Buying a home in Union County can be one of the most significant investments in your life. Not only are you choosing the place you will dwell and the place that you will bring up your family, you are most likely investing a large portion of your assets. The more prepared you are at the beginning, the less overwhelming and crazy the buying process will be. The purpose of this page is to provide you with information that will assist you in making an informed and intelligent decision. If you have any questions throughout this process, you can contact us by email or phone at any time.

• The Home Buying Process
• How does a Realtor get Paid?
• Getting yourself Pre-Qualified
• Searching for a Home
• Writing a Sales Agreement
• Your Offer has been accepted, now what?
• Home Inspection Process
• Your Loan Officer
• The Closing of the Sale
• Signing Closing Papers
• Contact John Howard

THE HOME BUYING PROCESS

Buying your first home is a dream that many first time home buyers have, and can be one of the exciting times in your life. Just think, no more rent payments and the satisfaction of owning your own home. The house payments that you make today are an investment for your future. As a Realtor, I wish to share with you my knowledge of the home buying process so that it is a pleasant experience and one that does not have to be frustrating.

HOW DOES A REALTOR GET PAID?

As a buyer agent, I often get asked how I am paid for my services. Realtors are paid for their services only after a successful transaction has occurred.  This means the deed has been recorded and the transaction has been funded from by the Escrow Officer. When a Seller signs a listing contract with a Realtor to sell the property, the Seller agrees to pay the listing agent a fee for their services.  Almost all of the Listing agents split their listing fee with Buyers Agent.

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GETTING YOURSELF PRE-QUALIFIED

When buyers first start thinking of purchasing their home, it is very easy for them to overlook the first step. I know the temptation of buyers is to look at a few homes first, but they really need to take the first step and that is to get pre-approved for a loan by a loan officer. The loan officer will ask you numerous questions about your income and will need to have your permission to perform a credit review. To get a great loan rate you will need a credit score of 650 or higher. If your credit score is lower, your loan officer will help give you advice on how to bring the score up.  This will enable you to achieve a lower interest rate, and in doing so you will be able to afford to purchase a home with the amenities that you may desire. After you have been pre-approved to purchase a home, be sure that you and your Realtor ask for and receive a pre-approval letter from your lender.  A pre-approval letter is very important once you find the home that you want to make an offer. Having this letter is very powerful with your earnest money agreement during the presentation of your offer.  It is important to show the seller that you have done your home work and that you are qualified to purchase their home. If another buyer submits an offer during the response time of your offer and does have a pre-approval letter, changes are that the seller will go with the buyer that is the most qualified, providing that the offered price and conditions are relatively the same. This is the most important step of getting yourself ready to purchase a home. It should fit what you can afford and to meet your needs.

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SEARCHING FOR A HOME

After the first step in getting yourself pre-approved, you can now enter the marketplace with confidence in searching and viewing homes.  During my years in the real estate business I have found that most buyers like to take a very active approach to finding their home as well as relying on their Realtor to find properties that they are seeking. I have found that the most successful approach to finding a home is one of working together in searching for homes on the market. If you are one of those buyers that likes to search for homes using the internet (92% of the Buyers are using the internet in searching for homes today), I strongly recommend that you sign in with our MLS data base. Here you can save your search criteria, receive an instant e-mail once a new listing that fits your criteria appears on the market, and any status change of one of your saved properties; such as, a price reduction. With the new age of finding a home with the use of the Internet with a real time-data-base, you will be provided with any new homes that come on the market after your first search. If you need help in setting your criteria in our MLS data system, please call me at 541-910-2015 or send me an e-mail, and I'll be glad to help you. Your Realtor will also keep track of properties that come on the market. After you have viewed several homes and find the one that you want to make an offer on, this is when the discussion, of what the offered price should be and any repairs of the home that are obvious prior to the home inspection.

