The process of buying a house is super exciting but equally daunting. From analyzing the local financial conditions to evaluating your personal financial situation, you have to consider so many different things.
On the top, if you are planning to buy your dream home in the Golden State, you have a huge work cut out for you. Buying a house in California means you have to find the best real estate agent, start a property hunt, bargain deal with a seller, and so much more. The process is quite long, but it’s something that you should enjoy because you are buying a house in California 2020 – what more could you ask for now.
9 Steps to Buy a House in California
However, if you are buying a house for the first time, you must be nervous, and all the complicated layers of the house buying process must have overwhelmed you. But, don’t be, just do your homework properly and you will be fine. There are a few things to know before buying a house in California, so study them first before starting the process.
#1. Find the Ideal Location in California
California is a very big state, with 482 cities and borderline stretched from the Pacific to the Mexican border. Californian terrains include Central Valley farmlands, glamours of Los Angeles, widespread redwood forests, pristine Bay Area, and so much more. Thus, you have to foremost find the ideal place to buy a house in California.
Once you have found a suitable place in California to settle down, next, you have to check out all the housing localities to buy your dream home. It is one of the tedious steps to buy a house in California, but it is very important so take it seriously.
#2. Evaluate the Housing Prices in the City
In the process of buying a house, the second step is to evaluate the local property rates in your city. Each city in California has different house rates based on geographical, demographical, economic, political, and numerous other factors. Thus, you should prepare a price list of the best housing properties in your city. Averagely, a California home costs $440,000, but it could be lower and higher too.
#3. Define your Budget
Once you have gotten a fair idea about local California housing prices, in the next step, you have to define your financial resources. You need to know whether you are eligible to get a mortgage or not. It completely depends upon your financial health – you will get a mortgage or not. While defining your budget, you have to evaluate the following pointers –
- Credit Score – more than 620 for conventional score
- Debt to Income Ratio – 36% of your income on debt
- Down Payment – 20% of the house cost
#4. Selecting the Best Realtor
The most prominent things to know before buying a house in California is how to find the best real estate agent. A Realtor is a person who will help you in finding the right property under your budget. Most California houses are registered under the California Association of Realtors; thus, you have to hire the best realtor to find the best house. You can find a good realtor by –
- Searching online on the various realtor websites
- Walk into a real estate brokerage in your area
- Get a referral from your friends or family
- Attending open houses
A good brokerage firm and agent that you feel comfortable with will make the entire process fun and successful for you, you will flow through the process with ease and help you prevent from making many mistakes. You always win more by having your representative that understand your market and your needs.
A good agent can help you buy your new home for the best possible price.
#5. Going Through the Property Documents
When you are investing your life saving for buying a house in California, you have to endure that all the property documents are up to date. There are plenty of different documents that you need to consider before buying a legitimate property, such as Title Deed, Master Plan, House Plan Approval, and so much more. You can hire a property attorney to help you out in the document evaluation – if your budget allows.
#6. Get Mortgage Approval
Most sellers don’t show the house unless you have a mortgage approval letter with you. Sellers don’t want to waste time with people who aren’t financially ready to buy the house. With the mortgage approval letter, you are providing assurance to the seller that if deals work out, you are ready to buy the house. Your mortgage approval letter highly depends upon your financial situations, so keep that straight.
#7. Run a Background Check on Seller
Yep, you should run a background check on the potential sellers to know why they are actually selling the property. Some people have genuine reasons to sell their house, and some don’t – and that’s a warning bell. Thus, you should analyze the background to make sure that his or her motives are genuine, and there’s no fraudulent or surprise waiting up for you.
#8. Take a House Tour
Do you buy clothes before trying? No right, how can you buy a house in California before taking a tour? So, folks, you should request the seller to provide a full house tour before making the final deal. While visiting the houses, you should take someone with you for a second opinion and ask the seller to give you a few moments alone. In the house visit, try to imagine you and your family in the house – and you will get the answer.
#9. Time to Get the House Keys
After going through all the steps to buying a house in California, you are all set to get the keys to your new home. Once you sign all the paperwork and make the final payment, you become the proud owner of a beautiful house in California.
Phew! You have to go through so many different steps to buy a house in California – from mortgage approval troubles to finding the right neighborhood. Now, if you don’t want to go through all this house buying hassle, you can trust the Pannazz – a leading digital real estate platform conceptualized by the industry experts. With our digital platform, you can perform all the steps to buy a house in California online and reduce your workload. Now, the choice is yours – do you want quick and effective solutions or not?
