Buying a Home: The Process
Buying a home is a lengthy process and consists of several unique stages. We highly recommend anyone who is planning to buy to get familiar with all these steps. The following diagram illustrates these steps. Please click on the individual boxes see more description about each stage.
The Buying Process
For many, buying a home will be the biggest financial decision they make during their lifetime. Buying a home successfully is accomplished by making not just one, but a series of critical decisions, each of which builds on the decisions made before it. Some home buyers make good decisions, while others struggle through the entire home buying process. In general, making good decisions is made possible through strong knowledge and years of experience: not something a typical buyer would be able to acquire in weeks or even months.
This is where we, as your real estate team, come in. We have been in real estate business for over 23 years and living through many ups and downs of real estate market cycles, we have developed the necessary experience and knowledge to guide you successfully toward buying your dream home during any market conditions.
Because we have been in the real estate business for over 23 years and have lived through the many ups and downs of real estate market cycles, we have developed the experience and knowledge needed to guide you successfully through buying your Sunnyvale dream home, regardless of market conditions.
We’ve tapped our extensive experience and in-depth knowledge in outlining the process for buying a home, which we present here. The information provided here is a summary of the major stages in buying a home. In addition, there are many other small steps that may need to be taken during the process that are dependent on an individual’s specific goals and needs, which are not practical to detail here.
Below you will find the summary of five major steps of buying a home, including the three major commitments you’ll have to make in order to move through the process of buying a home successfully.
Please call us at (408) 973-9805 or (650) 323-9805 to get answers to your real estate questions and address your specific Sunnyvale real estate needs. Hiring us to represent you during the home buying process could be the most important decision you’ll make when buying a home.
S1 – First Stage: Information Gathering
In this initial stage in the process of buying a home, you may or may not have already decided to buy, but you still need to gather information before you try to buy your dream home.
During this stage, you may be interested in learning more about market conditions. Some of the most common questions asked include:
- Is it a sellers’ or a buyers’ market?
- What effect will the economy and unemployment conditions have on my ability to buy a home?
- What mortgage rates are available?
- What are the current real estate market characteristics and will my timing have an impact on the price you I can expect to pay for my dream home?
Essentially, you want to know if now is a good time to buy a home or if you should wait for more favorable conditions.
When you are buying a home, you’ll find that some information is readily available and straightforward. However, some important information may not be available to the public or may be out of date, incomplete or inaccurate.
As active, full-time Sunnyvale real estate agents, we monitor the market constantly and can provide you with the information you need to make the right decision that’s right for you.
Furthermore, real estate market conditions change constantly. Many cities and neighborhoods are made up of vastly different micro-markets. Therefore, we strongly suggest setting up a confidential consultation so that we may review with you the most recent and pertinent market information that applies to the specific neighborhoods in which you are interested.
It’s also important to consider your own personal and financial situation when buying a home:
- Why do you want to buy a house? Are you moving up or scaling down?
- Are you and your family mentally ready to buy a home?
- What are your children’s school needs?
- Have you spoken with your financial and tax advisors about your plans to buy a home?
- Do you want or need to sell your existing home before you buy or do you plan on buying a home first and then selling your current home?
- What are your ultimate financial goals for this home purchase?
It’s very important to address these types of questions so you’ll feel comfortable moving forward with the process of buying a home.
Then, you may need to gather some specific information about different neighborhoods in which you might want to live, including the availability, proximity and quality of schools, parks, libraries, health care facilities, etc. We can help you secure the information you need.
Once you’ve gathered the necessary information and feel comfortable with your research, you can now proceed to the next step in buying a home: hiring a Real Estate Agent.
C1 – First Commitment: Hiring a Real Estate Agent (more specifically a Buyer Agent)
Once you decide to buy a home, the next question you need to answer is whether you’ll hire a professional real estate agent who is fully experienced with the process of buying a home and fully knowledgeable in the neighborhoods in and around Sunnyvale in which you want to buy or if you’ll try to buy the house on your own. This should be a relatively easy decision to make.
While we certainly understand that some buyers may think they might save money by buying a house on their own, statistics show that buyers without professional real estate agents typically end up leaving money on the table. Additionally, the process of buying a home can be emotionally and financially draining as well as time consuming and risky
You should realize that buying a home involves making a series of what could turn out to be the biggest financial decisions you’ll ever make. In short, purchasing a home can have deep personal, emotional and financial consequences.
Buyers sometimes tend to underestimate the amount of research and networking, as well as market knowledge and negotiation skills required for finding and buying the right house that meets their needs and goals. Trying to buy a house on your own is not much different than acting as your own lawyer.
That’s why the purchase of your home should be placed in the trusted hands of a professional, experienced Sunnyvale Buyer Agent who has a proven track record of success.
