The home buying process, step by step

From the first serious search to keys is commonly measured in months rather than weeks, and the search itself is usually the longest part. Once you are under contract, the clock becomes much more predictable, because the contract sets most of the dates.

Financing is what sets the pace after that. A cash purchase can close as soon as title work is done. A conventional or government backed loan moves at underwriting speed, and that speed depends on how quickly you return documents. Buyers who answer their lender the same day close noticeably sooner than buyers who answer in a week.

Condominiums add a step that catches first time buyers out. The association has its own approval process, with its own application, fee and timetable, and it runs in parallel with your loan rather than instead of it. In some buildings the association meets monthly, which puts a hard floor under how fast you can close.

New construction runs on a different clock entirely. You are buying a delivery date, and delivery dates move. If your current lease or sale is tied to the closing, that flexibility is the risk you are taking on.

Two practical things changed in 2024, and both affect you directly. Buyer agent compensation is no longer advertised in the MLS, and buyers now sign a written agreement with their agent before touring homes. That agreement states what your agent will be paid and who is expected to pay it.

This means compensation is a term you negotiate, in the agreement with your agent and again in the offer you write. A seller may agree to contribute, or may not, and that possibility is part of what you are proposing when you make an offer.

The practical advice is simply to read the agreement before signing it, the way you would read any other contract that involves money. Ask what the term is, what happens if you buy a house you found yourself, and how the figure was arrived at. A good agent expects those questions.

None of this changes what representation is worth. It changes how visible the cost is, which on balance is better for buyers, provided you actually read what you sign.

Touring before getting pre-approved is the most common one. You find the house, then discover the budget, and either you cannot write a competitive offer in time or you buy at a number that only works on paper.

Waiving the inspection to look stronger is the most expensive one. In a market with older housing stock and hurricane exposure, the inspection period is the cheapest insurance in the transaction. There are better ways to strengthen an offer, most of which cost nothing.

Changing your finances between contract and closing is the most avoidable one. New credit, a job change or a large unexplained deposit can undo an approval days before closing, because underwriting verifies again at the end.

Budgeting from the seller's current tax bill is the most South Florida one. It reassesses. Run your own number from the purchase price, not from what the previous owner pays.