Buying a home takes years of hard work, financial discipline, and saving – so you want to make sure all your efforts don’t go to waste. Whether a first-time home buyer or not, you need a good, printable home buying checklist to help with your due diligence. Here is an ideal and easily printable home buying checklist for you, which you should keep with you as a reminder, especially if you’re a first-time buyer.
The List
- Do a Financial Check-Up
- Get a Budget
- Find a Realtor
- Hire a Lawyer
- House Hunting
- Inspection and Appraisal
- Document Authenticity
- Make an Offer
- Home Appraisal
- Close the Deal
1. Do a Financial Check-Up
Before you start house hunting, you should assess your buying capacity. Check whether you qualify for a mortgage with a Cincinnati mortgage lender, especially if it’s your first home. If you have saved enough to buy a home outright, you can skip this step.
2. Set a Budget
The Aussie real estate industry provides you a range of home options based on price. Go for what you can afford to avoid being trapped with financial problems down the track. Make sure you have the mortgage approved first, then start looking.
3. Find a Realtor
Once set and ready to go shopping for a house, find an experienced, reliable, and reputable realtor. This is to avoid getting scammed as there are many sharks in the real estate industry. If you trust someone and they have a good reputation, you’ll feel more comfortable signing a contract with them.
4. Hire a Lawyer
House buying in Australia is a legal process. For this reason, it is recommended that you hire a lawyer to help you through the process safely. They will help you with cross-checking property documents, among other legal issues. They can also inform you of any laws that might need to be considered before making the purchase, and afterwards.
5. House Hunting
With the realtor, lawyer, and mortgage approved, you can now start house hunting. Depending on the budget, your realtor will provide you a range of homes to select from. View and inspect a number of them thoroughly before settling on one.
6. Inspection and Appraisal
Inspection should be ‘capped and bolded’ in your printable checklist for buying a home because it’s very crucial. Make sure you have gotten inspection reports, especially if you are buying an old home or a mobile home. Older homes often have structural integrity issues. You can also carry out an independent inspection with a local handyman or building company.
7. Document Authenticity
Documentation is very crucial. You could be dealing with crooks and be sold a disputed house. Check the house’s document for authenticity, and this where your lawyers come in. Your legal representative can help confirm that everything is in order with the property, so you are safe to continue with the process.
8. Make an Offer
The offer should be based on the price of a property in that area. The price of previous home sales plus the condition of the home, especially of older homes, will guide you on the best offer. As with any other buying, haggle to get the best deal. As a general rule, you should be able to knock around 5-10% of the advertised cost of the home, but there’s no reason not to try for more!
9. Home Appraisal
Once the offer is accepted, you need to have the property appraised. Hire a licensed appraiser to determine how much the home is worth. This is an essential step for mortgage funding. Proper appraising ensures value for money.
10. Close the Deal
With the appraisal approved, you now close the deal. Make the payment, and sign all the paperwork with the help of your lawyer. Time to box up all your things and settle in to your new life in your wonderful new home!
