How to Buy an Existing Home in 8 Easy Steps

Buying an existing home is not as easy as going down to the department store and choosing a pair of jeans off the rack. But it doesn’t have to be prohibitively complicated, either. With the right team of professionals on your side, you can buy an existing home with minimal hassle.

This post lays out how to do so in eight straightforward steps. Just keep in mind that there are plenty of monkey wrenches just waiting to be thrown into the works. What starts out as an easy process can quickly become difficult under the right conditions.

Step #1: Hire an Agent

It is not absolutely necessary to hire a buyer’s agent. However, it is advised. Buyer’s agents have the greatest access to the largest volume of houses. They even have access to off-market houses in some cases. This is important in extremely tight housing markets, like Salt Lake City.

CityHome Collective suggests that it is nearly impossible to buy a house in Salt Lake City these days without using an agent. Houses just go too quickly.

Step #2: Shop and Get Pre-Approval

With an agent in place, the second step is to begin shopping around. Meanwhile, you will also want to get pre-approval from your lender. Pre-approval gives you the upper hand when it comes time to write an offer. It also lets you know what you can truly afford to spend.

Step #3: Make an Offer

Once you find the house of your dreams, it is time to make an offer. Your agent will write it for you. If a counteroffer comes back, your agent will help you decide how to respond. This period of negotiation is where most real estate agents prove their worth, according to CityHome Collective.

Step #4: Arrange Your Financing

An accepted offer tells you it’s time to officially arrange your financing. You can now go to the lender with a property address and a sale price. You will need to fill out a formal application and go through the approval process. In the modern era of electronic documents, you should be able to secure formal approval within a few days.

Step #5: Hire an Attorney

You are going to need an experienced real estate attorney to guide the process from this point forward. Ask around among family members and friends for recommendations. You shouldn’t have trouble finding a competent attorney in your area.

Step #6: Arrange for an Inspection

Your lender is going to send an appraiser to the home in order to determine its value. Meanwhile, your next step is to arrange for a home inspection. An inspection will reveal any deficiencies that may cause you to back out of the purchase. You should never buy a home without having it inspected first.

Step #7: Plan a Final Inspection

For the last several weeks, your lender and attorney have been working together on the legal issues. They have engaged the services of a title company to learn the legal and financial history of the house. Meanwhile, you and your agent should be working with the buyer and their agent to arrange for a final inspection. A final inspection generally takes place the day before closing.

Step #8: Close the Deal

The final step is to close the deal via your attorney. Sellers generally do not attend closing. Instead, it is the buyer and their attorney; the seller’s attorney will sometimes attend as well. Closing takes a couple of hours to complete. Afterward, you are the proud owner of your new home. The deal is done, and you can move in!