Looking to Buy a Home in Houston ?

Buying a home involves some technical obstacles that a realtor can assist with due to their experience and expertise in the industry. Of course there’s always the option to go it alone, but bear in mind that the seller probably has an agent covering their interest.

Assess your personal finances and decide what you can afford to spend on a regular basis. This will give you an idea of what you can afford when buying a home, especially when considering monthly expenditure for your new home.

A pre-approval is a letter stating that a lender is willing to loan you a specified amount to buy a house. This indicates to everyone involved, including the seller and their agents,   that you are serious about buying, and not just window shopping

Carry out a critical assessment of Finances, to determine how much you can afford taking into consideration Income, debts, regular expenditures and other key financial information. A mortgage professional can help you determine how much you can afford to pay every month.

This is probably the most fun part of the process, where you get to explore and compare a plethora of homes and neighborhoods. Make a list of must-have features, but most homes will not have everything you want, so be ready to sacrifice where necessary

When you identify your preferred home, make an offer to the seller.Your agent will help conduct a comparative market analysis of similar homes to determine the right offer to make. Your pre-approval letter will reinforce your seriousness to buy.

A home inspection confirms that the property is as stated in the sale. Omitting this might incur costs later on, which you will be liable for. Areas to check include the HVAC system, roofs, pipes and foundation of the home

This would naturally occur between the appraisal and inspection. It should be very clear if any repairs are required. You can negotiate with the seller to have the repairs done before you move or to deduct the cost from the property price.

Your mortgage lender will want to ascertain that the home valuation is correct, and this can be determined by conducting an appraisal of the property, either by the lender or an independent hire. A successful appraisal will finalize your mortgage approval to buy

A Final Walkthrough is a final chance to highlight any anomalies in the purchase, and familiarize yourself with requirements like utilities, security, landscaping etc. Determine your move in dates and any potential obstacles that could impede on this. 

The final walkthrough should happen as close to the close date as possible. Sign all the required documents, and retrieve the keys from the seller. Congratulations! You are now a homeowner. It takes about 90 days to get into the stride of things, so be patient and enjoy it.