What is Home Shark?
This website offers a comprehensive platform for individuals looking to purchase a home, guiding them from the initial search through to the final steps of making an offer. It provides tools for browsing listings, scheduling and managing home tours, and streamlining the offer process. With easy-to-use features and expert resources, users can navigate each stage of the home-buying journey confidently, from finding the perfect property to submitting their offer and beyond, all without the need for third-party representation.
The REAL Steps to Buy A Home
  1. How much can you afford?
  2. How much should you afford?
  3. Getting your documents together
  4. What are the types of Lenders and how to find them? (Truth in Lending quote)
  5. Find an inspector
  6. Find a Closing Attorney and understand the Closing Cost
  7. Determine your Timeline for a search and give yourself flexibility - do you need to sell to buy or when is your lease up?
  8. Search for moving companies - know what they do and how much it will cost to put into your moving budget.
  9. Create a Needs List - not a Wants List - these are your search parameters
  10. NOW you can search for a Home with confidence!
Prepare Documents
Your lender will need all of the following for all the people whose income will be considered for the loan. It is possible to have a person on the title who is not responsible for the loan and whose income will not be part of the decision process. It is smart to find a lender and know what your loan options are before you find a home. If you have provided all your documentation ahead of finding a home, the process will be much faster and less chaotic when you have found a home.
The documentation you will need:
  • Proof of Income
    • Recent pay stubs (typically last 30–60 days)
    • W-2 forms (last two years)
    • Tax returns (last two years, especially if self-employed)
    • Proof of additional income (e.g., bonuses, commissions, alimony, child support)
  • Proof of Assets
    • Bank statements (last 2–3 months for checking, savings, or other liquid assets)
    • Investment account statements (stocks, bonds, retirement accounts)
    • Proof of down payment (gift letters if receiving help from family)
  • Credit and Debt Information
    • Credit report. Lenders will pull this themselves, but you should know what is in your credit report when you begin the process of looking for a home so you have time to cure any credit issues or mis-reported items.
    • Explanation for any late payments, collections, or major credit events
    • Documentation of other debts (student loans, auto loans, credit cards)
  • Employment Verification
    • Employer contact information for verification
    • Offer letter (if recently employed or changing jobs)
    • Profit and loss statement (if self-employed)
  • Identification
    • Government-issued ID (driver’s license or passport)
    • Social Security number
    • Rental history (if applicable)
What will a Lender do and How to Find One
Lenders are not financial advisors. They will do a qualification process and tell you the allowed limits of what you can borrow based on the documents you provided for a home loan, they will not tell you if you can really afford it. That is up to you to determine by doing a correct budgeting process and plan.
When you contact a lender you should have a complete picture of your financial ability to afford a home and what you can afford for a downpayment, closing costs and the monthly payment which will include taxes and insurance. When you are ready to find a lender these are the sources you can search to find one that is right for you:
  1. Referrals from friends and family
  2. Banks and Credit Unions, especially if you already use them and have an established relationship.
  3. Mortgage Brokers who will shop around for your best option. Mortgage brokers are usually paid a commission by either the borrower or the lender and thier fees must be fully disclosed to the borrower.
  4. Online Lenders/ Digital Mortgage Companies will offer you quick quotes
  5. Government Backed Lenders, such as USDA, FHA and VA
Find an Inspector
When you find a home to purchase one of the components of the offer will be the timeline you have to do any inspections of the home. Every state will have different rules and laws governing the inspection period process. Ensure that you fully understand the rules in each state about the amount of time you will have to do inspections, if you will get your earnest money back if you back-out of the purchase during the due diligence time period, if there is a non-refundable portion of earnest money that you will not get back during the inspection time period, and how you will communicate with the seller or seller's agents about issue discovered during the inspection.
Georgia -
Georgia allows for a due diligence time period, a specified number of days, as part of the offer for the home. At the time you write the offer, you should already know who will be doing the inspection and their specifc availability. Due diligence is your opportunity to study anything you want to know further about the home. The seller will have likely provided a sellers disclosure, but ultimately, discovery is up to the buyer. When you set up the inspection you should be ready with a list of any specific concerns for the inspector to focus upon. No inspector will find every possible issue with the home. Ideally you will attend at least the last part of the inspection so you can ask the inspector to physically show you the main possible issues they have found so you can understand them better then just reading the report.
After you review the report you will determine which issues you want to request the seller either repair or provide compensation for you to repair after closing. The seller may also refuse to do any reapirs. You need to understand your tolerance for what repairs or compensation will be provided before you make your request from the seller. It is this point where buyers and sellers often clash over a relatively small amount of money and the home sale will fail. Decide ahead and take your ego out of the negotiations.
Find Movers
Moving costs should be included in your budgeting plan.
If you intend to use professional movers to pack, load and unload, you will want to get an estimate ahead of your move and to understand their scheduling to ensure you will be able to move on your timeline.
If you intent to move yourself, start early and include the cost of boxes, tape and moving truck rentals. It will take you much longer to move all the small things than the large things. If you are selling your home and moving yourself, it is a good idea to rent a storage unit to put all the things you have pre-packed to make your home look spacious for showings and it will help you do an efficient move. Most people are shocked to find the last 20% of thier things to be moved will take an incredible amount of time, so start early and you'll have less stress and an exciting move.
