The home buyer’s guide

A pre-approval tells you what you can borrow and tells a seller your offer is real. Most sellers expect one with any offer. Getting it first also means you tour homes you can actually buy.

Your lender handles the loan. Your agent uses the letter when writing an offer and keeps the lender in step with the contract dates.

Before touring homes you sign a written agreement with your agent. It sets out what the agent does for you, how long the agreement lasts, and how the agent is paid.

Agent compensation is negotiable. Read the agreement, ask what you will pay and who pays it, and do not sign anything you do not understand.

Separate what you need from what you would like. Size, layout, commute, outdoor space, the condition you can live with, and the work you are willing to take on.

Visit an area at different times of day. Drive the commute at rush hour. Walk the streets. Public information about schools, crime and zoning is published by the relevant agencies, and your agent can show you where to find it.

Look past the paint and the furniture. Check the roof line, the windows, water stains on ceilings, the age of the heating and cooling, and the electrical panel.

Take notes and photos at every showing. After the fifth house they blur together.

An offer is more than a price. It sets the deposit, the contingencies you keep, the closing date, and what stays with the house. A seller weighs all of it.

Your agent looks at recent sales of similar homes to help you decide what to offer. When other buyers are interested, the terms often matter as much as the number.

Once your offer is accepted, the inspection period starts. A general inspection covers the structure and the systems; specialists can look at the roof, the sewer line, pests or anything the first report flags.

Sort the report into safety and major systems, things that will need money soon, and cosmetic items. Negotiate on the first, budget for the second, and let the third go.

Escrow holds the money and the documents until everything is ready. The appraisal, the loan approval, the title report and the disclosures all arrive in this period.

Every contingency has a deadline. Missing one can cost you your deposit or your right to walk away, so your agent tracks each date and tells you what each decision means before you make it.

A day or two before closing you walk through the home to confirm it is in the condition agreed and that any promised repairs are done.

At closing you sign the loan and transfer documents, the funds move, and the deed is recorded. Then you get the keys.