Your Step-by-Step Guide for Buying Your First Home

Step #1: Define Your Goals

The homebuying process can be a daunting one from the outset, but a little goalsetting will go a long way towards putting you on your new home's front doorstep. It's a good idea to do some financial planning by estimating how much you'll need to secure your home. 

Most people know they want to purchase but aren’t sure if they are ready.

Ask yourself a few simple questions: 

• Do I have a steady income? 
• Do I have some money saved up for down payment and closing costs? 
• Have I established credit and not been late on payments? 
• Will I plan to be working in the area I am currently living in for a while? 

If you can answer yes to these questions, then it might be a good idea to meet with a Loan Officer to see about getting pre-qualified for a home loan. 

If you'd like to look into the numbers associated with buying a home, use our Home Calculator! 

Step #2: Get Pre-Qualified

Next, finding a lender and talking with a Loan Officer is the best way to officially start the homebuying process. Here, you'll find out how much you can afford based on your budget and give you piece of mind that you are not overextending yourself.

To get started, you will need: 

1. Income Documents 
2. Asset Statements 
3. Ensure your credit report is available so your Loan Officer can give you accurate information. 

Step #3: Meet with a Realtor

After finding out what you can afford, you will want to interview a few Realtors to find someone who will be a good fit for your search. Make sure they can communicate with you and your lender to help ensure a positive homebuying experience. 

Make sure they are listening to and understanding your needs and wants for a property. Ensure they have the tools and knowledge to support your search. 

Step #4: Start Your Search

Find properties and schedule showings with your agent that meet your needs for location, size, and features. This is the fun part because you'll get the opportunity to tour different styles of homes and envision you and your family turning their house into your home.

Popular websites for browsing listings include: 

• Zillow.com 
• Realtor.com 
• Redfin.com 
• Movoto.com 
• Trulia.com 

Step #5: Make an Offer

Once you have found your dream home or house(s) that fit your needs it is time for you and your Realtor to make an offer or sign a purchase agreement. This is your offer to the sellers saying that you would like to buy their house. 

Depending on how popular the house is, you might need to get creative with your offer, but your Realtor is there to assist. Make sure to speak with your Loan Officer to ensure the property meets lending requirements before fully submitting. 

Step #6: Offer Accepted

Next, you will send the fully-executed purchase and sales agreement to your Loan Officer to turn your pre-qualification into a "live deal." They will now work with your Realtor and the Listing Agent to collect any property-specific information and to order the appraisal to make sure the property meets guidelines and value.

Step #7: Full Application

This is when the Loan Officer reviews all the information you submitted with your offer. Everyone works behind the scenes to ensure a smooth transaction and makes sure that there is nothing wrong with the property, title work, or documents. This can seem like a long time, but only because everything needs to be in order. 

1. Appraisal & Inspections: Scheduling a home appraisal, inspections, and any other Lender-required inspections, makes sure the property is exactly what you want and expect to purchase. 
2. Title Work & Homeowners' Insurance: Your loan officer will order title work so they can research all previous owners of the property to make sure there are no legal issues. You will also need to shop for homeowners' insurance as this is a requirement before you can close on the loan. 
3. Loan Underwriting: While the inspections and appraisal are occurring, your Loan Officer will be working with the Loan Underwriter to ensure you are fully approved for the purchase and that the property inspections and title work meet lender requirements. 

Step #8: Clear to Close!

Once everything has been reviewed by the appraiser, inspectors, title attorney, and the loan underwriter and it all meets requirements your loan officer will call with the good news to say you are “CLEARED TO CLOSE!” This means your lender will send you the official amount of money you need to bring to closing in order for you to officially buy the house. This will be sent to you and must be acknowledged by you at least 3 days before the scheduled closing.

Make sure you have a valid photo ID before getting to the closing, as you cannot close without a valid ID. Your settlement agent/title company will have given you instructions on what is the best way to get the funds to them for the closing (bank check or wire). Make sure this is done prior to the closing day to ensure everything goes smoothly. 

After closing, the keys to your new house are now officially yours. Congratulations! Now the work begins to move in and make your new house into your new home.