• Choose your Attorney right away. (Your house will sell, be prepared in everyway)
  

• Have all the documents ready that your Attorney will need—Deed, Survey, Most recent Land and School tax bills, Certificate of Occupancy and all certificate of compliances for any improvements including swimming pools. (Swimming pools are not grandfathered in)
  

• Have your home ready to be shown at anytime. Agents deal with out of town buyers that sometime require short notice.
  

• It is the sellers obligation to make sure that smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are installed. This is a disclosure you will be asked to sign at the closing.
  
  

Getting Ready to Buy:

• The very first step is to be pre-qualified for a mortgage. You can actually go another step forward and have yourself pre-approved, which means the mortgage officer will start your application, check your credit, and your employment. If you take this step the Bank will only need to do an appraisal once you find your new home. This makes your Real Estate journey more enjoyable.
  
  
• When you find your dream home and have an accepted offer (fully executed purchase offer), the following steps take place:
  • You will order and complete your structural inspection.
    
  • Seller's Attorney will draw up legal contracts and send them to your attorney.
    
  • You will go in and review the contracts with your attorney, possibly make some changes which will be have to be approved with the seller's attorney. Upon signing of the contract you will have to put down contract money totally either 5 or 10%.
    
  • Your Attorney will then send the three copies of the contract back to the seller's attorney. The sellers will go in to their attorney's office to approve and sign the contracts.
    
  • The seller's attorney will then sign and return two copies of the fully executed contracts to your Attorney. Once your attorney receives the contracts back, and only then do you have completion of fully signed contracts.
    
  • Your Attorney will now send one copy of the fully executed contract to your bank.
    
  • Once the bank receives their copy of the contract, they will have all the necessary paperwork, Credit report, Employment verification, appraisal, to go to the board to determine whether they will issue a final mortgage commitment.
    
  • Upon receiving your mortgage commitment you need to contact your attorney because there will be stipulations that must be met, usually Title search and Survey. Attorney's usually wait for the mortgage commitment before doing the Title search and Survey since they are expenses to you.
    
  • Finally, a closing is set and your agent will do a "walk through" with you.