Buying a home is the single biggest investment people make in their lifetime. A home is a great financial asset, a place to raise your children, and a place to come home to after a long day. Buying a home is a process and here are the steps I educate my buyers to follow to make the experience as stress-free, educational and fun as possible.

PREPARATION

1. Get an ABR (www.rebac.net) Nashville real estate agent.

This designation is the benchmark of excellence in buyer representation and the only designation designed for realtors who work with buyers. Agents with this designation have learned wonderful negotiating skills that will benefit their clients and have a vast knowledge of every phase of the process. An ABR agent works for you and most of the time is paid for by the seller so there is no reason you shouldn’t have a true professional assisting you.

2. Have your credit checked.

I give out mortgage referrals that will check your credit when you have your mortgage consultation, however if you want to check your own credit use www.annualcreditreport.com this company will get you your reports from all three reporting agencies. Make sure you review your report for errors. The credit agencies are required to fix your errors so fix errors quickly. Once you submit your request to remove an error it can take up to 60 days to get it off your credit report. Here are 5 tips to a better credit score.

A. Keep your debt-to-income ratio at or below 20%. Mortgage lenders prefer this ratio. If you are higher work at paying it down. A higher credit score gets you a lower mortgage rate

B. Be sure you pay your bills on time. This will raise your credit score. The converse is also true paying your bills late makes your score lower.C. Credit card balances are part of your overall debt-to-income ratio so don’t let the balances get away from you.

D. Pay the minimum on your credit card. If you can afford to pay more do so but at least pay the minimum.

E. Don’t apply for to many loans it sends the message that you can not manage your finances to the reporting agencies.

3. Get prequalified.

This can be done very fast. Call your lender and tell him/her you want to apply for a loan. He/she will ask you a few questions and then they will give you a prequalification letter.

Tip, tell the lender what payment per month is comfortable to you and let the lender tell you what amount of home your desired mortgage payment will buy. I have done this with my clients for years and it makes the home buying process much smoother because this way every home we look at they know they can afford! Nothing is worse than falling in love with a home you can’t afford.

4. Create a home buying checklist.

Make a list of everything that you need, then everything you can not live without, then items you would love and items you can live without. I have designed one for you on this website.

Remember: if you are moving from an area that has basements to an area that doesn’t than you may have to give up the basement. Every area has its own home styles. (Here in Nashville basements are not as common as they are in other areas but we have large bonus rooms).

NASHVILLE HOUSE HUNTING

You have your wish list now it is time to go see homes. Your agent should be sending you homes, here is what the abbreviations mean. If you want to explore go to www.realtor.com or www.realtracs.net and let your agent know if you found a home she didn’t send you.

Tip: If you see a For Sale By Owner write down the phone number and let your agent call.

5. When looking at homes feel free to snoop, open doors, peer in closets, go into the attic, walk on the patio, and get a feel for the home.

As I tell my clients I don’t own any of these homes so feel free to say anything.

6. Feel free to ask your agent lots of questions, about the homes, the neighborhoods and the area.

7. Bring a notepad to make notes on the homes you like. I provide ones to my clients.

8. Once you think you have found a home you like. Here are extra things to check.

A. Drive by the home on a weekend night. If it is a noisy neighborhood you will know.

B. Try to meet some of the neighbors.

C. If the morning commute is important to you than stay in a hotel near the home to see what the commute to work time is like.

D. Drive into the neighborhood during the weekend and see if there are kids playing outside. If you have children this is a great way to see if your children will have kids to play with.

E. Call the local police department and see if there have been any crimes in the neighborhood.

F. Check out the minutes of the last HOA meeting to make sure your HOA’s fees will not be going up. Info about HOA’s.

9. Once all important concerns are clarified. It is time to make an offer.

MAKING AN OFFER ON NASHVILLE REAL ESTATE

Making an offer depends on the current market conditions. If it is a sellers market where there are more buyers than homes available your offer may be full price or more versus a buyers market where there are more homes than buyers. In this market you may be able to get a deal.

10. Base your offer on evidence not emotion.

Your Nashville real estate agent will provide the comps and will go over strategies for success.

