How to buy a home

I know the title sounds silly, everyone knows how to do that right? Maybe they do but not the way it should be done.

First off don't go talk to a realtor first. Not until you have been pre-approved for a loan from a mortgage professional. I highly recommend using one that is local to your transaction also. There are many reasons, someone local has ties to the community and hopefully a sense of responsibility. A local lender also knows the quirks of each county and state in as well as the ability to pull together information quickly for your review. Take a look at other lenders and you will see they almost always recommend someone local to you.

Once you have been approved for the loan or rather pre approved then it's time to out and find the house of your dreams. That's the fun and easy part. Once you have done that it's time to write the contract and settle the loan. It doesn't matter where you settle right? Just let the agent pick the title company right? WRONG.

Once the agent orders title they will have little contact with the attorney. The loan officer will have contact at numerous points with the title company. Think of it this way, who does the title comapny send the title work to when it's ready? Who does the lender and the title company work with to clear up all the last minute snags that know one knows about? Not the realtor but the loan officer. It also makes a huge difference in dollars to you sometimes, realtors by design don't really know about the fees that are charged. Same thing goes for letting your realtor pick the lending agent. It may work out it may be an extremely bad idea. Take a look at my co-worker Josh Burley's on Localism.com for another view.