First-Time Home Buyer Guide
What can you afford?
Sit down and figure out what your monthly income is, what monthly bills you are already paying (Car, Insurance, etc.) and how much you can afford for a monthly mortgage payment.
Get Pre-Approved and Find An Agent
Meet with a lender and become pre-approved, this is a great way to ensure that once you find your perfect home you can submit a solid offer. Also, find a real estate agent who can guide you throughout the buying process. Any Stephen Cooley Real Estate Agent will be more than happy to walk you step-by-step through buying a home, make you feel comfortable and take all of the stress away throughout this seemingly stressful time.
Search and Tour Homes
Work with your agent to find the perfect home for you and your budget. Most homes are found on the internet, but a walk-thru of a home in-person will determine if the features are exactly what you are looking for. Most home buyers will narrow down their search due to the convenience of the internet tours and will only see about 3-5 homes in person before extending an offer on the one they’ve decided to move forward with.
Submit Offer and Close
You’ve searched for a home and have found the perfect home for you! It’s important to work with your agent to draw up the best offer to secure the home. All of the Stephen Cooley Real Estate Group’s Agents have experience writing offers and are well versed in anything additional such as love letters to the sellers on WHY this is the best home for you, finding out better terms to add to your offer to help solidify the deal such as if the seller wants a quick close or doesn’t want to pay closing, etc. Once the seller has accepted, there will be an inspection and appraisal process that will take between 30-45 days. During that 30-45 days, there will be negotiations on repairs that were identified in the inspection, final checks on employment verification, insurance documents and finally once all t’s have been crossed and i’s dotted you will have a set closing day. On closing day you will sign all papers to complete the purchase of your first home!