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Old 06-21-2016, 05:20 AM
 
16,235 posts, read 25,105,511 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by neeshera View Post
We recently came across a house that we liked. We do not have a buyer's agent. What is the next step for making an offer? If we hire a real estate attorney, what steps of the entire buying process can we expect him/her to cover. Who arranges for inspection and other things (whatever they are!)? I am totally cluless.
Go get a consult from a reputable realtor or realtor attorney.
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Old 06-21-2016, 08:16 PM
 
81 posts, read 105,236 times
Reputation: 83
Bit of a zombie thread w/ regards to the OP, but for anyone who stumbles on this in a similar situation here's my 2 knuts worth from someone who was also pretty clueless about the home buying process

1. Take a home buying class. FHA and some other loan programs require them, but they're useful even if you don't have to take it. Mine only cost $25 and it was helpful to be in a room with a lot of other new buyers and hear their questions too, sometimes stuff I hadn't thought of.

2. Figure out your finances. Check your credit report and scores - if you have current past due accounts and stuff see if you can't get those straightened out (there are a number of websites and forums online that can help with this if needed). Look at what you can pay each month, and back track to figure out how much home you can afford (don't forget to include insurance and taxes). There's a variety of calculators online that can help at least give a ball park number. (loan type and your down payment will highly affect this too, so when you talk to a lender they may tell you something different) Then check into a couple places for a loan such as a credit union or mortgage lender. I'd highly recommend someone who has a local office so you can go in and talk with someone face to face. They'll ask you some questions, go over your finances, and give you a better idea what you would be approved to borrow, and what loan programs you qualify for. If there's issues on your credit report they'll usually point this out and suggest things to fix. Generally you'll want to get a few comparisons from different lenders and see what each has to offer you.

3. Get your own realtor (aka buyer's agent). You want someone who is working for you, not the seller. Generally its recommended to get someone who's been a realtor for at least 5 years. You can find reviews online, and of course word of mouth recommendations are helpful. One thing is pay attention if they specialize in a certain market - if your budget is like $200K, a realtor who specializes in multi-million dollar high end markets is probably not the person for you.

Hope this helps someone! There's a lot more info on the net too, just do some searching and you can get the basic idea.
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Old 06-21-2016, 09:43 PM
 
Location: Georgia
4,578 posts, read 5,629,437 times
Reputation: 15968
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregTraub View Post
By Gosh you are giving people some amazingly wrong info. my additions/corrections in bold below apologies in advance for the LOOONG post.

Can't beleive I just wrote all that, but I couldn't let the mis-information and incomplete info mislead others.
Thanks for saving me the trouble, Greg -- omigod, so much misinformation, so little time . . . it's scary. And it's different from state to state -- do we even KNOW where the OP is considering buying?!
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