If you are new to the home buying
process, and considering the complications of the current
Real Estate Market,
the relationship between an agent and their clients has never been more
vital.
As a new buyer working with an
experienced agent, and doing a little bit of home work on your own you before
you start the process, hopefully you can avoid many of the problems and
headaches that commonly happen.
The first
two things a new buyer should do is to become pre-approved through a lender,
and find a good agent, hopefully both will be local to the area that you are
looking to move to. By using an agent in
the area, you have a better shot gathering useful information about different
neighborhoods, school districts, and subtle nuances about neighborhoods that an
out of area agent wouldn’t know. They
can hopefully better advise and recommend the best options for you with their
knowledge of the area. Lenders not familiar with the area that you wish to move
to may not be able to give you the best service, or recommend the right loan
program for you. With many different
loan programs available, not all loans will work with all properties. So
determining which program is best for you will help save time when it comes to
choosing a house. For example not all
condo communities will allow FHA financing, and it would be a waste of time to
look at properties that you can’t buy.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have their own loan programs exclusive to
their properties that might be a benefit, and make your purchase go smoother. Plus there is no need to look at houses
priced at $200,000 when the absolute most you can afford is $170,000. How you plan to purchase a home, and knowing
your limits will be valuable information for your agent.
Our current
market has changed. Buyers are discovering that good quality homes are selling
quickly. Even though prices are still
low, and interest rates at never before seen levels, with a lower than average
amount of inventory currently available, buyers need to be competitive. Multiple offers on properties, or at the very
least having to offer full asking price are becoming common occurrences. Having
to have all of your “Ducks in a row” before you start to seriously look will
help you position yourself to get the house you want over the competition.
With
Internet searching for homes, its quite easy and convenient for a potential
home buyer to do some research on their own of properties in the markets they
are wanting to live in. Trulia, Zillow,
and Realtor.com are 3 of the most popular websites at the moment, with more
information to the consumer than ever before.
Websites with real estate listings, first get their information from the
local Multiple Listing Systems, all across the country. These are the databases managed by local
boards that only agents have exclusive access to. 3rd party sites have been given
permission to syndicate out the information, but often times are not very quick
to update the statuses of any particular property. If a seller accepted an offer on a property,
you may never know that from looking online.
With loans
taking 30-45 days (a little more for certain types) to be processed and
underwritten, a potential buyer should have as many documents organized and
ready to go for you lender, so as to shorten any delays. The vast majority of delays and issues that
arise that cause the most stress come from the lending process. Tax records, employment verification, divorce
documents, etc. should be found and held on standby. Once your offer is accepted, you will need to
get these things to your lender.
Inspections will need to be immediately scheduled, earnest monies
deposited, and the beginning process can be quite busy and a little
unnerving. The saying that “you don’t
know, what you don’t know” is very true. There will be moments of hustle and
bustle, long periods of nothing, then scrambling around again. Having an agent who has gone through a
variety of different deals, that is knowledgeable, who is working on only your
best interests can be the difference between have a reasonably smooth
experience on one of the most important decisions a person makes, and one where
it seems that every possible problem that could come up does, and you feel like
you are in a nightmare that you can’t wake up from.
Kirk Keebler, Realtor
Edward Surovell Realtors
734-474-9926
kkeebler@surovell.com
