Part of our journey to Germany has been to help my grown children find their place without us.
There are many aspects to this, but one of them has been finding them a place to stay. As a mom, I always want to make sure my children are taken care of. So part of our journey is helping my daughter Atlantis and her fiancé to buy a new home.
There are a lot of moving pieces that go into buying a house. First, you will need to make sure that your finances are in order.
Our Process
When we started looking for a new home for the kids (I use the term loosely, I know they are young adults!), they started pulling up condo's and mobile homes for sale on Trulia. They found several that they liked, and reached out the the realtor of one of the homes.
At the same time that they were looking at homes, I logged into my online banking to prequalify for a loan and to find out how much we could afford. If you already have a banking relationship, this is fairly easy to do. The process took a matter of hours for us to prequalify.
If you don't have a bank that you use regularly, there are many different online mortgage companies, and websites that allow you to quickly get quotes for many different companies at the same time to find your best interest rate.
After we found out our price range, we also looked at the bank's payment calculator, to find out what would fit with their budget. Just because you prequalify for a certain amount, doesn't mean that you should shop at the maximum price point. It is important to look at the payment amounts also.
Remember, you will need to pay monthly taxes, insurance, and utilities as well as your mortgage payment itself. It is important to budget for these additional expenses.
Home Shopping
After we looked at several homes that we were interested online, we made a list to share with the realtor. We ended up working with the realtor that we were referred to from Trulia, through Keller Williams.
There are many other websites online where you can shop for homes, such as Zillow, Redfin, and many more.
We went to look at several different homes before settling on one that the kids liked. When I walked into the huge master bedroom, I knew that it was the one. I think they felt the same.
By the end of the day, we put in an offer on their new home.
The Purchase Process
After we put in the offer to the seller of the home, we also had to have a home inspection and an appraisal. This is to ensure that the home is in good condition, and that it is valued comparably to the price that you will be paying.
Our inspection found several potential issues with the home, including some plumbing problems, mold, and broken roof tiles. The seller was gracious enough that, after some negotiation, they had the roof fixed for us. The plumbing problems will be fixed shortly, since a friend of the family is a plumber and has offered to help them get the issues resolved.
There was a lot of stress and back and forth with the seller about these concerns. Since we had to call our realtor, who would then call their realtor, who called them, it was a bit of a complicated back and forth. Often things like this can happen with a home sale.
Atlantis was very firm about the importance of having a sturdy roof for her new home, and made a stand about getting it fixed prior to the sale.
We also had to obtain home insurance, and had to receive several different quotes for that as well. It was important to us that the home was insured for the full replacement value, in case anything happens to cause damage in the future.
There is also usually additional paperwork that needs to be filled out, such as income verification.
Since we settled on a Mobile Home, we also had to pass a background check from the mobile home community, and fill out several other forms as well. It is good to know that they will be living in a safe, quiet community that doesn't allow criminals.
The Closing
Yesterday, we had the closing for the house. We had to sign all of the mortgage loan paperwork, and provide cashiers checks for the deposit.
After we did that, we went to sign the lease with the mobile home community.
Once all the paperwork was signed, the kids got the keys for their new home! You could see the excitement in their faces while they were putting the keys for the new place on their key rings.
Then, we could finally go into the new home, for them to make it their own. They got mold remover, and paint samples to repaint some of the décor in their new living room.
Today, begins the move with all the furniture, and they plan to spend the first night in their new place tonight.
Conclusion
All in all, buying their new home was a successful process that was guided by a knowledgeable realtor. There were some ups and downs to the process, and at times we were worried that the sale wouldn't go through and we would have to start over.
The moving and packing process was also stressful and time consuming.
However, the kids proved themselves to be responsible and resilient throughout the process. That helped them get into their new home and ready to start their new life together.
Have you helped your adult child buy a home? What was the process like for you? Let me know in the comments!
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