Home Buyers - Cut Your Buying Time in Half!
Are you a home buyer and frustrated about the whole buying process! Are you frustrated with your agent, or the bank, or the seller or the lender? You are not alone! But this should not be the case.
Buying a house is a fun process, it is enjoyable, it is exciting and it keeps your dreams of a new and better life closer than you think.
Here are 4 Things that you MUST do before you even start looking for a home:
1. Talk to a lender. You must get prequalified and get a loan approval. Seller's and listing agents will not look at any offer's without this document. This will also give you the price range of the home that you can afford.
My past client just called me yesterday and he wants to write and offer on a house few houses down from his current house. I told him I cannot write the offer!(I don't think he was pleased to hear that!) He does not have a job, he is retired, he wants to buy the house on his son's name, but his son e is not yet pre approved. He is willing to put $80,000 down on the house. Oh yes, he has to sell his rental home 100 miles away to get to the down payment!, and that is not yet for sale. He want to write the offer subject to selling his rental house. The house is priced very well!, but do you think the seller will wait for the buyers house to sell?
2. Have your credit reports pulled and reviewed. Start correcting any disputes or discrepancies. Sometimes it takes several months to correct it. Imagine you are in escrow and you have to wait a few months to correct any errors or disputes!
My friend from an organization I belong to just got prequalified and preapproved to buy a house. They want to buy a house by end this December. Upon talking to my lender, we found out that he had a loan modification done last year and that may affect the purchase of his sale amount and time. The lender is looking into it.
3. Home buyers must know what area they are looking for and why they are choosing a home in that area.
I get calls from buyers all the time and they are not sure where they want to buy. If you narrow it down to a few cities, you can save a lot of time running around and looking for a home, and not making any offers to purchase a home. If you are not sure of the area, you are may not not be as motivated to write a reasonable offer to purchase a home that you may have liked.
Do you want to buy a home in particular schools area, your church, your work, your family, near the beach ets. This is a big time saver.
4. Have the down payment Money ready and committed to. When you buy house these days, you must put a down payment. The day's of 0% down payments are gone! There are a few exceptions, but for the most part, a down payment is needed. The down payment needs to be in your account for at least 60-90 days. If the money is in your account that is fine. If it is a gift from any family or friends, have a gift letter ready. many lenders allow gifts as down payments. For FHA loans, the down payments can be as low and 3.5%.
If the down payment is being transferred from mutula funds, or 401k or other tpes of acounts, pleas be aware of the time it takes to transfer the funds. Some types of funds have restrictions and may take several weeks to transfer, and that could delay the closing of the escrow.
I had an offer accepted last week, had all the approval letters, and credit checks. But at the last minute, the parents refused to give the down payment for whatever reasons, so we had to cancel the just newly opened escrow! Please have the commitment for the down payment, or better yet, have the funds in your account right away!
I would suggest that you talk to a dedicated full time Realtor in your area before you start looking for homes. Get educated about the home buying process. Home buying if fun, if you follow the process, and it is exciting!
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