The Buying Process

So, you’re thinking about purchasing a home! Whether you’re an experienced or
first time home buyer there are things everyone needs to know about the process and
why it’s important to have an advocate to protect your interests. Below is an outline
of how the process works and some tips that will ease the strain and help protect
your interest. Keep in mind this is only an outline of the process and there can be
many more issues that may come up in this complicated process.

1.       Find a Buyer’s Agent.

A buyer’s agent  is your advocate and your negotiator; this is why it is best
not to select the agent that represents the seller on a particular property.
A buyer’s agents experience can make the difference in how smoothly the
transaction can be processed.  A buyer’s agent has a fiduciary duty to you
as his client and will have your best interest in mind. Find a Realtor® that
knows the market and keeps up on ever changing trends. Make sure they
will listen to your wants & needs and make sure they understand how to
do a comparative analysis for the home you find. Never let a Realtor®
pressure you to make a quick purchase unless you are ready.

2.       Secure Your Financing.

Getting pre-approved (not pre-qualified) by a lender is a crucial second step.
Pre-approval shows you have worked with a lender and have a loan in place
just waiting for you to identify a property to purchase.  Pre-qualified means
you have just started the loan process.  Knowing what you can qualify for,
as in, purchase price, down payment and closing costs will save you from
wasting time searching for homes out of you range or you may find you
can afford more then you thought. Having a pre-approval will also help
in the negotiating process because the seller knows you are a serious
buyer and can qualify for the property. Along with this process you will
need to decide how much of a down payment you are willing to put down,
how high an interest rate you will pay because this will affect your
monthly payments.

3.       Communicate Your Wants and Needs in a Home.

Be clear about what is important to you and give your Realtor® as much
information as possible. This is crucial in finding the right home without
wasting time. A good Realtor® will ask a lot of questions to try to narrow
down your search criteria. Be open to suggestions from your Realtor®,
your wishes and desires may not be available in a given area, in your
price range.  You should be able to trust your Realtor® and know they
are looking out for your best interest.

4.       Negotiating the Best Price

Your Realtor® should be an expert in this process. The comparative
analysis for other sold homes in the area is a crucial tool in negotiating;
it will tell you whether the home is overpriced, underpriced or priced
correctly. From this point you can develop an educated initial offer and
get the process started.  During this process you will need to decide: 
purchase price, if you want a Home Warranty and who will pay for it,
closing date, closing costs, possession timing and earnest money.

5.       The Inspection Process

Once you have negotiated the price you will have 10 days from the day
of the acceptance of the contract to complete all property inspections.
This will allow you to review the Seller Property Disclosure Statement (SPDS)
and have a licensed home inspector look over the property and give you
a detailed report. Other inspections you will have are termite, homeowners
insurance claim history and Buyers Guide information research.  Once
you have completed the inspections you will then ask the seller to fix
any non-working items and structural problems not already spelled out
on the contract that the seller is already required to have in working
order (Warranted Items). The items you ask to be repaired are negotiable
and if seller refuses to correct the items you have the option to cancel
contract or accept the seller’s response. You will also receive the
Home Owners Association CC & R’s from the title company and have
5 days from receipt to review and respond if there are issues. You will
be allowed one last inspection of the property when you do your
Final Walk Through, just prior to closing escrow, to make sure all
repairs agreed on have been completed and all warranted items are
working properly.

6.       Closing Escrow

Although this sounds like the easiest part of the process there are
many things that can go wrong at this point. This is where your Realtors®
experience with contracts and financing can help again. You will receive
a HUD statement prior to close that will give you all the closing costs and
tell you how much more money (if any) you will need to bring to the closing.
Your Realtor® and you should review this for any mistakes and advise the
escrow company if you find any.

Again there are many other facets to the buying process but these will give you
a good overview. Some of the other issues you will have to deal with are: choosing
a title company, deciding on how to respond to a counter offer, whether to ask for
personal property just to name a couple. This is why it is crucial to find the right
Realtor® to protect your interests. If you would like additional information regarding
any of this information or a detailed breakdown of the process, please feel free to
e-mail or call The Vogel Group (Judy or Bob) and we will get the information to
you as soon as possible.