What are the Steps to Expect when Buying a Home?

 

[√]  1. Get Pre-Qualified

We will help connect you with a lender who can help determine how much you can afford to pay for a home.

 

[√]  2. Get Pre-Approval Done

While knowing how much you can afford is the first step, sellers will be much more receptive to potential buyers who have been pre-approved. With Pre-Approval, the buyer actually applies for a mortgage and receives a commitment in writing from a lender. When you put in an offer for a property in that approval range, you will be seen as a serious buyer who is qualified to purchase the property. This makes your offer stronger as well, and you will avoid going after homes that are out of your price range. Costs for pre-approval are generally nominal and lenders will usually permit you to pay them when you close your loan.

 

[√]  3. Prioritize Needs vs Wishes

What are your Must-haves? Make a list of what these are.  The list could include the number of bedrooms and bathrooms to fit your family, whether you must have a main-floor master, if you need a one story house for access.

 

What are your Would-Like or Wishes? Make a list of what you wish the property has, that are not absolutely mandatory.  This list could include a den, a finished basement, a media room, a shed, or large yard.  It could include a large kitchen, updated interior, certain types of flooring.  The key is to understand you may not get everything on your wish-list in the house, so it is important to compromise, and be very clear on what you actually need and require in a property.

 

When buying a house, we want to make sure your primary needs are met first and your wishes are considered but if a property did not have them, it would not prevent you from making an offer.

 

[√]  4. Representation by a Professional

Consider hiring a REALTOR®, one who is working for you, the buyer, not the seller.  If you don’t have personal representation, and the listing agent on the property you are interested in asks to represent you, that is called “double-ending” in the real estate world.  The listing agent goes from the role of negotiator and advocate for the Seller to “coach” – advising both Buyer AND Seller in the same transaction.  In the role of coach, an agent is not able to negotiate as effectively as they are playing the proverbial "both sides of the ball."  It is in your best interest to obtain your own representation from a trained professional REALTOR® and Certified Real Estate Negotiation Expert.

 

Why?  A REALTOR® adheres to higher code of conduct and ethics, has to obtain ongoing education each year on legal and industry issues, and has accountability through the National Association of REALTORS® organization.

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What do they Do? In addition to evaluating market comparables for the property you are interested in to determine a fair offer price and strategically position your offer to be compelling to the Seller - we do much more as your representative and advocate.  Below are just a few of the crucial actions we perform on your behalf when we represent you as a Buyer

• Include inspection & mortgage contingencies in your written offer

• Have the property inspected by a professional inspector and review the report, negotiate the points of concern with the listing agent and come to mutually beneficial agreement for Seller to address items in the report.

• Request a second walk-through to take place within 24 hours of closing,  This allows us to see the condition of the home prior to closing to ensure the house has not been damaged during the offer process.  If there is damage, the seller would be required to make repairs to return the property to its condition when it was listed you received an acceptance to your offer.

• Confirm no changes have been made that were not agreed on (i.e., a nice chandelier that you assumed came with the sale having been replaced by a cheap ceiling light). Unless a Seller excludes from the sale, a fixture that is affixed to a ceiling or wall from the sale, that item is supposed to be included in the sale.

• Stay in frequent communication with you to properly advise you and answer any of your questions.

• When we get an accepted offer, stay in frequent communication with all parties involved from listing agent, lender, title rep, inspector, appraiser, and, if needed, contractors to ensure the property purchase goes as smoothly as possible and closes as expected.

 

[√]  5. Understand the Process

If you are a first-time home buyer or it has been a long time since you have purchased a home, we want to make sure you understand the process. 

1. We will work with you to identify the priorities for shopping for a house and once we have that together,

2. We will set up an auto-search that pulls the most current data from our listing services

3. We send you active properties in your price range.

4. You are able to identify the properties you would like to see in person

5. We then set up showings for those properties. 

6. We are going to ask you for feedback on the properties we see

7. We advise you on whether or not to make an offer based on factors we see in the properties.

8. We will be looking at condition of the properties and ensuring the asking price is in line with the condition and features of the property

9. We will present offers on your behalf to the Seller. We know how to construct an offer that is compelling to the Seller which is very important in a hot seller’s market.  When there are potentially multiple offers on the same property, making sure your offer stands-out in terms and conditions and pricing strategy.

 

It helps to know if you have to be in a particular area because of school district or proximity to work.  Make sure to share that pertinent information with your REALTOR so they can focus on that area.

 

[√]  6. Understand Who Pays

Some buyers falsely believe they have to pay commission on the purchase of a property.  As the Buyer on the property, you do not pay any fees to us, your agent. The Seller pays all commissions to both Buyer’s Agent and Seller’s Agent.  You will have to pay closing costs, you will pay for an appraisal that is required by the lender, and property inspection that will reveal any health and safety concerns and conditional issues in the property. Those become points of negotiation in the purchase as the Seller is able to decide what they are willing to fix/address and what they not willing to do.  The only way this is avoided is when there is an all-cash offer, and the offer is as-is.

 

[√]  7. Focus & Organization

You want to create a folder on your computer or laptop that houses information on the properties you see.  You can save the MLS links, write notes in a Word Doc about what you like or dislike about a property.  This will be helpful because if you are viewing many properties, remembering how they differ and being able to compare them gets harder with each property.  You can also create a real folder and file the printed property brochures inside.  Make notes on the flyer itself so you remember things you liked and disliked about the property.

 

As you look at properties in person, pay attention to the neighborhood as you get close to the property.  Is it in a safe place? How is the access?  Are there busy streets adjacent to the property? How close is the property to schools, parks, and shopping?

 

[√]  8. Visualize the property with your decor

Are the rooms laid out to fit your needs? Is there enough light? Is there the right access to rooms and through the house? Will your furniture fit?  It is easy to change paint colors on walls, and flooring type and color to fit with what you wish a property has. It is much harder to change a structure or layout of a property to fit what you need. This is where compromise can kick in, however you need to have a firm "walk away" point where a property has something in its layout that is just 100% not going to work.

 

[√]  9. Be Objective

It is important to be open to seeing all the available properties that fit your needs category and keep an open mind when viewing properties as we have already shared, you may not get everything on your wish list.

 

All the above may seem rather overwhelming. That is why having a professional REALTOR® represent you and keep track of all the details for you is highly recommended. Please email me or call us directly to discuss any of these matters in further detail.

 

We would be honored to represent you in the purchase of your next property.