Buying A Home

I know how difficult it can be to find the right home. However, I do not only have access to the homes listed with my company, but I can show you homes listed with any other companies as well. There are also homes that are not yet on the market that may be available to you. I would like the opportunity to talk with you and answer any questions you might have about any properties in SW Florida. I would be happy to assist you and fulfill your Real Estate needs. Contact me now.

Purchasing a home is a very important decision and a big undertaking in your life. In fact, most people only choose a few homes in their lifetime. We will make sure that you are well equipped and armed with current information for your big decision. I will guide you through every step of the home-buying process. We look forward to meeting your real estate needs. Let’s take this journey together! Please contact us if you have any questions on the steps below.

1. Find a Realtor You Can Trust:
Choose an agent that will help you to make a wise investment. Let someone help you who is an expert in the field. You will save time and money, as well as avoid some pretty common mistakes made by people without knowledge of the market. As your Realtor® I am committed to providing you competent and sound professional expertise gained through completed successful real estate negotiations. Together, we can avoid costly mistakes, find the best home value, and make your home buying or relocation experience enjoyable and stress-free!

2. Analyze Your Needs:
Think about where you want to be. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Realize that LOCATION is the most important factor in choosing real estate. It is important when you buy it AND it is important when you sell it! What do you need versus what do you want? Depending on your finances, you might need to put necessities as priorities with an eye on adding the "wants" to your property later.

3. Get Pre-Approved:
Most people begin the process of finding a home in the WRONG way. We make assumptions as to what we think we can afford. We assume that our credit is either very good and those we can afford what we want or that our credit is very bad and we can't afford anything. BEFORE you begin looking for a home, we recommend that you go to a lending institution and get yourself pre-qualified. Why? This helps you know WHAT YOU CAN AFFORD and takes all the guesswork out of the buying process! It also helps you to be considered a WILLING and ABLE buyer when you place an offer on a home, which gives you more bargaining power!

4. Select Properties:
There are many factors to consider when selecting a neighborhood that is right for you Look for things like access to major thoroughfares, highways, and shopping. Listen for noise created by commerce, roads, railways, public areas, schools, etc. Smell the air for adjacent commerce or agriculture. Check with local civic, police, fire, and school officials to find information about the area. Research things like soil and water. Look at traffic patterns around the area during different times of the day and drive from the area to work. Find out if the neighborhood is near parks, churches, recreation centers, shopping, theaters, restaurants, public transportation, schools, etc. Find out if the neighborhood belongs to a Homeowner’s Association.

5. View Properties:
Your Real Estate Agent will schedule the showing appointments for you.

6. Write an offer and include an Earnest deposit:
Once you have found the home you wish to purchase, you will need to determine what offer you are willing to make for the home. It is important to remember that the more competition there is for the home, the higher the offer should be – sometimes even exceeding the asking price. Make offer you want the other party to sign! When the seller accepts an offer it becomes a legal contract. When you write an offer you should be prepared to pay an earnest money deposit that will go to an Escrow Account. This is to guarantee that your intention is to purchase the property.

An escrow account is a neutral depository held by your lender for funds that will be used to pay expenses incurred by the property, such as taxes, assessments, property insurance, or mortgage insurance premiums which fall due in the future. You will pay one-twelfth of the annual amount of these bills each month with your regular mortgage payment. When the bills fall due, the lender pays them from the special account. At closing, it may be necessary to pay enough into the account to cover these amounts for several months so that funds will be available to pay the bills as they fall due. You may have to pay upfront: earnest money, option money, inspection fee, appraisal and credit report.

7. Negotiate and Counteroffer:
After we present your offer to the listing agent it will either be accepted, rejected, or the seller will make a counter-offer. This is when we will negotiate terms of the contract if necessary.

8. Offer Acceptance:
The purchase agreement or contract constitutes your offer to buy and, once accepted by the seller, becomes a valid, legal contract. An agreement to convey starts the process once it is received at the Title Company.

9. Submit the loan application:
It is usually subject to a credit check, an appraisal, and sometimes, a survey of the property.

10. Schedule Inspections:
If you are purchasing a resale property, we highly recommend that you have a professional home inspector conduct a thorough inspection. The inspection will include the following: appliances, plumbing , electrical, air conditioning and heating, ventilation, roof and attic, foundation and general structure. In choosing a home inspector, consider one that has been certified as a qualified and experienced member by a trade association.

11. Complete the Mortgage Application

12. Remove Contingencies:
Show us a contract without contingency clauses and we'll show you a house on the moon! As you may know, contingencies work both ways—buyers include these conditions (or "escape clauses") in their purchase offer, and sellers add their own in the counter offer. If a contingency isn't fulfilled, the party that made it is free to walk away from the deal.

Anticipate potential problems so that if something does go wrong, you can cancel the contract without penalty. Contingencies protect you in case you cannot perform or choose not to perform on a promise to buy a home. If you cancel a contract without having built-in conditions and contingencies, you could find yourself forfeiting your earnest money deposit. Every contingency, no matter who originated it, should have a definite timeframe. You don't want to take your home off the market for an indefinite amount of time, especially since the deal could fall through. Make sure everything is in writing! Every important exchange, in phone or in person, should be put on paper for a contract to stand up legally.

13. Coordinate with Title or Closing Company:
The title company will perform the next steps - obtain sales contract, order title search, review title insurance, secure payoff letters, perform tax research, review lien status, secure survey and pest inspection, prepare documentation, schedule closing date and time, prepare HUD-1 settlement statements, get the statements approved by the lender and mortgage brokers, execute the documents, initiate the closing, record documents prepare a policy and maintain files for audit.

Title Insurance protects from financial loss in the even that problems develop regarding the rights to ownership of your property. There may be hidden title defects that even title search may not reveal. Title insurance pays any cost of defending against any covered claims.

14. Consider a Home Warranty:
When you purchase a newly built home, the builder usually offers some sort of full or limited warranty on things such as the quality of design, materials, and workmanship. These warranties are usually for a period of one-year from the purchase of the home. At closing, the builder will assign to you the manufacturer’s warranties that were provided to the builder for materials, appliances, fixtures, etc. For example, if your dishwasher were to become faulty within one year from the purchase of your newly built home, you would call the manufacturer of the dishwasher – not the builder.

15. Close on the Property:
A “closing” is where you and I meet with the Seller, the Seller’s agent, a representative from the lending institution and a representative from the title company, in order to transfer the property title to you. The purchase agreement or contract you signed describes the property, states the purchase price and terms, sets forth the method of payment, and usually names the date and place where the closing or actual transfer of the property title and keys will occur. Your lender will require you to sign a document, usually a promissory note, as evidence that you are personally responsible for repaying the loan. You will also sign a mortgage or deed of trust on the property as security to the lender for the loan. The mortgage or deed of trust gives the lender the right to sell the property if you fail to make the payments. Before you exchange these papers, the property may be surveyed, appraised, or inspected, and the ownership of title will be checked in county and court records. At closing, you will be required to pay all fees and closing costs in the form of “guaranteed funds” such as a Cashier’s Check. Your agent or escrow officer will notify you of the exact amount at closing.

Take Possession:
Congratulations, you have closed on your new home and are now ready to move in!