The Home Buying Process Timeline: A Helpful Guide

One study after another has suggested that buying a house is one of the most stressful things that people will ever take part in. This is at least partly because the home buying process timeline can take a while to play out.

So, how long does it take to buy a house? Well, in reality, it all depends.

Some people are able to go through with buying a home in a matter of just a month. But others spend months on end trying to find the perfect home.

If you’re anxious about buying a home, you should seek to put your mind at ease by familiarizing yourself with the home buying process timeline. It’ll ensure that you know what to expect when buying a house and planning a move.

Here is a helpful guide that will show you which steps you’ll have to take when purchasing a home.

Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage

If you’re thinking about buying a house, you might be tempted to run right out to start your search for one. But you’ll be making a big mistake if you do this.

Instead of taking this approach to shopping for a home, you should kick things off by getting pre-approved for a mortgage. This will give you a general idea as to what you can spend when buying a home.

The last thing that you want to do is fall head over heels in love with a home and then realize later that it’s well outside of your price range. It should only take a few minutes to get a mortgage pre-approval.

Begin Looking for a Home to Buy

After you’re able to get pre-approved for a mortgage, you can begin to shop for homes in your desired area. You should put together a long list of features that you would like to find in a home and then see what’s available out there.

You might get lucky and find the perfect house within just minutes. You might also spend several weeks before you find anything that you’re even remotely interested in.

Whatever the case, you should attend open houses and schedule private tours of homes to get a sense of which homes you might like. You should eventually stumble upon one that checks all the boxes for you.

Put In an Offer on a Home

When you come across a house that you like, you should pounce all over it and put an offer in ASAP. The real estate market has been hot as of late, so there’s a good chance that this house isn’t going to stay on the market for long.

You’ll want to figure out what you would be willing to pay for a home and put an offer in on it as soon as you can. You’ll then have to sit back and wait while whoever is selling your home considers your offer and decides whether or not to accept it.

Fill Out a Mortgage Application

In a perfect world, a seller will accept your offer and you’ll get the green light to buy their house from them. But this won’t be the end of the home buying process timeline!

There are a bunch of things that you’ll still have to do after offer acceptance. One of the most important things that you’ll need to do is fill out a mortgage application.

During this part of the process, you’ll have to provide a mortgage lender with a wide range of financial information. It’ll include things like pay stubs, tax returns, and more.

Secure a Loan to Buy a House

After you fill out a mortgage application, you’ll need to spend at least a couple of weeks in most cases going back and forth with a lender to secure a loan. the underwriting process—which is a process that involves an underwriter combing through your finances—will take a relatively long time.

You can keep things moving along by responding to your lender’s phone calls and emails and providing them with whatever info they might need. The sooner you can send this info over to them, the sooner they’ll be able to provide you with a home loan.

Obtain a Closing Disclosure

Once you’ve been approved for a mortgage, it’ll almost be time for you to take ownership of a house. But before you do, you’re going to receive a closing disclosure from a lender.

At that point, you will have three days to look over the terms of your loan to make sure that you’re OK with it. If you’re confused about any aspect of your loan, you’ll want to touch base with your lender as soon as you can to clear things up.

Close on a Home

As long as you’re able to make it through all the other steps associated with the home buying process timeline, you’ll be able to close on the home you want to buy. You’ll have to sign a million and one forms and have them reviewed by a real estate attorney before getting the keys to your new house.

This step is the most exciting part of the whole process. It’ll make all of the other steps well worth it once you have the keys to your new home in your hands.

Follow Along With the Home Buying Process Timeline

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to skip any of the steps that go along with the home buying process timeline. Buying a house overnight just isn’t an option these days.

But you can make it your mission to work through each of the steps listed here as quickly as you can. It’ll keep the home buying process moving and make it way less stressful than it would be otherwise.

Would you like to learn about the processes associated with taking out other types of loans? Discover more about them by reading through more of our blog articles.