How To Successfully Buy Your Next Home

How to Successfully Buy Your Next Home 

Understanding the Home Buying Procedure

Steps to Success for Home Ownership

Buyer Representation for New Home Buyers 

A) Mortgage Pre-Approval with David Carr:

A Pre-Approval is the first step in deciding how much you will pay for your home. Here you will discuss your financial history with a Direct Underwriter (go to mortgage links). This person will be able to qualify you for Loans from Lenders they directly represent. 

Pre-approval from a Direct Lender is different than a Pre-Qualification by a loan originator who may say you will qualify for a loan without placing your loan with a specific lender until you find a property. This can cause delays and other problems on occasion.

Feel Free to apply to a variety of lenders, obtaining a Good Faith Estimate of Closing Costs and Prepaids each time. Doing this multiple times in a 30 day period does not affect your credit rating any more than one inquiry

David Carr, and your mortgage originator,  will direct you to some of the best loan programs for your personal needs. Ask about a CHFA mortgage, a FHA mortgage, a first time buyer mortgage, 3.5% down mortgage, FHA and conventional mortgages. Once you have completed the initial pre-qualification you will know what you will be able to borrow, and how much it will cost per month to own your home. A good idea is 28% of your gross income for your monthly expense before utilities 

B) Initial Property Identification with David Carr:

You probably have an idea of the kind of home you always a wanted, such as the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, fireplaces, building style, garage spaces, acreage, square footage, heating supply, etc. You also have an idea of where you would want this home to be.

As your licensed buyer agent, I will provide you with descriptions of all the homes that fit your personalized home search based on the criteria we set together. Once you have these potential home sites, you will be free to drive by the neighborhoods and look at the homes, on your own time schedule.

After helping many people find homes, I am convinced people like the freedom to drive around with their family and significant others to make initial surveys of the new neighborhood.  People find that parking in a prospective neighborhood and walking around the block is a good way to get a better feel of things You will have viewed the home from the street, felt the surrounding neighborhoods, found out what school serves the area  (CT- MLS info) and considered the location of the home to shopping, doctors, etc., BEFORE YOU EVEN GO INSIDE. This process allows you fullest exposure to the total Multiple Listing Service in the least amount of time.

C) Private Interior Showing of Your Favorite Selections with David Carr:

Once you have selected the homes you most want to live in, we will make an appointment to look at the interior of your choices. As your Licensed Buyer Agent I will view all the homes you want to look at, with you. This is an important point for the following reasons:

Firstly, you will not experience a different real estate agent selling you each home you want to see. Instead, we will look at the home as a team,  objectively, with your needs in mind. You are going to make the decision to purchase based on all the homes you look at, compared with the ideal vision you have in mind.

Secondly, the listing, or showing agent has a primary responsibility to represent the best interests of the seller, not you, the buyer. The listing agent may  not point out less desirable  observations  about the home or neighborhood, because they want you to buy their listing. As your Licensed Buyer Agent, David Carr is available to bring many factors to your attention.

Thirdly, as we go from home to home, you will be remembering and processing a lot of comparative information about the different homes you see. As your Licensed Buyer Agent, I will help you compile the information and maintain a preference ranking of the homes you see. This is critical if you are going to preview a specific market segment, then make an informed selection from that inventory. When we go back to view your favorite homes the second time we may request the listing agent to point out specific attributes of the home.

D) Comparable Market Analysis with David Carr:

Once you have completed the preview segment you may want to make an offer on your favorite home. How will you know you are not overpaying? As your Licensed Buyer Agent, I will provide a report on recent sales of similar homes in the area over the past 6-8 months. By looking at the selling price of similar homes we will be able to determine the comparable market value of your prospective purchase. The price of real estate is market driven by demand and supply. Often the listing price is what the Seller wants to get for their property. This is not necessarily what the current market value of the property really is.

E) Presentation of Your Offer with David Carr:

As your Licensed Buyer Agent I will assist you in the writing and presentation of your offer to the seller. We will structure the offer so it fits your time frame, and best interests. We will include specific items that may be of questionable ownership at time of closing, as well as financing considerations and inspection contingencies. We will consider the number of offers made, length of listing and current demand for the style home, when making your offer. We will have a confidential target price, which will guide our negotiations.

F) Negotiation of Your Offer with David Carr

As your  Licensed Buyer Agent we will negotiate your offer together, following presentation of your offer. I will provide opinion regarding the counter offers, and attempt bringing the seller close to your target price. We will come to agreeable terms on the price, while keeping your target price in focus. This part may take up to a month, week, or as little as a day, as both parties discover new market information, consider making concessions, reconsidering their positions in order to complete this part of the transaction.

G) Securing Signatures

Once your offer has been accepted, your agreement must be confirmed with an fully executed contract and deposit of funds with the seller’s agent. It is my responsibility to get the signed contract to you, your lawyer and your mortgage company.

H) Completing Your Home Inspection with David Carr

You have the right to have your new home inspected, in the time period specified in your sales contract, by a professional home inspector, who is preferably a member of the American Society of Home Inspectors. The State of Connecticut licenses home inspectors. I can refer you to a trusted inspector with whom I have worked in the past

You will learn almost everything about your new home though the eyes, and the written report of your trusted home inspector, so choose carefully

Here is detailed information about most home mechanical systems

Have you ever wanted a learn more about your new swimming pool?

If there are issues, which were not apparent at our viewing of the property, we might request the SELLER correct the problems.

If the issues are insurmountable, you have the right to cancel the contract in the specified manner, and get all your money back from the SELLER. You will have to pay the home inspector, regardless.

If you are borrowing from FHA or CHFA., there will be additional inspections done by the bank that address interior cosmetics, roof, structure and electrical issues.

I) Getting Mortgage Commitment

Your lender will have completed your file and ordered an appraisal of the property by the time the home inspection process is complete. The lender, who wants to be assured that the value of the home is what you are paying, will do the appraisal. If the appraisal comes in less than what you are paying, I will address this issue with the SELLER. You will not be required to purchase the home if it comes in under appraisal, unless you decided to pay the difference out of your pocket. We will evaluate this scenario if, and when, it happens.

J) Preparation for Closing with David Carr:

I will work with your attorney to assist you with any issues that arise in this period. 

K) Closing Day with David Carr:

First, we will meet at your new home one hour before closing to do a final walk through. At this time we will look for any problems that may have developed since we were there for the inspection. We will check to see that the SELLER corrected the inspection issues. If there are any concerns, I will talk with the SELLER’S agent and communicate the concern to your attorney.  Additional concessions by the seller for uncompleted inspection issues will resolve this rare problem at closing.

Now it’s off to your attorney. In an hour you have signed more papers than you ever imagined. Your hand is tired, but you will walk out of the attorney’s office the proud owner of your own home. Congratulations.

L) AFTER THE CLOSE

I will be here, your new neighbor, David Carr. Anytime you have a question about something regarding your new community, feel free to call. I promise to help you enjoy, manage and improve your new home with the most ease possible.

David Carr New Haven County Connecticut REALTOR

The Foundation of Your Success in Real Estate Since 1996©

Copyright 2017 by David Carr. All Rights Reserved

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