Sellers and their agents
expect the property to be shown only to
those who are serious about finding a new
home and are financially capable of buying.
When an appointment is scheduled their hopes
rise that "you may be the one", the real
buyer for their property. The sellers go
through a lot to get their property on the
market, and try to have it ready to show
when requested. Think about how you
would feel getting a phone call to show your
property, in order to meet their request you
drop any plans you had, scrambling to get
things ready for someone to see your home,
only to find out they were not serious about
buying at all, nor could they afford to buy
it any way. So if you are ready to
start the process toward finding your new
home or other property, keep reading.
2. Having a Pre-Approved
Mortgage or Being a Cash Buyer is a
MUST:
This
is a good, easy-to-understand analogy.
You go to your doctor (or in this case,
your realtor), give him/her a list of
symptoms (your list of what you're
looking for), you have an idea of what's
going on (you think you know how
much you can afford) though you're not
100% sure, some tests are ordered (your
mortgage Pre-Approved is ordered), the
results come back.
Of
course, you don't have to run any tests.
Just let your doctor play roulette with
your life and health. Well, let's
check this out, or let's do this.
(Of course you and your realtor could
just go and look at everything that
strikes your fancy, but it only leads to
confusion and frustration.) Is this the
best way to handle your health (or your
most valuable asset-your home)?
Probably not.
The
test results determine the course of
action to be taken by your doctor (your
financial qualification dictates what
you can look at with your realtor and
afford to buy). If you ignore the
suggestions given by your doctor, it
could have undesired consequences
(likewise if you don't listen to your
realtor and mortgage lender, it could
have undesired consequences).
You
decide it is best to do things in a
logical order, rather than a haphazard
way, for the best outcome possible with
both your doctor and your realtor.
As
your agent, the proper first step is to
have your financing in place if a
mortgage loan is needed. Have you been
pre-approved for a
mortgage loan or are you a cash buyer?
The sellers & their agent expect
property to be shown only to serious,
qualified buyers, who are capable of
buying if they like the property.
If
you like the house and want to make an
offer there are a couple of first steps
you must take now so we have everything
in place and ready to move forward when
you find a home or other property you
want. Though rare in today's real
estate market, multiple offers can still
happen.
If
you will be getting a mortgage loan we
will need a copy of your pre-approval
letter from your lender. On the other
hand, if you are a cash buyer, we need
to have written proof you have enough
funds on hand to buy and close on the
purchase from wherever your money is
being held, on the banks letterhead or a
copy of your last statement showing the
funds are there, in your name and
accessible by you.
It's
usually best for you to go to a local
bank, your current bank, credit union, a
local reputable mortgage broker, savings
and loan, etc. for your mortgage loan,
if one is needed. It is strongly
advised that you not to use
online lenders. While there may be a
few who might be ok, they are notorious
for saying anything to get you to go
with them, then finding an excuse to
bail out on you later, or worst case
scenario we've heard that happens a lot
is you get to closing and the money is
not there, closing papers from the
internet lender are not there, so you
can't close on the sale and your
furniture is sitting in a moving truck!
The sellers furniture is already on it's
way to a new destination. Since
they're online, it's more difficult to
hold them accountable and recoup your
money/fees for applications and
services, etc. whereas if they are
local, they have a reputation to
maintain or word will quickly get around
to avoid them and they'll close their
doors. Plus you can see them
face-to-face.
A
copy of the preapproval letter from your
lender or proof of cash funds is
included with your offer to purchase the
property to either the seller and/or
court/lender for a purchase to let the
sellers, their agent, and anyone else
who is involved in making decisions know
you are serious and capable of closing
the sale.
Just
to make you aware too that if you are
buying properties in foreclosure, short
sales, etc. they are notorious for
taking a long, long, long time to get an
answer whether they will accept your
offer or not. Instead of a few days, it
could take literally w-e-e-k-s, and more
weeks to get back to us. Any earnest
money you include with the offer is held
until we get an answer too. It cannot
be released to you without their written
direction to release the earnest money
back to you. Regardless of what comes
up. The earnest money is typically
held by the listing office but may be
different for a short sale/foreclosure
situation. There are very strict laws
and rules that govern earnest money
which have to be followed by everyone -
no exceptions. Even if you decide to
cancel or withdraw your offer,
the earnest money still cannot be
released without their written direction
to whomever is holding the earnest
money. This is something we have no
control over.
You
will need to fax your pre-approval
letter or proof of funds to us (just
email us for the fax #) before we
look at properties. It is a secure,
private fax directly to us. No one else
will see your fax until we write an
offer to purchase, then a copy will be
included with your offer. (Just so you
know, if for some reason, you do not buy
a property with us, at some point this
will be turned into confetti ---shredded
by us personally for your privacy and
security.)
3. Buyer
Representation Agreement:
Practically every seller signs a
Representation Agreement with their
agent. We now do the same with
buyers the first time we meet. It
outlines our responsibilities to each
other and our commitment to work
together. We will be committing our
time, energy, money and resources toward
helping you find what you're looking for
through the MLS. Since we work on
commission only, and none of our
expenses are covered or reimbursed, we
need to use our resources wisely and
work with those who commit to us as
well.
