Step 5: Choosing a Home

Ten Steps to the Successful Completion of the Home Buying Process

Once you have started your home search and narrowed the potential properties down to a final list, there is no doubt that choosing just one home to purchase is the most agonizing part of the process. Since this is such a major decision and you will be making such a large financial commitment, you want to make sure that you take an appropriate amount of time to analyze this decision.

In choosing which home to purchase, please remember that a home is far more than just a shelter or four walls and a roof. A home is where you will live, relax, entertain friends and raise a family over the next several years. Since you will spend a great deal of your life in the home, choosing the right home is an enormous decision that should not be taken lightly.

The best approach to ensuring that you purchase the “right” home is to ensure that you have come up with a distinct set of criteria for the property before you begin your search and that you strictly evaluate all the homes you look at based on those criteria. Once you have narrowed your choices down to several candidates, you can then work with your REALTOR® to examine the final candidates in more detail before you sign on the dotted line on the purchase contract.

Throughout the entire process of looking at and choosing a home, remember to always keep in mind the financial parameters you established while you were preparing your finances and getting pre-approved for a mortgage loan. While the pre-approval is not a loan commitment and is not final, it provides you with a very reasoned and careful analysis of what type of home you can afford.

Straying from the boundaries of what you can afford during your home search will only serve to disappoint and frustrate you during the search. Your long-term happiness and satisfaction with the home purchase will be greatly aided by purchasing a home you can afford within your budget.

As a buyer, below is what actually happens during this stage of the home buying process. A home has been placed on the real estate market by the seller who has established an asking price for the property along with other terms. In effect, the seller is soliciting potential buyers to submit an offer on the property that conforms to the asking price and the other terms.

If you are interested in the property, the buyer basically has the burden at this point in submitting an offer on the property that will satisfy the seller’s terms. This is the key point where the value of an experienced and knowledgeable REALTOR® will make the difference since the REALTOR® knows the community, is knowledgeable about the market value of homes in the area and has experience in negotiating with sellers for the purchase of the property.

No aspect of the home buying process is more complex, personal or variable than bargaining between buyers and sellers. An experienced and knowledgeable REALTOR® will advise you on the market value of the home and will help you negotiate with the seller to obtain the home at the best possible price and on the most favorable terms.

Finally, take your time and make sure you give yourself adequate time to carefully navigate this process. Listen to your REALTOR®’s advice and avoid rushing into a decision. In the end, both you and your REALTOR® will be happier and more satisfied if you ultimately purchase a home that will satisfy all of your needs, even if it takes more time to make that decision.