Get Your Feet Wet
Calculate how much house you can afford
Look at your current debts and income and consider how much money you can reasonably afford to spend each month on a mortgage
Use Rocket Mortgage’s® Home Affordability Calculator to get a rough idea of how much of a mortgage you can afford
Save for a down payment and Closing Costs and Credits
Save for down payment (anywhere between 3-20%) of purchase price
Save for down payment (anywhere between 2-5%) of purchase price
Track sale prices and inventory in your market
Find out if you live in a disclosed or non-disclosed state
Set up account on Zillow or Redfin
Create and save a search with your interested filters
Check back at least weekly to see what inventory is being moved and at what price
Jump In
Get pre-approved for a mortgage
Contact your local bank or any mortgage lender for a pre-approval
Find and negotiate with the right real estate agent
Find an agent that knows the area well or have a wealth of experience
Negotiate your Agent’s Fees
Begin house hunting
Go to open houses
Or ask your agent to schedule viewings
Follow Through
Make an offer on a house using your agent or The Agent Free Guide
Once you have a ratified contract, shop for mortgage rate
Call your pre-approved bank and ask for a refresh on rate
Go to bankrate.com and see what options are available
Make sure to ask about all the lender’s fees, each lender has a different pay structure
Get a home inspection
Research or get refer an inspector
Schedule inspection, note that depending on size of house, this could take anywhere between 2 hours to half a day
Watch a few youtube videos of home inspection and prep questions you want to ask
Reach out to your lender to schedule a home appraisal
Ask for repairs or negotiate credits based on inspection result
Do additional due diligence if need be
For an old house, I recommend getting a plumber to check the line from house to street
Get a specialist to come out if anything looks to be problematic (foundation, electrical, etc)
Do a final walkthrough after repairs are completed
Close on your new home at title company office, your house, or anywhere else (my closings are remote these days)