For Home Buyers

Getting Ready To Buy a Home

Congratulations!  What an exciting adventure you are about to go on!  

You are probably in the informational gathering stage of your home search, and you've come to the right place!  You may have already started your home search online.  You may be overwhelmed and not sure how to start.  Here are some helpful tips to point you in the right direction.

What is a Buyer's Agent, and Why Do You Need One?

An Exclusive Buyer’s Agent is a real estate agent who represents the person on the buying side of a real estate transaction.  The agent on the selling side of the transaction representing the seller is often referred to as the listing agent and is paid to get the highest, best home price for the seller.  A Buyer’s Agent is working for YOU to get you the lowest home price the seller will take, and make sure your interests are protected along the way.  

Once you find your Buyer's Agent and sign an Exclusive Agency Agreement, you'll need to figure out the financials.  

Get Preapproved for a Mortgage

Unless you are planning to pay cash for your next home, you'll need to arrange for a mortgage to finance your purchase.  The time to do that is BEFORE you start looking at homes.  While it seems backward to arrange financing before finding a home to finance, there are some very sound reasons for getting pre-approved before viewing homes.  It's important that we know from the start how much house you can afford and if the home you want qualifies for the type of financing you can get.   Sellers also expect that only qualified buyers will be touring their homes. 

I can provide a list of local lenders that have helped other buyers in the past, or you can locate a lender on your own.  Once we have your pre-approval letter in hand we can start shopping! 

Searching For Homes

As a Buyer's Agent with access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), a database of homes that feeds data into the national home search websites such as Zillow, Trulia, Realtor, and others, I can provide up-to-the-minute lists of all homes that meet your criteria.  We can search by city, zip code, school district, geographic area, and more.  We can narrow your search by size, amenities, features, and more.  I can set up daily and weekly search reports sent to your email matching your requirements so you are informed whenever a home meeting your needs hits the market.  

Scheduling Showings

When you're ready to tour some homes I can schedule the showings with the home sellers and their agents.  As your Buyer's Agent, it's my job to verify the availability of the property, make sure it qualifies for your financing, alert you if there any red flags that may conflict with your wants and needs, and get the necessary approvals from the sellers.  

Making An Offer

When you've found "The One" and are ready to make an offer, your Buyer Agent will help you prepare the written offer that must be submitted to the seller through their agent.  The offer contains more than just a price.  Terms, conditions, contingencies, inclusions, and exclusions should all be considered when crafting a fair yet competitive offer, and an experienced Buyer's Agent will make sure the offer includes things you may not have considered while protecting your position.  Wondering if you are offering a good price?  As your Buyer Agent, I can prepare a Comparative Market Analysis to assure you are paying fair market value. I can also prepare a Buyer's Net Sheet to give you an estimate of your closing costs and downpayment fees so there are fewer surprises at closing.  

Offer Acceptance

Once an offer is accepted, the buyer and seller have the responsibility to get to the closing table within the contract deadline, with the help of their agents.   Depending on the terms of the contract, the buyer may be allowed to conduct home inspections as a condition to purchase, will need to finalize their financing, and clear any other contingencies before they can sign the final paperwork.  The seller may also need to take care of any contractual requirements during this time, such as city inspections, repairs, etc.  While the seller and buyer work on clearing their required tasks, their agents are working behind the scenes to obtain title insurance, set up the closing, etc.  

Closing!

Finally, what we are all working for. The title company typically prepares the settlement documents and works with your mortgage company to determine your closing costs.  You'll be asked to bring a certified check for your final closing cost total, or you may be instructed to wire transfer funds.  Always be sure to Verify All Requests to Wire Funds With The Originating Source, and don't follow links or call the number provided in the wire instructions unless you CAREFULLY VERIFY THE WIRE INSTRUCTIONS.  There is a lot of wire fraud associated with purchasing a home since it's typically such a large figure, and once the wire transfer is done it is usually impossible to reverse. 

You'll sign A LOT of paperwork and then finally take ownership of your new home!

Moving

Key Realty is proud to partner with a moving concierge company that allows you to complete all moving tasks from one desktop app and allows you to arrange for a moving company, ship a car, research Internet and TV services, home pros, forward your mail, set up utilities, and more.  You also have access to a real, live human via email, text, or phone.  You can always opt-out of this free-to-use concierge service anytime.  Just one more thing that adds value to our Key Realty services.