In a previous post, I discussed the pros and cons of buying a home vs. renting. But if you’ve decided to purchase a home, how do you start the home-buying process? What decisions do you need to think through to prepare? And how do you get through the home purchase process with a reasonable amount of stress and speed? Unless you have an unlimited amount of money, you’re going to be dealing with everything first-hand so be prepared.
So let’s start with this one fact: Buying and selling a home is one of the toughest experiences I’ve gone through as an adult. Understand that while it will certainly be a joyous process at the end when you pick up your key and move in, everything leading up to that point is fraught with uncertainty, doubts and lack of control. You’ll be at the mercy of the real estate market, what gets listed for sale, and your finances.
And while the buy side of things can be stressful, I hate to tell you this but the sell side is even tougher! Unless you’re a first-time buyer or purchasing an investment property, you’ve probably got a home to sell. While an agent can be involved in both your buy and sell side of your real estate transaction, they don’t have to be. And some people actually try to sell their home by owner to try and save the real estate agent fees. There is definitely a lot to consider when selling your home!
All in all, the home buying process is filled with with tons of emotion, math and decisions. Since I’m in the midst of the buy-sell real estate process, I’m going to try and outline some of the basics around this process, what to consider and to hopefully give you some insight to be prepared for what’s to happen, from one person to another.
A couple of facts from my side to set context. I currently live in Raleigh, NC, a relatively hot, mid-sized real estate market and will be targeting a home to purchase in the $350k area (2,200+ sq feet) and will be selling a condo in the $300k area (1,140 sq ft). My goal is to buy a home first, have about 2 to 3 weeks overlap before selling my home for the move. While certainly there will be some differences from state to state, the basics should be pretty similar! And I’m offering this information not as a financial professional or realtor but as a fellow customer.
I’m also assuming you’ve already done a significant amount of working saving up for a down-payment and cleaning up your credit score. Both of those goals take time before you should even start looking. So are you ready? You better be because for most people, buying their home is usually THE biggest purchase decision they will make in their life. More details below, I’ve ordered them somewhat chronologically and links will be added as posts are published. Let’s go!
Key Real Estate Purchase and Sales ToDos
- Targeting a new home for purchase
- Timeline for buying a home and the down-payment
- Finding a mortgage, pre-approval and finances
- Picking an agent
- Searching for and visiting properties
- Offer – Price, closing date, due diligence, earnest money
- Due diligence, inspections and closing on your new home
- Selling your house
- Showing your home for sale
- Closing on the sale of your home