Closing Attorneys and Closing Costs
Before you write an offer you need to know who you will be using as a closing attorney because it will be included as part of the offer. You should research local closing attorneys to understand their standards costs. You also need to understand the items that will be in your portion of the closing costs. The document attached is a sample settlement statement that you will review during your closing. https://www.hud.gov/sites/documents/1.pdf
The seller will be paying you for items that are paid in arrears, such as taxes which are paid after the year. If you close on a home half way through the tax year, the seller will be paying you a prorated amount for the days they were in the home at closing. You will be paying the seller for things they have paid in advance for the year, such as homeowners association fees. You will also be paying all lender fees, all the fees for obtaining your loan, all transfer and title taxes, and possibly your buyer's agent commission if you've chosen to use an agent. If the seller is paying commissions you will see that portion come from the sellers side of the settlement statement.
  1. Title Insurance - this is an insurance policy for the title of your home
  2. Impoundment for taxes - paid in arrears
  3. Impoundment for home owners insurance - paid in advance and impounds for following year
Create a Needs List
While a home is a significant lifetime asset, there are many costs associated with moving which are non-recoverable. Loan fees, closing costs, transfer taxes, title insurance costs, moving costs and more are all expenses related to moving that you will only recover with home appreciation over time. In addition, there are many selling costs, such as commissions, neutralizing, and repairs, that you will want to have home appreciation to cover in advance of selling. It should be a goal to move as infrequently as possible.* When you are making your needs list you should be thinking of needs over the next five to seven years, which is the typical timeline to allow home appreciation to recoup the costs of buying and future costs of selling.
  1. How will your location needs change over time? No one can predict future job changes. Are there locations that are neutral to potential job changes? Are there services you may need in the future that are available in the location you are choosing, such as daycares for future children or proximity to family.
  2. How will your need for certain school zones change over time? Review and if possible visit all the schools in the feeder path for homes in your target location and review the school district website to be apprised of re-districting notifications that could affect the school zoning.
  3. Space and expansion - will the home allow your family to expand if that is in your plans. If you plan to use bedrooms for home offices now, if those rooms are needed later to be bedrooms for children, or for aging parents, are there other spaces in the home or spaces that could be finished for use later, such as basements or ADUs.
  4. What is the past average appreciation for homes in your search area. Apply that rate to your budgeting spreadsheet to understand how many years you will need to stay to cover your buying and future selling costs.
*unless you are working on a rental property ladder. If buy a home and if you live in it for a minimum of 2 of the previous five years, you can sell it without paying capital gains taxes. Consult your tax professional for your personal implications.
Draft a Timeline
Many people start a home search too late and don't allow themselves the time and flexibility to find the right home for their needs and price range.
Moving while renting -
  1. Find your rental agreement and review the terms to end your lease. Understand all the costs associated with ending your lease and add them into your home purchase budget. Look for the options that give you the most flexibility with the least cost to extend your lease during your home search process. If you are able to go month to month with a 30 day notice to vacate, that is the ideal and most flexible situation to give you the time and financial flexibility to make a decision on a home.
  2. Allowing a week to move, if you are moving locally, will make the move much less stressful. In general, when you think you have moved about 80% of your things, you've likely only 20% complete. The remianing 20% of items often take 80% of the time.
  3. Get organized while you search. If you can start packing up seasonal things in boxes to be ready to move, your future self will thank you.
Moving when you own a home - executing a move and a home sale takes an extra level of preparation.
If you are able to buy another home without selling first, yay for you! Most people need to execute this carefully and can take one of two approaches.
  1. Find a home, then sell
    1. This is the most flexible way to find the ideal home to purchase, however, you need to be fully ready to have your home on market the moment you are under contract. You will need to pack up as much as possible to have your home feel spacious. You will need to do all repairs, painting or updates needed to sell ahead of your home search. If you are not using an agent to help you sell, make sure you understand how you are going to price and market your home and what you will do if it has not sold in a certain amount of time.
    2. In this situation you will need to understand your risk and how you need to structure the purchase contract contingencies. If you do not sell your home in time for closing, what will you lose according to the contract. If it is earnest money, or if there are additional performance requirements in the purcahse contract that could cause you a greater loss.
    3. Market timing issues - if you are looking for a home during a seasonally low volume time, make sure you have the time to sell your home in the contract.
    4. Can you tolerate a gap in time? If your closings do not line up, can you find a place to stay for a short term with your things in storage.
    5. Can you manage a bridge loan? If you are looking for a new home with a lender or mortgage broker, inquire about their bridge loan options. A bridge loan would allow you to use the equity in your current home as down payment for a new home while you wait for your home to sell. This is can the process much simpler, but you will need to include the added costs, loan fees, any pre-payment penalty, etc, into your move spreadsheet.
  2. Sell, then find a home
    1. This is the most financially secure way to execute a move, however, if you need the home sale to be completed in order to purchase the new home, you will need to understand the risks to your purchase contract and if you will lose your earnest money if you do not complete the purchase should the sale fall through. Many people will include a home-sale contingency in thier purchase contract.
    2. This option gives you the least flexibility when you are looking for a new home. You should start your search early to know what your needs are, target location and expected price range for a purchase. If possible negotiate a long period before closing to give yourself time to look for a new home.
    3. Some buyers will allow a lease back with the home sale, meaning you would close on the home sale and lease the home back for a period of time after closing. This is the most flexible way for you to have access to the funds needed to close and to be able to write a non-contingent offer to purchase.
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