Buying or selling a home?

With some up-front planning, buying a home isn't all that difficult, but it still intimidates a lot of people. So you'll understand exactly what to expect, we like to furnish our buyers with an overview of the whole deal. Here are our nine steps to buying a home.

Step 1 – Get ready to purchase
Before you start looking for a home, there are a lot of things you need to consider. When you start your search, you'll probably want to put together a checklist of must-haves, get a plan of what school districts you want to live in, and start planning your budget. Ensuring your mortgage payment is less than 30 percent of your net monthly income is a good principle to follow.

Step 2 – Get with a real estate agent in Roseville
That's where we can help. We'd love to book a time to meet with you and communicate with you about why you want to buy a home and get an idea of your upcoming plans. We'll talk about neighborhoods, school districts in the Roseville area, the mortgage industry, and any other economic factors that could potentially affect your buying decision today or in the future.

In addition, we'll help you begin the loan process. There are some excellent mortgage professionals in Roseville, and we work with a lot of them, so you're in great hands. They will help you figure out which kind of loan is best for you, as well as help you get qualified.

Step 3 – Start looking
Following our first meeting, we'll begin searching for homes on the market that suit your needs. We'll research many of the homes and reject the bad ones, and then we'll schedule appointments to view the homes when it's most convenient for you.

As we tour the homes, we'll show you the good features, as well as bad ones. we'll also ask you to tell us about things you like and don't like. It's pretty common for buyers to revise their wish list as we tour houses and some items become more essential than others. If that's the case, we'll look through the listings again and trim it down to the house of your dreams.

Step 4 – Understand the market
An agent's understanding of the Roseville market is a fundamental aspect in your home search. And we can assure you we're well-versed in all the neighborhoods and schools, and we'll alert you to what neighborhoods are "hot" and require immediate action and the ones that are "cool" and allow for cautiousness.

When we view homes, we'll let you know when the list price has room for negotiation and also when we believe the home is "priced to sell." When working with an agent, trust your instincts and be sure to ask lots of questions. Every REALTOR^® will claim to truly know the market. If things don't add up, call us at 916-781-9998 or e-mail us at craig@neighborshomerealty.com, and we'd be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Our market expertise will keep you a step above the rest through the entire deal.

Step 5 – Find the house you've been looking for
We're confident we'll find your dream house in Roseville. When that happens, we'll carefully create your home purchase offer. The offer will be tailored with your needs in mind, including a lot of contingencies, such as acquiring financing, completing the inspection, and a clean title.

When we turn in your purchase offer, most likely you'll need to submit "earnest money." This is a cash deposit given to the home seller to secure an offer to buy the property and is often put towards the cost of closing. If your offer is accepted, we should close on the property about 30 to 60 days after. This allows ample time for your mortgage financing.

Step 6 – Negotiate
Unfortunately most deals don't close on the beginning offer – it's extremely common to receive a counter offer. But don't let this intimidate you. We'll talk about whether or not to agree to the counter offer, present our own counter offer, or refuse the seller's offer and move on.

How aggressively we negotiate the deal depends on market conditions. In addition, we'll work within your financing limits. And at the end of the day, we'll formulate a deal that works well for you.

Step 7 – Secure financing
After the contract is finalized, you'll start working with your lender to close the loan. If you're already pre-approved, it won't take very long at all. However, you need to keep in close contact with your mortgage lender. And we'll handle all the property information your lender needs to close the loan.>

Step 8 – Close the deal
You'll get a Loan Estimate (LE) detailing your closing costs from your mortgage lender within three days of accepting your application. This estimate rests on the loan amount, and RESPA requirements require that it has to include all closing costs and be within a precise range of accuracy. we'll go over the estimate and let you know if everything looks good.

Then we'll close on your house. This will probably occur at a title company or escrow office and should be a smooth and comfortable occurrence.

Step 9 – Move in
Congratulations! Now you can move into your new house. Enjoy it. And if you need anything or have any questions, be sure to call us at 916-781-9998 or send us an e-mail.