Buying a Joliet Area Home
Buying a home can be a complicated process. Fortunately, I can handle the details for you, guiding you to a property that suits your present situation as well as your long term financial goals. If you have an idea of the type of home you are searching for, I can begin hunting through the myriad of choices and narrow the field to those that most closely match your buying criteria.
A home purchase is a considerable financial undertaking, and while I spend each and every day immersed in the world of real estate, I understand that most people only walk the path to home ownership a few times in a lifetime. So, I am happy to share what I know about the home buying process to prepare you for a smooth purchase.
Finding the perfect home can happen suddenly, or can be a long drawn out search. Here are the high points and important steps in the process.
1. Lender pre-approval. Some agents will tell you to go and get pre-qualified. . .a pre-approval is much more powerful. Most sellers will not consider an offer valid without a pre-approval from a reputable lender. Taking the step of meeting with a lender and determining how much home you can comfortably afford, is an important step in the home buying process. There is nothing more discouraging than falling in love with a home that is out of reach financially.
2. Home search. Using the Multiple Listing Service, I can begin identifying homes that meet your criteria and are within your desired price range. We will review them together and determine which ones you would like to tour. Then the fun begins. . .we will visit the properties one by one, looking for the one that best suits your needs and feels like "home".
3. Making an offer. Once you have selected a home, we will fill out the Three Rivers Association of Realtors Residential Sales Contract. This form gets submitted to the seller and serves as an offer to purchase as well as the document that defines the terms of the sale.
4. Offer acceptance. Negotiations from offer to acceptance can be a quick trouble free process, or can involve some serious haggling. Here is where I jump into savvy negotiation mode and help you secure the property for the best possible price and terms. Once the haggling is complete and we reach a meeting of the minds, the signed contract is forwarded to your lender and to your attorney and the steps to closing begin.
5. Attorney modification period. The real estate contract will stipulate how long the attorney review period is. Typically it will be five to seven days. During this time the attorneys can negotiate modifications to the terms of the contract but not to the agreed upon purchase price.
6. Inspection period. The right to a private home inspection is specified in the contract. Typically, the buyer has 7 to 10 business days to secure an inspection by a licensed home inspector at his or her expense.
7. Loan Application. Again, the contract will stipulate how many days after acceptance that a buyer has to get the loan application complete so that the underwriting process can begin. It is important to pull together all of the paperwork your lender requires and respond to any additional requests in a timely manner.
Read More About Buying a Joliet Area Home
First Steps When Buying Your First Home
Are We At the Bottom of the Joliet Real Estate Market Yet?