Benefits to buying a home, and the steps to reach that goal.

Let’s buy a home. What do we do first?

3 reasons to buy and 10 steps to get moving.

Yes, we are currently all hands on deck to suppress the spread of the Corona Virus/Covid 19. As we find our way through this, we’d just like to share information with you that can be beneficial to you in the coming months, and to let you know we are here for you when you need us. So let’s review some basics for preparing to buy a home.

Here are reasons why you may want to consider buying a home this year.

1. Buying a home is historically a great investment.

   Real estate often tops options such as gold, stocks, bonds and savings. Why? Real estate helps build equity, a form of investing for you and your family. The average homeowner gained approximately $5,300 in equity over the past year. See our video on deciding whether to buy or rent to help you put your housing costs to work for you and not your landlord this year.

2. Mortgage Interest Rates are low.

   Freddie Mac expects rates to remain low, leveling out to a yearly average of 3.8% in 2020. The rate impacts your mortgage payment and the low rates now allow you to buy more house for your money.

3. Investing in your family is a win.

   This is true on so many levels. Some buyers are uncomfortable with the obligation of a mortgage, however unless you are living rent-free with a parent or family member, you ARE paying a mortgage — Either Yours or That of Your Landlord! Rent prices continue to rise making it even more challenging to achieve the dreams of moving up to a bigger home, helping your children with higher education, or starting your own business without the ability to tap into savings of equity in your home. Buying a home sooner rather than later can help lead to substantial savings and long-term growth for you and your family.

We want to be your trusted advisors; reach out to us anytime to review and find out if homeownership is the right choice for you this year.

Here is a quick review of the buying process:

1. Reach out to us for a free consultation to meet and review the buying the process.

2. Know your credit score.

   And, this doesn’t mean the popular consumer credit monitoring sites. Let’s meet to review why these aren’t the score the lender will see. We recommend that we meet with a trusted lending partner to review your buying power, and determine your home buying budget. As a team with your lender, we help put together any plans needed to help you raise your credit score while you are also working on item #2 to save a downpayment.

3. Save a downpayment.

   Call us to review if and at what price range works for you to become a home owner. Then we will help you with creating a budget to have the money saved up that you need for your downpayment, closing costs and other costs, like inspections & appraisal, to buy your first home. We begin the process of setting up your home search to monitor homes in your price range while you are making the necessary preparations to buy your home.

4. Pre-approval

   Once you have your credit score and downpayment secured, it is time to have the lender prepare a pre-approval for us to use to demonstrate your buying power and credibility for buying the home you are offering on.

5. Find a home

   We move from reviewing homes online to going to see homes in person and considering which home is right for you to offer on.

6. Make an offer

   We work for you to analyze the home you want to offer on and prepare to negotiate with the seller for you to enter into a contract to purchase their home. With an executed contract, we provide docs to the lender to start your loan processing.

7. Home Inspection

   Once we have a home in-contract we need to have it inspected to confirm the condition of the home. This is an item you pay out-of-pocket at the time of the inspections, which often include a full home, termite, radon, and other test you would like to have performed based on home you are working to purchase. Any hidden issues that are found we address with the seller and strive to move forward with an agreement in writing to satisfy all parties.

8. Appraisal

   Once we have reached agreement with the seller on a remedy, the lender orders an independent appraisal to continue your loan process, This is also an item you pay out-of-pocket for at the time the lender orders this.

9. Closing

   Once all steps are completed and the lender requested docs are all submitted to the lender, the underwriter finalized the file and a Closing Disclosure is sent to you for review 3 days prior to the closing date and time. After this document is executed, we typcially have scheduled your closing for the final close by date in your contract, and we meet at a title company for you to review and sign the final paperwork.

10. Time to Move!

    Now you are a homeowner! Per the terms of our contract you will receive possession of the home and can make your move home.