Do you have the motivation to get into a new home in as little as three short months?
Is your goal to finally purchase a house this year? Are you looking for more or less space than your current home offers? Whatever your motivation, we’ve made it easier than ever to achieve your homeownership goals in just 90 days.
By breaking down the home-buying process into simple, weekly objectives, you’ll be able to…
- Better understand the process to prepare yourself to purchase a house;
- Start taking the necessary steps toward homeownership;
- Equip yourself with the tools and resources needed to buy a home!
If you want more detailed accountability on your home-buying journey, download our free 90 Days to Homeownership complete guide—we’ll go over each step of the process in more detail and provide some helpful resources along with it!
90-Day Home-Buying Timeline at a Glance:
- Week 1: How to know if you’re ready to buy a house
- Week 2: The process of buying a home made simple
- Week 3: Getting a home loan pre-approval letter
- Week 4: Identifying wants vs needs for your next home
- Week 5: Best methods for house hunting
- Week 6: What to do during a home tour
- Week 7: How to know if you’re buying the right house
- Week 8: Putting an offer on a home
- Week 9: What to expect when “under contract” on a home
- Week 10: The truth about home inspections
- Week 11: The process of “pre-closing” on a home
- Week 12: How to close on a new home
- Week 13: Enjoy your new home!
Week 1: Determining Your Readiness to Buy a Home
So, you want to buy a home… Maybe you’re tired of renting and want your own space. Or, maybe you’re ready for a change of scenery. But are you truly ready?
Purchasing a home is not only a huge financial decision, but also an emotional one. And while you can find plenty of online calculators to tell if you’re financially set, your emotional readiness is often overlooked.
To find out if you’re really ready to buy a new home, ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you ready to settle somewhere for a while?
- Do you desire more peace and quiet?
- Is your debt-to-income ratio in a healthy place?
- Do you WANT to buy a home?
If you answered “yes” to all of these questions, chances are you’re ready to buy a home! The first step towards homeownership is knowing with confidence that you’re ready and willing to start (and stick to) the journey. And it’s ok if you’re not ready yet… work on getting your mindset in the right place and come back!
Week 2: Simplifying the Home-Buying Process
The home-buying process consists of five simple steps. You could break them down further if you wanted to, but when it comes to the important stuff, you end up with the following:
- Pre-Approval
- Gather all required financial docs (per your bank or lender)
- Prepare for any additional costs (like closing costs)
- Locate down payment funds
- Obtain pre-approval or proof of funds from a lender
- House Hunting
- Hire a real estate agent (check out the team at Texas Living Company if you’re in the Houston area)
- Identify your needs & wants for a home
- Preview potential properties online
- Schedule showings with your agent
- Making an Offer
- Write an offer to purchase your favorite property
- Negotiate the terms of the offer with the seller & accept the contract
- Deposit escrow, complete loan application, and get homeowners insurance quotes
- Under Contract
- Conduct a home inspection
- Resolve any issues from the inspection report
- Your lender will order the home appraisal
- Obtain a homeowners insurance policy for your new home
- Officially apply for a home loan
- Closing
- Get the title search & survey from the lender
- Receive closing statement/clear to close
- Wire funds to the closing company to pay for the home
- Conduct a final walk-through of the house
- Show up to closing day to sign all the paperwork & get the keys to new your home
So many people jump straight to house hunting (cause it’s fun, duh) but you should get all your finances in order first to make things transition as smoothly—and quickly—as possible.
For in-depth details and resources for each step, remember to download our free 90 Days to Homeownership guide!
Week 3: Get a Mortgage Pre-Approval
If homeownership is one of your goals this year, then you’ll want to get a pre-approval letter first! But, a pre-approval letter is only valid for a couple of months. So, you’ll want to wait until you’re seriously ready to search for a home before getting one.
While prospective lenders will have plenty of questions for you, remember to ask question of your own, including:
- What type of loan do they recommend for you, and why?
- Will the down payment vary based on the loan?
- What is the interest rate and the annual percentage rate (APR)?
- Can you lock in the interest rate? For how long?
- What will the closing costs be? Are they a part of the loan?
Don’t understand something your lender says or don’t feel like they’re giving you enough information? Ask for clarification. Or, find a new lender! This is your home-buying journey; don’t be afraid to shop around for the right lender and loan.
