How to Prepare to Buy a Home

If you are thinking of buying a home, here are some tips to prepare you before it is time to buy. You want to have everything ready to go when the time comes. This is the smartest thing you can do when deciding to buy a home because the last thing you want is to find out is that you need to have "3 more boxes checked" before you can buy and then have to sign another short term lease. Many things can hold you up from getting pre-approved and knowing what they are ahead of time can set you up for success.

Things to consider while preparing to buy a home:

What does your credit look like? Typically you need a credit score of above 580 to be able to get approved for a loan, but depending on mortgage company, some need 620. However, it's not the end of the world and there are many options if your credit score is lower. If you have a lower credit score and want some advice on how to raise it, let me know! Sometimes this process can take many months or up to a year (I know this because my husbands credit score sucked when we first bought a house).

How much money should you have saved? Upfront cost to buying a home are going to include:

-Earnest money: Typically $1000 or 1% of the Purchase Price, this is like a “down payment” and gets applied to your closing costs.

-Inspections: These normally cost around $525 (includes whole house, termite, and radon) however you don’t have to do all of these or you have the right to do many more (like sewer scopes, mold test, etc.). I can help you navigate through all your options when the time comes.

-Down Payment: Depending on your loan type, you can find loans that are 0% down up to 5% for most typical loans. The more money you put down the lower your monthly mortgage payment will be. However, you can put more down to make your monthly payment lower.

-Closing costs: This cost can be different depending on type of insurance, loan costs, taxes, and other fee’s. They usually range from $2500 to $6000. But this truly can be dependent on how much taxes are for a home, price range, insurance costs, and what the lenders brokerage charges.

***Make sure you have about that much saved for when you buy a home. If you don’t there are other options, and we can talk about them now, to plan for the future. Just let me know!

Are you self-employed? If you are self employed and want to get pre-approved for a loan, you will need at least 2 years of tax income. If this is you, let me know and we can go through your options. As a Realtor, I also had to wait 2 years and have a lot of experience in finding ways for self employed people to get a home. Your Lender might also have options for you.

Should I Break my Lease?

Ok, I'm also sure you're wondering if waiting or breaking out of your lease could be an option and what might save you the most money. We can work the numbers and find a solution to see if its the right decision for you!

OUR MARKET IS ALWAYS CHANGING! Prices of homes are still appreciating and professionals in this field do not expect them to change (if you are numbers/data person let me know I can share this information with you).

So things to consider:

How much is your rent? Multiply that by how many months your least has left. That equals how much money you’re throwing down the drain into someone else’s equity (Sorry if that’s too blunt lol).

Do you know how much you are charged if you break out of a lease? Is it just first and last months rent? Just a fee? Do you just need a 30-90 day notice with no charge? Or are you responsible for all of it no matter what? Canceling and buying when you find the right home might be an option if you already have upfront money saved.

The average home is expected to appreciate at around 7% this year (2021). On a 200k house that’s about 14k. Not to mention how much equity you add by paying the mortgage for a year.

So if it costs 2-5k to cancel out of a lease early, you might be saving yourself 9-12k alone. Not to mention the equity in your mortgage payment.

If you are wanting to calculate if canceling your lease is the right decision for you, let’s connect and calculate it together!

Lastly, what are your goals for your move? What are you looking to accomplish? Do you know what the home buying process looks like? If not click HERE to read about the home buying process!

The Home Buying Process-What to Expect

Starting the home buying process can be intimidating. There are a lot of moving parts and things to think about, which can get overwhelming and stressful. If you have never bought a home before, it can be scary not knowing what the entire process entails. That is why it is important to reach out to a Real Estate Agent (aka: me) and ask all your questions before hand to make sure buying is right for you. Also, having an Agent that you trust on your side makes this entire process less stressful. Here is what you can expect from start to finish.

Great! You have decided you want to buy your first home! This can be such an exciting time. You are finally taking another step in life and investing in yourself! But where do you start?

Buyers Interview:

This is when you will meet up with me, we can meet via zoom or in person and discuss the home buying process, your wants/needs in a home, your goals for this move, areas you are looking to move to, and set you up on a search.

GET Pre-Approved

Before you start to walk-through homes you want to get pre-approved. Getting pre-approved allows you to get an idea of what you want your budget to look like and price range of homes that you want to look in. Getting pre-approved doesn’t cost anything and allows you the ability to find the homes you need and write an offer. Without a pre-approval, most sellers won’t take your offer seriously. Also, you might find that the homes you’re looking at don’t meet your budget needs. Which is kind of like shopping blindly, so don’t do that! If you’re not sure where to start, here are some lenders that I have worked with many times. They answers their phones, communicate on weekends, and are all local lenders. However, you can choose whatever lender you like!

