Rock Falls 
First Time Homebuyer
In this day and age buying a home raises tons of questions for someone who is a first time home buyer looking for a home in Sterling, Illinois. I know because I answer those questions on a daily basis. Over the years what I have found is that many of the same basic questions get asked over and over again.
My goal with this BLOG is to help you get you started with just the basics and to assist you in your house hunting search.
Getting Started: The first, most critical step, to owning your very own home is to examine how much home you can afford. A mortgage calculator is a good first step. You will need to enter some basic information and the system will give you an idea of how much home you may be able to afford. This should not be confused with getting pre-qualified. That comes next.
Getting Pre-Approved: It is advantageous to see a reputable lender right away to get the financial stuff out of the way right away. This serves many purposes. For starters it tells you how much home you can afford, what type of loan you can obtain, terms of the loan including interest rate, closing costs as well as how much down you will need if any. By getting this critical step completed you are in a position to make an offer on a home. Many buyers have lost a home to another buyer who took this critical step.
HOUSE HUNTING TIME: Now that you have completed the financial part, it is time to make a list of the must haves and the want to haves. There are many places you can look for a home. You can drive all over town looking for signs, you can look in the local newspaper, or you can go to a full service site that allows you to SEARCH ONLINE for all the homes in your area. I have a site that will allow you to do just that. This site has all the listings in Sterling, Rock Falls and Dixon Illinois as well as Whiteside and Lee Counties in Illinois. Registration is quick, easy and free!
Now comes the fun part, finding you your home. By working with your agent a sound home-search strategy can be employed to make quick work of the process. Once we have found the home that you like I will help prepare and review all the needed paperwork to make the offer to the seller and their agent setting forth your terms and conditions as well as providing them with a copy of the letter from your lender indicating your financial ability to buy.
OFFER ACCEPTED: So now that we are under contract I help arrange any of the inspections that you requested. Things like a whole house, systems, radon and pest among others are coordinated with you, the seller and the other agent. The lender also orders the appraisal and closing dates are scheduled. Soon you will be in that new home.
CLOSING Week: This is what we have all worked for. You should have been packing if you are moving in right away. Additional things to be done are getting the utilities turned over to your name, arranging for mail forwarding and more. I am there every step of the way.
CLOSING DAY: We made it...closing day. I will coordinate the final walk-thru prior to closing. This is where we visit the house one last time before you sign the final paperwork to make sure that all the items agreed to in the contract are met. We then go to the closing office to sign the mortgage and you get the keys.
Thank you for taking time to read this little blog. Please be sure to sop back often as I am always adding information regarding Sterling Illinois Real Estate as well as local information on the communities of Sterling, Rock Falls and Dixon Illinois and regional information on Whiteside and Lee Counties in Illinois.
This is just a start on your road to home ownership. To get my free homebuyers booklet you can request in HERE. This booklet covers all the home buying process. You can also get more tips as well as a host of information on Sterling Illinois Homes
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