BUYING A HOME
If you can dream it, we can find it
Windermere agents are relentless about helping their clients realize their dreams, so that at the end of the day you can emerge with a house you’re proud to call home, and the confidence you made the right decision.
You want to buy a home.
Where do you begin?
You’re ready to buy—or maybe you're just ready to start seriously thinking about buying. There’s a lot you can do to prepare. With so much information available at your fingertips it can be hard to know where to begin, so here are a few things to help you get started.
You're ready to buy
What now?
Once you’ve found the home you can see yourself living in, what’s next? There are many steps to go through before you can officially call yourself a homeowner. Your real estate agent will guide you through this process, but in the meantime, here’s a preview of what you can expect.
When making an offer on a home, your real estate agent will negotiate on your behalf in order to attain the best terms for you. This can include negotiating the price, repair costs, timelines, and contingencies.
This is the legal contract a buyer and seller enter into once the buyer’s offer has been accepted by the seller. It outlines the terms and conditions of the sale and is signed by both parties.
This is when you agree to pay a percentage of the home’s asking price into an independent account to show the seller that you’re serious about buying. In return, they agree to take the home off the market. When the sale closes that money is put toward the down payment or closing costs.
Once the Purchase and Sale Agreement is signed, a home inspector is hired to examine the home’s health, safety, and major mechanical systems. If any issues arise from an inspection, the buyer may be able to renegotiate their offer.
After your offer is accepted, the next step is to get final loan approval. During this process the lender will decide if they’re willing to approve your mortgage based on things like your creditworthiness and the title history and appraisal of the home you want to buy.
This is a report for you and your lender detailing the history of the home you’re buying to ensure there are no legal barriers to purchasing it.
Escrow is an impartial third-party process in which documents and funds are deposited by buyers, sellers, and lenders to facilitate the closing of a real estate transaction.
During this final step of the home-buying process, ownership is transferred from the seller to the buyer, closing costs are paid, and a number of documents are signed. After closing is finalized and recorded, the home is yours!