Hi! Im Lee McLain. With over 30 years of experience, my goal is to put my clients at ease with the homebuying process. I explain the process thoroughly by covering the numbers and answering all questions. Whether it is closing a loan for new construction or for a first-time homebuyer, I enjoy helping my clients succeed financially with the right loan for their home and situation.

Hi! I am Brady Swindler. I am a Mortgage Banker with the Mortgage Banking Firm LeaderOne Financial Corporation. We specialize in residential home loans for real estate purchase and refinances. If you are looking for a licensed mortgage professional in Kansas, we have local branches in Lenexa, KS.

NMLS# 12007

C: (816) 447-2238 O: (913) 432-1017

Email: bradyswindler@leader1.com

NMLS# 680316

C: (816) 728-7700 O: (816) 800-8811

Email: lmclain@guildmortgage.net

Walk Through Homes

Finally, you are pre-approved and can start looking at homes! Investing in a home is one of the most important decisions you’ll make. A home is where life unfolds, and memories are created all while building a financial foundation for you and your families future. 

Each week you will get emails (most pop-up Thursday/Friday) of the homes that I set up on your email search. Every time a home with the criteria of your search is listed for sale, it immediately gets sent to your email allowing you to be the first to know. Once you find one or more homes you like, we can schedule a time to go check them out (the sooner, the better).

We Found your home!

You finally found and walked through a home you love and want to make an offer! How exciting!! First, I will send you the Sellers Disclosure to look at. The Sellers Disclosure is a document that the sellers fill out and tells you everything they might know about a home. You will find information about roof age, heating and cooling systems, if there have been problems with the house, and if certain appliances are staying/not staying with the home. I will also check comps and the sales history on the home. If everything checks out and you are ready to move forward, we will write an offer.

Make an Offer

When deciding to write an offer, I will call listing agent to see what we are up against. Are there any other offers? How many? What do the sellers looking for, so we can write an offer everyone is happy with. Then we can discuss Sales price, Earnest money, Closing Date, Possession, and many other factors in the contract to ensure a smooth process. Once your offer is submitted, the seller may accept, counter your offer, or reject your offer. If they accept your offer, you now have a valid contract date and move into the inspection period!

Inspection

Yay your offer was accepted, now what? Now we have 10-15 days (or whatever was negotiated in the contract) to have any and all inspections completed on the home. Typically, a full home inspection, radon, and termite are the main inspections that get completed here in KC. However, you can have a roofer come out, structural engineer, plumber, and many others to perform inspections on the home until you are satisfied (all at your own cost). Once you are done with all the inspections you want completed you can either take the house “as is”, negotiate for repairs, or cancel. If you negotiate for repairs, the seller can either agree, or counter the repairs.

Home Insurance

You have gotten through the inspection period! It is now time to choose home insurance. You can get quotes from one or more, but if you don’t know where to start here is one who I have used and really like. Again, you can choose any home insurance company you like that best fits your needs.

“I will go above and beyond to make sure you have the proper coverage for your new home!"

If you have any questions or are interested in exploring new options, shoot me a message and I would love to chat with you!

C: (913) 961-3621

O:(913) 381-2564

Email: dan.brough@countryfinancial.com

Appraisal

The Lender will order your appraisal. An appraiser works for the mortgage company to visit the property and develop an opinion of the market value of the home. The appraiser job is to go out to the home to make sure it is priced correctly and all condition are met for loan type. They can appraise it lower, at, or above contract price. If the property appraises lower than contract price (price you offered) you typically have a period of time to negotiate again. But if it’s at contract price or higher congrats you bought a home at market value or higher.

Home Warranty

If a home warranty wasn’t already negotiated into your contract, this would be a good time to look into getting one. A home warranty usually covers things in your home if they are to break. I like to use the acronym “PEACH” to remember what is covered.

Plumbing, Electrical, Appliances, Cooling, and Heating. 

Make sure you read the home warranty brochure to understand exactly what they do and don’t cover. Usually, you or seller (whatever is negotiated) pay a fee for the year, and then a deductible every time you call for the home warranty to come out and assess something. This can save you money on costly fixes/replacements.

Prepare to Move

The time is here to prepare to move (if you haven’t already)! I have attached a PDF of packing tips you can download that might help you stay organised.

Final Walkthrough

Yay, you are a few days away from your closing day and it is time to walk through your home to make sure everything looks in order before you sign and close. If you had asked for repairs during the inspection period, this is when you check to make sure they have been completed. If everything checks out, we wait for closing day!

Closing Day

CONGRATULATIONS!! It’s closing day. This is the day you sign all the paperwork, the loan funds, and the house is officially yours (unless negotiated otherwise).

*Reminder: Every home, and every buyer/seller is different. SO, every situation can turn out different. Please just use this as a broad guideline though the home buying process in the state of Missouri and Kansas.