 Getting Started... 1. Get Pre-Qualified or Pre-Approved Pre-Qualified means that you have talked to a lender or a mortgage broker who has, based on information you told them, calculated what your home budget should be. This qualification is subject to verification of the information you gave the representative and the appraisal of the actual home you will purchase. Pre-Approval means that a lender has actually verified your financial information and approved you as a borrower for a specified amount. All you need to do is to purchase a home which will appraise at the price you and the seller agreed upon. Getting pre-qualified or pre-approved is important for two reasons: First, as your Realtor I will need to know which properties fall within your financial means. I want to show you the best value possible in your price range. Second, when you write an offer on a property you will want to attach the pre-qualification/pre-approval letter to your offer so that the seller is favorably impressed by your financial credentials. Call me, and I can refer you to a reliable broker or lender representative for additional information. There is no cost for pre-qualification and the process is easy. 2. We'll Get Together It's important to get to know my clients; in particular their individual needs and wants. I can tailor our search for your future home to your requests and budget. Plan on spending about a half hour with me at our office. I'll ask you some questions that will help me understand what you're looking for. Once I know your taste in homes and your budget I can arrange for us to preview some homes. Sometimes on the very first outing you'll find THE home. After all, I'll try to show you your best bets right away. If not, I'll keep on going with another round until you've seen the entire possible inventory. If the inventory of homes is low, you may need to be patient. I'll watch for new property listings that match your search criteria, and then call or email you right away so that you can get the jump on competitive buyers. 3. How much should I offer? One you find THE house, I'll guide you through the offer process which takes about an hour. I'll explain how to form the terms of your offer. I'll also review the recent sales which are comparable to your potential house and advise you regarding various strategies you may want to consider. Every client and every home are different - and so are the offers. You'll need a personal check to write an "earnest money deposit" to attach to your offer. This check is held uncashed until after your offer is accepted by the seller and escrow is opened. After I write up your offer for you I will present the offer to the selling agent. Sometimes the seller and their agent will write a counter offer, which I will then present to you for your response. The offer/counter offer back and forth could go on indefinitely, but usually one or two counter offers will resolve differences. 4. The seller accepts your offer! After you and the seller reach an agreement, I then go ahead and "open escrow". That means your earnest money deposit is placed in an account controlled by a neutral third party, the escrow officer. I then begin the countdown to the close of escrow when title is transferred to your name. There's a lot of activity during the period, all of which I, as your agent, will guide you through. y 2ordan link visalia, visalia real estate, visaliaes for sae ** As a buyer it costs you nothing to use my services as your Realtor. My fees are paid for by the seller of a property. You'll save yourself the cost of driving around seeking out for sale signs, or, looking at newspapers with ads for properties that may have already been sold. Work with a Realtor whom you feel comfortable with & meets your personal goals.**
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