Your real estate agent can be a great resource when it comes to working with lenders. Feel free to reach out to our team if you need help finding a good lender or need further explanation about pre-approvals!
Week 4: Identifying Wants vs. Needs
Identifying and prioritizing the things you actually need in your future home versus the things that are just “wants”, will help focus your home search and prevent wasted time. Obviously, “needs” are the non-negotiable features you won’t be able to live or function without. While “wants” are the things you’d like to have, but aren’t exactly deal-breakers.
Needs can look like:
- More square footage
- Number of bedrooms & bathrooms
- Fenced-in yard for a pet
Wants are typically things like:
- Certain paint colors
- Specific flooring type (like carpet, hardwood floors, or tile)
- Upgraded appliances or a kitchen island
At the end of the day, you should be thinking about the things you can’t change with the home when deciding if it’s the right house for you.
Your real estate agent can be a great resource for helping you come up with your needs and wants list for your new home. If you haven’t found one yet…contact us. We’ll get you squared away!
Week 5: House Hunting Best Practices
You’ve made it to the fun part: house hunting!
With your home-buying wants vs. needs list organized, you can start narrowing down the available listings you’ve found to decide which ones would be worth seeing in person. Here are some best practices when searching for a home online:
- Use search filters appropriately! You don’t want to tightly restrict your home search, but you also don’t want to overwhelm yourself.
- Expand your geographic search by about 10 miles
- Add 25K to your max listing price
- Filter by your top two home needs only
- Check out Google’s “Street View”. This will give you a better sense of the exterior of the house and the surrounding area.
- Always include “pending” or “under contract” listings! Pending contracts can fall through, so keep it on the list for your real estate agent to check into.
In addition to online house-hunting sites like Realtor.com and Zillow, your real estate agent also has access to tons of listings through the MLS and their network. Sharing the homes you found online with your agent will help them better know what to look for on their end. Plus, you’ll want them to set up showings for you!
If you’re looking to buy a house in the greater Houston area, check out our available listings and let us know if one meets your criteria!
Week 6: What to Do During Home Tours
You’re probably ready to see the inside of some homes by now. So, once you’ve got a short-list of houses you want to see in person, ask your real estate agent to schedule showings. Make sure to carve out more time than you think you’ll need for these—you don’t want to rush through a showing of a home that could potentially be “the one”!
Here are some essential things you should do during every home tour, showing, or open house to get the most out of each one:
- Review your needs list and revisit your budget.
- Take pictures and videos of each home you tour.
- Make sure you’re ok with the lot and location of the house.
- Don't get distracted by fancy home decor or home staging.
- Take your time!
If you’ve been going to open houses or trying to view homes without an agent, you may be struggling through an unsuccessful home-buying journey. Contact us with the homes you want to see, and we can get you going asap!
You can also download our free 90 Days to Homeownership comprehensive guide to get access to exclusive tools and resources designed to help you during your home search.
Week 7: Picking the Right Home to Buy
So, you think you’ve found the home of your dreams… But how can you know for sure? Here are some good signs:
- You’re still thinking about this house, even after seeing other ones
- You compare every other home you see to this one
- You've told all of your friends and family about this one house
- It checks off all of your needs for a home
- You keep driving by it “just to look”
Of course, there’s more to buying a home than the warm fuzzies, but you should feel excited when you find a house you love! Yes, it needs to meet your criteria and fit within your budget, but the adage usually does hold true—when you know, you know. Now, you need to get ready to make an outstanding offer…
Week 8: Making an Offer to Buy a Home
Once you’ve found a house you love and are ready to buy, you’ll want your offer to stand out from everyone else’s. While your real estate agent can help you write an outstanding offer that the sellers are sure to love, here are some good tips to help you out:
- Include your pre-approval letter
- Don’t lowball them with your offer
- Let them know if you don't need financing
- Offer to close quickly & only include contingencies if necessary
For a more detailed outline of writing a great offer for buying a home, download our free 90 Days to Homeownership guide!
