Finally! You’ve found a new home which checks all “the right boxes” for you! However, this is just the initial step in the long road towards finally owning your dream house. Being able to close a real estate deal the right way will make the process of owning your home a lot more efficient and less stressful. If you follow the following 7 steps to closing a real estate deal, before you know it, the keys to your new home will be in your hands in no time at all!
7 Steps Of Real Estate Closing
Making the Deal
Remember that the listed asking price of a house isn’t exactly the final price for it. Depending on the market, the selling price may be closer or farther from the asking price of a house. The asking price is how much the owner of the house is asking to sell it for, while the selling price is the actual deal price both the buyer and the seller would settle for. In order to make ends meet, and not to turn off the seller, make an offer that seems fair to both of your parties. Don’t lowball it if you really want the house.
Home Inspection
Set up an appointment with a respected and reputable home inspector. This additional step would save you a lot of time and money down the road The inspector would be able to give you a thorough report of the current state of the house, letting you know which parts would need any repairs or refurbishing and an estimated cost of each one of these. The cost of the inspection is really small as compared to what you’ll be saving in repairs and renovation.
Set Deadlines
Make sure that communication lines between all parties are kept open always, providing several avenues such as emails, phone numbers and social media accounts to each other. Also make sure that there are time frames given and followed such as the time given to be able to pay the selling price or down payment, or the time allotted to get an approval from a lender or credit company. Make sure that the specific amount of the down payment and any important information are laid out clearly in documents that are signed by all parties.
Set Deadlines
Contract Signing
After the home inspector has come back with a report, you would then be able to come to terms with the seller on a fair agreed price between all parties – it’s now time for you to get a sales contract for the house. Be sure to take your time in reading the entire contract, including any small text at the sides or at the bottom. You don’t want to be taken by surprise by any unseen clause or statement. It would be recommended to have your real estate agent and/or lawyer be with you during this time to go over the documents with.
Appraisal Time
Once you’ve secured a contract, you should get an appraisal from your lender or financial institution. This would ensure that the contract price would be fair to you. If for any reason the house doesn’t appraise for the asking price, you can try to renegotiate the contract with the seller, or just cancel the contract altogether.
Loan Approval
After obtaining a fair appraisal from your lender, it’s not time to file for a mortgage loan and have it approved. More often than, most home buyers would have already obtained pre-approval from their lenders during the appraisal stage. But in case this hasn’t been done yet, most lenders would be more than happy to have you sign up for a mortgage with them.
Transfer of Title
With all the previous six steps being done and completed, the only thing left to do is to obtain legal entitlement to your new house! Be sure to partner with a respected title services agency for this. When the final contract for the transfer of ownership has been made, be sure all required information is present, and notice if there have been any changes to the previous contract sale. When everything is in order, just sign on the dotted line, and your dream home can finally now be called yours!
