Buying a house can be exciting as well as daunting for many. Imagine spending a good chunk of your hard-earned, saving money on the house—this risk involved is huge. What if it is the wrong decision? What if you do not adjust to the new neighborhood? What if you want to sell that house and move away but the prices depreciate? At the same time, the leap looks exciting. Saving all your life to buy a house of your dreams. You have been secretly thinking of the color scheming and the décor all these years. Wow, your dream house may be very close to you.

Buying a house is no rocket science. All it takes is some market know-how, thorough research, and common sense. Also, DO NOT ignore your instincts.

We have put together a step by step guide to walk you through the complete process of buying your first house, an affordable apartment in Kenya.

Let us get going!

1. Find a registered real estate agent licensed to operate in your town or area of interest. It is advisable to look for a reputable agent that specializes in buying and selling homes. However, agents with backgrounds in construction management can be of assistance too. Impala Developers is a reputed name in this field. We build dreams in the shape of houses and color them with people like you.
2. Prioritize the attributes of your house such as location, size, roofing style, etc. Here, property agents come in handy as they have listings of houses that are for sale and they can easily fish out some good options meeting your required criteria.  Property websites and magazines can also help you to find a home, based on criteria such as asking price, square footage, number of bedrooms, and more.
3. Once you have picked out the best match for your criteria, you will need to contact a lawyer for some legal work. You will have to put forward a purchase offer and your lawyer will draft out the documents required. This document is often called the agreement of Purchase and Sale. Offer to Purchase includes your name, the name of the seller, the address of the property, the price you are willing to pay, the amount of your deposit, the closing day (the date you take possession of the house usually up to 90 days), request for a current land survey of the property and the date the offer expires.

The document may also request a satisfactory home report, appraisal, and lender approval of mortgage financing. In this case, the document will become legally abiding only when the conditions are met.

Making a purchase offer may result in several scenarios

1. The seller accepts your offered price and decides to sell the house.
2. The seller asks for a higher price. If you agree, you can revise the price and put forward a new offer.

If you do not agree to the raised price, you can leave the deal and continue your search for another house.

4. If you’re planning includes getting a home through a mortgage, get pre-qualified with a mortgage lender or bank to help determine the size of the loan and the type of payment that best suits you. Your lender may ask you to get a property appraisal, a land surveyor both as well as title insurance.

5 .Once your mortgage application is approved the final stage is to close the title. Closing is done by a property lawyer at his/her office or bank after a thorough review of the contract and conducting a title search for the property. The lawyer also reviews all documents required by the mortgage lender.

Just to let you know,  that you hold the right to inspect your new home 24 hours before the closing. This inspection is your last opportunity to inspect the house before signing the deed.