1st Time Homebuyer Seminars ..... Shopping For A House
Dear Readers,
Rely on George Souto for good advice and informative posts. George has contributed so much to my understanding of the Mortgage industry.I will be reblogging his entire HOME BUYING SERIES, one by one.
George's posts are always instructive and some are just for FUN! Open Mic and Create with Clay for Local Interest and other Mortgage topic posts such as Condition Rating Codes, Appraisal Responsibilities, and Conforming Loan Limits for 2017.
All the best - Lynn
PS If I haven't thanked you personally for reading my Blog, let me do so right now! I really appreciate your stopping by and (perhaps) commenting! L.
1st Time Homebuyer Seminars ..... Shopping For A House. So far in this series on 1st Time Homebuyer Seminars, I have covered the The Opening Questions, Pre-Qualification Process and the process of Choosing A Realtor. So now the Buyer knows what their price range is, and what they need to look for in choosing a Realtor/Agent, they are ready to start "Shopping For A House".
When Buyer(s) first meet with the Realtor/Agent they have chosen to work with, and signed a Buyer/Broker Agreement, they will then need to provide the Realtor/Agent with some basic information:
- The Price Range- This will be one of the first things the Realtor/Agent will need to know in order to begin searching for properties, and it is the amount the Loan Originator Pre-Qualified the Buyer(s) for when they went through the Pre-Qualification Process.
- Location - The Realtor/Agent will need to know what towns the Buyer is interested in purchasing in.
- What they are looking for in a house- Things like number of bedrooms, bathrooms. garage, amount of land, one floor or multi-level house, and other basic information, will help the Realtor/Agent refine his/her search in the MLS, and come up with a number of properties that might meet the Buyer's needs.
Once all this initial information is gathered, and the perfect house has been found The Buyer will:
- Submit a formal written offer with price and any stipulations such as:
- Include a deposit with the offer know as "Earnest Money".
- Seller Paid Costs
- Which appliances will be left behind
- Time periods for Inspections, Loan Commitment, Closing Date.
- Also at this time the Loan Officer will need to provide a Pre-Qualification Letter to be submitted with the offer. I do not give Borrowers I Pre-Qualify a Pre-Qualification Letter at the time I Pre-Qualify them, because I want to see what the taxes are on the property they want to make an offer on before they make the offer. As I mentioned in a previous blog, the taxes can be very different form one town to another on a same price house. So I need to know what the taxes are, and make sure they still qualify. The last thing I want to do is to give a worthless Pre-Qualification Letter because I did not take the time to make sure everything still worked.
If their offer is accepted the clock starts to tick on dates established within the contract, such as Inspections, Commitment/Contingency, Closing Date.
- Inspections - All inspections need to be completed within the time period established within the contract, if not the Buyer will lose the opportunity to use the Inspection Reports to further negotiate issues discovered during the inspection. Inspections a Buyer might do here in Connecticut are:
- Home Inspection
- Well Inspection
- Septic Inspection
- Radon Inspection
- Commitment/Contingency Date- This is the date the Buyer will have to have a Loan Commitment/Contingency by. Up to now all they have is a Pre-Qualification from the Loan Originator. Loan Commitment/Contingency is the actual commitment of funds by the Lender, and will have to go through the formal application for a loan, and collection of all the necessary documents. I will explain this further in the next blog in this 1st Time Homebuyer Seminar Series.
- Closing Date - This is the date the purchase on the house has to be completed by, and I will cover the Closing Process in a future blog as well.
Because these dates are so important, and missing anyone of them could cause the Buyer to lose their "Earnest Money Deposit", it is extremely important the Buyers meet with their Loan Originator as soon as possible to get the loan in process. This will be the next part I will cover in this 1st Time Homebuyer Seminar Series "Applying For A Loan".
Previous Blogs In This Series:
- 1st Time Homebuyer Seminar Series
- 1st Time Homebuyer Seminar ...... Opening Questions
- 1st Time Homebuyer Seminars ..... Pre-Approval Process
- 1st Time Homebuyer Seminars ..... Choosing A Realtor
******************************************************************************
Info about the author:
George Souto NMLS# 65149 is a Loan Originator who can assist you with all your #FHA, #CHFA, and #Conventional #mortgage needs in Connecticut. George resides in Middlesex County which includes #Middletown, #Middlefield, #Durham, #Cromwell, #Portland, #Higganum, #Haddam, #East Haddam, #Moodus, #Chester, #Deep River, and #Essex. George can be contacted at (860) 573-1308 or gsouto@mccuemortgage.com
Comments(1)