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I.
Introduction
CONGRATULATIONS!
You have decided to buy a new home. This booklet will help you take
this big financial step by describing the home buying, home financing,
and settlement process. Lenders and mortgage brokers are required
by federal law, the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ("RESPA"),
to give you this booklet. You should receive it when applying for
a loan, or within three business days afterwards. Real estate brokers
frequently hand out this booklet as well.
You
probably started the home buying process in one of two ways: you
saw a home you were interested in buying or you consulted a lender
to figure out how much money you could borrow before you found a
home (sometimes called pre-qualifying). The next step is to sign
an agreement of sale with the seller, followed by applying for a
loan to purchase your new home. The final step is called "settlement"
or "closing," where the legal title to the property is
transferred to you.
At each of these steps you often have the opportunity to negotiate
the terms, conditions and costs to your advantage. This booklet
will highlight such opportunities. You will also need to shop carefully
to get the best value for your money. There is no standard home
buying process used in all localities. Your actual experience may
vary from those described here. This booklet takes you through the
general steps to buying a home, to eliminate, as much as possible,
the mysteries of the settlement process.
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