9 Steps to Owning

9 Steps to Owning a Home in Orlando & Central Florida

Are you purchasing a new home in Central Florida? Sue King of Greater Orlando Realty Realty USA, Inc. can help.

Buying a home is intimidating for many people, but with some up-front planning and a good real estate broker it can be easy and stress free. Just so you know exactly what to expect in buying a home, we would like to outline to our home buyers an overview of the whole real estate process. Below are our nine steps to purchasing a home.

Step 1 – Preparing to buy a home in Orlando

Before you begin your home search, there are many things you need to contemplate. It's likely that you'll want to assemble a checklist of items you want to have, get a feeling for what neighborhoods you'd like to live in, and begin planning around your budget. Ensuring your mortgage payment is no more than 30 percent of your monthly income is a good principle to follow.

Step 2 – Get in touch with a real estate agent in Orlando

This is where Sue King and her team at Greater Orlando Realty USA, Inc. comes in. We would be happy to schedule a time to get together with you and speak with you about your real estate needs and get an idea of your plans for the future. We'll talk about the various neighborhoods and schools in the Central Florida area, the mortgage and housing industries, and any additional economic factors that may affect your purchase today or in the future.

In addition, we will assist you in getting started on your loan. There are some very good mortgage professionals in Orlando and throughout Central Florida, and we partner with a lot of them, so you're in great hands. They will assist you with deciding which type of loan is best for you and help you get qualified to buy a home.

Step 3 – Start looking for a house

Following our initial meeting, we will begin finding available Central Florida houses on the market that are good for you. We will get a sneak peek of most of the homes and eliminate the duds, and then we'll book appointments to view the homes in the Central Florida areas you have selected an make an appointment to see them whenever it's convenient for you.

When we tour the houses, we will identify positive features and bad ones. We will also ask you about things you like and don't like. It's common for buyers to update their must-have list as we tour homes and some features become more crucial than others. If such is the case, we will look through the listings one more time and narrow it down to the home you've been dreaming about.

Step 4 – Get a grasp of the Central Florida housing market

Your real estate agent or company's understanding of the Central Florida home market is a necessary component in your home search. At Greater Orlando Realty USA, Inc., we can assure you we are conscious of all the schools and neighborhoods in Orange County as well as all of our neighboring counties. We always quickly inform you what areas are "hot" and require prompt action plus the ones that are "cold" and allow for thoughtful examination. As we view houses, we analyze the asking price to tell you if the list price has room for negotiation or if we believe the home is "priced to sell." When working with an agent, be careful and be sure to ask lots of questions, as every REALTOR® in Orlando will convince you they know the housing market. If things don't add up, just call us at (407) 492-9353 or e-mail us and we would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Our knowledge of the Central Florida real estate market will help you stay a step above the rest throughout the entire deal.

Step 5 – Find your dream home

We are confident we'll find your dream house in Central Florida. When we do, we will thoroughly create your real estate purchase offer. The offer will be tailored to suit your needs, including some contingencies, such as obtaining financing, finishing the inspection, and a clean title.

Let Greater Orlando Realty USA, Inc guide you through finding your dream home in Orlando. Upon submitting your purchase offer, most likely you'll need to present "earnest money." This is a cash deposit given to the seller to secure an offer to buy the property, and it's most often applied to the cost of closing. If your offer is accepted, we should close within 30 to 60 days after. This allows ample time for your mortgage financing.

Step 6 – Negotiate the deal

A lot of contracts don't close on the initial offer – it's pretty common to receive a counter offer. Don't let it alarm you. We'll discuss whether or not to accept the counter offer, propose our own counter offer, or refuse the seller's offer and move on.

The state of the market will play a part in how aggressively we negotiate the contract. In addition, we'll work within your financing budget. And when it's all said and done, we'll assemble a contract that is best for you.

Step 7 – Obtain financing for your Florida Home

Once the contract is finished, you'll begin working with your mortgage lender to close the loan. If you're pre-qualified, it shouldn't take long at all, but you should to keep in close contact with your lender. And we will take care of all the property information your mortgage lender needs to close the loan.

Step 8 – Close the deal

Your mortgage lender will provide you with a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) outlining your closing costs within three days of accepting your loan application. This estimate depends on the loan amount. RESPA requirements order that it has to include all closing costs and fall within a precise range of accuracy, and we will study the estimate and let you know if everything looks good.

Then we'll close on your house. This will probably occur at a title company or escrow office and will likely be a smooth and stress-free event.

Step 9 – Move in

Congratulations! Now you can move into your new home. Enjoy it. And if you need anything, simply call us at (407) 492-9353 or send us an e-mail.