Let's Find Your Perfect Home

Window Shopping And Brainstorming

Start browsing around online. Take a look around online and check out some options. Think about the type of style home you would want whether it is a single-family, condominium, or multi-family. Think about commute to work, school, etc and what would work best for you as far as location. There are features that you may want the town or city to have where you will reside, think about those and weigh which ones are more important and the ones that would be nice but perhaps not as important. Take a note of all of these things and in addition to these make sure you have a clear picture of what you would want the living space to look and feel like.

Get a rough idea of what your budget may look like. Feel free to play around with the mortgage calculator on this website to play with different scenarios.

Get Introduced To Your Buyer’s Agent

Getting together with your realtor is the time when you have decided to begin your journey. It’s an exciting time as this will be your advisor that guides you and helps you navigate along the entire buying process. Your agent has a duty to look out for your best interests, equip you with knowledge and amass research on your behalf, and negotiate the best price for you. There are fiduciary duties which your agent owes to you as you will be their client. If you were to go through a listing agent they do not owe you these same duties.

Try to have some questions for your agent when you meet them. This way you can have a detailed discussion regarding the many goals you may have in buying a new home.

The brainstorming you did before will come in handy as you can let them know what type of home you’re looking for, price range, and which areas you’re interested in moving to. A good agent will probably have some suggestions based on what you tell them.

Pre-Approval Process

Getting pre approved completes the one-two combination along with finding your realtor. It enables you to truly find out what you can afford for a home.You will find out what purchase price you can afford, the loan amount, terms, and rate. You can shop around with different lenders to see which one can get you the best rate or you can choose one. It is up to you. You can ask your agent as to what they recommend. The lender will pull your credit report, review bank statements, tax returns, and any other documentation that they will need in order to paint a clear financial picture in order to determine the approval. Once this process is done you will be emailed your preapproval which will last for a certain amount of time. You should be able to get an updated one as needed as you move on to the next process. The search.

The Search Begins!

The hunt begins! Your journey in getting out and seeing homes in person has begun. You will be attending open houses, viewing homes with your agent, and sometimes maybe even looking at homes virtually. On the quest to find the one. You will know when you find the one. It is a feeling like none other and exciting! A great agent knows when it is the one as well and they will be excited for you when the time comes.

Time To Make An Offer

Ok here we go! Making an offer is the time when you could possibly be finding and securing the one. Your agent will guide you through this process. In a seller’s market there are many tactics that a savvy agent will make you aware of. Put your best foot forward. If it is meant to be your offer will be accepted and you will move towards the home inspection or purchase and sale. If for some reason your offer does not get accepted just keep your on trucking along as the right one will stick and it most likely will be better than the one that did not stick. An experienced and savvy agent will guide you along this process and you will be glad you worked with them throughout this process.

Hiring Your Attorney

Once you hire your attorney now they will work with the seller’s attorney to draft the purchase and sale agreement .  An attorney who is “worth their salt” will know what to include in the purchase and sale agreement in order to protect you as the buyer in the transaction.

The Home Inspection

Your offer is accepted. Congratulations. This inspection is for you as the home buyer to make sure you know what you intend on buying. It will be performed by a licensed home inspector who will determine many different things regarding the home. Things like whether or not the foundation is in satisfactory condition, if the systems are in working order, condition of the roof, and other aspects of the home. Sometimes major issues could come up in a home inspection. Sometimes safety issues come up in an inspection. If these come up your agent will advise. Many issues can be worked so don’t be alarmed. A great agent will help.

The Purchase And Sale Agreement (AKA the P & S)

This is where you sign the document that binds the sale after the home inspection and offer. It is a detailed agreement between yourself and the seller that include specifics on the property, the contingencies, and responsibilities of the buyer and seller.  The purchase and sale deposit will be due at this point. This could be 3%-20% of the purchase price. These funds along with the offer deposit will be held in an escrow account.

Final Walk-Through

You want to make sure thing are up to snuff. This is where that happens. Jason or Abby will educate you on what to watch out for here and why it is so important.

Closing Day

You Made it!

During the actual closing, deeds, loan documents, and other documents will be prepared, signed and filed with the registry of deeds. You could close at an attorney’s office or the registry. Sometimes even other places which we will let you know about. The closing attorney will inform you on what to bring. After your signing and the transport of the documents to the registry once recorded you are officially a homeowner. Congratulations is in order!