10 Steps to Buying a Home

The home buying process can seem confusing or daunting, especially if it’s your first purchase. Luckily, knowledgeable mortgage brokers will walk you through the process, and make sure to keep your best interests top of mind throughout the journey. Here are the ten steps to buying a home

Step 1: Contact a Mortgage Broker to Get Pre-Qualified or Pre-Approved. The broker will help you determine your buying power. You’ll have to be prepared to answer questions about your income, assets, liabilities and credit history.

Step 2: Complete an Application. Loan applications can look intimidating. It’s much easier and faster to have the broker complete it for you with your verbal responses.

Step 3: Check your Credit. With your permission, the mortgage broker will check your credit which will determine your exact interest rate.

Step 4: Processing the Loan. A processor will process your application with the required documents such as: tax returns, W2's , paystubs and 2 month bank statements on all assets. Then it gets submitted to the selected lender and underwriting.

Step 5: Additional Documentation. After the underwriting is completed, the broker will go over the findings with you to see what additional documentation is needed

Step 6: The Appraisal. The broker will order an appraisal of the house. This will ensure that the house is worth what you are paying. (Nothing you need to do here!)

Step 7: The Title. The broker will request the title from the seller’s attorney. (Nothing you need to do here, either!)

Step 8: The Clear to Close. Once the appraisal, title and all other conditions have been provided (including homeowners insurance), the final paperwork is compiled by the mortgage broker and they confirm a “Clear to Close” from the chosen lender.

Step 9: Schedule Closing. Once the clear to close is issued, the broker will notify you and the attorneys to schedule the closing. The lender will send you closing disclosures to start the process and work up the confirmed amount for you to bring to closing. You should already have a good idea of what this will be, but sometimes the final amount can change.

Step 10: Closing. Congratulations! You’ve just completed signing your name over and over and over again and it was all worth it. You now own a home. Pop the bubbly and unpack that moving van. It’s home sweet home from here on out.

Still have more questions about buying a home? 

Here are the most frequently asked questions from millennial buyers.

Check out the video below from Real Estate Broker, Jason Wagner, of Kale Realty.