Buyers

From the moment that I become your Realtor, to the day that you receive the keys to your new home, there are many steps involved in the buying process. Let me guide you through my Home Buyer’s routine, which, really, is anything but.

Preliminary Paperwork

Before we get started searching for your dream home, there are a few required documents to be taken care of. I will discuss these with you during our first few communications. You’ll initial and sign them where required before we begin, then we’ll discover how much you can afford.

Financial Readiness

What you are able to afford in a home, can be calculated in a relatively easy manner, through visiting a mortgage specialist. Online affordability calculators are another way to offer the do-it-yourselfer a fast-and-easy overview of your ability to afford a home. However, a Mortgage Specialist can help you decide what type of mortgage best suits your lifestyle, as well as discussing the ins and outs of mortgages, including how much of a down payment you’ll require. All of this helps you attain, and more importantly, maintain, your achieved financial situation, after you’ve moved into your new home. Other considerations include mortgage default insurance, as well as your ability to apply for various government programs that can assist you in purchasing your new home.  Dean’s Beans

The Search Begins

Your home search is something that you and I will discuss on a continuous basis, as your likes and dislikes become more apparent during the search process. I suggest to all of my buyers, that their first search’s scope be a wide one. We’ll already know your price range after discovering your financial readiness, so that part of the search criteria is a “known” one. Unknown criteria however, could include which part of town you’d like to live in, the style of home you’d prefer, or if you’d like a garage, whether it be attached or detached. Listings will be emailed to you on an as-they-are-listed basis, and after viewing a few of them online, you’ll soon realize what your preferences are, and what they aren’t. You can then relay this information to me and I’ll adjust the scope of your search accordingly. Of course, if you’ve already decided on your specific search criteria, let’s get you started right away: The Dean’s List

Viewing Homes

Once we’ve found a few homes that fit your criteria, and you’d like to see them in person, you’ll let me know, and I’ll set up a viewing appointment with the homeowner’s Realtor. Once the viewing request has been confirmed, we’ll meet at the scheduled date, time and address. If you prefer, I can pick you up at home or at your workplace. Then we’re on our way!

Making An Offer

Once you’ve found that special home that you’d like to make an offer on, we’ll discuss the details of the offer; which will include your offer’s price and deposit amount, a completion date (move-in or “closing” date), and your conditions, if any. Also included, will be any requests we’d like to make to the Seller. I’ll then draw up the offer (officially called the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, or the “APS”), and we’ll go through it together, with your questions being answered along the way. After this, you’ll initial and sign the APS where required, and I’ll then present it to the Seller’s Realtor in person, or forward it to them electronically, via email.

The Seller will then respond back to us, through their Realtor, by either accepting, declining, or counter-offering back to us. We will then discuss any changes that they’ve made to the offer, and now it’s up to us, whether we decide to accept, decline, or counter-offer back to them. In all offers, there are time-sensitive deadlines for both the seller and the buyer to be aware of, and the expedience in which they are responded to, is of the utmost importance. In real estate, no two offers are alike, each with their own intricacies, and I’ll guide you through them one step at a time.

Accepted Offer

Once both parties are in general agreement to the terms of the offer, there is usually what’s called a “conditional period” of approximately one week, in order to allow either party the time to meet the conditions of the offer. During this time frame, if required, we will be allowed to enter the house again for such things as a home inspection or insurance appraisal, based on our offer’s conditions.

Conditions Met? Or Not Yet?

Once the conditions have been fulfilled within the allotted time, a formal notice is signed by both parties and we’re on our way to completing the deal. On the other hand, if an issue arises during the conditional period, whereby, let’s say we are unable to meet one of our conditions, we’ll either have to back out of the deal, or we’ll come up with an agreeable alternative solution to keep it moving forward.

Closing Steps

Once a deal has been reached, and officially completed, there are still more boxes to check off your list before celebrating your new home purchase. Yes, you’ll be moving soon! Hiring a moving company, if required, is one item to take care of. Contacting any services or utilities that you’ll need to have hooked up, around the time of your move, may also be required. If you don’t have a lawyer yet, you’ll need to procure the services of one also.

Dean’s Routines? Well….

These Buyer’s Steps are for you to understand in a general sense, how I work with you, and for you, in helping you to buy a home. But it’s not always this cut and dried, and I can honestly tell you that each home purchase can differ greatly, from one to another. Many other circumstances can arise, and usually do. Such is the business of real estate. Great excitement, high drama, extreme suspense, and sometimes a bit of comedic relief make for a wonderful novel, but the parallels of that novel, to buying a home, are sometimes uncannily similar. I promise you, that I will strive for an always-happy ending to your home-buying story.