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Buying or selling a house can be pretty intimidating. California REALTORS® are <a href="http://www.championsofhome.com/" target="_blank">Champions of Home</a> who can not only help you navigate the buying and selling process but also help make it a safe and enjoyable journey.

Buying or selling a house can be pretty intimidating. California REALTORS® are Champions of Home who can not only help you navigate the buying and selling process but also help make it a safe and enjoyable journey.

Can You Make It Through This Really Hard House-Buying Quiz?

While a [preapproval](http://www.homebuyinginstitute.com/offer-before-mortgage.php) letter and a [20% down payment](http://blog.credit.com/2015/08/heres-how-to-buy-a-house-without-a-20-down-payment-124331/) can make your offer more attractive, all you really NEED for an [offer](https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/mortgages/making-an-offer-on-a-house/) is the signed offer itself (but you’ll need to pay your earnest $$ pretty quickly if the offer is accepted).

A signed offer

So you’ve seen your dream house. What’s one thing you NEED to make an offer? 

When you find your \*dream house,\* having an expert do a [comparative market analysis](http://www.hgtv.com/design/real-estate/how-to-make-an-offer-for-a-house) of similar homes in the area can help you decide how much $$ you should offer for it.

Comparing a home to similar homes in the area to figure out its value

[Pest-control inspection reports](http://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/dept/factshts/inspections.pdf) aren’t required by law, but experts usually recommend one and mortgage lenders might require this extra step (no one wants to find out they have a crazy expensive termite problem down the road). Buggies = grossies, so act accordingly.

False

A pest-control inspection report (i.e., an “Is this house riddled with a billion termites?” report) is REQUIRED by law.

[PITI](https://www.plumtreemortgage.com/breakdown.html) is a mortgage-payment breakdown, and it stands for principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. It usually reflects the total monthly amount you have to pay your lender as your mortgage payment.(so will be more than just the loan amount and interest). It usually has very little to do with the tango.

Principal, interest, taxes, and insurance

Many home-purchase agreements include an [inspection contingency](http://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/102913/contingency-clauses-home-purchase-contracts.asp) that allows buyers to back out of the purchase agreement if an inspection reveals something they’re not into. After the contingency is waived, if the buyer finds something in an inspection that they don’t like, they usually can’t cancel the purchase (IOW, if your dream house’s foundation is made of silly putty and spider eggs, you’re still committed…yikes!). No inspection contingency = accepting a large amount of risk in the purchase, so def talk to an expert before deciding to do this.

You can’t back out of the purchase regardless of what you find during the house inspection

You decided to do this thing called “waiving the inspection contingency” while making an offer on a home. This basically means:

When a seller gets a bunch of offers on their home, it often means you’re in a [seller’s](http://www.hgtv.com/design/real-estate/how-to-make-an-offer-for-a-house) market. Translation: Competing buyers are likely to push the offer prices of the home up much higher than the seller might otherwise have received. Knowing whether you’re in a seller’s or buyer’s market can be SUPER helpful for determining what to offer, so getting help from an expert who knows the market trends can definitely make this easier.

Seller's

You find a ~slammin’ pad~ you HAVE to buy, and you’re not alone — 12 other people want it too. Does this indicate that you’re in a seller’s market or a buyer’s market?

Being in [escrow](http://www.investopedia.com/mortgage/escrow-process-requirements/?lgl=lg-mt) means your offer has been accepted by a seller, and your earnest money will be held until closing in an escrow account run by a third-party escrow company agreed upon by both the seller and buyer. Before closing, various steps will usually need to be completed like a bank appraisal, inspections, financing, and approval of disclosures. Being in escrow does NOT mean you start talking like a Dickens character, however.

You’ve signed a purchase agreement with the seller, and your earnest money has been given to a third party

You’re at your mom’s cocktail party, and someone says they’re “in escrow.” You say:

Before you buy a fixer upper, it’s important to know what you’re getting yourself into, because some of this stuff can be pretty expensive. The [average cost](https://www.learnvest.com/2014/06/buying-home-problems/?utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=CJ) of repairing the sewer or septic system is $25,000–$50,000, replacing the roof is $10,000–$30,000, rewiring the house is $3,000–$20,000, and repairing a cracked foundation can often cost between [$1,900–$6,300](http://www.homeadvisor.com/cost/foundations/repair-a-foundation/) (BTW, this can all cost even more… yikes). An expert can help you get the inspections and estimates you need to make an informed judgment before it’s too late, so you don’t bite off more than you can chew.

Repairing the sewer or septic tank system

You decided to go for a bit of a fixer upper (AKA, a garbage fire nightmare pile). Which of the following may cost you the most to fix?  


So you may not know everything there is to know about buying a house (don’t tell anyone, but what’s a mortgage?), but don’t feel bad! There’s an insaaaane amount to wrap your mind around. Work with a REALTOR® from [ChampionsofHome.com](http://www.championsofhome.com/) so that they can help you through the tough stuff and you can focus on the fun parts.

Your real-estate IQ is pretty impressive, so we’re guessing you’re no stranger to the home-buying process. But that doesn’t mean you want to spend hours and hours looking through comparative listings on the reg. Work with a REALTOR® you trust from [ChampionsofHome.com](http://www.championsofhome.com/) who will have your back on the things you still need a little extra help with.

You’re pretty much a house-buying genius. You can break down a listing at a glance, and you live for weekends exploring open houses. But just because you CAN do the tough stuff doesn’t mean you should have to. Work with a REALTOR® from [ChampionsofHome.com](http://www.championsofhome.com/) to find the perfect partner for your expertise.

All images courtesy of iStock.

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Can You Make It Through This Really Hard House-Buying Quiz?

Luckily, you don’t need to know EVERYTHING in order to buy a home. Since REALTORS® abide by a code of ethics that they've sworn to uphold, they can make this whole process better. So find a California REALTOR® at ChampionsofHome.com to help guide you through the adventure.

Can You Make It Through This Really Hard House-Buying Quiz?

Luckily, you don’t need to know EVERYTHING in order to buy a home. Since REALTORS® abide by a code of ethics that they've sworn to uphold, they can make this whole process better. So find a California REALTOR® at ChampionsofHome.com to help guide you through the adventure.

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