As the number one listing agent for homes in Sunnyvale, the number one listing agent for Eichler homes in Santa Clara County, and the number one listing agent for homes in Santa Clara County that have sold for over $950K in 2008 and 2009, Nil Erdal’s primary focus has been representing sellers as their listing agent. However, because of Nil’s extensive experience and knowledge of Santa Clara County, she also helps many home buyers because they have come to value and trust her knowledge and experience.
In recent years, Pelin Erdal joined Nil’s team and has been focusing primarily on helping buyers find their dream homes in the Sunnyvale area as a buyer agent.
Every day we guide buyers through the initial decision making process as well as the search and buying process. We recognize that every home buyer is different. Based on your specific goals and needs, we take into consideration the current market conditions as well as your personal situation in order to decide together with you whether it is a favorable time to buy your dream house.
If you feel ready to take this step, call us for a complimentary consultation and Nil and her team will help you create a buying strategy that is right for you.
Remember, we work for you. Our goal is to help you achieve optimum results when buying a house and we want to help make your dreams come true. When you want the best Sunnyvale has to offer, you want Nil Erdal and her team.
C2 – Second Commitment: Hiring a Mortgage Broker or Lender
When you are buying a house, you’ll need to know early on how much of a loan you’ll qualify for and get approved. Having an approval letter from a lender saves you time because it helps you focus on homes and neighborhoods you can afford. Secondly, an approval letter from a lender is pretty much a requirement today and is expected from any serious buyer before an offer can be made.
Finding the right mortgage broker or lender is not an easy task. You need to investigate whether you should work with a mortgage broker (who represents different lenders), or work directly with a specific lender. There are pros and cons to both.
Some lenders don’t work with mortgage brokers and only sign home loans directly to consumers. You’ll need to check critical items, including interest rates, points, loan fees, loan qualification requirements, the time requirements for getting loan approval and funding, paperwork requirements, the risks involved in working with a specific lender, etc. As your Buyer Agent, we can certainly help you with this step in the home buying process.
S2 – Second Stage: Searching for your Dream House
The second stage of the buying process involves identifying and getting in to see homes that match your criteria, such as neighborhood, age of the home, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, size of the living area, etc.
Initially your criteria for the home you’ll buy may be broad and general. A broad view of the housing market will give you good experience and build your knowledge of what types of homes are available and what asking prices are like.
As you become more familiar with different neighborhoods, school districts, types of available homes and their price ranges, you’ll start fine tuning your home search criteria.
As you become more interested in a specific home, we, as your Sunnyvale Buyer Agent, gather more information about the house, review its disclosure package, talk to the seller’s agent and run a comparative market analysis for that neighborhood. Based on all the information gathered, we then discuss the pros and cons of making an offer and review potential offer prices and terms that are in your best interests.
Sometimes you may be faced with multiple offer situations on the house you like. Or, you may be making an offer on a house that just came on the market or one that has been on the market for a long time. As your agent, we’ll review this information as it pertains to your specific goals in order to devise the right strategy for you.
We’ve been helping Sunnyvale home buyers for over 23 years, so you can be completely confident in our experience and knowledge to help you buy your dream house successfully.
C3 – Third Commitment: Making an Offer
The second stage in the process of buying a home is followed by the third critical commitment: making an offer. Once an offer or offers are received by the sellers, they have to make a decision to accept, counter or reject all offers.
As your Sunnyvale Buyer Agent, our experience, knowledge and negotiation skills become a critical asset for you during this stage. Having the right real estate agent representing you when buying a home could literally save you thousands of dollars in the end. That’s why choosing the right agent is critical when you are buying a house. And that’s exactly why you’ll want Nil Erdal’s team on your side.
S3 – Third Stage: Pending State; Contingency Period
At the end of the process of buying a house, all the hard work and negotiations pay off and your offer is accepted. Then, the contract typically goes into what is called the “pending” state.
During this time, if necessary, you’ll proceed with further inspections and gather more information about the house to make sure you know all the facts before making a final commitment to purchase. During this period you’ll also work closely with your mortgage broker or lender to make sure all of the financing paperwork has been completed and that you have a commitment from the lender for funding. Once that’s been accomplished, you’ll remove any contingencies and make a final commitment to buying your dream house.
S4 – Fourth Stage: Pending State; Final Escrow Steps
Once you’ve removed all contingencies, you’ll be in the final phase of escrow. During this stage, the title and escrow company, you as a buyer, your agent, and your lender take active roles in making sure escrow closes successfully.
All of the formal documents are prepared and signed for the recording of the change of title from the seller to you, as the new owner. Our role as your buyer agent in this stage is to coordinate the many activities and important dates, ensure that repairs, appraisals and re-inspections are done in a timely manner, and assist you with your moving plans.
S5 – Fifth Stage: Closing
Congratulations! You’ve made it through the process of buying a house and have successfully purchased your dream home!
This occurs when the funds are transferred from your lender to the escrow company and when we receive confirmation from the county that title has been officially recorded in your name.