I’ve gotta tell you…I have a blast helping buyers.  It’s generally around a two month process from start to finish, and it’s jam-packed.  Bottom line, though?  My buyers really appreciate how smooth and easy the whole thing moves along.  And my service to them costs them nothing.  Cool, right?  Here’s a quick breakdown of how things often go:

• Buyers and I meet up for coffee or whatever.  I bring the laptop, and we start narrowing down what properties are available based on their preferences and budget.  I give them a nice overview of the city, with recommendations on which areas seem to be the most stable and primed for growth.  At this point, I also like to give them a heads-up on how the whole contract and negotiation process will work once we find a home they love.  No surprises!

• Buyers get pre-approved for a home loan with a lender of their choice, though most everyone I work with ends up with Brad Farris at Peoples Exchange Bank.  They all think he’s pretty awesome.  Great rates, low closing costs, access to some really cool loan programs, and excellent customer service.  If you’re curious about what your own financing might look at, you might wanna go ahead and shoot him an email HERE.

• Based on the pre-approval amount, we put together a list of houses to go see.  This list doesn’t have to be super-focused.  You’d be surprised at how seeing a variety of places can sharpen the senses.  I set all of that up so that we make really good use of time, and so the buyers can get a really good feel for what’s available in their price range.  This is more-or-less a fact-finding mission.  We make note of any homes the buyer really likes alot.

• The buyers and I talk about their favorite listings, then we refocus our search to include any properties that might be similar to those.  We set up another day to go see those properties.  During these showings, we spend more time at each house.  What I like to do is pretend that I’m a buyer, too, and I openly talk to them about what’s going through my mind.  This might be the most important part.  I give things to them straight.  No exaggerating and trying to be a salesman.  For those moments, I’m pretending to be the buyer for their house when they’re future sellers.  This helps them to pick a property that not only they will love, but that future buyers will love, too.  Awesome, right?

• Once the buyers know which house they want, I do some research to determine what a fair price would be.     Sometimes this is much different from the advertised price, sometimes it’s pretty close.  Just depends on how realistically the seller priced the house to begin with.  I also pull together a list of past and current problems with the house directly from the seller.  Even though we’ll have a home inspection, too, it’s better to have plenty of facts going into the negotiations.  If the roof, furnace and a/c are 20 years old, then that final price had better reflect it, right?

• We write up the offer and negotiate with the sellers. If final terms can be agreed upon, then we’ll move through the inspections and loan process all the way to the closing table when the buyers get their keys.    I won’t bore you with all the details right now.  If we meet up for a Step 1, then I’ll go through it all with you.  Deal?

If you’d like to get the ball rolling, then let me know.  You can connect with me HERE.  I’ll look forward to grabbing that cup of coffee with you!