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WRITING A SALES AGREEMENT

Before you decide on the price, it is very important to review comparable properties that have closed. This gives you a good base for the most important part of the sales agreement, which is the offer price. Your Realtor will assist you in coming to a good decision of what your offer price should be. There are two approaches to take with your offer. Some buyers try to reach the sellers counter zone to see how far they are willing to come off their asking price. Other buyers like to challenge the seller to accept their offer without a counter offer. Sellers know that once they counter a buyer’s offer, they are releasing them from their obligation to purchase their home, if it is a reasonable offer.

You need to apply earnest money with your offer, which can be $500 dollars to $2,000. Generally you can apply a 1% percent rule. For example, a $100,000 offer would require $1,000 dollars in earnest money. The earnest money is applied towards the purchase of the property. Another important step is to have an addendum with the sales agreement for a home inspection. The cost is generally $300 to $350 dollars. Having the home professionally inspected by a qualified home inspector will tell what the condition of the home is in and if any repairs are required before closing.   Also be careful not too ask too much from the seller.  The seller may have received another offer from a buyer, before accepting yours, with fewer contingencies and requests.

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YOUR OFFER HAS BEEN ACCEPTED, NOW WHAT?

Now the work begins for the Realtor, the home inspector, the loan officer and the title company. I know you may have thought the Realtor is not involved that much at this point. Actually, the Realtor is the coordinator that works with the loan officer, the title company, the seller's agent and you the buyer during the closing of the transaction. You will also receive a disclosure statement from the seller. The eller is required by Oregon law to provide disclosure statement for the buyer. You will need to take your time to review the statement with your Realtor. If you see any item that is of concern, now is the time to address it and ask for clarification from the seller. You also have 5 days to withdraw from the sale of the property if you find that you disagree with the disclosure. The clock starts once your agent has received the disclosure statement.

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HOME INSPECTION PROCESS

Now you need to contact the home inspector to schedule an appointment to have the home inspected. Most often, buyers will be present when the home inspector is inspecting the home. Remember that you have 10 days, or longer, depending on how much time that is needed to have the home inspected, and to have any repair items negotiated between you and the seller. If you need more time to respond to the inspection report, then ask for an extension in your addendum.

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YOUR LOAN OFFICER

In your sales agreement you told the seller that you would apply for a loan within a certain time frame. This is generally within three to five days after acceptance. It is important to follow all the timeframes within the offer. The loan officer will also need a copy of the sales agreement for their files. After you or your Realtor has made the contact and applied for the loan, be sure to ask for a letter or statement that you have applied for a loan. Your Realtor will then forward this documentation to the seller’s Realtor, and inform them that you have applied for a loan. Your lender will be in contact with you during this process for any additional information that they may need for your loan. Your lender also will require you to have home insurance for the property before the closing date. It’s a good idea to get this done as soon as possible.

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THE CLOSING OF THE SALE

Once the home inspection is done and any remaining contingencies have been removed, the seller's Realtor or your lender will open up an escrow account with the title company. You will receive a title report from the title company of the property that you are purchasing. It's important to review the report for any items that you may not have known about. This can be easements, liens or any outstanding court judgments that have not been paid. Your lender and their underwriters will want to have any of these items cleared so that you will receive a clear title.

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SIGNING CLOSING PAPERS

This is the final stage, of the closing process and the most exciting time. YOU and your Realtor have completed the process up to this point and now you can sign all the papers that have been prepared for you. Be sure to bring your identification with you, because you will need it for the escrow officer to sign the notary book for the escrow agent. The next step is signing the closing papers which include the loan documents, the deed and the settlement statement. After you have signed, the escrow officer will record the deed and send the documentation back to the loan officer. Closing occurs when the deed has been recorded. This is when you get the keys to your home unless the seller has let you have the keys earlier.

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I hope I have helped you understand the home buying process a little better. I would very much like to have the opportunity to be your Realtor and help you through this exciting time in your life. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at any time!

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