Step 3: Make an offer to buy a home

Congrats! You found a house you love! What’s next?

1. Determine Your Price: With your agent, you will determine how much you want to offer for the house based on the seller’s asking price, the market analysis your agent will evaluate, and what you know may or may not need addressing with the property.

2. Write Up the Offer: Your agent will schedule out the full timeline of the closing process, working with your mortgage lender (unless you are paying cash), on timing and choosing a date to sign and “close” on the house. You will sign digitally from your phone or device.

3. Submit the Offer: On your behalf, your agent will submit an official offer with a letter from your mortgage lender to show you are qualified.

4. Seller Decides: The seller will then have a set amount of time to respond to the offer and either accept, deny or counter-offer.

5. Congrats, You Got It: Once everyone agrees and signs, you are officially under contract on a new home! Now the clock starts! The process is usually 30-45 days.

Step 4: Go through the closing process to buy the home

Once you are under contract, there are several steps before officially owning the home:

1. Earnest Money: The first thing you will do is to make a small downpayment called “Earnest Money”. This deposit is much smaller than your downpayment for the house and is just a commitment to prove that you are serious about the house and qualified to buy it. You will take a check or cash to the title company and pay them directly (never your agent or the seller!). Make sure you have this money ready as it’s usually due 2-3 days after the seller agrees to the offer. This money will count toward your final cost of the purchase and can be refunded should you back out of the sale at any point.

2. Finalize Your New Mortgage: You will confirm with your mortgage lender that you are under contract and officially start the process to receive a loan for the purchase of a home. If you have not already done so, you will be sending a lot of paperwork about your financials: W2s, tax returns, etc. It will feel overwhelming but once all the paperwork is in, they go through the steps to get you money! Your lender will follow the dates set forth in the contract and work with your agent and the title company to ensure money is delivered on time for your closing!

3. An Appraisal: If you are getting a loan, your mortgage lender will schedule an appraisal on the home. This is a professional that determines the price of the home. Your agent will do a valuation of the home and come close to a price but mortgage lenders use appraisals as the official amount. Most times they are right at the value you are buying the home for. Sometimes they are lower or higher, which is not necessarily good or bad but can be worked through with your agent.

4. The Title Company: Good news is, you hired the right people to take care of the loads of paperwork. Bad news, you will have to sign a lot of documents when you close, but at least you don’t have to keep track of everything the title company does, including: title history, title insurance, land surveys, well and septic permits, etc. Just sit tight, they have you covered!

5. Home Insurance: You are responsible for finding an insurance agent or company that will approve your home for insurance. Home insurance can be tricky in the mountains but it’s doable and you will have a set time in which to obtain insurance. The insurance company will then communicate with the title company and it will go into effect at closing. Most insurance is paid through escrow via your mortgage but some decide to pay it separately.

6. Property Disclosures: The seller will fill out a form explaining anything they feel you should know about the house: anything they’ve repaired or upgraded, anything they know to be wrong or concerning, or anything good to know. This is a legal protection for both buyer and seller and will help inform you about the condition of the home.

7. An Inspection: You will hire someone to inspect the house at your own cost. That person will go to the property and give you a full evaluation of everything from roof to electrical. The report from the inspector can be overwhelming but most often you are only looking at several big elements. Read more about the inspection process.
   » Based on what you find in the inspection, you will work with your agent to determine what you may want to go back to the seller with. Perhaps you ask the seller to help fix something on the house at their cost, or you split the cost together, or the seller offers you a credit on the costs associated with closing on the house. This is a bit of a back and forth with your agent and the sellers but your agent will guide you through the whole process.

Step 5: Close and move in!

Once all the conditions of the sale have been met (mortgage, insurance, contingencies, title, etc), you can move to sign and close! This date is already predetermined in your offer, but can be before or after the original date based on how the process went and everyone’s schedule.

1. Final Walk-Through: About 24 hours before closing, you have the opportunity to do a final walkthrough to confirm the property is in the expected condition, agreed-upon repairs have been completed, and belongings have been removed.

2. Go to the Closing: Closing in Colorado happens at the title company's office. You will sign documents transferring ownership and all the paperwork for your new mortgage. The title company distributes the funds accordingly. Make sure you have your downpayment ready either through a cashier’s check or direct transfer. The mortgage company takes care of the rest.

3. Ready to Move In: Then the hard part begins - packing! Here’s a few tips on moving.

4. After You Move In: The work doesn’t end once you finally lay your head on your pillow in your new room. Here are things you need to do once you move in to your new home.

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