BASIC PURCHASE PROCESS

Before you start looking

Identify your Realtor and select a professional working relationship (Buyer Agency or Transaction Broker). I favor Buyer Agency, because it enables me to serve your best interests unless we pursue the purchase of a property I have listed, in which case I must serve as a Transaction Broker.

It is crucial for you to contact a lender before embarking on the actual house hunting adventure. Working with your lender, determine what you can reasonably afford. Your lender can present you with many different financing options and tell you what price level each option can produce for you. There is no cost of obligation for this service. Please recognize that you will be shown your maximum purchasing power, but your housing search should focus comfortably below that, at least initially. There is no sense stretching your budget to the limit unless it proves absolutely necessary to satisfy your housing requirements.

Define your need, limiting this category to features you really do need (number of bedrooms and baths, car storage, special features, etc). The shorter your list of needs, the larger the inventory which will be available to you. That means more and better choices for you. Next, prioritize your desires. “Needs” must be satisfied, while “desires” are features which are additionally sought. Anticipate that you will likely face some compromises with respect to your prioritized desires.

Survey the neighborhoods which feature homes within your price range and which potentially fulfill your needs and desires. Remember, you can make a lot of changes to your own property, but it’s much more difficult to change a neighborhood to meet your standards; therefore, neighborhood evaluation is a very important preparatory step if you’re not familiar with the community. Often it’s valuable for you to just drive through the neighborhoods we’ve identified to see if they meet your standards. Make sure that if you visit a new homebuilder site on your own that you register yourself and your realtor upon viewing the new homes.

Starting your Search

Begin visiting properties. Comparative shopping is the best way for you to develop a sense of value and, with that, confidence. You should take careful notes about each property so you can continue to make accurate comparisons when the homes tend to merge in you memory, (and they will). Even when you dismiss a property from contention, it’s useful to keep it available in your notes for price comparison. Additionally, it’s very valuable if you vocalize your reaction to properties and features so that I can better learn what works and what doesn’t for you. Finally, you must try to minimize the influence of cosmetic deficiencies – most can be remedied relatively inexpensively, leaving you with a home you’re very happy with.

There is usually no prescribed timetable for the house hunting adventure. It might be very brief or quite lengthy. Some days may be very encouraging, other discouraging. There are two rules to consider. First, do not grow weary and convince yourselves to accept a property just because “it’s the best of the litter”. Secondly though, don’t be reluctant to move quickly and decisively if we fine ourselves suddenly standing in the right home – good properties move quickly, and we don’t want to lose a great opportunity for you.

I will monitor new listing updates daily, and as I gain more insight into your objectives I’ll be able to better evaluate and respond to the properties for you. That way we won’t waste your valuable time looking at properties that obviously are not for you, or won’t miss the one that is.

Making an Offer

We’ll be prepared when the time comes to make an offer, because hopefully you’ll have visited enough properties to develop a sense of value. If not it is my responsibility to guide you in this regard. I will complete a comparative market analysis (CMA) along with other factors to consider as well, to assist you in your offering price decision. The foremost is your “fervor “ for the property – if this must become your new home, than a full price offer is well advised. I’ve seen homes lost in negotiation over an amount that when brought down to the bottom line may have reduced your monthly payment by only $10.00. That, in my opinion, does not justify losing “your home”. (When we bought our lot that our home is now on, we offered full price for it because we weren’t going to let it slip out of our hands for a few dollars). If your desire is less strong, however, then your offer can likewise be less strong. As you are deciding on an offering price, please consider two thresholds – price plateaus where we first invite the insulting of the Sellers and hardening their resistance, and a second where we may avoid a counterproposal because your offer is viewed as fair and the counterproposal as risky. Remember also that the appraisal provides you protections against paying more than the property’s value. I do like to cover most offers with a “script” for the listing agents, so he or she can more readily justify the offer to the Seller… in our terms.

There are more offering price guidelines that I have to suggest, but rather than give away all my negotiating strategies here on paper, I will discuss these with you when that time comes.

The Contract

The Colorado contract is very Buyer friendly. In effect, your earnest money is not at risk unless you willfully breach the contract. Should unsatisfactory conditions, which cannot be resolved, be discovered during the title or inspection phases, your earnest money is returned. Should you be unable to qualify for financing, your earnest money is returned. I’ll manage all deadlines so you are protected.

The only costs to you in advance of closing, should be your earnest money (1-2% of the purchase price) and for a credit report, an appraisal and the inspection. These latter three seldom total more than $700.00. Additionally, your lender will have provided you with a Good Faith Estimate detailing what your costs for closing the loan will be.

I hope this info is a help to you.

Cynthia Williams