10 Simple Steps To Buying Your First Home in Ghana

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed when buying your first home but it’s the biggest amount you’ll spend on anything. It's also a long-term commitment for most people. However, if you’re not sure about anything in the buying process, always ask.

Prophunt will help you to understand the procedures normally involved in buying a home in Ghana. The significance of the documents you will encounter, and the role of the professionals who may be involved in the transaction. 

In this step-by-step guide, you'll learn what it takes to buy your first home in Ghana, from beginning to end. Whether it's you're a first-time buyer or you're an experienced homeowner who wants more skills in the buying process, this list has you covered.

Thinking about Buying a Home in Ghana?

Buying a home is a major event but these steps to buying a property in Ghana will help you better understand the entire process and make the best decisions possible.

Step 1: Make sure you’re ready to buy

What to consider when buying a property in Ghana is to first determine whether you are ready to take on the biggest investment of your life. You should always decide what you want to buy indicating your readiness to become a homeowner. Understanding the cost associated with homeownership is the perfect starting point when planning to own a home in Ghana.

Step 2: Figure out how much you can afford

Once you've finally decided you want to buy a home you must determine what you can afford to buy! Is it a single home or your family home? Do you plan on having children in this new house and will it be big enough for future demand? These are questions you should answer before making a decision on buying a house in Ghana.

Acquiring a home in Ghana with mortgages comes with very high-interest rates so we recommend that home buyers look for homes that cost no more than five times their annual household income. 

We repeatedly advise homebuyers to buy homes they can easily afford. A lot of people buy homes at the top of their range, and that's a huge mistake especially for first-time buyers because you can easily be caught up in default resulting in foreclosure of the property.

Step 3: Determine your budget

Now that you are true with how much home you can afford, the next is to determine your budget. Housing comes with its expenses and extra expenses for owning a home. It's always good to look at many properties in your price range from the highest priced to the lowest, vis-à-vis transport costs. 

Remember to plan for insurance and maintenance costs as well as for transfer costs and other final fees. Sometimes these are part of closing costs and the fees paid at closing are usually 2 percent and 5 percent of the final sale price. 

Step 4: Find a real estate agent

Professional real estate agents are licensed to operate in the market and they have access to information that isn’t open to the public. A good real estate buyer’s agent will be an expert on the home buying process. 

The agent knows things you don't know in the area, so make sure you always familiarize yourself with local listing agents and be a skilled negotiator. It doesn’t cost you extra money to use an agent because they’re compensated from the commission paid by the seller of the house.

Step 5. Choose a location

In choosing a location to buy a house in Ghana, the first task is to determine why you want to buy a home. Do you plan to live there? Do you intend to let it out? Important decisions like these, and many others, will help you determine the specific location to consider when buying a home in Ghana.

If you are buying a property to live in, you must ensure that it is conveniently located close to your workplace. If you plan to live with your family then you must inquire about schools and play areas nearby too. On the other hand, if you plan to lease it, then assess the rental yield of the property and demand for rental apartments in the area before buying.

You must decide if you will be happy living in the neighborhood f where you will look to buy a home. Maybe you should rent in that area first to really see if you like that neighborhood.

Read Also: The 5 hottest real estate neighborhood in Accra to watch in 2022

Step 6: See what’s out there

Once you have an agent, you’re ready to start touring homes in your price range. Look for a home that's good in your budget. Buying a house in Ghana can be both exciting and cumbersome! Remember that you’ll not only have to live with your decision but also live in it, so you don’t want to make any costly mistakes.

Don't forget to narrow down your search. If you’re like most homebuyers, you’re browsing homes for sale day and night on Prophuntgh.com. At this point, remember to narrow down your search.

Finding open houses on Prophunt

Whenever you run a search for homes on Prophunt, we'll automatically make available upcoming featured development. You can make your search criteria include properties for sale in Accra:

1. Click on the Filters to make your search specific.
2. Indicate location, property type, price range etc. in the drop-down menu.
3. Run your new search on the portal

Step 7. Go for A home inspection

One of the most important steps to buying a house in Ghana is a home inspection. Before you close the deal, work with your real estate agent to do a home inspection of the property to do a detailed inspection of the house prior to making an offer.

Make sure to always reserve your right to have an inspection done before making an offer. Even if you decide you don’t want one to do an inspection, don’t reject it on the offer because you may later want to change your mind.

Step 8: Make an offer

You’ve finally found the house you’re looking to buy. It's now time to work with your real estate agent to make an offer on the property. Make sure you discuss your offer strategy with your agent. Your real estate agent will help you know what is best for the housing market conditions.

The agent will take into consideration your budget and the asking price for comparable homes in your area when making an offer that will stand out to home sellers.

Step 9: Negotiate a market price

Your agent will help you through the negotiation process and help you decide what the best option is. Expect that you may go back and forth with the seller before reaching an agreement on the offer you made to the seller. Sometimes negotiating the final sale price becomes difficult for both buyers and sellers. But with the services of a buyer's agent, you'll get the right price.

Step 10: Close

If your offer is accepted, typically a closing is set to happen after both parties have come to an agreement, monies paid, and documents signed. On the closing day, the money will be exchanged and the title is now in your name. 

Very often closing costs often come as a surprise to many home buyers. They always think about the purchase price and don't factor in the dramatic reality of closing costs until it's time to sign the contract.

You must be prepared to pay most, if not all, of the following closing costs: Property Tax, Appraisal Fee, Mortgage Application Fee, Mortgage Default Insurance, and Legal Fees.