9 Steps to Buying Your First Home
Understanding the Home Buying Process

9 Steps to Buying Your First Home

Hi I'm Glenn Ferguson, your Bahamas Realtor,  with another video, revealing for you the insider secrets you need to know to avoid common home buying mistakes, save money and eliminate risk when buying your first home.

One of the questions you may be asking and one that I get asked a lot by most first-time homebuyers is, “What does the home buying process look like?" As you want to know what you can expect well.

This video is just for you and in it I will take you through the 9 Steps to Buying Your First Home and help you better understand the home buying process. 

First Step - Get Prequalified

The very first thing that you want to do if you intend on getting financing which is what most persons do, is get pre-qualified or pre-approved for your mortgage. 

You really want to be able to answer the question how much house can I afford, because this is critical to buying a home.  It really does not make any sense looking for a house until you know if you're going to qualify and how much you're going to qualify for.

Second Step - Find Your Comfortable Spending Zone

Secondly you want to find out what's your comfortable spending zone.  Forget about how much you can get qualified for because you may not want to spend as much as you can qualify for in a house.  

I think it's important that you feel comfortable with the monthly payment you are going to be making as it will be a long term commitment.  So find your comfortable spending zone.

Third Step - Get In Touch with Mortgage Specialist

The third  thing you need to do is to send your financial information to your mortgage broker or loan officer as soon as possible. While you may have been pre-approved or pre-qualified, you now need to know that you're able to actually qualify for the financing you need before you get started.  

Fourth Step - Select Real Estate Agent

Once you've done that the next thing you want to do is to pick a great realtor. You want to work with someone that you know you can trust and that has the expertise necessary to help you through the home buying process.

That means you want to be working with a Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) licensed real estate agent and you can see me applying for the job.

Fifth Step - Know What Your Housing Needs

The fifth thing you want to do is to make a list of the things you need in a house and a list of the things you want in a house these are two separate and distinct things, and notice I said need first, because sometimes we get carried away by what we want.  So I want you to get what you actually need in a house first.

Sixth Step - Start Looking (Call Glenn at 1-(242)-395-8495 

The sixth thing you want to do once you know what you need, then it's time to start looking.  Start looking at the neighborhood's you'd like to live in and this is all based on the lifestyle that you'd prefer for you and your family.  A great place to start is with your Bahamas Buyers’ Foreclosure for Sale Listing.

And you want to be discerning because this is a very important step, as you are looking for the house that you will be living in for a long time.

Seventh Step - Make An Offer to Buy

The seven thing that you want to do is that once you find that house you're looking for, then you want to make an offer and your real estate agent will be able to help you with your offer.

Once you've made the offer then you want to negotiate the best deal possible.  Again your Realtor can help you with this.

Eight Step - Get a Home Inspection

The eighth step in the home buying process comes once you've settled on a house, you really want to be sure and get it inspected.  You don't want to to do anything else until you get the house inspected, because having an inspection is critical to fully understanding the condition of the property that you are buying.

While visiting the house, it may seem flawless, it's a big mistake to assume that the house does not have any problems.  You can’t see what a home inspector can see and no house is perfect, all homes have defects even brand new ones.  

So getting a professional home inspection before making the commitment to buy is critical.  Be sure to attend the home inspection as well, so that the inspector can explain any issues in the house.

Ninth Step - Complete Your Mortgage

The ninth and final step in the home buying process comes after the inspection. Now it's time to go through the loan and financing process. So you want to get a new pen for this because you're going to sign about a million pieces of paper and have lots of patience because it does take some time, with the legal and other issues that need to be resolved.

Well congratulations you've now completed the nine steps in the home buying process and you are now a home owner.

If you have any questions about this so any other real estate issue, feel free to call or WhatsApp me directly at. 1-(242)-395-8495 or simply click ASK Glenn and I'll be happy to get you the answers you're looking for.