Buying Your Home: Closing The Deal

Congratulations! You've followed our home buying tips and the advice of your real estate agent and/or attorney and your offer to purchase has been accepted by the seller. You're officially on your way to purchasing a home! With this major step behind you, it's now time to finalize the process of getting a home loan to pay for the property. However, before you apply for a home loan, be sure to read the sales agreement carefully to make sure it includes several standard conditions designed to protect you, the buyer, when purchasing a home.

The Sales Agreement

A standard sales agreement should include a number of safeguards designed to protect you. These include:

Sales Details – The sales details spell out the agreed upon sale price and the date that the sale will close. It also clarifies who will be responsible for the closing costs.

Financing – Unless you are paying for your new home in cash, you must make it clear that you need to obtain a home loan from a lender (and at a specified interest rate or lower) in order to proceed with the sale.

Satisfactory Appraisal – Generally, the lender will arrange for an objective, licensed professional to appraise the property to ensure that the value is in line with the offer that has been accepted. However, you should include this requirement in the sales agreement such that if the property doesn't appraise for the purchase price, you're not obligated to proceed with the sale.

Satisfactory Inspections – Property inspections are to be performed by one or more licensed professionals. Although you, as the buyer, may have to cover the cost of these inspections, home inspectors can help to identify electrical and plumbing problems, as well as any structural defects within the home.

If the inspections reveal problems, you have the choice of either renegotiating a lower price in order to compensate for the expense of a repair job, or you can request that the seller make the necessary improvements before the sale takes place. For help in finding an inspector in your area, ask your real estate agent or contact our sister company, LandSafe.

Now that you've ironed out the details of the sale, all that remains is for you to secure your home loan! Read on to find out how choosing a home loan with us can make purchasing a home simpler, affordable and hassle-free.

Using these home buying tips will give you a head start in the hunt for your new home. If you have any further questions about purchasing a home or applying for a loan from Countrywide’s Full Spectrum Lending, be sure to call us at 1-800-909-8217.