Buyer’s Guide

 

Once you’ve decided to purchase, you want to consider your specific needs. Do you need a specific number of bedrooms and bathrooms? Do you need a home office? Is a large backyard preferred, or do you need low maintenance? Real estate in the Arlington Heights area offers a variety of home types to suit everyone’s preferences. Together, we will analyze your wants versus needs and create a plan of action. Once we’ve done the specifics, we can discuss how much you’d like to spend each month. This will help with the following steps as well.

 

You’ll want to organize your finances, create a budget, and obtain preapproval to ensure a smooth process. This will give you an idea of how much home you can afford and give you a deeper look at your budget. We can provide references to lenders who can help you determine your purchasing power. This won't mean much if you’re paying in cash, but organizing your finances should always be your first step.

 

 

Once everything is in order, it’s time to search for your perfect home. This is where things begin to become more tangible, and you get more control. Like most people, you’ll likely begin your search online with your desired preferences. These include your desired number of bedrooms and bathrooms, school districts, lot sizes, amenities, etc. We will compile a selection of Multiple Listing Service listings for you to review, which will broaden your search.

 

Once you’ve found your perfect home, it’s time to make an offer. Though this process takes time and patience, we’ll guide you through it from start to finish. We will begin by submitting an offer for you. We’ll determine whether the home is priced appropriately and draft a letter outlining the price, timeline, and closing date. We’ll also negotiate on your behalf if necessary. With a bit of time and our expert negotiation skills, we’ll hopefully come to an agreement and move forward rather quickly. Once the seller accepts the offer, we’ll draft contracts and move on to the next steps.

 

Once your offer has been accepted, you’ll go through the inspections, contract reviews, mortgage applications, and closing process. If the inspections go well, you can proceed to the next step. If there are potential issues, you can ask the seller to fix them or provide you with credit to fix them yourself. Once our trusted attorneys review your contract and determine everything is good, we’ll proceed with the application process. Next, you’ll pay earnest money, which can be up to 5% of the purchase price but is usually under $1,000.

 

Finally, it’s time to go through closing. This process includes finding homeowner’s insurance, transferring the down payment and remaining funds due, signing contracts and paperwork, and receiving the keys to your new Mount Prospect home. Then you can celebrate and move into your new home.

 

For expert assistance buying a home in Arlington Heights and the surrounding areas, including Roselle, Palatine, and Mount Prospect, Holly Connors and her team are here to help.