Buying a home is probably the biggest single investment one can make. When you are considering buying a new home, there are a number of things you need to consider before making your decision. These things may include, cost, distance from work, safety, etc. It is such a tedious process and one can only hope to work with an experienced professional, in this case an agent who acts on behalf of the seller of the property you want to buy. The agent comes at a fee. Buying a new home is an exciting event as well as an emotional one. Sadly, there are scammers who prey on these emotions and try to take advantage of homebuyers. There is a high risk of being scammed when working with an agent who is not from a reputable realtor . When one buys the property the process continues as there has to be transfer of ownership as well as payment of transfer taxes and land rates. Buying a house requires a lot of time and effort but these 10 steps can help make the home buying process manageable and help you make the best decision possible.
Research
As soon as you can, start visiting web sites, reading newspapers, and magazines that have real estate listings. Make a note of particular homes you are interested in and see how long they stay on the market. Also, note any changes in asking prices. This will give you a sense of the housing trends in specific areas.
Affordability
If you are considering taking out a mortgage, lenders generally recommend that people look for homes that cost no more than three to five times their annual household income if the home buyers plan to make a 20% down payment and have a moderate amount of other debt. However, it is important to note that you should make this determination based on your own financial situation.
Financing
Before you start looking for a home, you will need to know how much you can actually spend. The best way to do that is to get prequalified for a mortgage. To get prequalified, you just need to provide some financial information to your mortgage banker, such as your income and the amount of savings and investments you have. Your lender will review this information and tell you how much they can lend you. This will tell you the price range of the homes you should be looking at.
Find the Right Real Estate Agent
Real estate agents are important partners when you’re buying or selling a home. Real estate agents can provide you with helpful information on homes and neighborhoods that isn’t easily accessible to the public. Their knowledge of the home buying process, negotiating skills, and familiarity with the area you want to live in can be extremely valuable. And best of all, it doesn’t cost you anything to use an agent – they’re compensated from the commission paid by the seller of the house.
Make an Offer
Start touring homes in your price range. It might be helpful to take notes on all the homes you visit. You will see a lot of houses! It can be hard to remember everything about them, so you might want to take pictures or video to help you remember each home.
Make sure to check out the little details of each house. For example:
- Test the plumbing by running the shower to see how strong the water pressure is and how long it takes to get hot water
- Try the electrical system by turning switches on and off
- Open and close the windows and doors to see if they work properly
It’s also important to evaluate the neighbourhood and make a note of things such as:
- Are the other homes on the block well maintained?
- How much traffic does the street get?
- Is there enough parking for your family and visitors?
- Is it conveniently located near places of interest to you: schools, shopping centers, restaurants, parks, and public transportation?
Take as much time as you need to find the right home. Then work with a reputable real estate agent to negotiate a fair offer based on the value of comparable homes in the same neighbourhood.
Home Inspection
Typically, purchase offers are contingent on a home inspection of the property to check for signs of structural damage or things that may need fixing. Your real estate agent usually will help you arrange to have this inspection conducted within a few days of your offer being accepted by the seller. This contingency protects you by giving you a chance to renegotiate your offer or withdraw it without penalty if the inspection reveals significant material damage.
Both you and the seller will receive a report on the home inspector’s findings. You can then decide if you want to ask the seller to fix anything on the property before closing the sale. Before the sale closes, you will have a walk-through of the house, which gives you the chance to confirm that any agreed-upon repairs have been made.
Home Appraisal
Lenders will arrange for an appraiser to provide an independent estimate of the value of the house you are buying. The appraiser is a member of a third party company and is not directly associated with the lender. The appraisal will let all the parties involved know that you are paying a fair price for the home.
Paperwork
As you can imagine, there is a lot of paperwork involved in buying a house. Your lender will arrange for a title company to handle all of the paperwork and make sure that the seller is the rightful owner of the house you are buying.
Close the Sale
At closing, you will sign all of the paperwork required to complete the purchase, including your loan documents. It typically takes a couple of days for your loan to be funded after the paperwork is returned to the lender. Once the seller confirms receipt of the funds for the house, you are ready to move into your new home!
As you can see purchasing a home is a complicated and tedious process, luckily for you purchasing property at Nkwashi is incredibly simple. All we require is that you review and fill out our property purchase application form. If happy with it, select your ideal property, sign the application form and provide us with basic information on yourself such as your ID, and proof of residence. Once we receive it, we will review it and provide you with feedback on the status of your application (successful or otherwise) within a few minutes. If approved, you will be required to review the contract of purchase and if happy with it- sign and submit it to our Customer Consultants. Want to learn more about how you can become a property owner from just K300/month? Give us a call on +260-211-268-915 ,+ 260-972-577-234 and 260-954-809-717 or visit us at 11 Nalikwanda Road, Woodlands or visit our website www.nkwashi.com.