Okay, so you've decided to buy a house…Now what?

This is a step-by-step analysis of the process involved in buying a home.

1. Meet with a good lender and get "Pre-Qualified" for an amount with a monthly payment that you are comfortable with. The lender will ask a lot of questions regarding your income & expenses. He will also run a credit report and from this we can ascertain what loan programs are available for you. He will usually require W-2's, tax returns, recent bank statements and paycheck stubs.  If you don’t know a lender, I would be glad to refer you to one.http://www.sapphiremortgagelv.com
2. Decide on which area of town you want to live in.
3. Think about what your ideal house would be. If you have an idea of the sort of size you are looking for, how many bedrooms, bathrooms, would you prefer a single level or two story home, etc.
4. Sit down with me and we will go through the MLS (that’s the real estate computer) finding homes that match your criteria. We’ll go and look at the homes that it comes up with.
5. We find a home for you - this is the fun part.
6. We make an offer - at this stage you will need an earnest money check. It is made payable to the escrow & title company of your choice. Earnest money varies from about $1000 to $10,000 depending on the price of the home - we will also decided on a date that you want to move in.
7. Q. What does the escrow & title company do?  A. They are a neutral 3 rd party that represents both sides of the transaction. When a sale is agreed, all of the paperwork and the earnest money is forwarded to them. They ensure that the contract is executed as it is written and also prepare the documents from the lender making sure all the figures are correct. They conduct a property search checking to see that there are no liens or judgements against your new home.
8. Upon acceptance of the offer, there will usually be 10 days to have a property inspection; a certified inspector should do this. It is strongly recommended that you are present for the inspection. I will also be there.I will then take a copy of the inspection report to the seller’s agent. We will all discuss which items (if any) you would like to have repaired and the seller shall repair them up to an amount we have agreed upon per the contract.
9. I will bring you any CC & R's for you to approve in your new community. These are the rules and regulations of the subdivision that you are going to move into.
10. At this stage we will check that the lender has all the documents that he needs from you. We can then get final loan approval.
11. The lender will arrange for an appraiser to visit your new home to ascertain, for the bank's purposes, the value of the home. The appraisal is usually paid for by the seller, but can be paid by either party.
12. About 2 weeks from closing, you will need to arrange for the utilities to be turned on in your name. You should anticipate that you will be moving in the day after you sign the paperwork. The keys are released upon recordation. This is when the escrow officer has distributed everyone's funds and the county recorder's office has recorded the deed - you should also submit a change of address form to the post office and contact a moving company.
13. The day before we sign the paperwork we will conduct a "walk though" of your new home. This is to check that is has been vacated in an orderly fashion, any repairs that needed to be done have been, and everything is in working order. If there are items still to be done, we will note them on the walk through inspection report and arrange for the seller to have them attended to.
14. Closing - usually a short while before the closing I will be given a closing figure from the escrow company. This is the amount of money that you will need to bring to the closing. This money must be in the form of a cashier's check, certified funds or a wire transfer made out to the escrow company. You will also need to bring with you a form of identification. Closing usually takes about an hour. The loan documents are then returned by the escrow office to the lender. They are reviewed and then the money that they are lending you (your loan) is wired to the escrow company.  This process is called “Funding” and usually takes 1-2 days.
15. Recordation - this is when the house finally becomes your home. As soon as this happens, I can release the keys to you. You may need to go to the post office to pick up your new mail box keys. They will require the closing papers to know that you have purchased the house.
16. CONGRATULATIONS - You are in your house, but his doesn't mean you'll never hear from me again. When you have any questions or if there are any problems after closing please make sure that you call me so that I can help fix them. I may also able to help arrange - cleaners, landscapers, painters, handymen, etc.