What Buyers Can Expect

Buying a home, or any type of real estate, is a fun and exciting experience - as long as you have someone guiding you through the multitude of jargon-laden steps. As your Red 1 Realty Realtor®, my goal is to make the whole process easier while maximizing the chances we find the perfect fit for you.

So, let’s start by walking through what you might expect on your journey to purchase property — just click through the icons below.

DECIDING TO BUY

PREPARING TO BUY

CHOOSING AN AGENT

GOING SHOPPING

Preparing to Buy

While it can be tempting to dive right into property shopping, if you need any type of loan it’s paramount to first be prepared to address the financial questions. It not only gives you the opportunity to start talking about budget and priorities, but also is the time to gather all of the documents required by lenders to talk about financing.

Securing Financing

Build Your Credit Worthiness File

To secure financing you’ll need a credit worthiness file containing all of your important financial documents, including:

Financial statements
Bank accounts
Investments
Credit cards
Auto loans
Recent pay stubs
Tax returns for two years
Copies of leases for investment properties
401K statements, life insurance, stocks, bonds, and mutual account information.

Pulling it all together at once can feel overwhelming. Consider pulling together a couple documents a week and in no time this arduous task will be over.

Check Your Credit Rating

Now is when that credit score you’ve been tracking over the years comes into play! Start by checking your credit rating with an experienced lending institution to determine what type of property you can buy, and at what price. Those lenders review ratings from all three credit reporting agencies - Equifax, Experian and TransUnion - to evaluate your credibility and mortgage eligibility.

Let me know if you need a recommendation for experienced, knowledgeable lenders.

Be Careful With Your Finances

Sudden career changes or large purchases will most likely have a negative effect on your ability to secure financing. Applying for a credit card, car loan, or other type of loan also results in an inquiry that can lower your credit score, so try to avoid applying for these other types of credit right before getting a mortgage or during the mortgage process. Be thoughtful so you can approach your property purchase from a position of financial stability.

Narrow In On What You Want

Create a House Hunting Checklist

Once you know your budget, you can move from dreaming to making a prioritized wish list.

To help keep house hunting simple and fun, create a house hunting checklist documenting what you are looking for, and the importance of each factor (high, medium, low); thinking about the interior, exterior and community/location. Having an idea of what you want will help your real estate agent set expectations and narrow down the number of properties you look at to prevent unnecessary exhaustion. It also helps you keep track of what to look for during walk-throughs and what questions to ask the sellers.