Tuesday, August 20, 2013

First Time Home Buyers Guide


Congratulations, you are finally feeling able and confident to make the home buyer leap! This is a huge step in most people’s lives. Most professionals say this is the biggest investment/ purchase people make in life. Being in finance for the better part of the 2000's, I would have to agree. How many people actually make multiple 100k + purchases a year?... not many. And those who have done it know exactly what to do, right?... well sometimes. Now my question is, how in the world does anyone know what to do when they are ready? Wow, the biggest purchase of their life and they just got to figure it out? This really blows my mind, so I decided to make it easy. I’m going to go on a simple step by step list of what people usually do, and what I think you should do, and you can be the judge.

 

What people usually do is start looking for houses. Usually it’s a husband and wife or domestic partners that agree to start looking. Let’s call them James and Vicki. Because of time they never get time to do it together. So during down time throughout the day each person hops on the computer and puts Google to work. Sometimes it’s during breaks or lunches, and believe it or not on the clock using the bosses time (which they shouldn’t be doing) either way its 2 different people looking for what they want and sometimes not acknowledging each other’s wishes. They figure a couple of areas they would like to live in and start searching. Guessing on how much they can afford, they search the amounts they believe is affordable. Maybe they locate a few homes that look appealing, get back and share it with each other. This goes on for a couple of weeks. Then life kicks in. James has deadlines he has to hit at work, Vicki is finishing her bachelor’s degree, and holing down a full time job. Not to mention they both have families that they are very active with. So when Vicki gets back into search mode she notices that one of the homes she really liked has just been sold. She had no idea any offers had been placed on the house, and how would she, she’s not a Real Estate Professional. James still busy with work has no time now to search. So one night while lying in bed they both discuss the frustration of looking for a new home. Vicki believes they need to speak with a professional, a Realtor. James agrees. The next day at work Vicki is sharing her idea with her friend Samantha at work about talking with a Realtor. Samantha says “my brother is a Realtor, and he’s really smart you should talk with him”. Vicki takes his name and number, waits until she gets home, tells James and they call Robin the Realtor. Robin, happy to take on new business, agrees to be the Realtor and meet with them next week. When they meet up, they discuss what types of homes they want. Vicki wants a big family room, James wants a pool. They share the areas they would like to live in. Then Robin asks “what amount are you qualified for”? Bruce replies “I thought we didn’t need that until we find the house we want”. Robin goes on to tell them, because of all the changes in real estate and the limited amount of homes available, Realtors typically need a pre-qual letter from a lender. Before either James or Vicki get to say anything, Robin states that he recommends they talk with his preferred lender Bruce. Robin explains all of the great experiences he has had with clients while working with Bruce. Vicki and James decide to take Robins referral and gave Bruce a call. Bruce collected all the necessary information needed, asked a few questions and had an answer back to Vicki and James in less than 2 hours. Bruce started his conversation with Congratulations! He shared how much they qualified for and gave them a range they could comfortably look in. Fortunately James, Vicki, and Robin were still together and Bruce emailed the pre-qualification letter right over. About a week later they locate a house, placed an offer. 30 days later Bruce gave Vicki and Robin a call, gave them another huge congrats because the loan had funded, and told them he would call Robin so that he could deliver them their very own house keys.   

Now this is not a horrible story, just a story of putting the cart before the horse. In some cases there are nightmare home buying stories. So let’s stay away from those, and allow me to sum up what to do.

 

1. Figure out a budget and how much you feel comfortable spending monthly.

 

2. Find a lender/ loan officer/ loan originator (these are all the same) you feel comfortable working with, like Bruce.

 

3. Get a pre-qualification letter from the lender.

 

4. Ask your new lender for a referral to a great Realtor to work with. .

 

5. Call the Realtor and tell them you have already received a pre-qual letter.

 

6. Have the Realtor show you homes.

7. Congratulations you have purchased your dream home!

 

I hope that you find this helpful when going down this path. Sometimes it feels scary, but if you are working with the right professionals, it will all work out, and your dreams will come true.

P.S. If you have not gotten it by now, I’m Bruce in this story. You can call me Chris, Chris Dominguez @ 909-841-3058. If you do not want to talk with me, and you would like a pre-qual you can visit www.ChrisDominguez.com if you are ready go to APPLY NOW then click Short Loan Application for just an idea or the Long Loan Application for an exact answer.
 
Respectfully,
Chris Dominguez
909-841-3058