Week 9: What to Expect While “Under Contract”
Once your purchase offer has been accepted by the sellers, there are only a few more steps until you’ve officially bought a new home! The next phase of your journey is being “under contract” on a house. Here’s what you can typically expect during this part of the home-buying process:
- You’ll meet with a mortgage lender & apply for a home loan
- You’ll schedule a home inspection & your agent will help negotiate any necessary repairs with the seller
- A home appraiser will evaluate the property & any changes to the purchase agreement will be negotiated
- Closing dates will be scheduled & important information will be communicated
Keep in mind that once a home is “under contract” a lot of things will happen behind the scenes. So, don’t worry if it’s quiet for a few days—people are hustling to get everything just right for your closing day. Of course, if you ever have questions or concerns about what’s going on during this part of the process, talk with your agent. And with any luck, you’ll be at the closing table in no time!
Week 10: The Truth About Home Inspections
Home inspections are arguably the most important part of the home-buying process. Yes. You need to get one. Technically, it’s not required… but you should never skip out on the home inspection! Why?
You may think your home is in perfect shape, but some of the costliest problems are usually the most difficult to spot: leaks, termite damage, foundation issues, poor ventilation, faulty wiring… just to name a few. A home inspection gives you the chance to have a professional assess the home for any problems that need to be addressed, replaced, or fixed, so you can know what you’re buying before you officially purchase it.
If you’re worried about finding a home inspector for your new home, contact us! We’ll get you connected with a professional you can trust.
While home inspections can be a costly, non-refundable out-of-pocket expense, it’s less expensive than having to repair major structural damage. Plus, a lot of times you can use the inspection report as a negotiating tool with the home sellers!
Week 11: The “Pre-Closing” Process
Once the home passes inspection and you’re ready to continue with buying it, you’ll need to officially apply for a home loan. When you do this, your mortgage lender will review everything for accuracy, and then give you the "clear-to-close". This means the loan underwriter has officially approved all the provided loan documentation and the funds can be handed over! But, here are some things that will need to happen first:
- Home Appraisal—A verification of the actual property value to protect both the lender and you from overpaying on the home. The purchase agreement is contingent upon whether the home appraisal comes in at or above the purchase price. If the home appraisal comes back lower, you’ll have to head back to the negotiating table.
- Land Survey—A physical map of all the property lines, land boundaries, and a few other things. The land survey helps everyone understand the full scope of the property you’re purchasing, not just the house itself.
- Home Title Search—A title company will conduct a title search to verify homeownership ( to see if the sellers can actually sell you the home) and to make sure there are no outstanding mortgage liens, unpaid taxes, or any other restrictions that would impact the transfer of property ownership.
If all of these things come back in good standing and without problems, your next stop is the closing table! So, it’s probably time to start thinking about a homeowners insurance policy.
Week 12: How to Close on a New Home
You’ve finally made it to the closing table! But what exactly does that mean? Well, here’s a breakdown of what you can typically expect on closing day…
Who will be there:
Typically, the home buyer (you!), the home seller, both real estate agents (the listing and the buyer’s agent), a closing attorney, your mortgage lender, and a representative from the title company will all be present at the signing and a part of the home closing.
What you will do:
Sign papers, of course! Don’t worry, this part is actually pretty easy. At the closing, the seller will sign ownership of the property over to you, then you’ll sign to receive possession and to release the funds for the purchase.
What you need to bring:
You’ll need to have a photo ID and a cashier’s check to pay any closing costs that you may be responsible for. Your real estate agent will tell you if any other documents specific to your situation are needed.
The closing process is relatively simple, but be prepared to sign a lot of paperwork. And always ask if you have a question about any of it! The good news is, once you’ve signed the last page, they’ll give you the keys to your new home and you can celebrate your purchase!
Week 13: Enjoy Your New Home!
Congratulations! You’ve succeeded in buying a home in 90 days! After the last 12 weeks, you're on your way to knowing the ins and outs of the home-buying process. Just think of all you’ve learned:
- How to know if you’re truly ready to start the journey to homeownership
- What a pre-approval letter is & questions to ask potential mortgage lenders
- How to identify wants vs. needs when shopping for homes to buy
- How to focus your home search and not waste valuable time
- What to do at home showings when you see a listing in person
- How to make an outstanding offer to buy a home you love
- How to navigate the home inspection period
- And so much more
The home-buying journey has a lot of moving parts and contains a ton of info, especially if you’re trying to expedite the process to three short months. But, if you feel confident and empowered about buying something as major as a home, it’s worth learning it all!
If you haven’t started your journey to homeownership yet, we’d love to help! Get connected with a real estate agent on our team who can help you achieve homeownership in 90 short days!