Anatomy of a Home Buyers Transaction
The Inside Look

by Dan Goble Broker for All Family Realty
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     Buying a home is not as bad as you think if you have an expert you can trust.  We dont have as many agents here at All Family Realty as we could have because we are so picky.  Our agents are hand picked.  Most of them have not worked anywhere else because our training is not as effective if they have picked up any bad habits from other places.  We will not retain an agent who is commission oriented or is hard to contact.  A commission oriented agent will let you settle for too little for the sake of expediency.  Our agents must be trustworthy, honest, informative and helpful to you in your transaction.  Good agents work the transaction like they were doing it for their brother.  If show them trust they will produce good results for you.  Follow this anatomy of a home transaction and watch for the things we do that most other brokerages dont do signified by the * at the beginning of the explanation. 

The Money

      It takes money to buy a home.  If you dont have cash then you will have to rely on a lender to finance your home buy.  This lender is essential to you getting to closing and will be the slowest of all of the approximately 60 people who will be involved in your purchase.  Your trusted All Family Agent is a good source to guide you to a good lender who fits your circumstances.  We do not accept any commissions or anything of value from a lender to recommend him or her.  Our motive is to make sure you get a good professional lender who is as interested in your situation as we are.  The best lender is the one who offers reasonable rates and works well with your realtor.
     Since the lender takes the longest, and a seller will require proof of funds, our first move is to get you pre-approved for a loan.  *We may need several pre-approval letters from the lender so we can make an offer under the crunch if necessary without telegraphing how much you are pre-approved for.  The lender must be accessible 9-9 7 days a week  to work the offers this way.  If you have a lender already selected we will contact them and try to make arrangements to work with them also.

Finding the Right Home

      You have probably been looking on the internet for a home before contacting us for help.  You will see that most of those homes are sold.  The reason for this is that realtors like to leave them up as long as possible so they can get calls from lookers like you.  They dont care if you are spinning your wheels on sold homes.  We have a very special process for finding your home that cuts through the hassles and makes the search easier on you and the realtor.
     The key to searching for a home is to get the list of homes available without missing any.  We do this by using the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).  This service is paid for by each licensed realtor in the Central Oklahoma area.  Realtors are required to put the homes they have for sale on this service.  If they dont they can lose their license.  They must also show the homes as sold within 24 hours of accepting a contract.  That means no homes missed and no sold homes to wade through.
     *We sit you down in front of a big computer screen and sort through all the homes available in an hour where driving haphazardly could take weeks.  The key is that when we finish you will know you have not missed any homes.  We will set you up with a gateway to our service so if any new homes are listed while we are looking they will be emailed to you and your All Family Agent.
After we get the list of all the homes available we will print them out for you to do a drive by so you can further eliminate homes and get down to the short list.  We will set up appointments for those homes and off we go to view the insides.

Making an Offer

      Making an offer on a home is the most complicated part of the purchase.  If you go too low you will harden the sellers and make them less susceptible to a bargain offer.  We like to make an offer that is based on our in house appraisers recommendation.  Anything you get less than appraisal would be advantageous to your pocket book.  In some cases you will need to have the buyer pay your closing costs which range from $3500 to $5000 and make the home a bargain by offering full list price and the buyer paying all your costs.  This would allow you to come to closing with only your down payment.  In some cases you can get the down payment covered and close with only an earnest money deposit which can be from $250 to $2000 dependent on the price of the home.
     *We have an appraiser on staff.  We will know the seller and we will know the maximum price.  Ask your All Family Agent will fill you in on the other tools we have to aid you.

Dealing with Repairs

     Dealing with repairs is an integral part of the offer you presented the seller.  You probably made the contract contingent on repairs in one way or another.  One way to make an offer is completely without repairs.  Some say that you should not amortarize repairs over the 15 or 30 year loan.  You should instead drop the repairs off the price of the house.  Some would rather get all the repairs done so there is nothing to do after you move in.  Either way there is a TRR phase of the contract that lasts normally 10 days from acceptance by the seller.  TRR stands for Treatment, Repair and Replace.  This is a negotiation between you and the sellers on what should be done with the funds set aside in the contract.  Once this is negotiated and done the contract actually becomes a contract that you can be more confident in.

The Appraisal

     This phase is easier than normal since we have had an in house appraiser already look at the market value of your prospective home.  We probably won't have a problem with the home appraising for price but we have to consider one other part of appraisal.  The home must meet the standards the appraiser uses to pass the home which are dependent on what kind of loan you have.  The appraisal is ordered by your lender to make sure the home meets the price and standards to qualify for FHA or VA or Conventional insurance to protect the lender.  If the appraiser has requirements such as raising the hot water heater to code they are normally taken care of by the seller although that is not a rule.

Closing the Deal

     There are a few things you need to have in place before heading for the Title Company to close.  You should have homeowners insurance in place to protect your investment at least 2 weeks before closing.  You should call the Utilities and have them transfered a day or two before closing.  You need to arrive with a cashiers check for the down payment unless you dont have a down payment.  You need to have two forms of ID, both with pictures except you can use a social security card.  Your realtor has guided the lender and Title Company to this point and everything should go perfectly to close.  If you are married your spouse must be present even if they are not on the note.    You will get your keys and start enjoying your new home.  Don't forget to file for Homestead Exemption when your deed is filed about 30 days after closing.

*Things we do that most others dont do