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Buying a home is a complicated process and you need a professional to help guide you through the various steps. Our team is here to help you and we will ensure you understand everything that needs to be done to make for a smooth and enjoyable experience. After all, purchasing a home is likely to be the most expensive investment you make throughout your lifetime and Your Home Expert Team is here to help you celebrate this great life moment every step of the way!

Get Preapproved for a Loan
It is important to know how much you can and want to afford in a monthly payment. You should have a mortgage pre-approval letter drafted by your lender prior to beginning the home search. This letter will be submitted with your offer on a home. I can refer lenders to you if you do not already have one.

Make a Dream Home Checklist
Factors to consider are price, location, must haves and should haves, schools, square footage, bedrooms, bathrooms, style of home etc. You may also want to consider building new rather than buying existing and we can help you with that as well. We have helped many clients with the entire process of building from selecting a builder and lot to the details of picking out floor plans and finishings.

Preview Homes Online
I will set up an automated search for you based on your criteria. You will be able to weed out certain homes online and we will be able to refine your criteria. The portal I set up for you will help you organize your search to make this process easier.

View Homes in Person
I will schedule the showings for you, map out a route and schedule of homes to see based on your timeframes.

Sales Disclosure
Sellers are required to fill out a sales disclosure. I will review the sales disclosure with you to insure there is nothing marked wrong with the home that would affect your desire to purchase the home or affect the price. We will submit a signed copy of the sales disclosure with an offer if one is made.

Make an Offer on a Home
I will prepare a market analysis by researching property values, studying recently sold properties, analyzing expired listings and reviewing homes currently on the market. I will draft a purchase agreement for you to submit to the sellers.

Earnest Money Check
Typically, earnest money is around 1% of the sales price of the home. I will submit a copy of your earnest money check made out to the listing agency with the purchase agreement. Once the offer is accepted, we have 2 business days to deliver the check to the listing agencies office. This money is refundable to you if we do not close on the home due to circumstances such as unresolved inspection issues, issues with your financing etc.

Home Inspection
Once we have an accepted offer, I will help you schedule a home inspection. I can help recommend inspection companies to you. I have several listed on my web site for your reference.

Inspection Response
Based on the Inspection Report produced by the Inspection Company, I will help you draft an inspection response to submit to the sellers in order to fix any items you deem necessary to fix from the report. If there are major items on the report that cannot be resolved (mold, foundation problems etc.) then you can still back out of this deal.

Covenants & Restrictions
The purchase agreement defines how many days the seller has to get you a copy of the neighborhoods covenants and restrictions. You will have an opportunity to review this to insure there are no restrictions that are objectionable to you and can still back out of this deal if you respond within the timeframe defined in the purchase agreement.

Home Insurance
The purchase agreement defines how many days the seller has to secure a home insurance policy for the home and it must be paid for in advance of closing on the home. I can help recommend home insurance companies to you. Your insurance agent can help check to see if there has ever been any major claims submitted for the home. I maintain a list of insurance agents I work with on a regular basis on my web site.

Appraisal
Your lender will schedule an appraisal of the home once we have an accepted offer. The home must appraise for at least as much as the purchase price, otherwise adjustments to the sale price will need to be made by either the buyer or seller to make the deal work.

Title Insurance
Once we have an accepted offer on your home, I will send the purchase agreement to a title company that either you or the seller has selected based on how the purchase agreement was written. Typically, the buyer selects the title company and I can recommend several reputable title companies to you. The title company will work with your lender to prepare all documents needed to close the home. I maintain a list of title companies I work with on a regular basis on my web site.

Home Warranty
If we decided to ask the sellers to provide you with a home warranty for the home you are buying, then I will order the home warranty for you through the title company. This cost is typically a seller cost and is defined in the purchase agreement. The cost will be reflected on the closing (HUD) statement.

Re-inspection
The inspection companies typically offer a service to have the home re-inspected prior to closing to insure the seller has had all items fixed correctly. I usually recommend that you schedule this about a week before closing just in case we need to ask the seller to redo or fix something properly.

HUD Statement
The closing statement (HUD) is prepared by the title company and is typically sent out to you three days before closing. I will review and explain the statement to you. Any money required from you at closing that is above $10,000 will need to be wired from your bank to the title company. I will provide you with wiring instructions to provide to your bank.

Utilities
Usually, you will want to switch the utilities of the home you are buying to be in your name as of day of closing. I can provide you with a list of the utility company names to call prior to closing.

Final Walk Thru
Sometimes buyers desire to have a final walk through of the home the morning of closing. If you would like to do this, I will schedule it for the morning of closing. It is one last chance for you to make sure that nothing has happened to the home that would impact the closing, i.e. basement flooding.

Closing
The title company handles the closing and typically the closing will be held at their office. You will need a copy of your driver’s license, make sure it is not expired. If the money you need to bring to closing is less than $10,000 then you can bring a certified check made out to the title company. Closing is typically scheduled to be roughly 30-45 days after purchase agreement acceptance. Possession is typically day of closing, but this can be negotiable. The purchase agreement defines when possession occurs.

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