An agent can explain to you the process, prepare you for the steps and refer you to a lender.

A pre-approval is something you obtain from a lender. It outlines how much you can spend on a home and what homes you qualify for.

Your real estate agent will discuss with you your wants/needs and send you homes for review that meet your criteria and loan type.

Once you’ve decided on a home your real estate agent will prepare an offer for you and present it to the seller’s agent.

Once your offer is accepted you will schedule an inspection with an inspector of your choice. The inspector will inspect the home and provide you a report of their findings.

After an accepted offer your lender will assign an appraiser to appraise the home and give an opinion of value. Lenders will not finance more than what the appraiser determines the value to be.

After an accepted offer there are a lot of moving parts that must fall into place. Your real estate agent is their to guide you through the process. Typically, you can expect 30-45 days from accepted offer to closing.