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Your Role in the Home Purchase Process
- Get to know your Creative Home Mortgage Loan Officer.
How do I choose a Loan Officer?
The Loan Officer has a very important role in this transaction and should be able to rise to
the occasion to get you a loan. You want to find a Loan Officer who is knowledgeable and hard
working. Again, you will want someone who will answer all of your questions, and who will be
available for your special needs and schedule.
- Get pre-qualified or pre-approved for a loan.
How do I get pre-qualified or pre-approved? What is the difference?
At this point you need to know what your buying power is. One of our trained loan officers
can have a pre-qualification for you in less than 20 minutes. Pre-qualification is simply a
credit approval without verifying income or assets, and lets you know what purchase price
you can afford to buy after asking you a few questions. If you actually fill out a loan
application and provide proof of income and assets we will be able to give you a
pre-approval. A Pre-approval will give you buying leverage when there are multiple
offers on a property.
- Choose a Realtor.
How do I choose a Real Estate Agent?
Keep in mind this is a person who will represent your rights in this transaction. You will
want to find a Realtor who will answer all of your questions, and be available to your
individual needs and schedule. Don't be afraid to ask them for references of the last three
clients they worked with or what they feel might fit your criteria for a home.
Communication is key in this relationship.
- Choose a home to Purchase.
How do I choose a Home?
This is where the fun begins. You should have a list of features and criteria that the new
home should have. From your list you should rate which features and criteria are the most
important to you. Your Buyers Agent will then be able to filter out the housing market and
narrow down a few good prospects to look at. When you find a house that appeals to you, have
your agent schedule a viewing. Happy house hunting!
- Sign a Purchase Contract.
- How do I make an offer?
An offer is made submitting a purchase contract to the seller's agent, preferably through your
buyer's agent.
- What do you offer?
Your realtor will advise you on how much you should offer. Things to consider when determining
what price to offer include: how long the house has been on the market, how many homes similar
to this one are for sale in the same area, will you be asking the seller to pay any of your
closing costs, has the seller already lowered the purchase price, and probably most important,
how bad do you want this house.
- What if they reject my offer?
Depending on what you offer, the seller may choose to reject your offer, so it is important to
make a reasonable offer to begin with. But if for some reason the seller rejects your
offer, you can always put in a new offer. It is rare that the seller flat out rejects an
offer because your realtor and the seller's realtor will be talking to each other before the
formal offer is made. It is much more common that the seller will counteroffer if he does
not like the original offer.
- What if they counter offer?
Now you have a decision to make. You can accept the counteroffer presented by the seller and
proceed, or you can counteroffer his counteroffer. Remember, this is a negotiation process
and you should not be afraid to ask for what you want.
- Apply for a Mortgage Loan.
What do I need for the application and why?
You could expect to provide documentation of your income and assets. Typically the
underwriter will need 2 years of W-2's or 1040 tax returns along with 30 days worth of pay
stubs. To document your assets the underwriter will need 60 days worth of bank statements
and quarterly statements for any investment or retirement account. The reason you
need to provide income and asset documentation is that Mortgage Loans are approved
based on your ability to pay them back. The underwriter will weigh your monthly debts vs.
your monthly income, your loan amount vs. the purchase price, your assets will represent
your ability to pay back the loan if you loose your job, and of course your credit represents
your history of paying debts back. Now if you are like most people your blood pressure
just went up. Don't worry, our Loan Officers are trained professionals and want to see that
you get the right loan for your needs.
- Choose a Home Owners Insurance Agent.
- What does this Insurance Cover and why do I need it?
Hazard Insurance is what is going to cover your home and your belongings if any disaster were
to occur. The lender is going to enforce that you insure the home from disaster, that way
the home will continue to be collateral for the Mortgage Loan even if the house were
to burn to the ground. Since you have many valuable items that are in the home, you will
want to insure those as well. You won't need to ask for this personal property insurance
unless you are buying a condo or town home. A single family detached property will
automatically cover personal property, whereas a condo / town home will have a master
insurance policy that you pay to your Home Owners Association.
- How do I choose an Insurance Agent?
Like any other business professional that you plan on working with you will want someone who
will answer your questions, and is available to your individual needs and schedule. Your auto
insurance agent may be a good place to start.
- Sign Closing Documents.
- What Do I bring with me to Closing?
Please bring proof of identification, State I.D., or Visa. Any money that you bring to close
will have to be in the form of verifiable funds (i.e. certified check, cashiers check.)
- What if you don't know how much money to cut a check for?
Easy, just have a check made out for an anticipated higher amount and the title company will
cut you a check for any overage. Also, you could bring a series of checks.
- So whom do you make the check out to?
This may sound funny, but the check can be made payable to you. At the closing you will be
able to write the check over to the title company.
- Move in and Celebrate!
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