Biggest differences: buying a home in indiana vs. illinois

Are you making a move to Indiana from Illinois and wondering if the process is different over here on the Indiana side?

In this blog, I’m going to point out a few differences in the buying process in Indiana vs. what you may have experienced when you bought in Illinois.

If we haven’t met yet, I am Anna Kenney, a local Northwest Indiana realtor and expert on helping Illinoians become Hoosiers!

Ok so there are essentially 2 big differences when buying in Indiana. I’m gonna talk you through the buying process, and point out these differences when they pop up:

local lender & realtor

Step 1 & really "1B" is always getting your pre-approval by a local lender, and then hiring your realtor. I talked about this in more depth in my last blog "Moving to Indiana from Illinois? Follow these 3 Steps!" so check that one out if you want more info on that topic.

home shopping & offer

After this, you’ll go shopping for your home. Once you find the home you love, you’ll put in an offer to purchase and sign what is called a “Purchase Agreement.”

At this point, we have our first, and biggest, difference between buying in Illinois and Indiana...

difference #1:

Illinois is considered an “attorney-review state”, which means that both the buyer and the seller must have an attorney review the purchase agreement before it is finalized. We do not require this in Indiana. You are welcome to hire one, if you’d like to, but this extra expense and review is not required by our state laws.

inspection

From here, we officially go under contract and if you opt’d for a home inspection, you would hire an inspector to come out and tell you any major defects on the property.

At this point, our second biggest difference pops up–but only if you are moving to LaPorte county and purchasing a home on well & septic...

difference #2:

In LaPorte county, you must have an additional inspection done on your well & septic system, and the results have to be turned into the county prior to closing on the property. This is generally paid for by the buyer, and it runs around $500-$700, depending on what inspection company you chose, and the tests you’re running for your loan type.

appraisal

From here, the appraisal would happen. If the house appraises at or above purchase price, we move to the closing table. Yay!

UP NEXT:

Now that you’ve heard the top differences when buying in Indiana vs. Illinois, you may be interested in some tips to winning in a bidding war.

In my next blog, I’ll talk through a few tips and strategies that help in our competitive market.

If you have any questions about the home buying process and want to understand it fully from A to Z, do not hesitate to reach out to me!

In case you missed my last posts related to this topic, be sure to check them out here!

"Top 5 Reasons to Move to Indiana from Illinois"