Planning to Purchase

Congratulations on your decision to purchase a new home! Your first step toward buying your new home will be to analyze your family’s needs. We would be happy to assist in analyzing your needs so that you will be able to get a clear picture of exactly what your new home should be.

First, you should write down what you are looking for in your new home. For example, are you currently renting and would like to have a home where you can begin building equity? Maybe you recently married and have outgrown your current residence. Or, maybe you have just gotten that promotion, which allows you to move to your Dream Home. There are many factors that will have a bearing on how you approach your home search.

Second, establish a time frame that you would like to stay within for buying your home. Depending on your reasons for wanting a new home and the current state of the market here in the area, you will be able to come up with a rough guideline, which you can finalize as you gather more information.

Last, you most likely have a mental picture of what you would like your house to look like and what features it should have. It’‘s very important to write these ideas down to avoid any ambiguity later in your home search. You should make at least two lists: one should be a list describing your dream home and the other should list the features of the home that you feel are absolute must have in order to buy the home. In a perfect world, your new home would fulfill both lists 100 percent. It is more likely that you will end up blending the two lists into a schedule of prioritized items as you progress through the buying process. This is a natural and evolutionary process that will become much clearer as you find out what is available here in our market.


Pre-Qualify

Now that you have your list of features you want in your new home, you are ready to start looking! Well, not just yet. You are going to need to know in what price range to look. It is now time to go get pre-approved or pre-qualified for a mortgage. You will need to contact a mortgage company and we would be happy to refer a company or loan officer that We have worked with in the past who has the ability to make your dream home become a reality.

There are some key differences between pre-qualification and pre-approval for a loan that you need to be aware of. Loan pre-qualification is a simple process. It takes into account very basic information regarding your financial status and gives you an amount for which you may qualify. This can be done strictly on a verbal level or electronically over the Internet or by phone. The pre-qualified amount is based solely on the information you provide. In most markets, pre-qualified buyers usually hold little clout compared to pre-approved buyers due to the fact that the information given during the pre-qualification process is not thoroughly investigated and therefore may be unreliable.

Where a pre-approved buyer is actually approved for a loan of a certain amount, a pre-qualified buyer is only told that they might be approved for a certain amount. Pre-approval is a much more involved process. The lender will take all pertinent information regarding your finances and perform an extensive check on your current financial status. This will ultimately give you the exact amount that you will be eligible for (depending on what type of loan you decide to go with). Being pre-approved lets the seller know that you have gone through an extensive financial background check and there should be no unexpected obstacles to buying the home. You can see how being pre-approved would be more attractive to a seller than just being pre-qualified.


Dream Home Search

Through our website you will be able to view many area subdivisions, new developments, local builders, area schools and much more. So now when the weather is nasty or the kids are not feeling well, you may still be searching for your Dream Home. If your life is a bit hectic you may chose to sign up for our Dream Home function and let your computer do some of the work.

Every day new properties come on the market, the Dream Home function will send all newly listed properties that meet your pre-set criteria in an email to you so you will never miss the perfect home for you and your family.


Final Preparations

As the closing date draws near, we will contact the title escrow company and your lender to make sure that all the necessary documents are prepared, and that they are complete, accurate, and delivered on time. We will also confirm that the documents will be delivered to the correct location so they can be reviewed and that they will be ready for you on the appropriate closing date. At this point, you will find out what form of payment you will need to bring to the closing for any unpaid fees and and will be able to confirm the appropriate party to make the check out to. We will ensure that each closing document is ready and available to enable you to have a quick, easy closing.


Closing

"The Closing" refers to the meeting where ownership of the property is legally transferred to you, the buyer. Closing procedures are usually held at the title company’s office. Your closing officer coordinates the document signing and the collection and disbursement of funds. We will be present at your closing to read the documents on your behalf, answer any questions, or help to resolve any last minute details that may come up.

In order for the closing to go smoothly, each party involved should bring the necessary documentation and be prepared to pay any related fees (closing costs). There may be more than one form of acceptable payment for your closing costs so ask the closing officer which form of payment will be required and to whom it should be made out. Closing costs will generally total an amount equal to 2 to 3 percent of the total loan value not including down payment. Sellers sometimes pay for a portion or all of the closing costs, depending on local market conditions, terms of the purchase agreement. Any such concessions should be acknowledged in writing. Most lenders will allow a credit from the seller to the buyer for the non-recurring closing costs. However, they usually won’t allow a credit that reduces the amount of the buyer’s down payment or any of the buyer’s recurring costs, such as expenses for fire insurance premiums, PMI, or property taxes.