I'm currently renting and want to buy a home, how do I time up my purchase without getting stuck breaking my lease?
When transitioning out of your current lease and into a home, potentially a first home, there are a lot of variables to keep in mind. Best case scenario would be checking with your current landlord and seeing if “month to month” lease is possible. This would allow you to shop for a home with no strings attached, knowing you can move out of your current place at any time. Another option to consider is a lease buyout, most lease agreements have a clause where you can break them at any time for a one time fee. This might be a good option to explore if your lease isn’t going to be up for many months.
Assuming neither of these options are available or ideal, let’s talk about timing things up perfectly! Finding the perfect home can take time, so getting the process started sooner than later is always smart. First steps will be connecting with Glover Home Group to discuss a game plan followed by connecting with a local lender to get the pre-approval process handled. This will take about a week, after that, it’s time to start getting out to view some homes. According to the National Association of Realtors the average home shopper will look at around 10 homes over the course of 10 weeks before securing one. Once we secure a home the average time between offer acceptance and closing is 30 days. In the current market if the home is occupied a lot of sellers will ask for possession after closing. This means you as the buyer will own the house but the seller will stay there on average an additional 30 days. This possession timing will likely line up with your first mortgage payment. No matter what day of the month you close on your home the first month following that you won’t have a mortgage payment. Let’s break this down with our example scenario!
EXAMPLE SCENARIO
January 1: Meet with GHG
January 2: Meet with Lender
January 7: Start Viewing Homes in Person
March 15: Get A Home Under Contract
April 15: Close On Your Home
May 15: Get the Keys For Your Home
June 1: Fully Moved Out Of Your Apartment
June 1: First Mortgage Payment Is Due