Buyer’s Guide

The process of buying a home is part of the natural growth in your life. It can help you achieve your lifestyle goals.

Discover your wants and needs. What type of house do you want to live in? Is the school system important to you? How long do you plan to be in your next home?

Decide your price range with a Pre-Approval Letter from a bank. Particularly in a competitive market, this will be critical to be able to make a quick and serious offer on the home you like most.

Determine your offer price and strategy. We can assist you with a complete analysis of properties that are actively available, under agreement, sold and expired to come up with a fair offer price. You may receive a counter offer to which you may respond.

After the offer is accepted, you have a few things that need to be done before closing.

• You will need to have your loan application submitted to the mortgage lender. This needs to be done before the P&S contract.

• You will next begin the process of getting homeowners insurance and will need to pay one year of the policy to close your mortgage loan.

• After your mortgage application has been approved, the bank will send an appraiser to visit the property to be sure the home is worth the amount that is being borrowed.

• Approximately 21 days after the P&S, the bank will issue a commitment letter.

The closing usually requires additional costs (other than the purchase price of the home). Those may include:

• $1000 to bind the offer

• $TBD for a home inspection

• 5% of the purchase price to be give with the purchase and sale (P&S)

• $TBD Homeowners Insurance Binder (noted above)

The timeline of the entire process, from offer to closing, is typically 45-60 days.

• From offer to home inspection: Up to 7 days

• From offer to P&S: 10-14 days

• From offer to closing: 45-60 days