Understanding the Home Buying Process
So you finally made the decision to purchase your own place but don’t know where to start? You came to the right place! With over 35 years of combined experience we will guide you through the entire process. Whether you are a first time home buyer or you have gone through the process in the past, we will be with you every step of the way.
The Pre-Approval Process
Once we have identified all of your needs and wants, we can match you up with one of our preferred lenders to find out what your buying power is. The lender will work with you to obtain a PRE-APPROVAL letter so you are ready to start looking at homes. A PRE-APPROVAL letter will be required to submit an offer on any property The lender will require documentation from you in order to find out if you are able to purchase a home or not.
Once the lender has all your information, they calculate your DEBT-TO-INCOME RATIO. This will determine what you can afford.
Here are the Documents Needed
Financial statements
All Bank accounts
Investments
Credit cards
Auto loans
Recent pay stubs (last 2 months)
Tax returns for the last two years
Copies of leases for investment properties if you own any other properties
401K statements, life insurance, stocks, bonds, and mutual account information if you have a partner you are purchasing the home with
Your CREDIT history, this is the first and most important item during the pre-approval process.
Lender will tell you all the do’s and don’ts you have to follow to keep your credit (and your purchase power) intact.
Choose a REALTOR®
Choosing your Real Estate agent is very important and here are the major points you have to look for when picking the right agent:
- Is the agent a full time or a part time agent?
- How long have they been in business and how much experience they have?
- What is their availability to show you homes?
- How many properties have they sold in the last 12 months?
- Are they good listeners?
- Can they identify issues in the homes?
- How comfortable do they make you feel when you talk to them?
- How fast do they respond to your communications?
- How many reviews does the Realtor have posted online?
Finding Your Perfect Home
Once you find the right agent you are ready to start shopping!
PROPERTY SEARCH FROM THE MULTIPLE LISTING SERVICE:
We construct a tailored search from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) based on your needs, wants, areas and price. We email the properties to you daily. When you identify homes of interest, we start to schedule showings where we look at homes in person together. We have looked at thousands of homes and can identify many of the flaws in each home. This adds a level of protection to make sure you are not buying a home that will have costly problems down the road.
FOR SALE BY OWNER HOMES - We will also look at FSBO homes with you. It is very important to have an agent in these scenarios because home owners are very emotional typically through negotiations and commonly over price their homes. Dealing directly with a homeowner is much more difficult because they typically do not know how to properly negotiate or the formal steps in a real estate transaction. We specialize in dealing with homeowners who are selling their homes to get our buyers the best possible price.
NEW CONSTRUCTION HOMES - Builders have salespersons at their sites. These sales people work FOR THE BUILDER, not for you! There is no financial advantage for you to buy directly from the builder. Builders have a “single price” policy, meaning that you will be charged the same price whether your interests are represented by an agent or not. Just as in any resale, the seller pays your agent’s fee. Most builders will make you give up your right to representation if you visit their model homes without an agent on the first visit. We often negotiate with the builder give you upgrades without charging. This is part of the negotiation skill set that will drive for your best outcome with new construction. In addition, we have great relationships with many builders in our service area. One of our specialties is new construction.
Let us help you find your dream home!
Check out our user friendly property search and let us know if you find a home you love!
Submitting an Offer
Once we identify the home of your dreams, we will run a market analysis to determine a fair a competitive price to submit an offer. We take into account the market time and desirability of the property.
In the event that there are MULTIPLE OFFERS, we have powerful strategies to help you win in a very competitive negotiation. We also look at how much experience the listing agent has.
There are different negotiation techniques depending on the agent’s level of experience.
Attorney Review and Home Inspection
Once we come to an agreement with the seller on price and terms, the house will go UNDER CONTRACT. We will make sure that every aspect of the transaction is handled professionally and in a timely manner. The first step after the offer is to provide the selling party with an Earnest Money deposit check which ensures the sellers that you are a serious buyer, most times that check is for 1% of the purchase price but is negotiable. This money is part of your down payment and will be hold on an escrow account and the funds will be available at closing.
During this time, you will schedule a home inspection to make sure the home is in sound condition. We have a period of 5 days to perform the inspection and speak to an attorney to make sure everything on the contract is correct and if any issues arise during the inspection, the attorney will handle and communicate with the seller’s attorney negotiating any other issues on your behalf.
Once we are done through attorney review, we will move to the next step
Processing Your Loan
During this period, you will be working directly with your lender making sure you provide them with any documentation that the bank needs to obtain your loan. Once the loan is approved, they will schedule an appraisal on the property to make sure you are paying fair market value for the property.
Once your lender receives and confirms all of the documentation that is needed from you, they will submit everything to the underwriters. When the loan is approved, they issue a CLEAR TO CLOSE, meaning you are ready to close on YOUR NEW HOME!
Closing Day!
Once the lender issues a clear to close, we will schedule a final walk through to ensure the home is in the same condition it was the last time we saw it and that everything is working properly. The closing is at a title company that the sellers choose. Be prepared to bring the remaining amount of the funds needed to close, your identification and anything else the lender or attorney requires. Once you are done signing all the documents your will be the proud owner of your NEW HOME!!
Let us help you find your dream home!
Frank & Ivette
Call Us: 855.500.4663
E-mail Us: info@velocitysells.com
Email: info@velocitysells.com
Phone: 855.500.HOME
Address:
16101 S 108th Ave 2nd Floor
Orland Park, IL 60467
Keller Williams Preferred Realty 16101 S 108th Ave 2nd Floor, Orland Park , IL 60467 O: 855-500-HOME
Each Office is Independently Owned and Operated
