Homes, condos, and multiplexes.

This is the integral first step in buying a home. There are all kinds of lenders you can work with, some lenders are recommended by agents, others can be found online or just through your bank or credit union. 

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Why is this important?

Your lender will run some checks and see how and if you qualify for a mortgage, the three main things they will check are going to be your debt to income ratio, so how much you owe, and how much you have coming in as well as what you have saved. The next thing is your credit score, and lastly your employment history. They will help you determine how much you can borrow, as well as what loan program to choose from, because there are many.

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Note: If you are paying in cash, then there is no need for a loan! Just ask your bank for a proof of funds letter.

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Note: When buying a duplex, or a 3 unit or more, lenders will have stricter guidelines for lending, such as having reserves in your accounts. 

Now its time to get together with your agent and discuss what it is you would like in a home, in general it is a good rule of thumb to keep the search not too exact because then you can limit your search results. Your agent will use the MLS to find homes in the area that you want. In addition to the MLS, sites like Facebook, Craigslist and more, can help you find off market properties that you might fall in love with. Finding the right home will be a team effort.

Now it is time to walk through homes and spend as little or as much time as you would like, imagine how it would be like to spend a great deal of time there with your loved ones, and also the possibilities of adding on to the home in the future. You will be keeping your eye on potential defects that the home may have or repairs that may be needed. Your agent will provide you will all kinds of information, such as age, dimensions of rooms, any updates, problems and more.

Once you have fallen in love with a home, and are ready to make an offer, you will then talk with your agent about what type of contingencies you will make if any on the home, some of those can include an appraisal, an inspection and more. But the most important thing will be price, how much will you offer? Your agent should have a good pulse on the current local housing market and help advise you with this task.

Depending on the terms of the offer, you will then begin negotiations, for example if there was an inspection contingency and the buyer is giving the seller the right to fix any defects found and not stated in the condition report, then once the buyer hires his chosen inspector, and if they find anything wrong with it not disclosed, the buyer can then ask the seller to fix those issues, if they say yes the deal proceeds, if they say no the deal could die, and then the buyer would not lose out on his earnest money deposit, which they did put on the line if they were to breach the contract. Otherwise usually this part is a waiting game, as the lender will have their own appraisal, and inspector to take a look at the home. Typically in the Fox Cities area it will be up to 45 days. 

Hoorah! You have waited a long time for this, all your bags are packed and you have a ticket to ride on along to your next home. Once the title is transferred to your name, and you sign all the closing documents, you now have your very own home. 

At closing you will be given the key to your brand new home, and everyone goes on their merry way! Congratulations mate!