The entire timeline of buying a house can be confusing to people, and I don't just mean after you're under contract. I mean the entire outlook of it. So in this blog, we're going to explain kind of what the best process would look like if you're buying a house. Let's get into it. 

What is going on? My name is Andrew and this is AJ, and we're here with the Emerald Group right here in the Destin, Fort Walton Beach area. So we do cover everything from Pensacola to Panama City beach and everything in between. We are getting calls, texts, and emails pretty consistently at this point, which is great. We love it. all of our contact information is on the website. So if you do need to reach out or let's say your timeline is starting to look like what we're talking about here, then go ahead and reach out to us earlier is typically better. So let's get into it. 

Let's start from the way at the beginning for you homebuyers out there. In the beginning. and what it looks like. So most homebuyers are actually about twenty-two to twenty-four months out when they start looking. I imagine if you're watching this video though you're probably in a shorter timeline than that for a lot of people. But this is when some people are doing their research. They're doing they're watching YouTube videos there. you know, on TikTok and Twitter and all the other social media stuff that is out there trying to get some information on the area that they want to move to if they haven't visited yet. And if they have maybe a little bit deeper information. 

So you're doing all of this research. You're finding out all this information, but you might not know exactly when is the best time to reach out to a real estate professional. So what do you think? Now, Definitely. Now. It doesn't matter how far out you are, I always just reach out now. But so I say that jokingly, but are kind of serious. It's never too soon because you can always be getting information. Yes. Sometimes, rates and things are going to change. There might be some different standards that start to change. But if you're even considering, you know, you’re looking at different areas, then it's good to reach out I'm like, you know, what about this area? And this area, and then we can kind of help you figure out which areas are more can do of to your goals and your standard of living, you know, if you intended to live here or invest here. Once you've decided on an area that you you're kind of looking at, like, a three to six-month time span before close. Once you know your timeline of when you want to be moving when you want to be closing on the property. I would say about three to six months before that, you should start having these very serious communications with your agent and also your lender. A lender is another person that you should be reaching out to pretty quickly because you might make all the money in the world. But if you're going to need financing, you're going to need, you know, your debt to income ratio and credit score to match. And sometimes there are things like identity theft or, you know, missed payments that you forgot and these things can or your wife bought a truck or something. It didn't tell you about it. It's happened. Yeah. So it's good to start that conversation with a lender and see what your actual buying power is so that you know and you're not looking at things that are just not doable. I hate to say that because all things are doable with the right information. Processes and ambition, but sometimes they take longer than we anticipate. And so it's good to know well in advance where you're at currently and where you want to be so that your goals match your income. Now whenever you find the real estate professional that you like, they're going to make it pretty easy on you because they're going to know who is best based on your situation. So one of the things that we do here at the Emerald Group is doing a full buyer consultation. So we'll bring in, well, actually, you, like, really dive deep on what you're looking for, what you're doing, or it's on Zoom. It doesn't always have to be in person. And then from there, we know who to match you with the lender. Right? Like, I'm not going to put you with the same person if you're a condo buyer, as I am if you're a, you know, VA borrower coming in looking for a house for their family versus an investment. They’re two different things. And then even a condo as a second home versus an investment versus a primary home. Those are each different lenders that are going to specialize in that. A lot of lenders can do them, but you want the best person for the job. It’s going to be the best rate, the best service, and the cheapest rates overall. So work with your real estate professional. That’s part of the reason why you want to reach out just a little bit earlier than, hey, I'm coming to town next weekend. Now, of course, a lot of this kind of goes out the window if you are a cash fire. You still want to reach on to us kind of early on so we can help you to discover the right property for your needs. Kind of like, you know, if you're looking for short-term rentals out in Destin, then you need to know that anything north of ninety-eight for the most part cannot have short-term rentals. So we need to be south of ninety-eight. And if that doesn't match your price point right now that we need to start considering other options. So it's still a good idea even if you're cash buy to reach out to us so we can help you make the most informed own decisions. And one of the worst things you could do is assume that you're going to buy in a certain area and then find out three days before you want to start writing offers on properties that it doesn't match what your investment criteria are. Or your family situation, I guess? So speaking of going back to the timelines, if you are an investor, you know, reach out to us soon, but then let's say just from contract to close, you’re you can be looking at about seven days potentially depending on the title company. So as fast as the title company can do the work, that’s as fast as you can close as long as you have immediate access to your funds. So those would be the only things. Now if you are using financing, the type of financing you're using is also going to have a direct effect on how long the closing process is going to take from contract to close. And also the lender and how they are operating because there are lenders that will get you conditionally preapproved, which is one step further than a standard preapproval where they got all of the information they need. They just need the information from the home, and you can do those in as little as about twenty days. You can do it a little bit less, but my lender watching videos wouldn't like me for saying that, but that's very conditionally preapproved, which is a little bit rarer to find, but it is possible. And then, of course, if you're doing a standard, let’s say, conventional loan. We tell people about thirty days, but it can be done a little bit quicker than that. One of the biggest things that takes a bit of time is the appraisal. The lender doesn't have a whole lot of control over this. See, the appraisers are independent, and so sometimes it takes a little bit longer it can take them longer to get out to the property depending on where it is, and it can take them longer to run the actual reports depending on how few comps there are and how unique the property is. Something else is if it's a standalone or single-family residence, then you could also potentially require a survey, and a lot of surveyors are backed up as well. So that can add time to your timeline. So on average, we're seeing about thirty days seems pretty comfortable right now from contract to close. Now these days it can be, you know, changed up a little bit say you are in the process of selling your home and you want to purchase also, but you want to make sure you fully closed on the sale of your house. First, you could extend that timeline in your offer and say, you know, I'd like to close in forty days or forty-five days, whatever case may be so that all of those funds have cleared from your sale and you can use that to directly go towards the down payment of your new property. 

Ultimately, at the end of the day, the amount of time you need is going to kind of be between you and the seller because even if you can do it in seven days, it doesn't necessarily mean the seller came So, really, at the end of the day, it all comes down to negotiations. If you're still with us, go ahead and comment down below with the fastest you've ever closed on a property. And we'll see you all next time. Forty-seven hours. That’s mine. See you.