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Writer's pictureChelsea Wingardh

How the heck do you even buy a house???

:)


I gotchu! Tbh, I didn't even know how to buy a house before I got licensed... now I'm a pro! (wait, literally)


And FYI I cover all of this and more and in even more depth in my homebuying workbook that you can download on my Buyers Page! And I have a video at the bottom of this post if you hate reading. :)


OK frfr, here's how you buy a house:


1. Get pre-approved / Talk to a lender!

Jacky Meacham and Chelsea Wingardh
This me and Jacky Meacham, one of my top lenders, I made her have a photoshoot with me one day and we could NOT STOP LAUGHING

If you aren't paying cash (meaning you don't need to take out a mortgage) then you need to talk to a lender asap. You can find your own lender (not recommended unless your bff or your cousin or your bank is super local to your community) or you can ask your realtor to hook you up (recommended.)


To be clear, a pre-approval is not going to be a certificate that says, "Ok! Now you can buy a house!" you probably won't get anything back at this point but an email that says like, "Now that I know everything there is to know about you, I'mma loan you up to x amount. Hmu when you found The One."


And you need this before you start house hunting for two reasons: 1. So you can know your budget and be shopping appropriately. 2. Because eventually there will b


e a piece of paper that says you are pre-approved and we need to submit that with your offer! So we need it like right now!


2. Talk to a realtor!

How do you find a realtor? *ahem* if you're in the Houston area, you hit the contact button up top and I will reach out to you in like 5 minutes, lol. Otherwise, if you have already found your lender, ask them to refer you. And otherwise, post somewhere on social media, "Hey friends--who knows a realtor?" and you will be flooded with comments tagging realtors. Other than that, yeah you can find a random agent on Zillow or elsewhere. Who wants to work with someone random? At least find someone a friend can vouch for. Here's the deal, I'm not saying it's the easiest thing in the world to be a licensed realtor--but, like, it's pretty easy. So, make sure you're working with someone who know knows wtf they're doing. :)


3. H O U S E H U N T!

Let the games begin! Look for houses! My best advice for you is to be as specific as possible. Look, we ain't renting anyyyymoooreeeee! And yeah, we can remodel things and maybe you even wanna do that but also if you want white cabinets and a backyard and you wanna live in certain neighborhood and these things are within your budget, then only look for these things. Don't be like, "welllllll, for the right house in the right neighborhood I'll let go of all the things I said were important to me." Like, that's not true. The truth is you want it all. And the truth is, most of the time you can have it all. I'm not saying you don't need to be realistic and over-the-top, but I'm saying if you're looking for a 3 bed, 2 bath house in a certain neighborhood at a certain price point and 75 options pop up--you need to be more specific, that's all. :)


And anyway this is the fun part! Looking at houses is my favorite favorite part!


4. Put in an offer!

We put in an offer on an actual contract signed by you! We send your pre-approval with it! Sometimes we even send a cute little letter from you to the seller telling them why they need to only sell this house to you. The seller can do 1 of 3 things:

1. Accept our offer as is

2. Counter our offer

3. Reject altogether.

(Techcnically there is a #4--they don't have to respond--but I can be pretty annoying so yeah, I get responses.)


5. Option Period!

Okay--after you and the seller have agreed on a price, all the dotted lines are signed, we have a couple things to do:

1. Your earnest money check is due to title company within 3 days.

2. Your option money check is due to the seller within 3 days.

I help you coordinate alla dat. Right now, you are in option. You are getting inspections done, I recommend getting an insurance quote, and you are looking this house over up and down and making sure you want to buy it. If you decide you don't want to buy it, you get your earnest money back, but not your option money. You also have an opportunity to re-negotiate with the seller if necessary at this point.


6. Due Dilligence

There's not really anything for you to do here. Every now and then your lender or title company may send you something to sign (usually a disclosure or authorization), you may need to pay for your lender's appraisal upfront, but for the most part, you are straight chillin'.


Did you hear me? (well, read me) C H I L L I N '.


NOT SHOPPING. NOT OPENING LINES OF CREDIT. NOT BUYING JEWELRY. NOT BUYING A CAR. YOU ARE JUST HANGING OUT. AND PACKING. YOU CAN PACK. THAT'S IT, OKAY.


Any questions so far? :)


7. Closing Day!

It's here! Closing day! Okay, here's what's gonna happen! You're going to sign a lot of papers! A lot. A representative from the title company is going to tell you what you're signing and hand you a pen. In the background your loan is actually being processed right now. In most cases, you get the keys today!!!! Sometimes, you get the keys tomorrow. And you, my dear friend, are now a homeowner.


Congratulations. :)


As always, leave me a comment, hit the contact page, or DM me on insta @bayoucityhomes if ya need anything!



Whoah, did you just scroll through that text like, "hell no I ain't reading all this." ???? It's cool, 'cause here's a video:





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