When buying real estate, you will find an entire team of people who help you buy a home. They assist you in everything from finding a suitable house to closing the transaction.
Each of these people is professional. They are responsible for guiding you through different parts of the transaction.
When I bought my home, I had no idea whom to approach. I didn’t even know that the process would involve so many people. It all started with a broker, who led me to find more people through his network.
Each individual plays an important role in your purchase journey. If you are a first-time buyer, I hope my explanation will help you to understand the key players.
You can use this blog to familiarize yourself with the person who helps in buying a home.
The people you will meet during the process of buying the home
How do we usually decide to become a homeowner? We develop budgets, make savings plans, and estimate our financial situation.
In this process, you will meet many professionals who will become a part of your buying experience. You may never even meet the person who helps in buying a home. But each of them will have an important role in your home-buying process.
Person who helps in buying a home
So, who enables you to buy a house?
When buying real estate, you will see an entire team who will help you complete the transaction. The good side is that they are professional and take responsibility for handling different parts of the process.
In the following, I will provide a list of people who will help you buy a home. I have segregated them into phases for your better understanding.
Before you sign the contract
The following people will get involved before you sign the contract. Before you sign the contract, you will deal with the following people: You must stay in touch with them through the entire mortgage process.
- The mortgage lender
The mortgage lenders are not a person to be specific about, but they play an important role in your entire home-buying process.
Firstly, mortgage lenders are institutions that specialize in helping with finances and home loans. Independent mortgage lenders, creditors, and banks can all be considered mortgage lenders.
- The mortgage banker
Secondly, you would need a mortgage banker. These mortgage bankers are mostly called loan officers or loan consultants. They become the main element of your entire contract.
The mortgage bankers are mostly financial professionals. They guide you in determining the money you can borrow as a home loan. You are free to choose any mortgage banker you want to work with.
They can guide you through the application process, get your credit reports, arrange your important documents, and choose the loan product that suits you. This way, they assist you from the start to the end of your mortgage process.
- Real estate agent
Real estate agents are mostly known as realtors or brokers. These professionals have licenses and training in negotiation for purchasing and selling real estate.
To be specific, a real estate agent is a person who owns a real estate license. Realtors are members of the National Association of Realtors or NAR, which also owns real estate licenses.
Realtors are required to meet more specifications set by the association. Brokers own a broker license along with their real estate license. They can hire and screen employees to work under them.
Real estate agents generally guide you to research the real estate market. They help you to find a home that fits your needs. Other than that, they also:
- Negotiate sales contract
- Answers questions while closing a deal
- Advise on property values.
You can choose your real estate agent just like your mortgage broker.
- Seller
In simple words. Sellers are the ones who put their property or home up for sale.
- Agents of the seller
You will have a person who helps in buying a home. Similarly, the sellers also have agents who guide them through the selling process.
These agents are also known as listing agents. They specifically help agents list properties for sale in the real estate market.
Once you are under the contract and organizing the loan
These professionals help you to sign the contract and organize the loan based on your needs.
- Home inspector
The process of home inspection is voluntary. I highly recommend collaborating with a home inspector. You can hire a home inspector. They can guide you in checking the structure and condition of the home. This includes:
- Electrical lines
- Heating
- Venting
- Air conditioning
- Plumbing
- Roofing
Your real estate agent can request an inspection once you sign the contract and submit your escrow deposit. The home inspector will provide a report of all the findings. Based on that, you can further negotiate with the seller for the repair.
- Appraiser
Property appraisers are responsible for providing a professional opinion on the condition of your home. They can compare it with other houses that have the same features. The appraisers are also responsible for valuing your home and land based on current marketing data.
- Market value: A comprehensible comparison between all the properties from the same area sold recently.
- Income: An estimation of rental income that the property can produce.
- Cost: This includes the calculation of land value, the cost of the entire building, and the cost of making improvements. It does not include the property’s depreciation.
Moreover, these appraisals help ensure you or your lender is not overpaying for the property.
- Production team
The production team specifically works on the loan packages. You may only have to communicate with the production team while buying a property.
In some cases, the production team can also seek additional information from someone working directly with the mortgage bankers. These people can be assistants, processors, closers, or even underwriters.
- Home insurance agent
Homeowners insurance mainly helps to protect their homes against all kinds of disasters. The agents will give you specific quotations, quotes, and packages based on different levels of coverage.
The rest is up to you. You are free to choose the company and their policies. But you can only have it when you have the mortgage.
Attorneys (also known as settlement agents)
The settlement agent or attorney mainly examines various public records. This helps them determine the overall legality of transferring ownership from the seller to the buyer. After that, they issue title insurance for the buyer’s property.
Attorneys can help you to schedule a closing as well. During the process of closing, they are responsible for the following process:
- Providing a legal description of the entire property.
- Identification of the legal property owner
- Identification of the hindrances, including defects of the past ownership changes of the property.
Other than that, the attorneys can also help you in:
- Bring all the documents
- Explain the documents to you
- Collect the overall closing cost
- Distribute the money.
Once these are done, they will ensure that your title and related documents are filed and stored properly.
You can choose an attorney on your own or rely on recommendations from your lender.
After closing the deal
Once your loan is closed, you may have questions, like who receives your monthly mortgage payments. In that case, you will need someone to contact.
Yes! Don’t worry; someone can help you in such cases.
Loan or Mortgage servicer
Once you finish the buying process, you will receive the keys to your home. This is where a loan servicer comes into play. They have started to manage the loan day-to-day.
For instance, the loan or mortgage servicer can help you with the following:
- Processing
- Billing
- Record keeping
- Other kinds of customer service needs.
What are the questions that you can ask to each of the individuals?
Your loan officer will be in contact with the mortgage brokers and lenders. The loan officer is most likely to fetch information about the type or term of loan you should get. While this process is going on, you can ask your officers the following questions:
- The advantages and disadvantages of fixed-rate and mortgage loans.
- How will the adjustable rate mortgage be calculated?
- The cost of closing.
- Requirements for down payments.
- Approval time for loans.
- If there are any penalties for prepayments.
- Loan terms in terms of repayment periods.
In conclusion
It is always important to remember that you are going to have a unique experience while buying your new house. Your experience might differ from others, and you may not encounter everyone on the list.
You may meet more person who helps in buying a home than I mentioned in my list. However, if you want a smooth purchasing process, you must choose lenders or mortgage bankers wisely.
Just choose the ones whom you can trust. On the other hand, I always recommend asking questions whenever things start to seem unfamiliar.
This blog will be useful to you and give you a unique home-buying experience. Good luck, and happy home hunting!
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