What are the steps involved in buying a house?
This week, Ralphy in New York is looking for some step-by-step guidance on buying a house. We’ve also launched a new round of video Answer Desk installments, which will appear every other Thursday for the next few months. I want to know: what are the steps that I need to follow to buy a house? — Ralphy A., Bronx, N.Y. It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3. And then 4 through 12. But here are – roughly – the steps you’ll probably encounter. Your brother-in-law may have different ideas about the order we’ve come up with. Your real estate agent or lawyer may add a few steps here or there. Through it all, keep in mind that while there are common milestones in most home sales, there’s no such thing as a “routine” real estate transaction. Each one usually has a few twists or turns – some little and some not so little. The basic steps are designed to protect buyer and seller from surprises that end up sending the deal badly off the rails. You also need to take responsibility for keeping the process runnin
