What to Expect When Buying My First Home?
The process of buying your first home can be overwhelming! Where do I start? Who do I talk to? How are people affording new homes? What is escrow?! We hear you. And we are here to help! Let’s walk through the main steps of buying your first home.
Getting Started
The first step when buying a home is talking to the Ben Lemon Team! We start things off with an easy questionnaire. Be prepared to provide 2 years work history, 2 years address history, and your credit will need to be pulled. We need your employment history to make sure that you have a stable household income. We get your address history to show that you have lived at the same places as shown on your credit report. We pull your credit to get an idea of what you are currently paying out each month and to prove you are an actual human. All these things together will factor into what you can qualify for!
Pre-Approval
It’s important to do this step BEFORE you start house shopping. No one wants you to look at 6-bedroom mansions only to find out your reality is a 2-bedroom condo. In this step you will meet your Loan Officer! We will arrange a 30-minute meeting to go over your loan options and what you can qualify for. This meeting is nothing like an awkward blind date. We can meet in person, over the phone, or over Zoom. Yes, we do communicate in the 21st Century over here. You will need to provide a few more items to confirm your income including: 2 years of W2’s, the last 30 days of paystubs, the last 2 full months of bank statements, and Photo ID’s for each person who will be on the loan. We want it all!
Under Contract
This is truly the most exciting step! You are pre-approved, you found the perfect home, your offer was accepted, and now you are officially under contract to buy your first home. Woo! In this step you will meet your second and final point of contact - your Loan Processor. Your processor will take over from contract to close. They will be gathering updated documents, submit your loan into underwriting, and make all of your dreams come true!
Underwriting
Your Loan Processor does a lot of work behind the scenes to ensure your loan looks pretty and is good to close. There is a lot that goes into processing a loan! Trust us, these guys are pros. All the additional information your processor will ask for is needed for the underwriter to double check everything to seal the deal. This stage can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks to complete depending on your closing date. While in underwriting, you will receive final closing cost amounts as well as your actual monthly payments. So be patient, you are so close!
Closing
It’s time to perfect your signature and officially close on your new home! In this final process, you will work with your real estate agent and escrow officer from your title company to sign a lot of documents. Seriously, a lot. Your hand will be exhausted from how many pages you will sign. Worth it? Absolutely! Make sure to ask as many questions to understand what you are agreeing to. They are the experts and are more than happy to make you feel confident.
You’re Officially a Home Owner!
You did it! 😊 Cue the Rocky theme song and dust off your air horns. You did it! You are an adult and you are now officially a home owner.