Buying Tips
Whether buying your first home or your 7th, it’s still a complex, involved process. In the never-ending quest to provide our clients and customers with user-friendly experiences, Century 21 Acre Realty has established some helpful suggestions:
- Before you begin house hunting,
- meet with a qualified lender to determine your credit qualifications (1st Place Mortgage is available at Acre Realty to provide free loan pre-approval)
- have your lender provide you with a written mortgage pre-approval
- prepare a budget with which you are comfortable
- Consult with a Century 21 Acre Realty REALTOR® to
- determine the most suitable use of his/her services and establish the most appropriate type of agency you need
- get an overview of how the house-hunting process works
- establish criteria for the type of home which best meets your requirements
- While house hunting,
- your Century 21 Acre Realty REALTOR® will prepare a list of homes to show you based on your criteria
- your Century 21 Acre Realty REALTOR® will give you a tour of Acre and MLS homes available
- you’ll learn about factors that impact home value & resale as you decide on your home selection
- neighborhoods, “supporting casts”, school priorities, commute time, etc., will be reviewed
- when that perfect home is found, yourCentury 21 Acre Realty REALTOR® will help you analyze its value, and provide information on comparable sales
- When making an offer
- your Century 21 Acre Realty REALTOR® will guide you in writing an Offer to Purchase for your perfect home
- many important negotiation factors in addition to price will be reviewed
- your Century 21 Acre Realty REALTOR® will present your offer to the home seller or seller’s agent
- seller will respond in writing to your offer and will either accept it, counter it or reject it
- upon reaching a mutual agreement of the terms between you and the home seller, the transaction is documented
- an agreement is secured with an earnest money (good faith) deposit, which amount is negotiable
- Assisting with Details to Closing
Once your offer is finalized your Century 21 Acre Realty REALTOR® will assist you with:- property inspection to be ordered by home buyer
- ordering tests as might be necessary
- addendums, amendments and special assessments
- determining condominium and homeowners association bylaws and regulations (if applicable)
- communicating with mortgage companies, title companies and co-operating brokers
- contingencies: 72-hour, subject-to-sale, subject-to-closing, mortgage approval, etc.
- general conditions of sale, additional conditions, etc.
- financing requirements
- appraisal process
- title insurance, homeowner’s and mortgage policy
- earnest money deposit
- homeowner’s insurance, flood insurance MGIC and/or PMI insurance
- preparing and delivering of final paperwork for review prior to closing
- utilities switch-over
- final walk-through inspection
- closing day attendance
