It's Not Your House YET!

Posted at 1:02 PM, May. 21, 2007

One thing that it is very important to keep in mind as you go through the home buying process is that it's not your house YET!  It will be very soon and because of that it's often easy to get ahead of yourself and start expecting things from the sellers that may be beyond what you should expect.  Remember, home buying is a process and that's why you work with a Realtor, because they know the process and they will make sure you move through it at the right pace, making the right steps at the right time.

Here's a breakdown of that process...

1. House shopping.  You've spent countless hours online looking at every house you can possibly find, trying to narrow down the field. At the same time you are doing that your agent is doing the same thing trying to find you the perfect house.  In addition to looking online you spend several hours out actually inside of houses, or your agent might preview homes for you, sometimes even sending you more pictures to help you narrow things down.

2. You finally found the house you want!  Isn't this the greatest feeling.  Well it is until you find out it's already under contract to someone else.  Hopefully, that doesn't happen but it does and it can, so be prepared as you look at houses.  Remember it's not yours till you close.  Assuming the house is not under contract to someone else, your agent will help you write up your offer to purchase.  Remember this is only an offer, the seller can accept it or reject if they choose, or they can give you a counter offer (this is most common).  In our market the typical selling price is within 3% of the list/asking price. So if you offer too low there's a good chance of a counter offer.  There's nothing wrong with this but remember it's not your house until everyone agrees.  I have seen people lose the house of their dreams because they offered too low and then when the counter came back they countered again and in the meantime another better offer came in and the sellers just took it.

3. Once everyone (the buyers & the SELLERS) has come to terms and signed off the offer, it becomes a contract.

4. The Home Inspection.  Always get a home inspection.  You should try to be present for the home inspection, but again remember that this is not your house yet so don't treat it as if it is.  The house still belongs to the current owners and just because they aren't there doesn't mean you shouldn't act like they are sitting right next to you.  This is not your opportunity to be a snoop.  You should stay with the home inspector or with your Realtor if you don't want to follow the inspector around (although this is a great opportunity to learn a lot about the house you are about to buy).  Once the home inspection is complete you have the opportunity to ask the sellers to make repairs to any major defects.  Remember a home inspection is not there to look for little cosmetic things you should have already noticed. Your Home Inspector is a license professional there to find things you wouldn't.

5. The Waiting.  This is the worst part. The time between the home inspection and closing.  Everything else moved so fast but now it's like the time is just crawling.  Your Realtor is making sure that everything is taken care of in regards to scheduling the closing and getting all of the paperwork where it needs to be.  So what do you do during this time? PACK!  Yep, that's right get packed because otherwise moving day will be here before you know it.  Also, don't forget to call the Utility, cable, and phone companies to get all of those things switched to your name as of the day of closing, otherwise you may be moving into a dark house.

6. Final Walkthrough.  The day before closing (or often the day of closing) your Realtor should take you for a final walkthrough the home... it's not yours yet... This walkthrough is to make sure that all requested repairs have been completed and that the house is as you contracted to purchase it.  If you've ever seen the movie MOVING with Richard Pryor, then you will understand why this is important.  You remember that really cool light fixture you liked? It should still be there when you do the final walkthrough (and when you close for that matter).  If it was attached to the house when you agreed to purchase it, it should be there when you close.  All repairs in your contract should also be done by this time, but if they aren't don't panic.  Your contract lives even after closing, so if they aren't done by closing your Realtor will make sure that arrangements are made at the closing table to see that they get done asap.

7. The closing.  If you are the type that likes to read everything you sign. Please make sure you tell your Realtor prior to closing, so that they can get you a copy of the paperwork in advance.  The attorney's (or title companies) typically schedule about an hour for a closing, which is not enough time to read every bit of the mountain of paperwork you will be signing. They will go over all of the documents with you.  Your mortgage lender should have already gone over the mortgage documents with you (which is the bulk of what you will be signing if you are financing the property).  The attorneys will be happy to answer any questions you have as they go through the paperwork so never fear asking. 

8. It's Your HOUSE!!  Unless other arrangements have been made you will receive your keys at closing. From that point on it's YOUR house and now you can move in, and do whatever you like.

There are a lot of things that go into the process that you will probably never see because your Realtor (if they are doing their job) will be taking care of many things behind the scenes.  Our job is to make the home buying process as simple and stress free as possible for you, taking care of all of the little (and not so little) things that may come up.  If buying a home is a stressful project then you are working with the wrong Realtor.