Simple Checklist for those Buying

When you buy a home there are several steps involved in the process. Having a buyers agent on your side ensures you have a professional working solely for you and not any seller. [For more on buyers agents visit our Richland WA real estate partner]

• Find and secure the home you want to buy

Once you have become pre-approved for a loan or if you are purchasing a home with cash out right you will need to research the area you want to buy in. Your buyers agent can help find the right home that meets your requirements. Once you have the home you will want to secure the home from other offers by submitting an offer and including earnest money. This is approximately 1-3% of the purchase price. This money, however is not deposited until the offer is mutually accepted.

• Have the home inspected professionally

Before you pour investment time and money into a home you will want to make sure it's  a wise investment. Choose your own inspector rather than one the agent chooses as they will want to the deal to close and you can never know if the inspector is operating on the agents behalf or not. [For more on being a smart buyer see our Seattle first time homebuyers guides]

• Obtain home owners insurance

If this is your first time buying a home, you will need to find homeowners insurance. [Visit our Texas homeowners insurance affiliate for more tips] If you have purchased before and you are adding onto your policy or if you are moving and need to update the address and home, contact your insurance company before the closing date so escrow has all the necessary information for document transfers. [Visit our Verde Valley real estate connection for more on homeowners insurance]

• Make sure escrow and the lender have all documents

You don't want to slow down the process by not providing all the paperwork and documents each party needs to keep the application going. These documents include but are not limited to W-2's, tax returns, bank statements etc... especially for 1031 tax exchanges.

Having all these steps under your belt you can be sure everyone else in the transaction will be working smoothly to make sure closing takes place. If you have more questions about this,  1031 tax exchanges or need references for any party along the way let us know by filling out the form below. We will review your email and be happy to get back with you.