Buyers Guide

Prepare & Plan

Deciding to Buy

Top 10 reasons people buy

  • 1. To build equity/Wealth
  • 2. Don’t want to throw money away-No Refunds on Rent
  • 3. Want more space
  • 4. Paint, Make Changes-It’s your Home!
  • 5. Don’t want to pay extra for pets
  • 6. Want to get away from noisy neighbors
  • 7. Don’t want to deal with landlords
  • 8. They don’t want to deal with deposits
  • 9. Save on taxes
  • 10. Live the American Dream

Getting Organized

Have a pre-approval letter- from a lender you are working with. The lender should provide you with mortgage, closing, and payment estimates. If they haven’t ask them for it.

Shop for a Home

Selecting an Agent

There are great agents and there are bad agents. You want a relator that is a good listener, familiar with the areas you’re interested in living, has a good network of associates, and will work for you and your interests. Unfortunately, there are realtors that will not go the extra mile for you. Most transactions today have a listing agent and a selling agent. The listing agent is usually the agent which is selling the property. The selling agent is the agent that brings the buyer. You want to choose a buyer’s agent who will represent you for free, they will show you all the listings you want to see and help you through the process for free. The seller pays for the commission for both agents.

Research Markets

Have your agent inform you about the current housing market

Finding a Home

Write a list of “Must Haves”. What features are the most important to you? Commute, schools, shopping? Do you want a basement, garage, and a certain number of bedrooms? There are many options out, so make sure your realtor knows what is important to you.

Buy a Home

Choosing a Home

  • 1. Does the home check off most/all of your “Must Haves”
  • 2. Your agent will show you as many homes as you want until you find the right one for you

Making the Offer

  • 1. Have your agent prepare a CMA(comparative market analysis) to help determine offer price
  • 2. You will need you pre-approval letter and earnest money deposit for a strong offer

Steps of an Offer:

  • 1. Initial offer
  • 2. Seller Response/Counter
  • 3. Negotiations/Counter
  • 4. Ratified Contract

The Contract

Home Inspection(Buyer Pays)- Realtor should have inspectors information to provide you, has to be done within deadline set in contract, Buyer chooses Inspector

Appraisal(Buyer Pays)- Lender will schedule the appraisal, You want the value to be equal to or higher than the sales price, if it is lower the buyer and seller will either agree to lower the sales price in the contract or you can walk away from the deal

Close the Deal

Getting a Mortgage

Final Loan Approval- You will need final approval from your lender before you can buy the home

Preparing to Close

  • 1. Completing your loan process
  • 2. Buying Homeowners Insurance Policy
  • 3. Having utilities transferred into your name for the closing date
  • 4. Walkthrough inspection- Done the day before or morning of closing, goal is to review that all items from home inspection are completed as agreed

Closing Title

  • 1. Title Insurance
  • 2. How to Take Title – Sole Owner, Joint Tenancy, Tenants-in-common
  • 3. Recording Deed- Ownership is official when deed is recorded by appropriate county office

Moving In

  • 1. Keys will be provided at closing
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