Below is step by step process to buying your first or next home in Humboldt CA: STEP ONE - FIND A REAL ESTATE AGENT YOU CAN WORK WITH Although it can be fun looking at open houses on a Sunday afternoon, calling the phone number on the sign in front of a house you are particularly interested in or calling on a house you saw online...this is not a very effective or efficient way to go about finding your new home. Humboldt County Real Estate agents have access to all the listings currently on the market, plus some that haven't even hit the market yet. Your real estate agent will be able to sit down with you and sort through all the available and soon-to-be available homes that fit your needs and some if not all of your desires. Plus it's FREE to hire a Buyer's Agent who works 100% for YOU (keeping your best interests at the forefront), not the seller! Learn more about how a BUYER's AGENT in Humboldt CA can make your home buying experience a smooth one. Hopefully you have some fun in the process too! STEP TWO - CHOOSE A LENDER When you are finally serious about buying your home, it's time to choose a lender. There are so many lenders to choose from that it's best to ask your buyer's agent for a few names. A lender can make your dream of home ownership possible, but at the same time choosing the wrong lender can make your buying experience a nightmare. This is when referrals are extremely important and most likely the lenders your agent recommends have proven themselves by working with your agent in past transactions. Be prepared to give sensitive personal information - like 2 years of W-2's, bank statements, your social security number so the lender can run your credit scores and other tax and financial information. This is all part of the process towards buying a home. Another reason why it's important to choose a lender before really seriously looking for your home is to determine the price range you can comfortably afford. Also make sure you know what that price range number translates into a monthly mortgage payment. It's not fun to fall in love with a house that is selling for and is worth (Fair Market Value) $50,000 more than you can spend. This way you waste less time looking for homes you could never afford to buy and you stay focused on homes that are within your reach. STEP THREE - FIND THE RIGHT HOME It's time to sit down with your agent and go through what you absolutely can't live with out, what you would prefer not to live without and then some extras that would be really great to have in your new home, but are not deal breakers. Once you and your agent have determined your criteria she will search the available listings to match the best homes within your list. Your buyer's agent will then schedule appointments to "show" you each property. Plan on 2 to 4 hours for each outing you and your agent go on to look at these homes. If nothing jumps out at you, your agent should be contacting you on a weekly basis to send you new listings that come on the market that fit your criteria. And if you're agent is any good they should be networking with top listing agents for homes not on the market yet - so you get first crack at them. STEP FOUR - YOU FINALLY FOUND THE ONE! NOW WHAT? You and your agent will go back to the office to write up an offer to "purchase" the house you are ready to buy. A good real estate agent will pull comparable properties that have sold in the past couple of months, plus show you homes currently under contract with other buyers and of course the active homes competing. This information will help you determine along with your agents market knowledge an advice, what is a good price to offer. The offer will include the price based on the market research your agent provided you, plus various other terms in the "purchase contract" (time frame, closing costs, financing, deposit "earnest money",etc.). Your agent will submit the offer to the seller's agent immediately and the seller will have around 24 to 48 hours to respond to your offer. Then you wait. The seller may respond in several different ways: - Accept the Offer As Written (Pretty Awesome!)
- Counter the Offer (on one or more terms, and yes it's usually on price)
- Reject the Offer (outright - in writing or verbally)
- Ignore the Offer (this can happen and it's annoying I know)
STEP FIVE - YOU'RE OFFER IS ACCEPTED (YOU ARE NOW IN ESCROW!) It's quite a whirl wind in the first couple of weeks - you have inspections to go through, signing all the disclosures, looking at the title to make sure everything is ok, meeting with your lender to complete your application and then some. Your agent will be working behind the scenes to make sure all the I's are dotted and the T's crossed. Your agent will have contact info for all inspectors that you can choose from, but it's your choice in the end who you hire. Expect to pay around $300 - $500 for inspections and yes paying for these inspections is your responsibility. It's advisable that you attend your inspections, so make sure your schedule is somewhat flexible during these first couple of weeks. Plus you will be meeting with your lender a few times to finish the application process.
STEP SIX - WELCOME TO YOUR NEW HOME If you get to this point...congratulations. Escrow has closed and your agent should be handing you the keys to your new home. In most cases "possession" when you are allowed access to your new home, happens the same day that escrow closes and the county records the deed in your name. Occasionally the seller may need a couple of days to move out of the home and in this case the seller rarely pays rent to the new home owner. However the seller may request they need more time, like a week or so, to move out of the home. In this case buyer and seller usually come to some agreement and the seller pays the buyer a daily rental fee for every day she stays in home past close of escrow. If you are interested in buying a home in Humboldt County CA, Contact Me or check out my Home Buyer Services page for a detailed list of what I provide to all of my buyer clients. |