For Buyers
Buying a home is an exciting time in one's life. I realize that it is a major purchase that requires you to have a tremendous amount of trust in me and my abilities. This is even more important as we try and keep up with the rapidly changing Real Estate environment. As with all of my previous clients, I will earn your trust as your Buyers Agent. As part of my service, we will schedule a consultation where I will explain what is involved with the home buying process. This includes approximate out of pocket expenses, contingencies to protect you, required inspections, time lines and expectations. For your convenience, I can also provide you with listings via email. I look forward to having an opportunity to meet with you. Below are a few details you may want to review prior to our meeting.
- Assure that you see all the properties in the area that meet your criteria.
- Assist you in establishing your price range. This should be based on your comfort level with your monthly payment.
- Guide you through the entire home buying process, from finding homes that best fit your criteria, to assisting you in finding the best financing, home inspector and closing attorney to our final walk through prior to closing.
- Provide you with a Buyers Comparative Market Analysis (BCMA) to make sure that you don't pay too much for your new home.
- Answer all of your questions about our local market area.
- Provide you with my honest opinions and thoughts.
- Most importantly, I will tell you why you may NOT want to consider buying a specific home.
Before You Start Looking For Your New Home:
- Check your credit rating. You can go to my "Local Resources" tab and scroll down to Financing to see a short list of preferred Lenders. They will guide you through the Pre-Approval process. If need be, you will want to straighten out any credit issues before proceeding.
- Determine a comfortable monthly budget for your new purchase, including down payment and monthly payment.
- Find a loan program that meets your needs and get Pre-Qualified (preferably Pre-Approved).
- Choose a REALTOR® that you trust and who understands your wants.
- Help you to determine what neighborhood best matches your needs.
- Identify important features you desire your new home to have.
- Upon request, your Lender will provide you in writing with a Good Faith Estimate (GFE) prior to starting your home search. This will include: fees for loan processing, underwriting, appraisal, 1 year taxes and homeowners insurance, bank attorney, etc.
- Your closing attorney fee. Approximately $400.00 due at closing.
- 'Upfront' expenses: Upon application, your lender will require an appraisal fee and/or an application fee ($350.00). A good faith deposit will be due at the time a purchase offer is accepted. This is negotiable but typically is $1,000.00 and applied towards the purchase price. A home inspection fee (approx. $300.00) is payable at the time of the inspection. Any additional inspections (Radon, Lead, Pest, etc) will be an additional cost that the Inspector will quote prior to the inspection.
