Tag Archives: financing

Jack and Jill…Where Do YOU Want to Live?: The Home Buyer Checklist You’ve Been Looking for (8 of 15)

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Tropical beach, traditional long tail boats, famous Maya Bay, ThailandJill was dripping wet when she entered their tiny condominium.  A shredded umbrella in one hand and a bag of Chinese take out in the other.  As she closed the door her heel gave way and down she went.  Fortunately it was a tiny condominium, and Jack was able to catch her before she did herself any hard.  The Chinese take out didn’t fair as well.  It got squished, but was still edible.  Jill began to cry as she tried to talk “Jack”, sniff, “I”, sob, “just”, sniffle, “want to be able to park outside our home.”  Jill cried on, not in pain, but from the wet and the sadness of the broken heel on her shoe and the further realization that heir parking situation would not get better until they had their own home on the hill.  Jack handed her a towel and a warm cup of tea and said, “You relax, I got the food warming in the oven, dry off, drink your tea and I’ll read.”

#7 Where Do YOU Want to Live?

I don’t know, where do you want to live?  I don’t know, where do you, think we should live?  It’s a discussion that people have been having for years.  When your looking for a home, unless you have some type of restriction that you have placed on where you want to live, the world is your oyster.  Surely you don’t want a two hour commute, one way, up hill, in the snow.  Or maybe you have to have that type of commute because you want to live by a lake or have your children go to a certain school.  Location IS the biggest question in real estate and that’s why everyone will tell you it’s the first, second and third most important thing,  So location is important, but it’s not just the State or the city, or the subdivision, or the school district, it can also be the street.  Do you want your home on a corner, a cul-de-sac, on acreage, next to the park, or far away from the park?  When you are searching you should look at the satellite view of the home that peaks your interest.  The  satellite might show vacant land, a creek, a river, railroad tracks, salvage yard or strip center that you didn’t see when you drove to the property.  Keep in mind that land that is vacant now may not be vacant forever.  Farmer John may decide to sell that vacant land and you don’t have any control over who he might sell to.  Can you get to work from your new home?  Is their more than one route?  Is their a toll road within a couple of miles that would make your commute a little bit easier?

By the time Jack finished reading Jill had cheered up, dired off and the food was ready to eat.  Jack spoke,”Jill I am making it part of our home search to find us a home that has covered access from the car to the kitchen.  I never want you to have to worry about getting soaked or slipping or…”Jill cut him off saying, “Thank you sweetie.”  And with that she kissed him on the scar of the side of his head and handed him a plate of Chinese food.  They ate in silence as the storm rolled through eagerly awaiting the next check point entitled:

“Jack and Jill Negotiate to Buy a Home..The Home Buyer Checklist You’ve Been Looking for (9 of 15)”

We hope that you’re enjoying our series and that it helps you on your way to……………………..

Live Life to the Fullest,

S.C.

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Jack and Jill Learn What COSTS Are Involved: The Home Buyer Checklist You’ve Been Looking for (4 of15)

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Costs InvolvedJack and Jill are entrenched in the home buying process and everyday they are noticing new “For Sale” signs in yards, mortgage companies television ads, and other Real Estate related happenings.  They are in the zone, it wasn’t that their were more homes on the market or that the mortgage companies had bought more television time….Jack and Jill were now paying attention.  So they were excited to read about:

#3 Learn What Costs are Involved in Buying a Home

It’s important to understand the closing costs for buying a home, early in the home buying process.  You can get that information from your lender or your REALTOR.  They both will use different tools to illustrate your closing costs and should be pretty close to what ends up on your closing statement(the final documents your sign before you get your keys).

Your lender can provide you with an INITIAL FEES WORKSHEET when you work with them on your prequalification letter.  After your offer on a home has been accepted by the seller it’s time for your REALTOR to send a copy of that contract to your lender.  Once the lender has the copy of your contract you can formally apply for a mortgage.  The government (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) requires that the lender provide you with a GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE within three days.  The GOOD FAITH ESTIMATE is just what it says….it is their estimate on what it would cost for you to buy a specific home using their lending services.  By understanding the Title Company fees, attorney fees, Homeowner Association Fees and Home Owners Insurance it puts your home buying in a real light of what is paid now to own a home AND what will be paid on a recurring basis (Home Owners Association, Home Insurance, etc)

Your REALTOR can also provide you with an Estimated Cost Worksheet that can give you a good starting point.  It will give you basically the same information as the lenders INITIAL FEES WORKSHEET and is just an unofficial estimate.  Home Owner Association yearly fees and yearly taxes are posted on most Multiple Listing Services Information Pages, so you may have access to a lot more information than you originally thought.  Not all REALTORS provide an ESTIMATED COST WORKSHEET, and that’s ok, your lender is the money person, your REALTOR is the negotiation and home information finding out person and so on.

 “Well Jill did we learn anything from this point on our checklist?”  asked a puzzled Jack.  “Jack is your head bothering you again?  Come on now you need to focus, ” scolded Jill.  “Of course we learned something.  We learned that there are fees involved in buying a home and that we should learn about them by talking with our lender and our REALTOR.”  said Jill calmly.  “Yea, I got that too, I guess it will make more sense once we have an INITIAL FEES WORKSHEET in our hands,”  smiled Jack.  And with that being said they eagerly awaited the next check point entitled:

“Jack and Jill Search & Search Some More: The Home Buyer Checklist You’ve Been Looking for (5 of 15)”

We hope you’re enjoying our series and that it helps you on your way to……………………………

Live Life to the Fullest,

S.C.

