Selling and buying a home happens around us every day. But did you know how many different parties are involved in the process? We will focus on them here and how each party is involved in the process. Let’s get right into it!
The Journey Begins: Buyer & Seller
The home buying and selling process involves two main parties: the buyer and the seller. Let’s say they are two different teams. The buyer is the person looking to purchase a house, while the seller is looking to sell a home. In most cases, the seller is the one who initiates the process by deciding to sell their house.
When the seller decides to sell their home, the home buying and selling process begins. This is when the different parties involved in the process start working. Each player either belongs to the seller’s team or the buyer’s team. As we go through, we will show when each party comes into the process, what team they belong to (buyer or seller), what they do in the home selling and buying process, and how long it takes to get the job done.
The Parties Involved In The Home Selling and Buying Process
Listing Agent (Optional)
Team: Seller
Payment: Seller
Timing: 57 days is the average time a house is on the market¹
The listing agent’s work represents the seller and the seller’s interest throughout the process. Their job includes:
- Running a comparative market analysis to decide the price
- Listing the property online
- Creating sales materials for marketing
- Holding open houses and guiding prospective buyers around during inspections
- Relate with the sellers to ensure they get the best return for their clients
Buyer’s Agent (Optional)
Team: Buyer
Payment: Buyer
Timing: On average, it takes about four to five months to buy a house. This includes the two to three months it takes to find the right house. Another one to two months to go from contract to closing.
The buyer’s agent serves the buyer the same way the listing agent serves the seller. The job includes:
- Looking through listings to find a prospective house for the buyer
- Creates the offer and negotiates with the seller’s listing agent
- Organizes home inspections
- Ensures that the buyer is satisfied so the deal can be closed
Home Inspector
Team: Buyer
Payment: Buyer
Timing: 1 to 2 weeks from the date the sales contract is signed
After the seller’s listing agent and the buyer’s agent have reached an agreement on behalf of their prospective clients, the next thing is the home inspection. For this, you need to hire a home inspector. The home inspector’s job is to protect the buyer from buying a damaged property. They will go through the house and check for damages of any kind, and also for the overall condition of the house. After a thorough check of the house, the inspector would issue a home inspector report. Using this report, the buyer and the buyer’s agent decide if they will continue negotiations on the property.
Mortgagee
Team: Buyer
Payment: Buyer
Timing: on average 30 days
If you get past the inspection stage, it means there is a high chance that you will buy the home. Once you make that decision, you would need to find a way to finance the payment for your home. This is where a mortgagee comes in. This is usually the bank or institution that lends the buyer the money needed to finance the home. The mortgagee’s responsibility includes
- Setting the mortgage rates
- Certify the borrower’s eligibility
- Draft a secured or perfected lien
- Issues the mortgage
Home appraiser
Team: Buyer
Payment: Buyer
Timing: 2 to 7 days
Before your mortgagee issues a loan, they must ensure that the property is worth the loan. For this, they hire a home appraiser. Their job is to ensure that the home is valued properly. This protects both buyer and lender from paying more than the home’s due worth.
Their job is similar to the inspector’s. But they value the cost of the house. They take a detailed look through the property to determine its worth.
Insurance Company
Team: Buyer
Payment: Buyer
Your mortgagee will ask for your homeowners insurance. This is an important part in the process. The mortgagee needs to be sure that your prospective home is insured. It’s up to the buyer to find a reliable homeowners insurance company. Since your home will be one of your most valued assets, it’s essential to get insured against adverse weather conditions, damage or theft.
Title Company
Team: Buyer
Payment: Buyer
Timing: up to 5 business days
The title company runs a title search on your prospective home to ensure that there are no liens or outstanding mortgages. They protect both lender and buyer from the issues that could arise in such a case. Once the search is done, they give the title insurance to both lender and buyer to protect them in the future from any claims of ownership.
Real Estate Attorney
Team: Buyer
Payment: Buyer
While this is not necessary for some states, there are states where it is mandatory to have a real estate attorney. This person oversees the legal proceedings involved in a home purchase. They will serve you from the start of the process to the finish.
Tax advisor
Team: Buyer
Payment: Buyer
While their job may not be too apparent, it is vital to have a tax advisor who can help you with all the details on taxes that would arise from purchasing a home.
Notary Signing Agent
Team: Buyer
Payment: Buyer
The last person involved in the process is the notary signing agent. This person makes you aware of the meaning and implication of every document you are to sign. They also sign on the documents to indicate your willingness in signing them.
Summarizing The Home Selling and Buying Process
The list above lists the steps during the home selling and buying process. Passing through all of these parties makes the home buying and selling process cumbersome, lengthy and costly.
If anything goes wrong during the process, the additional back and forth between the different parties can elongate the process further. Additionally, hiring so many professionals increases the amount of money you spend. It can cost you towards 6% of the home purchase price. So, if you’re purchasing a $405,000 home (median price of a home on the market today), then you can be spending around $24,000 in additional costs².
HonestDeed: A Better Way
HonestDeed offers a solution to home buying and selling by reducing the number of third parties involved. With HonestDeed, the focus is on creating a partnership between the buyer and seller.
HonestDeed bridges the gaps and takes over the responsibilities. With us, you get:
- A pool of trusted buyers and sellers
- Eliminate all middlemen from the process
- Save money
- Reduces the stress and strain of buying or selling a home.
- Links you with promising buyers or sellers
- Safety nets
- Flexibility with terms and deadlines
Buying or selling a home couldn’t be easier. Experience ease with HonestDeed.
¹https://static.elliemae.com/pdf/origination-insight-reports/ICE_OIR_JAN2021.pdf