Yikes! I can tell from the last few contracts I've had to negotiate this year that this blog is past due. There is a right way and a wrong way to buy a home. Here are some tips on what TO DO in order to have a successful (and easy-going) home purchase experience:
1. Select your agent more carefully! Wow, are there some duds hanging around out there. I say 'hanging around' because these agents actually left their real estate focus when they took a full time job doing something else in 2009 and selling real estate became their sideline. Did they tell you they were part-time? No. Why would they? You don't need to know that, right? Wrong. Work with a full-time real estate agent. If you're buying in Collin County, work with an agent who also focuses on Collin County. I guarantee you they know more about this area than an agent who works elsewhere. Pick at least three agents and interview them by phone. If you don't get a good enough feeling from the three you speak with, keep calling agents until you get at least three that you'd like to meet in person. You want to work with an agent who understands and supports your goals and objectives. You'll both be happier in the long run if you take the time to interview. Make sure the agent is a Realtor. Visit www.realtor.org and read the section on the left where it states RESOURCES FOR BUYERS AND SELLERS. This part of the site is for you. It is meant to educate you. Allow yourself to take a few moments to learn what we feel it is important that you know about our industry.
2. Select your lender more carefully! HUGE mistakes are being made right now in lender selection. I have a closing that should have occurred on a home listing in Frisco that is two weeks late today due to poor lender selection on the part of the buyer, who allowed their mortgage broker to outsource their loan to a lender in California. It's stuck on an Underwriter's desk with no ETA of release. The poor buyer is on pins and needles, and her agent is a part-timer who really couldn't care less when the deal is done. How do you like them apples, folks? Did you know that you can still close on a home purchase contract in 7-15 days in Collin County, TX? Yep. My buyers do it all the time. And, my buyers close on time. I have built a lender base that not only wants to perform well for you, but also wants to perform well to keep getting client referrals from me. They know if they drop the ball, they're out. The same goes for me. A good agent builds an elite team of lenders from which to source loans and share client leads. Any good real estate agent can give you the name of three loan officers that they'd trust with their own personal home loans. Those are the only three you with whom you need to be working. Letting the agent/lender team drive the home purchase process is the key to a smooth transaction. The best hold each other accountable. Why would you allow your home loan to be worked by anyone but the best? The only answer I can think of is that you just don't know any better, so I'm here today to educate you in this blog.
3. DEMAND local processing. If you are allowing your lender to outsource your home loan beyond the border of Texas in 2010, you are out of your mind and sabotaging your own loan. The five best real estate markets in the country in 2009 were in Texas. We have local banks servicing local loans and we're rocking and rolling along like nobody's business. When central processing happens in another state, or Underwriting disappears into la-la-land where nobody can speak to the Underwriter (like they're the Wizard of Oz or something!), you've lost total control of your home loan. And, now that you've read this blog, you have nobody to blame but yourself if this is the route you choose in 2010. You now know better.
4. DEMAND the title company that your agent/lender team recommends. Why? You just made your team that much stronger. Magic happens when the right real estate agent works with the right lender, and they can coordinate the transaction through a title company that they know and trust. What is this magic to which I refer? Happy clients. Homes that close on-time, or even early. Smiles all around! The kind of transaction that almost feels too easy. Everybody doing their part on behalf of the client. Beauty! You deserve it!
Have a blessed day,
Ronda
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