THE 8 MAIN STAGES OF THE HOME PURCHASE

 

Purchasing real estate is a long-term undertaking that necessitates a great deal of time, process, and a slew of procedures... However, it is well worth the effort! In eight easy steps, you'll learn everything you need to know before diving into this real estate marathon.

Evaluate your budget

Many online calculators allow you to determine your repayment capacity based on your revenue, expenditures, and current debt ratio. Set a limit for your purchase based on these capacities, remembering to account for notary fees: 2% to 3% of the purchase price of a new house, 8% of the purchase price of an existing home. Do not forget either the possible work to be undertaken and the cost of the move! 

Find the good

For the search for your accommodation, you have the choice: to scour the sites of advertisements or to address you to an agency. This second option allows you to save time: the realestate agent in Dubai can offer you a large number of homes. He knows the local market well and can price accurately, moderating the exaggerated claims of some sellers. Finally, he checks the property placed on the market, carries out the diagnostics and establishes the certificates of conformity, checks that the title deeds are in order, clearly indicates the number of charges, housing, and property taxes. He can then advise you on the financial arrangement of the project.

Sign the compromise or the promise to sell

These two contracts commit the seller to transfer his property to you, specifying the conditions and the price of the sale, and commit you to buy it. But they are different: compromise is the most common; it is more than a promise… and less than a sale.

The promise of sale commits the owner to the prospective buyer, who will benefit from an "option" on the property for a limited time. During this period, the seller cannot offer the property to another buyer, nor renounce the sale, while the possible buyer can still change his mind. But be careful, in this case, he will have to waive the immobilization compensation paid to the seller during the promise - in principle equal to 10% of the sale price. At the time of the final purchase, this compensation will be deducted from the sum to be paid.

Get your loan offer

During a first meeting at the bank, your financial advisor will study your profile (family situation, income, savings capacity, professional stability, seniority, current loans, real estate, etc.) depending on your income, several advantageous loans can be granted to you (zero rate loan, the 1% loan, the social home loan).

Online or in agencies, you are spoiled for choice, and often, if you conclude your purchase through an agency, Stellar Home is the best real estate agency in Dubai. This will tell you straight away if your file holds up; then, he will canvass for you all the banks with which he is a partner, to obtain the best rate for you; but he will also take care of everything, put together your loan offer, and accompany you until the signing.

Wait for the warranty agreement

Once the bank has given its agreement in principle, it must still obtain a guarantee agreement, which ensures the payment of the mortgage in the event of default by the borrower. This can be:

·         the joint and several sureties of an individual: a third party acts as a surety for the loan, and this commitment must be formalized by a private deed, generally free of charge.

·         The mortgage surety (or real surety): a third party grants a mortgage on one of their property to guarantee the loan. Its cost is high and generates release costs in the event of an exit.

·         The mortgage guarantee (or privilege lender of money): allows to guarantee a loan intended for the acquisition of an old or new real estate completed. Its registration is less expensive than the mortgage but generates release costs in the event of an exit.

·         Civil servant mutual guarantee: if you work in the National Education you can benefit from this type of guarantee completely free. The acceptance criteria are nevertheless very strict in terms of contribution or debt ratio.

Once the agreement has been obtained, the bank sends you a loan offer summarizing the conditions of the contract (nature of the loan, total cost, overall effective rate, etc.). From the reception of this letter, you have a cooling-off period of ten days to accept or refuse the terms of the loan. On the eleventh day - and not before, otherwise you will have to start all over again! - you return your signed offer by post. The notary will receive the check from your bank a few days later and will summon you for the signature.

Sign before a notary

Between obtaining the loan agreement from the bank (on average, one month) and the steps taken by the notary, who collects from the administrations the information and documents necessary to constitute the sale file (civil status certificates, mortgage the statement, cadastral extract, town planning file, technical diagnosis, trustee the questionnaire, etc.) it takes three months before you can finally sign in front of a notary the official deed which makes you become the owner. Are you there? Your contract will include:

Your marital status, the address of the accommodation, its surface area, a description of all the rooms and furniture possibly sold, the easements, the presence or absence of mortgage on the property sold; the name of the penultimate owner and the notary office concerned, the date scheduled for entry into the premises, the price and the terms of payment.

Here are the keys!

They are finally given to you when signing at the notary, as are the certificates of ownership, which are very useful for your administrative procedures (water, gas, electricity, telephone, fire insurance, enrollment of children in school).

However, it happens that the owner and seller of a property agree to give the keys to his buyer in advance, for example, if there is major work to be undertaken: this allows them to be engaged even before the final signature, and to be able to settle as soon as we have signed the final deed - and we start to reimburse the monthly payments. Be careful, however, to be sure to get your credit, otherwise, you would incur costs to be written off! It is advisable to sign a memorandum of understanding between seller and buyer to properly set the terms of this early discount.

And after?

After your signature, the notary sends the deed of sale to the mortgage office for publication in the real estate file. In return, he will receive "an authentic copy", bearing the stamps of the tax administration, of your title deed: he will send you a copy, and keep the original. Usually, about six months have passed since your first visit to the property… which is finally yours!