The Eight Steps to Buying a House

With Texas Pride Realty, you'll work with a real estate agent that considers all of your needs when searching for property near Dallas, Texas. We simplify the whole process, especially for first-time buyers who may find real estate intimidating. Just follow these eight steps when purchasing your new home.

1. Decide to Buy

Although there are many good reasons for you to buy a home, building wealth ranks among the top of the list. We call home ownership the best "accidental investment" most people ever make. In fact, when done right, home ownership becomes an "intentional investment" that lays the foundation for a life of financial security and personal choice. There are solid financial reasons to support your decision to buy a home, and, among these, equity buildup, value appreciation, and tax benefits stand out.

2. Hire Your Agent

The typical real estate transaction involves at least two dozen separate individuals—insurance assessors, mortgage brokers and underwriters, inspectors, appraisers, escrow officers, the buyer's agents, the seller's agents, bankers, title researchers, and a number of other individuals. Their actions and decisions have to be orchestrated in order to perform in harmony and get a home sale closed. It is the responsibility of your real estate agent to expertly coordinate all of the professionals involved in your home purchase and to act as the advocate for you and your interests throughout the process.

3. Secure Financing

While you may find the thought of home ownership thrilling, the thought of taking on a mortgage may be downright chilling. Many first-time buyers start out confused about the process or nervous about making such a large financial commitment. From start to finish, we help you follow a six-step, easy-to-understand process to securing the financing needed for your first home.

4. Find Your Home

You may think that shopping for homes starts with jumping in the car and driving all over town. It's true that hopping in the car to go look is probably the most exciting part of the home-buying process. However, if weeks go by without finding what you're looking for, the fun can fade pretty fast. That's why we say that looking for your home begins with carefully assessing your wants and needs, both short- and long-term.

5. Make an Offer

When you first searched for your dream home, you were just that—a dreamer. Now that you're writing an offer, you need to be a businessperson. You need to approach this process with a cool head and a realistic perspective of your market.

The three basic components of an offer are price, terms, and contingencies (or "conditions" in Canada). The right price to offer must fairly reflect the true market value of the home you want to buy. Your agent's market research will guide this decision. Other financial and timing factors will be included in the offer.

6. Perform Due Diligence

Unlike most major purchases, once you buy a home, you can't return it if something breaks or doesn't quite work like it's supposed to. That's why homeowner's insurance and property inspections are so important. A homeowner's insurance policy protects you in two ways:

• Against Loss or Damage to the Property Itself
• Against Liability If Someone Sustains an Injury While on Your Property

7. Close

The final stage of the home buying process is the lender's confirmation of the home's value and legal statute. This entails a survey, appraisal, title search, and a final check of your credit and finance to ensure your continued credit-worthiness. Your agent will keep you posted on how each is progressing, and your work is pretty much done!

8. Protect Your Investment

Throughout the course of your home-buying experience, you've probably spent a lot of time with your real estate agent and have gotten to know each other fairly well. There's no reason to throw all of that trust and rapport out of the window just because the deal has closed. In fact, your agent wants you to keep in touch.