Buyer Resources

Find a Realtor to represent you

As a buyer’s agent, we are free to you, as the seller pays our commission. You only need to work with one (1) agent, as we all have access to the same inventory.  The difference between agents is the levels of service they offer and attention to detail. 

Get Pre-Approved 

This gives you buying power and allows you to know your price range to look in w/an idea of what payments you are comfortable with. Just because you are pre-approved for a certain amount, doesn’t mean you need to spend that amount. You wouldn’t go to a job interview without a resume!

Find a Home

We will meet and narrow the search process. 
Writing the Offer: This is where we negotiate the terms, such as price, date of possession, personal property to be left with the home, etc. You will be putting earnest money down at this time ($500/$1,000 is the standard), which will be held in Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell’s non-interest bearing account, so it will be cashed. At closing this money will come back to you in a credit form on what is called a HUD statement and used towards your closing costs or purchase price.

Choose an Attorney

You are not obligated to use an attorney, however this is a legal contract and it can be in your best interest. They coordinate the deed, title work, prorations from the seller to you, as well as some additional work that is out of my licensing area.  We use an attorney for our personal transactions, so you can make your own judgment from there. The sellers will have one to prepare the deed and to perform the necessary documents to transfer the property to you at closing.

Get Insurance

You will be required to pay 1 year in advance when you purchase this. Your lender typically escrows 3 months of insurance at closing to get your escrow accounts started, unless you choose to not escrow. 
Home Inspection:  We set this up with you and go over the items once completed. If repairs are needed, we make a request list to present to the seller, with a copy of the inspection. We then negotiate what needs to be done.

Closing Day

This is when your lender will fund the loan and the seller will give you possession of your new home. The people that will be here are the sellers, their agent, their attorney, you, one of us, our attorney, sometimes the lender and the closing agent.

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