FOR BUYERS

BUYING A HOME IS A PROCESS; ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING AND REWARDING PROCESSES YOU’LL EVER EXPERIENCE!

THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO THE PROCESS;

THE HOME SEARCH AND THE FINANCIAL SIDE

1) THE FIRST STEP IS TO CHOOSE A REALTOR®.

You want a REALTOR® you can trust and rely upon, one who is well versed with the area or neighborhood in which you’re looking, and one who is easy to communicate with and stays in touch. The process of buying a home is full of twists and turns, and you need a REALTOR® who is familiar with the process, the contracts and phases of the transaction; one who can guide you through the maze. Remember that though the REALTOR® will advise you throughout the process, it is you who makes the decisions.

2) NEXT, YOU NEED TO HANDLE THE FINANCIAL SIDE.

Before you begin looking at properties, the mortgage broker needs to determine-       -      

• WHAT YOU’LL NEED AS A DOWN PAYMENT
• WHAT YOUR MONTHLY MORTGAGE PAYMENT WILL BE
• YOUR DIFFERENT FINANCING POSSIBILITIES

You’ll need a pre-approval letter from your lender in order to make an offer on a property. This letter will let the seller of a property know that you’re financially able to purchase the property and the mortgage broker is willing to back up your ability to do this.

Once you have a REALTOR® and a pre-approval letter, you’re ready to begin looking for a home!

YOU’LL WANT TO DETERMINE:

• WHERE YOU WANT TO LIVE? - which area/town
• MINIMUM BEDROOMS AND BATHS YOU’LL NEED
• WHAT STYLE OF HOME YOU LIKE
• ANY OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS YOU NEED IN A HOME – square footage, garage, school districts, etc

Then, we begin looking.

The easiest way to keep up on the latest home listings is for me to set you up on an automatic email search, where I email you the new listings that meet your criteria within minutes of their being entered into the mls computer system. The automatic search assures that you’ll know about new listings first – before other buyers do. Then, you let me know which properties you’d like to see and I set up the appointments at a time that works for you. Once you pick a property, the final process begins.

1)    WRITING AN OFFER

When you’ve decided on a property, we go back to my office and write an offer to purchase that property. Included in the offer to purchase is an offer price, an estimated closing date, inspection times and any other pertinent points. Once the offer has been negotiated with the seller and any changes are agreed to by both buyer and ,seller, the offer is signed and we have a contract to purchase the property.

2)    INSPECTION

Within 10 days of negotiating a contract on the property, you, the buyer, have an inspection of it by a professional home inspection company. It is not required that you have an inspection to purchase the home, but unless you’re a professional builder/contractor, I strongly recommend it. The inspector will check the structural soundness of the building, the heating and cooling systems, plumbing and electrical, foundation, siding, fireplace, chimney, appliances, etc.  The goal of the inspection is to uncover any issues that the building may have and to make you aware of them. Properties, like people, are not perfect. And like people, we can love them for and in spite of their imperfections. I just want to be as sure as I can be that you know about those imperfections BEFORE you own the property. Any issues are that found may be negotiated further with the seller to the satisfaction of the buyer.

3)    THE APPRAISAL

Shortly after or before the inspection, there will be an appraisal of the property. This is done by a licensed appraiser to assure the bank that the price you’re paying for the property is consistent with the current market value of the property.

4)    THE CLOSING

A few days or weeks later, depending upon your time frame, THE MOMENT YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR IS HERE! Once all the legal documents are signed, and titles and monies are exchanged. After an hour or so of signing paperwork, you’re handed the keys and ITS TIME TO MOVE INTO YOUR NEW HOME!