Overwhelming, daunting, stressful oh my!
There is a basic process of buying a house, and then a process that depends on what type of home you are buying and what the situation is. These processes often overlap and is reason enough to hire a top producing Realtor. Most folks start this process of by talking to family and friends about who they used and what their experience was. Then they might go out on a limb and press the “Contact Agent” button on Zillow, hoping they get an experienced, honest Realtor and not some newbie with a credit card marketing budget trying to net some clients. A roll of the dice for those buyer’s who came up empty handed in the “asking friends & family” phase. But let’s face it, the “asking friends & family” phase is still a jump shot from half court at the buzzer. Just because someone you know had a good expereince with a Realtor, doesn’t mean you will, and vice versa.
The basic process of buying a house entails a few important factors.
• Having enough cash to buy or having a pre-approval letter showing that a bank is willing to loan you some money to buy it. Your lender can usually can refer you to a good Realtor.
• Finding a home that meets your wants and needs. Do you know how many people buy the home they said they didn’t want? Most.
• Writing an offer that a seller will accept or even consider. Wisdom is needed here.
• Navigating through inspections, deposit delivery, loan underwriting, appraisal, potential issues with the appraisal and potential issues overall.
• Repair/price adjustment requests. Wisdom is needed here.
• Final signing, down payment delivery, minding lender deadlines.
• Final walk through, closing escrow, making sure the house is ready to move into and that the seller met their obligations of clearing out their stuff.
Every escrow is different, because people are different and properties are different. The chemistry changes. Each one of those bullet points probably has 10 more bullet points, and even some of those bullet points would have subsections. It is important to realize that as a buyer, or seller for that matter, you don’t need to know everything. You need a top producing Realtor who does and who will take care of you and the transaction. Top producers see things coming a mile away, often times before you even get into escrow where you can risk losing inspection fees and/or your deposit.
The best place to start is by doing research on Realtors in your area. Find a Realtor with experience, lots of great reviews, and someone who shows passion for what they do. Check their social media, are they organized and consitantly giving out valuable information? Are they willing to explain the entire purchase contract to you in detail, the process of buying a house and go over scenarios? What about answering questions like “what is the minimum credit score to buy a house” or “can you use your 401(k) to buy a house?”. It’s not always easy finding and buying a home. You will likely be spending a lot of time with the person. Heck, some of my closest friends are peope I have helped buy and sell homes.
Contact me to get started on your real estate needs!
