Let’s Find Your New Home
The home buying process is one of the most exciting and inspiring experiences you’ll ever go through! This holds true whether you’ve bought many homes or you’re looking to buy your first, whether you’re in the market for a new primary residence, an investment property or that perfect vacation getaway. We’re here on the journey with you.
Here are some considerations on the way to buying a home.
Today’s real estate market offers many opportunities. We’re here to represent you…to guide you through every step, find the home of your dreams, and help you manage any risks. There are a multitude of factors to consider and decisions to make. When buying, it’s crucial to have all the available resources necessary to make a well-informed decision, together with the time required to make use of them. We hope to start working with you as early in the process as possible as your professional Real Estate representatives and negotiators. We’ll provide you with expert guidance at each step of the buying process.
1. Let’s define your Goals, research your Options…and get started!
Given that buying a home is such a big step, it’s very important to educate and prepare yourself as much as possible. This means clearly determining the reasons you’re buying and what kind of home you’re looking for. Since buying and financing a home are so closely related, it also means examining your current financial situation and projecting how much you can afford.
Once we’re clear about these items, even tentatively, you’ll be in a better position to research housing and mortgage options, and create an action plan and timelines for moving forward. We hope to start working together as early in the process as possible in order to help you be on the right track from the very beginning. We want to be ready to take advantage of the perfect home as soon as it appears!
2. Our Value as your Representatives
Buying real estate is a complex legal matter with many factors to consider, since no two homes or transactions are alike. The offer you make for your home will include a 10-page purchase agreement plus 5 to 10 other required documents with many points of negotiation. We will walk you through each item and give you a clear understanding of what you are agreeing to.
Moreover, with all the unique opportunities and potential pitfalls of the current market, it’s more important than ever to have us by your side once you’ve decided to buy. We guide you through the property search, financing, negotiation and transaction processes, and take on stress so that you don’t have to
Our simple documents protect you, and define our responsibilities. We are so excited to represent you and be on the journey with you! We are professionals, and we pride ourselves on providing an outstanding customer experience.
3. Finances & Funding: Let’s get our current Loan Pre-Qualification or Proof-of-Funds ready
If you will be financing the purchase, it’s important to get a current Arizona Association of Realtors (AAR) Pre-Qualification document for a loan before you start viewing homes with the serious intention of buying. You’ll know what you are eligible to receive from a lender, and be able to plan accordingly. The Pre-Qualification document is also a key part of our offer, as it tells a story to the seller and proves to them that you will be able to get the loan to pay for the home.
Lenders can tell you if you qualify for special programs that will help you afford a better home (particularly if you’re a first-time buyer). Real Estate financing is available from many sources, and it’s easy to explore. If you like, we can help set up a meeting with a trusted lender. When you speak to the lender of your choice, you will authorize them to examine your current financial situation and credit history. On the basis of your financials and their calculations, the lender may provide you with the official AAR document detailing the amount you can borrow to buy a home.
It’s always good to shop around. We know several excellent trusted lenders to recommend, and you can also shop online to see what different lenders offer, or contact your local bank or credit union. You’ll need to be able to compare their offers ‘apples-to-apples’…and the details lenders provide about their offerings can look very different from one another. We will help you understand how to compare them so that you can really tell where you’re getting the best deal.
If paying cash for the home, we will simply need any valid form of “Proof-of-Funds” to supply along with the offer.
4. View homes and select THE ONE
Simply put, the key to the home search process is knowing what you’re looking for. Among other things, that means distinguishing between “must-haves” and “like-to-haves.”
That said, here are a few recent facts about the search process that might put your experience in perspective:
92% of buyers use the internet or mobile apps to search for homes. The typical buyer searches for 12 weeks and views 12 homes. 97% of buyers recognize skilled, connected real estate agents as being critically important in the home search process.
It’s great to view homes on real estate sites, but also important to view homes in person. While the property details may seem similar online, homes can be very different in reality in terms of layout, design, workmanship and other aspects. When you view homes with us, we can provide expert analysis and act as an impartial sounding board.
5. Make our offer & Negotiate with the Seller
Once you’ve found the home you’d like to buy, it’s time to make an offer. We represent you and handle all communications and negotiation (with your direction).
We will carefully review the documents with you to be sure that they accurately express your intended offer. In addition to drawing up the contract and associated documents, we will address all of your questions about the offer process.
Once we’ve written the offer, we will present it to the Seller’s representative. Generally speaking, the seller can accept your offer, reject it, or send back a ‘Counter-Offer’ to initiate a negotiation process.
Successive counter-offers with deadlines for responding and meeting conditions may be exchanged between you and the seller (through us) until a mutual pending agreement is reached. Once all parties sign the agreement, we are “Under Contract” and the escrow process begins!
6. Secure your financing
Once you have a pending agreement, it’s time to return to your chosen lender (if financing your purchase) to finalize the mortgage details in order to close the deal. This means finalizing your down payment, interest rate, regular payment schedule and all other financial conditions associated with the closing.
It’s crucial for you to work with people you trust. A good lender and a good real estate team can become friends for life. Taking ownership should be a joy, with no surprises!
