How to Buy Your Dream Home: A Step-by-Step Guide
Purchasing a home is one of the biggest financial decisions you will ever make. For that reason it is important for buyers to have an experienced buyer’s agent on their side. Here is a step-by-step guide to buying a home with Valuepointe Realty.
Step 1: Select a Valuepointe Realty agent.
We specialize in assisting home buyers. Our services are free to home buyers as we are paid by the seller. Our job is to guide you through each step of the home buying process and always keep you updated on where we are at.
Step 2: Obtain preapproval from a lender.
Use your own lender or let us help you find the best one for your situation.
Step 3: Find the right home.
Once you have determined a price range that you are comfortable with, we can organize your property search. We will discuss what features are important with you to determine your personal search criteria. We will set you up with two distinct property search accounts. The first account is called a “Mysite” which is linked directly to the MLS. Initially we will add all current listings that match your criteria and make notes on the properties for you to review. You will be notified via email when properties that match your search criteria are added to the “Mysite” account. This ensures that you will never miss a listing. The second account that we will setup for you is on our website. To actively search listings by yourself, our website puts all MLS/IDX listings at your fingertips. Once we narrow down the list we will show you as many properties as needed until you find the right home.
Step 4: Submit an offer.
We will prepare a comparative market analysis (CMA) for the property and discuss offer strategies with you. Once we have finalized the offer we will negotiate on your behalf, keeping you updated at all times.
Step 5: Go under contract.
If we reach an agreement with the sellers on a purchase contract we will deliver your earnest money check to the title company. We will coordinate with your lender and the title company to ensure that they have all the paperwork that they need. At this point we will review the title commitment with you as well as any HOA documents if applicable.
Step 6: Complete a home inspection.
Hiring a professional home inspector is extremely important. Once we have the inspection results we will discuss how to proceed based on the inspector’s findings.
Step 7: Order an appraisal.
If you are satisfied with the inspection results the next step is to have your lender order an appraisal. This is an out of pocket expense for you and typically costs between $300 and $500. The buyer does not typically attend the appraisal but reviews the report after it has been completed. If the home is appraised at or above the purchase price we will move forward in the transaction. If it appraises below the purchase price we will discuss how to proceed.
Step 8: Obtain homeowners insurance.
It is important to setup your homeowners insurance early so that your lender can have this documentation ahead of time. If this is not done in a timely manner your loan may be held up in underwriting which could cause the closing to be delayed.
Step 9: Obtain full loan approval and a “clear to close” from your lender.
Once your lender has all the documentation needed they will issue a final loan approval and declare that the file is “clear to close.” At this point you will need to obtain a cashier’s check for the required cash at closing amount and bring this check to closing.
Step 10: Put the utilities in your name starting the day of closing.
The title company will transfer the water but you are responsible for everything else.
Step 11: Attend the final walk-though and closing.
The final walk-through is completed as close to closing as possible. It allows us to confirm that any inspection issues have been taken care of and also ensures that the seller has left any inclusions written into the contract at the property. Next, we will attend the closing at the title company which typically lasts about one hour. In Colorado most closings are face to face so the seller will likely attend the closing. Once all documents have been signed you will receive your keys.
