The Home Buying Process
6 Steps to Purchase a Property in The DFW
Step 1: Get pre-approved for a mortgage
If you don’t know much about getting a mortgage, you are in the right place. Here are some of the financial factors required by lenders so you get to be in good shape before buying a house:
The higher your debt-to-income ratio, the less likely you are to be approved for a mortgage; however, most lenders are more forgiving if you have a high credit score. While some lenders will approve mortgages for borrowers with a DTI as high as 43%, in most cases, it’s best to keep your DTI under 36%.
Most sellers won’t show you their home unless you have a mortgage pre-approval letter. They don’t want to waste their time with buyers who aren’t serious or financially ready to put in an offer.
Getting pre-approved for a mortgage gives you and the seller confidence that if they accept your offer, you’ll be able to get financing and close the deal.
Step 2: Find a great real estate agent. Hey! That’s me!
Your real estate agent will be your main assistant during the home buying process. Your agent will create a home search for you and will give you access to the MLS, a direct and powerful source of information about available homes in your area. they can also make recommendations for other services like lawyers, lenders, and escrow companies.
Here is a list of things a real estate agent will do:
Step 3: Start house hunting in the DFW
Once you start receiving information from the MLS go ahead and combine all the data you have available. As a buyer, it is your due diligence to make sure you know details about nearby schools, transportation, grocery store, etc. Always do a virtual tour before going to the actual place.
- Go to Google Maps and find the street where the property is located
- Click on the icon labeled as “bird eye”
- Look at the nearby streets to make sure you have a better idea of the neighborhood.
In my OneHome portal you will be receiving suggestions about some properties matching your search. However, you can jump in and create your own search. Remember, being proactive will make you choose the best home ever!
There are other places like Zillow, Trulia or Realtor.com. However, some properties are not 100% updated in their system. To get the most up-to-date data trust our OneHome to check out the properties that you like.
Step 4: Make an offer on the property you like
Every offer may look different in every property. Your real estate agent will analyze with you a comparative market analysis, will consider the deficiencies of the property, the age of the property, amenities, the number of homes sold recently in the area and the amount of offers the house may have by the time you are making your offer. The status of frauds requires all offers to be valid in order to be enforced. On the other hand, Texas allow verbal offers. In order to fully protect you, all offers we will prepare will be signed by the buyers.
Multiple offer situations
Right now, the real estate market is in the sellers’ favor. That’s why sometimes we will adequate our offer to be more competitive. A lot of homes are being sold for list price or higher. Just be patient and expect your real estate agent to advice you on that matter.
Step 5: Option Period, Inspections, Appraisals and Survey.
Every offer may look different in every property. Your real estate agent will analyze with you a comparative market analysis, will consider the deficiencies of the property, the age of the property, amenities, the number of homes sold recently in the area and the amount of offers the house may have by the time you are making your offer. The status of frauds requires all offers to be valid in order to be enforced. On the other hand, Texas allow verbal offers. In order to fully protect you, all offers we will prepare will be signed by the buyers.
Option Period
The option period is an optional and highly recommended set of days that you purchase for a nominal fee when you make an offer on a property in order to make sure the property doesn’t have any adversity or major repairs to be done. It normally ranges from 0 to 7 days, but you can buy as many days as you wish as long that the sellers agree to this. But remember, the least days, the more attractive your offer will be.
Home Inspection
Normally buyers pay for inspection once the contract has been executed (an offer has been accepted and delivered). A home inspection is not required by the lender but is highly recommended by your real estate agent. Home inspections happen within the first days of your option period. If you find major problems on the subject property and you are still within your option period, you can renegotiate the terms on the purchase. You can ask for repairs, ask for a seller’s concession, or lower the sales price of the property. However, it is difficult to negotiate repairs that were visible when you visited the property or repairs mentioned in the seller’s disclosure.
Appraisal
The appraisal is an opinion of the value of your home. The appraisal is required by your lender, if you pay in cash, you are not required to get an appraisal. In Texas, appraisals are conducted by a licensed home appraiser as mandated by the Texas Real Estate Commission. Appraisal can be ordered as soon as you submit the contract to the lender. However, if you have an option periods in place, make sure that you have checked the home inspection report and you are ready to move forward with the conditions of the property. Also make sure that any repairs paid by the seller are in writing.
Survey
A property survey confirms a property’s boundary lines and legal description. It also determines other restrictions or easements included in the property. Survey can be paid either by buyer or seller and it is to be ordered within a certain period of days after the contract has been accepted. Sometimes an old survey can be sufficient if the property has not had substantial structural modifications. When using a previous survey in a transaction, seller signs a T-47 Affidavvitt to declare that the house has not had substantial structural modifications within the period of time they lived there.
Step 6: Get Ready To Close the Deal
Utilities
it is wise to schedule ALL utilities to be turned on by closing. It is not difficult to transfer them into your name as long as the service has not been terminated. Read the last page of the real estate Sellers’ disclosure and look up the names of the utility companies that the seller has used. Once you have the names, a quick online search should get you where you need to go.
Final Walkthrough
This is the last visit you will schedule to see the property right before closing the deal. This is an opportunity to verify the conditions of the property as it should be quite similar than the first time you saw the property. If you requested repairs, this is an opportunity to check that all repairs have been satisfied. Also, if the house is not tidy enough, you can hire a professional cleaning service.
Closing Date
A buyer should bring a valid form of identification, proof of funds, and any other necessary documentation to a closing meeting. Before signing the mortgage note and deed, they will be asked to carefully read the closing disclosure, verifying the loan estimate and settlement statement.
The home-buying process may appear to be lengthy and complicated, but with our education and preparation in Clever Realtors, we assist Texas residents in finding the best homes for their needs.
Hernan Romero
Real Estate Agent
North Dallas| Texas
4144 N Central Expy Suite 600, Dallas, TX 75204
Contact Me
Reach out to me if you have questions