7. Escrow: Final steps to Home Ownership
The Title Agency is a neutral third-party compay that handles the “Escrow” period, which is the time between the day of offer-acceptance (“Day Zero”) and Closing Day…also known as “Close of Escrow” which is the day all final papers are signed and you take ownership of your new home!
The Title Agency (aka “Title”) will do a historical review of all legal documents relating to ownership of the property – to ensure that there are no claims against the title of the property. They will coordinate the necessary purchase of Title Insurance (usually paid for by the Seller) for protection in the event of errors in the records or mistakes in the review process.
The Escrow period most typically lasts about 35 days in normal circumstances with a financed purchase. With Cash purchases, Escrow can be shorter– sometimes as short as 5 to 7 days depending on the motivations of Seller and Buyer. This is because no loan approval process or appraisal is required. In some cases the Seller may ask for “Post-Possession” or a period of time after Closing Day in which they can remain in the home. This is usually handled with a lease agreement.
The Escrow period involves several important steps and phases, which we’ll guide you through. On ‘Day One’ of Escrow, your “Earnest Money Deposit” is due to the Title Agency, and can be delivered by personal check or wire transfer. The Due-Diligence period mentioned below begins immediately, and Appraisal can be ordered immediately unless you and your lender prefer to wait until after Due Diligence is finished and the home has been officially accepted.
8. Due-Diligence: Time to Inspect and Investigate
It is ultimately the Buyer’s responsibility to check anything and everything about the property before agreeing to complete the purchase. We are there to guide you through the process. Be sure to read your 13-page Buyer Advisory (one of the purchase agreement documents) for guidance on what to consider and look for.
A professional home inspection, which highlights vital information about a home, is considered by most buyers to be a must before finalizing your purchase. We can recommend several trusted partners who can provide the service. They will spend time at the home going over the entire property, and then we join them for a short meeting to hear the summary.
The home inspector is one of the two main out-of-pocket expenses for the buyer during the escrow process. Most home inspections cost between $350 and $700 depending on the size and complexity of the home.
The Due-Diligence clock starts immediately on “Day Zero” …the day of Contract Acceptance. This period is normally 10 days long unless negotiated to be longer or shorter. We’ll want to get the inspection done as quickly as possible as well as any other Due Diligence investigations/inspections you may want to do.
9. Appraisal and Loan Approval
If you are financing your purchase, there will also be an appraisal necessary, as well as a loan approval process by your lender. Appraisal is one of the two main out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the buyer during the Escrow process, and most appraisals cost between $500 and $700 depending on availability of appraisers, location of the home and the size and complexity of the property.
As long as the newly Appraised Value of the home meets or exceeds the offer price, then Loan Approval continues normally. Once your lender has completed their approval process and given final “Clearance to Close,” we are ready for Closing Day!
10. Home Insurance
Home Insurance protects your new home and belongings from accidental damages. It’s always an important part of home-ownership, and when financing a purchase, it is required. Make sure you insure your home with a plan that fits.
11. Home Warranty
Securing a home warranty is not required, but it’s a very good way to have more confidence about the essential major systems and appliances that can be costly to repair out of your own pocket if they break– especially if the home is not brand new. We can help you explore options for Home Warranty providers, and make sure that the policy is arranged at the time of purchase.
12. The Final Walk-Through
You will have the opportunity to walk through the home one last time before Closing Day to make sure that it is in the same condition as when you signed the purchase agreement and saw it during Due Diligence. Once you have a chance to complete the Final Walk-Through and accept the property, you will sign a document that confirms acceptance.
13. Closing Day!
Typically on the date of Close-Of-Escrow (COE) …aka Closing Day…you’ll meet with us and the Escrow Officer to verify and sign all the paperwork required to complete the transaction. If you prefer, a mobile notary can come to your location to complete the signing necessary.
The final “Settlement” (including the lump sum payment required from you on Closing Day) will include “Closing Costs” (which include fees from the Title Agency, and Loan Origination Fees if you are financing), property taxes, HOA dues and transfer fees, and other items which will be detailed on a “Settlement Statement” you will receive for review before closing day.
**FUNDS TRANSFER TO TITLE FOR CLOSING: It’s very important to use the Settlement Statement to verify in advance the exact lump sum amount that will be required from you on Closing Day, and make sure that it is received by the Title Agency on or before Closing Day. All funds for Closing Day must be certified, whether Cashier’s Check, Wire Transfer or other. If you’re planning to do a wire transfer, it’s important to carefully verify with the Title Agency the wiring instructions, and consider initiating the wire before Closing Day. To be safe, you may want to ask your banker to set up and initiate the wire for you.
At your signing appointment on or before Closing Day, you will receive the property title and copies of all documentation pertaining to the purchase. After Title has received all funds necessary and has all documents signed, they will send the entire package of documents to the appropriate county recorder’s office electronically. Depending on the workload of the Recorder’s office, the final “Recordation” of the deed can take anywhere from a few hours to a full business day.
Once Title has received notification of Recordation, you are the legal owner of the home and can take Possession! ….oh and one more thing…you’ll get the keys!….time to move in! Welcome home, homeowner. 🙂