Could someone run through the steps of buying a home with me....

Hi, this is Tara from LIW- known as GettinHutched over there.

DH and I are looking in NJ....we've actually found a house we're interested in. We're obviously VERY green as we've never bought a house before. These might seem like really dumb questions so bear with me...

Let's say we make the offer. We have to put down some sort of payment to show we're serious right? Am I right in assuming all payments would have to be with a certified check? And this payment is counted as part of the main deposit, right?

At closing, we obviously pay our deposit and closing costs. Is the realtor's fee a part of closing costs? Any other fees or payments we should be prepared for? How much should we have set aside for this? (I was told closing costs could be somewhere around 8k, but I wonder if there's anything else we should be prepared for.)

The mortgage will obviously be in both of our names. Right now we only have a joint savings- no joint checking. Will this be a problem? Does the certified check have to be in both of our names?

Thanks so much!!!!!

Message edited 10/31/2007 8:42:50 PM.

Re: Could someone run through the steps of buying a home with me....

You don't have to make any payment when you make an offer. Sometimes the REA will take a check (not certified) for a nominal amount - maybe $100, but of the 6 offers we made, that happened once, and the check was torn up when we pulled the offer.

When you get an accepted offer and go to contract, you'll provide a portion of your downpayment (we gave a personal check for 5% of the 20% we were putting down)

Closing costs vary based on taxes, etc. You can roughly estimate they'll be 3-5% of the purchase price. The downpayment at closing is a certified check.

The seller pays the realtor from the proceeds of the sale. The buyer typically does pay the realtor unless you specifically higher a buyers agent.

This is how it worked for us - NJ may be a little different...

Re: Could someone run through the steps of buying a home with me....

Re: Could someone run through the steps of buying a home with me....

Posted by TaraHutched

Thanks Lisa! We are using a buyer's agent...so I would imagine we pay her somehow. Any idea how that works?

Thanks!

Re: Could someone run through the steps of buying a home with me....

Hi! I'm in NJ too - where are you looking?

I used a buyer's agent here in NJ and never paid them. Their fee was part of the amount paid by the seller and was split with the seller's agent.

So, after you place an offer (usually in NJ you give a $1000 check that they don't cash until the offer is accepted), and it is accepted by the seller, you get a home inspection, negotiate any issues you find, move into contract phase where you original contract goes to the lawyers...negotiate some more...and hopefully all goes well you get your mortgage commitment and you go to closing. Your lawyers in NJ take care of your title work unless your mortgage company stipluates they want to do it.

We did multiple offers on homes, sometimes the checks were from my account, sometimes his. The important thing is that your offer and your contract stipulate both names.

Closing costs in NJ should run about 8-10 for a 350-400K house. Depending on the area.

Good luck - and welcome - this board has great information!

Message edited 10/31/2007 10:18:25 PM.

Re: Could someone run through the steps of buying a home with me....

we didn't have to put a good faith deposit in ($100)...When we put down the downpayment DH wrote a personal check from his checking account ONLY after we signed contracts..the check will stay in the lawyers escrow account until closing. All other costs at closing need to be in the form of certified check I believe. At closing we need to pay taxes , our lawyers fee, mortgage fees, title search and probably some more things. Our lawyer said we give one certifed check and then it is divided out among all that get $$$$. Not looking forward to parting with all of that $$$

Re: Could someone run through the steps of buying a home with me....

Thanks ladies! You've been so helpful!

Leese - I'm actually looking in Hawthorne, NJ. Where in NJ are you?

I guess I'm getting confused with a good faith deposit and the down payment...my mortgage guy said something about $8000 for a downpayment. I'm sooo confused. I figured this was a good faith downpayment?

Okay...so when it comes time for closing, the taxes, lawyers fee, mortgage fees, title search....does that all go into that one lump sum for closing costs? Should I be prepared to pay more than just closing costs? Or are the things Kathleen listed all part of closing costs?

I just want to make sure we have the money we need...not only for deposit on the house, but closing costs as well or anything else that might come up.

THANK YOU!!

Message edited 11/1/2007 8:34:26 AM.

Re: Could someone run through the steps of buying a home with me....

The $8000 is part of your overall down payment. It will get put into the lawyer's escrow account until closing.

The rest of your down payment and all closing costs (which will include taxes, lawyer fees, mortgage fees, title stuff, etc) will be told to you a day or two before you close. You rush to the bank to get a certified check and at closing they divy it up among everyone who needs to get paid. You should only have to bring that one check to the table. Sometimes they under estimate and you need to write a small check here or there, but you could get lucky (like us) and they over estimate, and you get money back.

Re: Could someone run through the steps of buying a home with me....

what everyone said is correct-

luckily for you in NJ they dont have mortgage recording tax!!!

Re: Could someone run through the steps of buying a home with me....

Posted by TaraHutched

Thanks ladies! You've been so helpful!

Leese - I'm actually looking in Hawthorne, NJ. Where in NJ are you?

I guess I'm getting confused with a good faith deposit and the down payment...my mortgage guy said something about $8000 for a downpayment. I'm sooo confused. I figured this was a good faith downpayment?

Okay...so when it comes time for closing, the taxes, lawyers fee, mortgage fees, title search....does that all go into that one lump sum for closing costs? Should I be prepared to pay more than just closing costs? Or are the things Kathleen listed all part of closing costs?

I just want to make sure we have the money we need...not only for deposit on the house, but closing costs as well or anything else that might come up.

THANK YOU!!