You are 10 Steps Away From Buying a Home

Step 1. Get Your Finances in Order

Your credit reports are an ongoing look at how you manage your finances. You must know exactly what your credit reports say about your financial history before you apply for a mortgage, because the reports play an important role in the mortgage approval process and in determining the interest rate and other loan terms that a lender offers you.

If you haven't looked at your credit reports, you might be surprised at their contents, because errors are common.

Step 2. Hire a Real Estate Professional

Not all agents are created equal. Stay away from part time agents. They may not be available to handle last minute changes when you most need it. Hire a Realtor, who is honest, love her work, is knowledgeable and dedicated. They will make your home buying experience enjoyable. You will understand the whole process from the beginning to the end and always know in advance what to expect.

Step 3. Get Familiar with the Mortgage Industry

Finding the right loan and lender is crucial to your home buying success.

It's up to you to determine which lender is best for your needs, and it's always a good idea to have background information about the loan process before you talk to a lender.

Step 4. Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage

Do you know how much house you can afford? Probably not, unless you've talked with a lender.

Pre-approval helps you in other ways. Consider this scenario. A home seller gets two similar offers. One is accompanied by a letter from the buyer's bank that states she is pre-approved for a mortgage in the amount of the offer. The other has no supporting documents. Which offer do you think the seller will consider first?

Step 5. Determine Your Wants and Needs

The home buying process will go a lot smoother if you get familiar with your real estate market and narrow down your wants and needs before you start looking at houses.

Step 6. Start Searching for a Home

Your agent will give you multiple listing sheets to study. I'm sure you'll also pick up House For Sale magazines and read classified ads in your local newspapers. You'll probably spend time surfing the Internet for homes. You might even plan afternoon drives to preview neighborhoods. Those are all excellent ways to see what's available.

Step 7. Make an Offer

Discuss with your agent in details about mechanics of making an offer and its specific contingencies. They can help you with some home buying tips that can help you fine-tune your offer.

Step 8. Home Inspections and Other Tests

Home inspections take place after an offer is finalized. It is critical to decide which inspections and tests you want to perform.

Talk with your real estate agent to find out when inspections should be handled and if additional types of testing are important.

Step 9. Avoiding and Correcting Last Minute Problems

As your closing date nears, everyone involved in your real estate transaction should check its progress on a daily basis, because staying on top of things means you'll know immediately if there's a problem that must be dealt with.

Step 10. You're on the Way to Closing

Most of your home buying problems are behind you now and you're on your way to closing, also called settlement, the event that transfers ownership of the property to you.