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The
Texas Home Buying Process ___________________________________________________________
1. Obtain your credit score:
www.equifax.com
www.transunion.com
www.experian.com
To get all three visit www.myfico.com
2. Save money:
The Texas Department
of Housing and Community Affairs offers a First Time Homebuyer program for very low to moderate income Texas families, as
well as the Down Payment Assistance Program. Call 800-792-1119 for more information.
3. Select
one of our REALTORS as your Accredited Buyer's Agent:
Sign the Buyer's Representation Agreement, otherwise the
Package Realty REALTOR represents the Seller or Builder. The Home Tour Fee is $40 per hour without a signed Buyer's Representation
Agreement, which states you are only working with the selected PACKAGE REALTY Realtor.
4.
Select a Lender: (Know your purchasing power before you start touring homes)
Make sure your lender provides you
with a pre-approval letter. Meaning, the loan application and all of your supporting documents have gone to the lender and
your almost guaranteed the loan. A pre-qualification letter is not the same thing. A pre-approval letter gives you more negotiating
power when you put in an offer. Some Realtors require the letters be submitted at the time of the offer.
5. Write the offer:
The offer will include $100 Option Check made payable to the seller. You will
not get this money back because it "buys" you 10 Calendar Days to take the property off the market for you to have
inspections done. The buyer pays for inspections and this money is not refundable either.
The offer will also include
$500 to $2,000 Earnest Money Check payable to which ever title company the Seller or Buyer chooses first and foremost. The
title company is negotiated based on who pays for the policy, location and/or Realtors past working experience with that title
company. Earnest money is applied to closing costs. If you go over your option period without amending the contract, you risk
losing your earnest money and/or you are buying the property "AS IS". So it is very important to get inspections
done in a hurry and make up your mind about continuing the sale.
6. Offer is Accepted or
Rejected:
The seller can accept or reject your offer. If the seller rejects your offer, you can adjust the sales
price or terms and re-submit a new offer. Again, the seller can accept or reject your new offer and the process continues
until everyone can agree.
7. Offer is Accepted:
Once all contract terms are agreed
upon and everything is signed by Seller and Buyer, the Realtors coordinate the inspections, survey, appraisal and closing.
If repairs are to be made, this is also worked out.
8. Buyer's Walk-thru:
Buyer's
agent and Buyer tour property 24-hours prior to closing to make sure repairs are completed and home is in proper condition.
9. Closing:
Realtors attend closing with their clients and double check the
title company's HUD 1 or Settlement Statement. Receipts and warranty paperwork for repairs are exchanged along with keys,
garage door openers, etc.
10. Funding:
Buyer will not take possession of the
property until funding of the loan paperwork to the title company. DO NOT close on a Friday
and the end of the month is always busy! Sometimes it takes awhile to fund. Don't make any large purchases or open
charge cards until after funding on your home, as your credit score could be run right before closing!
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