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Jack and Jill Choose a REALTOR: The Home Buyer Checklist You’ve Been Looking for (3 of15)

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ImageSo Jack and Jill decided to read all of “The Home Buyer Checklist You’ve Been Looking For” before they started to check off each item on by one….it just made sense to them.  They were getting more serious about their pursuit for their own home upon the hill and here is what they read:

#2 Choose a REALTOR

Choosing a REALTOR is not your full-time job, but it should be the FULL time job of your REALTOR….to be A REALTOR.  If you have made the commitment to buy or sell real estate you should have a REALTOR that is committed to forming a strong business relationship with you.  Here are some ideas on choosing a REALTOR:

1) Personal Referrals–Ask your closest friends who sold them their house.  Now think about this for a minute.  They bought that house five years ago; that’s a long time.  Your friend will have to think about it and get back with you.  They might have forgotten their REALTOR because they haven’t heard from them in five years.  Hmmmmmm, you are going to want a professional that is dedicated to serving your needs–before, during and after the sale.  Personal referrals are the best, because you have a friend you trust telling you that this is someone who they trust.  Key questions to follow-up with your friend:  Would you buy your next home with this REALTOR?  Would you sell this home with the REALTOR?  Trust is the key, would you want to use the hairstylist of a friend whose hair looks like a rat’s nest?  If you don’t like what their stylist has done with their hair you’re probably not going to want that stylist touching your hair.

2) Advertising–Think about the last time you bought something advertised on TV or in a magazine.  What were they selling?  Did you buy it because it filled a need or did you buy it for some other reason?  Just because a REALTOR has a billboard, park bench, TV commercial, shopping cart or Home Owners Association Newsletter Ad, does not mean their work ethic fits with your personality or needs.

3) Websites, Blogs and Facebook–This is separate from advertising because if done correctly they serve a REAL function to you.  Websites, Blogs and Facebook serve three functions: 1) Information 2) Call to action 3) Communication       As you are researching YOUR REALTOR: are they providing information, communication opportunities and a call to action?  These are all important and useful in your search for a home.

4) Communication–It is EXTREMELY important that your REALTOR communicate with you in a way that YOU WANT to be communicated (e-mail, text, phone calls to the cell phone, phone calls to the work phone, phone calls to the home phone, Facebook messages, twitter tweets, etc)  Who is number one in this situation?????  YOU ARE and don’t you forget it.  Make it a point to find out what communication methods are available.  If you love to receive text messages, you need to make sure that your REALTOR is on the same page.  Your REALTOR also needs to understand how handy you are with a computer and if you have access to a fax machine.

5) Home Search–Your REALTOR needs to be part of your home search, but not the beginning, middle, and end.  Here’s what I mean…you have to be an active participant in your home search.  In order to get the home of your dreams you need to be part of the game.  Suit up and get in the game.  Your REALTOR is a major player, notice that I didn’t say coach.  You’re the player coach.  Your REALTOR is the player agent, the pinch hitter, the announcer, the cheerleader, the medic and the relief pitcher.  They are what you need them to be at that moment in time and sometimes they will be everything at once.

6) Availability–Your REALTOR should be available to you on your schedule.  You are the client, you are important and you should be given priority.  This is the one way that a full-time dedicated Real Estate Professional is different from the part-time REALTOR.  They have another job four to eight hours a day, when do they have time for you?

7) Eating Real Estate Every Meal–Another way a full-time dedicated Real Estate Professional is different from the part-time REALTOR is that they are always working on Real Estate.  Their focus is directed at being the best REALTOR they can be.  They have one vision of success and that is to help you achieve YOUR Real Estate goals.  This can be seen through the weekly improvement meetings that they attend.  The professional company they keep.  The ongoing education that a full-time REALTOR takes is typically more than the State requires.  Even the amount and type of information that they provide to potential clients on a regular basis.

These are my seven tips for you based on clients, friends and family.  You have a tough choice before you.  Somewhere along the way you will need a REALTOR.  Take the time to learn who you’re working with.  Ask questions, conduct job interviews.  A REALTOR that does not want to be a part of your interview process…hmmmmmm…you make the call.  It’s your dream, who is going to be a part of your team to make it a reality?

“Hickory, dickory, Jill I think we should start looking for a REALTOR, right now to help us with our Real Estate goal” Jack said in a flourish of excitement.  “Jack, I agree that we will need a REALTOR to help us, but I think we should continue to read all the check points, so far we need a lender and a REALTOR,” Jill was cut off by Jack who said, “Yea, it’s like we’re gonna need all the kings horses and all the Kings men.” they were eager for the next check point entitled:

“Jack and Jill Learn What COSTS Are Involved: The Home Buyer Checklist You’ve Been Looking For (4 of 15)

We hope you’re enjoying our series and that it helps you on your way to…………….

Live Life to the Fullest,

S.C.

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