First Time Home Buyers

Real Estate is the No.1 key to building wealth in your lifetime. Successful entrepreneurs, CEO’s of Major Companies, and self made Millionaires all attribute the beginnings of their wealth to purchasing, building, investing and/or selling Real Estate.

Other than your wedding day or the birth of your children, purchasing your first home will be one of the most memorable experiences for you. For most Americans, this is the single, largest, purchase you will EVER make in your lifetime. With that said, there is PLENTY to learn about purchasing Real Estate in California. I work with First Time Home Buyers daily. I feel that we are truly on the same level when it comes to discussing homes and this helps make this whole experience that much more enjoyable. Just read some of my Clients Testimonials. Many of those people were first time home buyers. We had a great time finding and closing their first home, but they also learned so much about Real Estate.

First, how are you going to pay for this house? Do you plan on borrowing some money from the bank in order to do this or do you have a fairly large amount of cash to use? Being that 95% of you will be borrowing the money, let’s focus on that.

Pre-Qualify for your Mortgage!

The first thing that you’ll want to do is schedule a meeting with a Mortgage Broker. I have a very, very reputable lender that has worked with many of my Clients and I’d be glad to give you their information. When you meet with the Mortgage Broker, he will want to know what your income is (bring recent pay stubs or tax returns), she will pull your credit report, and then he will look at your financial assets. All of these things will help her decide what type of mortgage will be best for you. There are plenty of government backed mortgage programs that offer zero down payments or a very small down payment (3.5%). These are 30-year fixed rate loans, no funny business. After you select the best type of mortgage, you will then be prequalified to borrow a certain amount. The Pre-Qualification process is the first step to buying your first home. You need to know what you’re comfortable paying every month before you start picking out homes.

House Shopping!

Personally, my favorite part about this whole process and it may become yours as well. This part starts with meeting me at my office and discussing what you want in your first home. Do you want to be near your job, your family, would you like a newer home, an older home with character? These questions sound simple but they can become more involved than you think. It always helps to have a neighborhood in mind, if you don’t, that’s what this meeting is all about. We’ll go out and start looking at properties. In order to find what you want in your first home, you need to see everything you hate. I’m also going to enroll you in an Automatic Prospecting System via my MLS database. You will have your own custom search for homes in the city(s) that you’d like to live in. When a new property comes onto the market, you and I will be notified immediately via email. It’s a great way to find your perfect home! What happens when you find “the one”?

Making an Offer!

The offer process can seem a bit daunting, as there is a significant amount of paperwork that we will go over. Keep in mind that all of these forms and contracts are structured to protect you, as the Buyer. We will decide on the price you would like to offer, what the down payment will be, whether or not we are going to ask the Seller to help with some of our Closing Costs, what reports and inspections we want the seller to pay for, and much, much more. Set aside 30 minutes to an hour when making an offer on your first property. It is a very important step and I do NOT like to rush through this process. 3 things can happen next…

• The Seller accepts your offer. Congratulations you are now in the ESCROW phase and should have the keys to your new home within 45 days or so.
• The Seller counters your offer. Do not worry, I love to negotiate! We can accept their counter offer, we can send back a counter offer, or we can reject their counter offer.
• The Seller rejects your offer. Again, don’t worry; we can resubmit the offer or move on to the next property that you see fit.

Whichever of the above paths you go down, your goal is to open ESCROW! Once this happens, you will submit your loan application with the Mortgage Broker. He or She will order an appraisal on the property and send your file off for an Approval.

During this same time, we will be receiving all known facts/disclosures about the property from the Seller. I highly advised that you conduct your own inspections as well. A home inspection is a must! You want to learn as much about your first home as possible.

Closing!

Once you are comfortable with your new home purchase, your loan has been approved, and you have removed your contingencies; you are then ready to Close. Within 24 hours of your loan funding Escrow, the property ownership changes from the Seller to you, the Buyer. I will call and gladly give you the keys to your new home. Congratulations you just bought your first place!

Are you ready to start the process of buying your first home? Click here to email me for more information about this process or my Mortgage Broker’s contact information. You can call me on my cell phone anytime, 805.460.3000 or try me at my office, 805.226.5500.