The 5 Things You Need to Buy a Home

If you’re looking to buy a home, these are five things that you will need.

Looking to sell your home? Click here to use our home evaluation tool.

Looking to buy a home? Click here to search all local homes for sale.

If you’re looking to buy a home, these are five things that you will need: 

1. A mortgage pre-approval: You should rely on your real estate professional to give you some advice on who might be a good lender to use, but most Realtors like myself won’t show buyers homes until we have a pre-approval from a good lender.

2. Earnest money: This will sit in an escrow account to be applied to a down payment. Typical earnest money will run between 1% to 2% of the purchase price of the home you’re looking at.

3. Money for a down payment: Unless you’re a qualified veteran, down payments will range anywhere from 3.5% to 20% of the sale price of the home you’re looking at.

Most Realtors won’t show buyers homes until we have a pre-approval from a good lender.

4. Money for closing costs: In some situations, we’re able to get the seller to pick up the closing costs for the buyer, but that will also increase the price you pay for the home. Typical closing costs for a mortgage will be about 3% of the purchase price. 

5. Money for the home inspection: Typical home inspections today will cost between $350 to $500, depending on whether or not you choose to have a radon inspection. The inspector will expect to get paid at the time he does the home inspection.

If you have any questions about what you need to buy a house, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to assist you.