Welcome Home. Find Your Dream Home Now.

1.  HIre a Real Estate Agent.  Why?  Because you want your own representation.  The seller has their own agent, you need your own as well.  Think of it like this; you wouldn't want the same lawyer representing both sides would you?  A buyer's agent gets paid by the seller, so no costs to you to be protected.  They can help you through the entire process.   Not just the actual buying of the home.

2.  Check Your Credit Score. Your credit score impacts your loan's interest rate, monthly payments and total interest.   The better your score, the better interest rate you will be able to qualify for which will lower your payments.  If you need help improving your credit score, we can help with that as well.

3.  Decide What You Want.  Before you start looking, make a list of what you want and assign each item a priority. Some areas to consider are the location, type of home, and age of the home.

3.  Create a Budget.   The rule of thumb is no more than 30% of your budget should be for housing.

4.  Save for a Down Payment.   Typically, mortgage lenders want you to put 20 percent down on a home, any less and you might be required to get mortgage insurance or PMI.   Some first time buyers loans required as little as 3% down and FHA home loans require a down payment of 3.5% of the purchase price for home buyers with a credit score of 580 or above.  If your score is between 500 and 579, you're required to put 10% down.    

5.  Shop for a Mortgage.  A loan broker may be able to help better than going to a bank.   Loan brokers can search many banks to get the best loan for you.  A bank usually only offer 3-4 loans.

6.  Get Pre-approved.  Having a pre-approval letter makes your offer stronger and checks off another box that needs to be done.

7.  Look for a home.   Look at many homes even if you fall in love with the first home you see.  It's good to have options.  We can set you up to receive listings as they come available.  Even before other buyers see them.

8.  Make an Offer.   A Real Estate Agent is vital at this point.  As in our case, we have over 25 years experience and negotiation specialists.

Getting the offer accepted is only the beginning.    

1.  Continue to work with the lender to make sure they have everything they need to process your loan.

2.  Hire an inspector to inspect the home.  We don't want any surprises!

3.  Start shopping for internet, cable, home insurance and check out the town.

4.  Line up your movers and start packing.

6.  Make sure you understand your loan and how much money you have to bring to closing.  

7.  Close and get your keys!

     Steps 1-5 above still apply before you look at new homes.  If you walk into a new construction sales office, the sales person you meet will be your representative.  Remember just like a regular listing, the agent at the house or sales office represents the seller.  You can have your own agent to help you through the new construction process and it doesn't cost you anything as the contractor/seller has already agreed to pay your agent's commission.  

     An agent can go through the process with you and explain the contractor's documents.   It may be more to your advantage to use their lender as you can usually get discounts or closing cost credits.  An agent can help you pick out options for flooring and upgrades which can really add up if the sales rep talks you into more than you need.

     So before going into a sales office, either have your agent go with you or have their card so you can give to the sales person to let them know you have your own agent.

     Check out this link for new homes in Springtown, TX.  I like DR Horton.  They are reputable, and their homes are well made and affordable.

https://www.drhorton.com/texas/fort-worth/springtown/sculptors-park

Before putting your home on the market, make sure you've spoken to several Brokers and pick the one you feel comfortable with, not just the #1 in the area.

A Broker should show you what other homes are selling for in the area  for at least the last 3 months.  Homes on the market, homes that have sold and homes taken off the market and why.  

Does your Broker have a Marketing Plan.  Do they list on the MLS, other sites as well and what about mailings, social media, open houses?

Even in a down market or buyers market, a house should sell within 60 days if priced correctly.   The rule of thumb is if the house doesn't sell within the first 30 days, lower the price by 10%.  You don't want your house on the market too long as it can get 'stale' and buyers will wonder what's wrong with it because it's not selling.   Don't worry that you priced your home too low.  You should get multiple offers and in most cases, this pushes the value up.

To make your home selling experience as stress free as possible.  Sit back and enjoy the ride!

Have questions or comments? We'd love to hear from you! Contact us today and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.