Buying
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Buying

How to successfully purchase a home in any market, in any location

5 steps you need to follow before putting in an offer

1- Mindset

It is imperative that you understand the current market conditions. Whether it is a seller’s market or a buyer’s market, understanding the conditions will give you an upper hand in the negotiation. In a sellers market, understand and accept that you will have other buyers competing for the same property. You have to be prepared to offer the best terms you possibly can: price, short inspection, wave some contingencies, etc… In general, sellers want to pick the offer that will make their life easy. In a buyer’s market, you will have the option of selecting between more homes and can be more aggressive in your terms. Don’t overwhelm yourself and look at too many. Look at the ones that fit your needs and wants, then go see these with your realtor. Keep all of these factors in mind when seeing homes, and make your offers aggressive but not offensive to the seller.

2- Prepare

Either if you are paying cash or financing, make a plan. If purchasing cash, set aside the amount you are going to spend, which is the purchase plus closing costs. Put away a little extra for renovations, repairs, moving costs and miscellaneous expenses. Try not to look at homes only at the high end of your budget; but if you do, and want to put in an offer that is the amount of your full budget, think about getting a small loan to keep some cash for unseen expenses. Remember you can offer cash but always finance all or a portion of the price.
If financing, find a PROFESSIONAL LOAN OFFICER and work with them to get approved, so you are ready to bid aggressively if in a multiple offer situation, which are still occurring frequently. There’s a difference between having a pre-qualification and being approved for a loan! The second can get you the house when competing with other buyers.

3-Find a PROFESSIONAL

Working with the right agent will definitely make a difference at the moment of acquiring the right home for you and your family. A true professional will understand your wants and needs, understand your reach in terms of finances to acquire a property, and has knowledge of the different markets in your area. An active agent or her office has off-market listings that may fit you perfectly! IN this case, you would not have to compete with other buyers. Your realtor can strategically write an offer that can get you to win in a multiple offer situation, be on top of the terms and deadlines to secure the closing and PROTECT YOUR DEPOSIT, will guide you through the process, and suggest a team of other professionals for purposes of inspections, insurers, contractors for eventual repairs or remodeling, make sure the transfer of ownership is handled correctly by the closing agent or attorney, and much more…

4- DON’T try to look at MANY

!!! Set up your criteria and narrow the search so you don’t miss out on the right property because you were trying to look at 10 more! Your Real estate agent will definitely assist you with this step.

5- ACT QUICKLY

If you or your agent find the perfect home for you PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE! Do not get caught up with asking a bunch of questions that will just delay the process of putting in an offer!! I hear buyer’s agents all the time calling, sending emails, texts, etc…asking: “do you have offers, how motivated is the seller, how old is the roof, how old is the ac, the water heater, does the HOA cover… how many offers you have, because if you have some I don’t want to waste my time writing one!!” In the meantime the professional agents are submitted powerful offers in writing understanding that they are literally competing to get the home for their clients.

OUR SERVICES FOR BUYERS

Post closing

We will make sure your moving, utilities set up is in place, as well as confirm the receipt of closing documents, homestead application, and verification of deed recording.

Property showings

We will schedule showings, open houses, or virtual showings if the customers looking are out of town.

Closing assistance services

We will coordinate with the title company and/or attorney that is handling the transaction to assure that the transfer of title is clear and smooth. We assist you with Home Owner Association Application (if applicable) to make sure the property is free and clear of title claims, violations or permit issues, and coordinate and schedule the times for final walkthrough, closing, and with taking possession. We will remind and assist you in creating an account for your utilities and power.

Buyer consultation

our team of professionals will set up a meeting with you, either in person or virtually, and provide a form with a questionnaire to understand your needs and wants for your next purchase (you can download form here, but you will fill it with your realtor)

Inspection

We will schedule the inspection on your behalf and assist the inspection to guarantee every detail of the property gets the right attention.

Appraisal

We will assist the appraisal inspection by presenting a list of comparable properties and a list of improvements to ascertain the purchase price matches the appraised value or it’s very near as expected. In the case of a gap between the purchase price and the appraised value, we will make you aware of it and present you with options to overcome this situation (this is usually in the contract as well, if the buyer will go over appraised value).

Property search

We will set up a search based on the criteria we collected from your buyer consultation. We will search on the Multiple listing services MLS, and also our own inventory of upcoming listings, off market listings, for sale by owner sites, investor opportunities, and more…

Offers

We will prepare the offers and analyze them with you in terms of purchase price, inspection period, appraisal and loan commitment contingencies, and every nuance involved in a contract to purchase property.

Financing advice

In case you are looking for a loan to finance your property, we will get you in touch with one of our affiliated preferred lenders, and along with them, work with you to improve your purchasing power, and guide you through the entire process of acquiring a loan to purchase your property.​

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