are required to put down Earnest Money (or good faith money) when making an offer.
The good news is, Lori is one of the leaders in closing in Southern Vermont in 2021. Zillow and NEREN (New England Real Estate Network) are good sources to get an idea of our transactions and will give the feel for how active our Agency is. The “offerer contracts” Vermont realtors use are all standard format, however deposit amount and contingencies are not. This is where experience in the current market counts.
Your Offer Was Accepted
CONGRATULATIONS! Once your offer has been accepted, we will start the process to keep you in contract. If you have an inspection contingency we will make sure we get that scheduled immediately.
An inspection generally takes 2-3 hours and is a great opportunity to assess the condition of the home and potential maintenance and renovation costs. Your lender will also request an appraisal of the property by a professional of their choosing. Clients will also want to shop for an adequate homeowner’s policy and title insurance to protect their investment.
Right before closing, you will be able to take a final walkthrough of the home. This is your final opportunity to confirm that things outlined in your contract are intact. For example, did you negotiate fixes or certain appliances to be left? Your final walkthrough serves as a time for you to confirm that these terms have been met.
Once you reach closing day and receive the keys to your new home, the only thing left to do is celebrate!