How to Buy a Home in Connecticut

Learn how to buy a home in Connecticut.

If you are ready to buy a home in Connecticut, the following guide will assist you in understanding how the home buying process works in Connecticut.

First, you need to assemble your home-buying team of professionals. You should select a Realtor who works in the towns where you would like to search for homes and you should make sure that your Realtor is a member of the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) that includes your area. In Connecticut, most of Fairfield County is covered by the Consolidated Multiple Listing Service while the rest of the state is covered by the Connecticut Statewide MLS. If you are searching for a home in Greenwich, Darien or New Canaan, those towns each have their own MLS system so you will most likely be better off working with a Realtor who is on those local MLS systems.

Select the right loan officer & company

Mortgage financing is available but when you select your mortgage loan officer and company to work with, be sure to make sure they offer the loan program you need. For example, in Fairfield County many homes require loans that are jumbo loan sizes in excess of conforming Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or FHA limits. If you need a jumbo mortgage loan for your home purchase, check to make sure your loan officer has the loan program you need.

The home buying process is slightly different in Fairfield County than in the rest of the state. In the other counties of Connecticut, home buyers make offers to buy homes with actual real estate contracts that your Realtor will provide to you. Realtors in these areas use standard form contracts where you and your Realtor are simply filling in basic information such as the buyer, seller, property and closing date. The benefit to this system is that once buyer and seller have signed these agreements then they are both obligated to the terms of the contract. The drawback is that many times home buyers do not realize their obligations under the contract because few buyers review all contract terms before making their offer.

In Fairfield County, Realtors prepare binders which are basic offers to purchase a home. The binders simply outline the terms for an agreement including price, closing date and other key contract issues. Once accepted, these binders are then forwarded to the seller's attorney who prepares the actual contracts. While many of these contracts are standard forms, home buyers with this process do have the opportunity to have their real estate attorney review the sales contract with them so they understand the terms and also have an opportunity to negotiate any additional contract changes before returning them to the seller.

In Connecticut, home buyers are required to use attorneys for their closings as opposed to many other states that use title companies. The attorney assists with the contracts only in Fairfield County, but then obtains title insurance after completing a title search and then executes the closing and funding of the transaction with the seller's attorney.

Unlike some states (such as New York), home buyers can use one attorney to represent them and also represent their mortgage lender at the closing. This saves the expense of having two attorneys.

While home prices have dropped substantially in the last two years, the Connecticut market appears to be reaching a bottom and there are great deals available for first time home buyers who do not have a home they have to sell.

For an exact mortgage rate quote and a free purchase mortgage pre-approval for your up-coming home purchase in Connecticut, please email us or call us at 1-877-868-2503.

To see the current mortgage rates, visit our Current Mortgage Rates page.

If you have any questions that you would like to get answered by our expert mortgage brokers, please email us or call us at 1-877-868-2503.

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