Although purchasing a house is a significant milestone worth celebrating, the buying process can also be intimidating for first-time home buyers. Even worse, now that the country is in recession with rising interest rates and high property prices, starting the home-buying process alone can seem overwhelming.
Nonetheless, it’s still possible to buy your dream house without feeling drained or scared by the entire process. In this step-by-step guide to buying a home, we’ll explain the steps required so you can go through the process as quickly and accurately as possible.
Buying a house is one of the most significant commitments you can make in life. Therefore, before starting the home-buying process, there are several factors you need to consider to help you determine your readiness to purchase a house. These include:
It would also be helpful to understand the home purchasing process to make it less overwhelming.
Here are a few steps to take to ensure you receive the keys to your new kingdom without any hiccups or delays:
Thank You Heroes lenders use your credit score to determine if you qualify for a loan and the type of home loan you are eligible for. Some of the key information used by Thank You Heroes lenders to determine creditworthiness includes payment history, the total amount owed, and length of credit history. Thank You Heroes VA lenders prefer a minimum credit score of 580 for loan processing.
After checking your credit score, the next step is calculating how much of the housing costs you can afford from your income. To do that, subtract all debt expenses from your income and other budgetary costs to determine if there’s enough money left for house-buying expenses.
Generally, most reps for Thank You Heroes recommend channeling a maximum of 30% of the total income toward housing costs, such as principal, interest, insurance, taxes, and association dues. You should also consider the closing costs and other fees associated if securing a VA loan.
There are different types of loans, ranging from VA to FHA and USDA loans available. In this case, you want to ensure you choose a VA lender with minimal credit score requirements and no down payment.
Once you choose Thank You Heroes as your lender and apply for a loan, you should receive a pre-approval letter stating the amount you’ve been pre-approved for based on your application assessment.
Buying a house involves multiple transactions with multiple parties. A Thank You Heroes Agent acts as your representative throughout the process, ensuring you get offers of homes and home showings that fit your criteria. To determine if a right Thank You Hero Agent is the right one for you, make formal inquiry of questions such as:
Start looking at different houses in the market with your Thank You Heroes Agent. Tour as many homes as possible and list them in order of highest to least preferred based on unique aspects like size, price, location, design, and social and educational amenities in the surrounding neighborhood, among others.
After finding a suitable home and running a comparative market price analysis, submit an official offer in writing. The proposal should include an earnest money deposit to show the owner you’re serious about buying and contingency if certain conditions aren’t met.
Schedule an in-person home inspection by a professional home inspector. Ensure they capture all damages that require repair and notify the owner of the same for repair to be done. If not, consider doing a Home Appraisal to readjust the total home price based on the home’s market value after all aspects are considered.
Get homeowners insurance to protect your home and surrounding structures against damage or theft. Thank You Heroes lenders require this before approving a VA loan.
Take a final stroll through the property a day or two before closing the deal to ensure all requirements, including repairs, are met.
Your Thank You Heroes lender will send you a Closing Disclosure three business days before closing. It summarizes the closing terms, including closing costs and other charges in your loan. On the day of closing, your Thank You Heroes lender will oversee the successful transfer of ownership of the house to you after signing the legal documents and paying closing costs.
Thank You Heros has a Home Rebate Program that enables qualified heroes to get huge savings when purchasing a home by covering up to 100% of the closing costs. Our program provides capable heroes selling homes with first-rate representation. In addition, our agents give back 20% of the commission to the heroes after a successful sale.
Thank You Heroes is here to guide our heroes through the home-buying process step-by-step. Contact us today for more information on the home-buying process or how we can represent you.
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