11. Always know your ending price.

Whether it is new construction or resale I always tell my clients know where you want to end in price. This way you will never feel like you overpaid for a home. This is especially important in new construction when you’re adding options.

12. Make sure you have a check to give earnest money.

This money is held in a broker’s escrow. It will be refunded to you if a contingency falls through or credited to you at closing.

13. Contingencies.

There is a big difference between a home selling contingency and a home closing contingency. The former has no end date and the later does. Be prepared for the seller to be more willing to negotiate with the latter than the former.

14. Some buyers want to download the C.L.U.E report and see if there have been any insurance claims on the home.

Here is the link www.choicetrust.com

15. Counter offering.

This is where you learn what is negotiable. Terms and price are renegotiated to a successful contract.

POST ACCEPTANCE

Congratulations, your offer has been accepted. Here is what to do next.

16. Get preapproved.

Unlike prequalification you now have to provide the necessary documents to support your prequalification discussion. Here is where you learn what loans will be in your best interest.

17. Get a Nashville home inspection!

Click here for how to choose a home inspector. Go to www.ashi.org to get a list of home inspectors that hold this certification. Make sure you ask your agent about any environmental concerns there are. In Nashville I recommend a Radon test as we have radon. Click here for more information about Radon.

18. If you can go to your home inspection. You will learn a lot.

19. Your home inspector will send you and your agent a report.

It is up to you to decide what items are important for you to have the seller fix. Some clients are ok with taking a cash equivalent in lieu of repairs (as long as the mortgage you are getting allows this).

Note: your home inspection is one of the ways you can terminate your contract. If there is something that makes you nervous or an item of importance that the seller will not fix get released from the contract and start the process again.

PRECLOSING

Items to do after you have worked out all your home inspection issues.

20. Make sure your funds are ready.

You will have to get cashiers check for closing. The check needs to be made out to the title company.

21. Find out where you are closing.

In some states buyers and sellers close together. Here in Nashville we close separately as well.

22. Get your utilities transferred over to your name for the day of possession.

If you are moving from another state beware some of the utility companies may require a deposit.

23. Get a one year’s home insurance policy. You will need to have it at closing.

24. If your home is in a flood plain you will need additional insurance.

25. Make sure your home has been appraised for purchase price.

If it has appraised for less than purchase price you can get out of your contract, get it reappraised, ask the seller to come down to the appraised value or buy it anyway.

26. Begin your moving process.

Here is some helpful info: Tips on Moving and Moving Checklist with kids

27. Reconfirm your moving date and change your address.

28. Do your walk-through.

A walk-through is to confirm that your new home is in the same condition it was when you put your contract on it. It is also to confirm that all required repairs have been done.

29. Confirm the time of your closing.

Tip: if you are closing on a Friday and you want possession the same day then close in the morning if you closer later in the day than the seller may not get their money and may make you wait until Monday to move in.

THE NASHVILLE REAL ESTATE CLOSING PROCESS

This is the final step. There will be a lot of papers to sign but these are the important ones that you will be receiving, looking over and signing.

• A Settlement Statement called a HUD-1 form. This itemizes all services and fees charged to you to secure your home. Here are some things to look for on your HUD-1
• A mortgage note
• A Warranty Deed
• Title insurance

30. Bring your drivers license.

31. Bring your cashiers check.

32. Ask questions if you don’t understand something.

33. Stop the process of the loan if it is different than your truth in lending statement.

34. If you are buying in a subdivision you will probably have a transfer fee.

35. You will get a separate payment book from your Home owners association.

36. Sign all the papers, get the keys, and the garage door openers and you will be a homeowner.

POST CLOSING

37. Complete a change of address form.

38. Send out just moved cards (you will get these from me for you to send).

39. Put your mortgage loan number on the refrigerator in case you do not get your book when your payment is do.

This way you will not be late on your first payment.

40. Decide if you want to set-up an auto pay for your mortgage.

41. Some utility companies offer auto pay as well so check those out.

42. Go meet your neighbors.

43. Celebrate.

Let me find your next Nashville home!

*Copyright © 2010 Laurie Sheinkopf. All rights reserved.