Home Buying Process - What to expect!!!

Everyone dreams of having their own a home. It is a significant accomplishment in everyones lives to finally have a home to call their own. It is this one dream that has driven people to work harder. You’re just a step away from making this dream a reality. If you have already decided on the specifics of the home you wanted, then all you need you do now is call a real estate agent to help you out. But first, let us just enumerate some of the basic steps on buying a home. You need to be familiar with the whole process and what to expect from it. You don’t want to set your expectations too high and just be disappointed in the end. So, what processes are involved in home buying? What should be expected?

Buyer Consultation

• Before buying your new home, it is valuable that you invest enough time to go through a buyer consultation process where it will help you make a careful assessment of what your values, wants and needs are. A buyer consultation can help you save time, money and help prevent any obstacle that you may encounter during the home buying process. With the help of your chosen real estate agent, this consultation will serve as an opportunity to get all your doubts and inquiries answered. Here are some things that will be discussed with you during a home buyer consultation.

• What you expect from your Real Estate Agent

• What the Real Estate Agent expect from you

• Setting up your personalized home search

• Current condition of the Real Estate Market

• What you need to look for when searching for a home

• How long will the home buying process take

• How to get pre-approval for a mortgage

• What forms you will be required to fill out and sign

• What disclosures are necessary

• What are contingencies and how does it protect the buyer

This year alone, 2ShortSaleGuys have sold or have pending to be sold over 100 homes in the North Georgia area. They have experience to guide you through this process and get you the best deals possible. We set clear expectations up front and guide you to our partners that have a clear understanding of how the buying process works.

Pre-Approval

• A pre-approval is an application for mortgage. The bank or lenders will perform a thorough check on your credit history and will verify your income. Through this process the bank or lenders will be able to determine how much you can afford and how much you are eligible to borrow. This occurs before a loan application is completed. Getting pre-approved can help you find a home that is within your loan price range and comfort level. You should have or request for a letter of pre-approval - this will put you in an advantage position over other buyers because it can show how serious you are in buying the house. Normally, lenders can pre-approve a home mortgage loan application within 24hrs of having submitted a complete documentation. Here is some advise to make sure that your application will be pre-approved:

• Answer all the question with all honesty whether it be in a written form or during an interview. Remember that banks and lenders can easily request for your credit history. So, it is wise not to lie on any information about your assets, credits, debts and incomes.

• Most people have or have had issues on their credit. If you let the lender know up front as to those issues, many cases they can find a work around in order to get you a pre-approval.

• Make sure to submit all necessary documents asked by the lenders. It could just be a simple bank statements, income tax returns or employment verification. Fact is, once the lender notices any fault on some of the documents initially submitted, they may ask for more supporting documents. So, gathering all the documents beforehand can give positive results at a very short time.

Showing Homes

• Once you are pre-approved for a home mortgage, you are ready to start looking at houses. Working with a professional real estate agent is highly recommended.  Your agent would be your representative during the whole buying process and will work to make sure you find the right home at the right price. Real estate agents have access to listings of homes for sale in your price range along with information about homes that have sold recently. They can help you determine a fair and reasonable price. You will be presented a list of homes for sale based on your needs and wants. Shopping for the right home can be exhausting! It is not uncommon for buyers to visit many homes in person before deciding which home to buy. When you have finally chosen the right home for you, then its time to make an offer. Once an offer has been submitted, your agent can help you negotiate the terms of your offer. The seller may accept your offer as written, or they might propose a counter-offer. Negotiations can go back and forth until you come to mutually acceptable terms. You will then write a check for earnest money when you submit an offer. Earnest Money is good faith that you are serious about purchasing the home and that you intend to go through with the closing of that home.

Earnest Money is refundable in most cases during the Due Diligence period. The Due Diligence period is a period of time that has been negoitated during the offer to give the buyer opportunity to inspect the home further with home inspectors, termite inspectors, and any inspection you deem neccassary during that period. Once the Due Diligence period is over, your earnest money is typically not refundable.

Writing an Offer

• When writing an offer, it is important that you know the possibilities you are to encounter. Have your expectations set to worst case scenarios so as not to get disappointed. Literally, there are two situations that usually occur when submitting an offer on a house. It is either that your offer is the only offer or there are many buyers interested in the same house and have already submitted their offer. Once an offer has been written and submitted it is less likely that the seller will automatically reject the offer. More often than not, the seller will provide a counter offer. In this situation, it is your real estate agents responsibility to negotiate on your behalf. In situations where multiple offers has been submitted, your agents will do their best bid to get the contract. But it is important that you do not expect too much as you are competing with other buyers. Be ready to face the possibility of losing the bid.

Contract to Close

• After signing the purchase and sale agreement by both parties - you have just started the closing phase of the home buying process. Upon agreement on who would be handling the closing - most often than not that an attorney will be handling the closing - the closing agent will take care of things from here on. The closing agent will manage all the necessary paperwork, money and instructions. When the closing agent is satisfied that everything is in order and all the instructions are prepared and distributed, it's time for "The Closing." All parties may be gathered around the same table. Or you may be buying a house across the country and your closing is being handled by a branch office of a title company. Because the federal government allows electronic signatures, it is now possible to conduct a paperless, online closing. Normally, closing may take up about one to two hours.

• Here are a list of what to bring during closing:

• A certified or cashier’s check

• It is required that you need to be informed at least a day prior to the closing of the amount of check you need to bring. The lender will advise you how much you will need in order to close.

• If the amount is over $5000, then you will need to wire the funds from your bank to the attorney's bank and those instructions will be given to you in a timely matter.

• Proof of Insurance

• Your lender requires you to buy a hazard or insurance policy.

• Photo ID - This must be a goverment issued ID, can't be your library card, haha!

• Your agent or attorney

• This is necessary especially if you are a first time home buyer, you should have someone with you who understands the process and represents your interest.

If you are looking for a home or if you are seriously planning to buy a home and need consultation, We at2ShortSaleGuyscan help you get started and provide you with all the possible options. We have a dedicated team of specialists that will assist you and discuss with you all the necessary information and details in buying a home. We are the best in the business! We utilize some of the best marketing techniques and the know-how to get you your dream home.  We are a full service real estate team that specializes in providing excellent customer service. If you are in the market to purchase a home or just want to look at the homes available, click HERE to view the most up to date and complete list of homes available.

We are also listing specialists that know how to sell your home.  Should you have a home in or around North Georgia and wish to have a member of our team contact you for a hassle FREE confidential evaluation and consultation about your homes worth, please clickHERE for more information.  A member of our team will evaluate your home and give you a home consultation and show you how2ShortSaleGuys are so successful in getting homes SOLD!  You may also contact us by clickingHERE or at 678-279-5535 to speak to a team member quicker!