Buying A Home- Step One

How do I buy a home? Purchasing a home is a bit more involved than other transactions. This complexity is often a sore point with first time buyers.

For the majority of first time buyers, the only other “big ticket” item they have purchased is an automobile. While this industry has its own headaches, typically such a transaction can occur in one afternoon. In this installment, I will walk the reader through the first step on the path to becoming a homeowner.

Step one takes place not in your dream home, but rather at your dream bank. Work with a bank (or mortgage company) to get “pre-approval” up to a certain amount. (say up to 150,000). This process can be done in less than an hour. Many mortgage companies will even do this over the phone or online. The end result is a pre-approval letter that the buyer should give to their realtor.

Why not find my dream home, and then secure the money? Many of my first timers try this. Notice I did not mention that my more seasoned buyers do this…Without the pre-approval letter; the seller (and their agent) have no assurance that you can actually purchase the home you are bidding on.

In a bidding war guess who wins, the couple with a pre-approval letter or the one without. Even in a slower market no pre-approval letter typically raises seller red flags. There is simply no excuse not to take thirty minutes and secure funding. In the next installment we will cover touring homes for sale. As always, help buying or selling a house is one phone call away 318-613-1994. Happy house hunting!!