Bringing Buyers and Sellers together in Newton Iowa

Finding the home of your dreams, no matter what your price range.

1. The first step is to get you into a lending institute to see how much you can afford. This is the most important step. If we start looking at homes before we find out what you can afford, it can be very heart breaking to find that special house only to realize it is more house than you can afford. It does work the opposite direction also. You may be able to afford more than you think and ten thousand dollars will make a huge difference in the type of house you may want.

 

2. Now we get to sit down and talk about what you want or need in a house. Think about the most important things such as: How many bedrooms, garages do you need. How big a yard, living space, (do you need a family room?) kitchen, etc. Can you do any remodeling? Sheet rock, stripping paint, putting on new doors. If you need to hire this done, then it would be better to find a house that is already finished.

 

You may have to compromise with finding your home. Such as: forgetting about the family room when what you really need is a two-stall garage. Also, houses are not perfect. Unless you are building a new home, expect to do a little remodeling like new carpet or paint. Remember you are buying a used product. Try to look past the awful royal blue paint in the living room and imagine it in white! Look past the cosmetics and concentrate on the structure of the building.

 

3. We start looking. And look. And look. Or if you happen to be one of those lucky individuals that finds a home on the first day out – skip to number 4. For the rest of you, I will show you everything on the market in your price range, plus seek out For Sale By Owner. All the houses in this area are on the Multiple Listing Service, so I can show you any house that is listed with another firm. If by chance you find a For Sale By Owner, please ask me to go with you. Realtors are licensed professionals who know the laws. Plus, they know the market. You may pay too much for a house or worse yet, buy a house that may have physical defects which you end up paying for, when in fact it should have been the seller paying the bill.

On the weekend go to Open Houses. Just sign your name in on the sheet and put my name in the box that asks where you heard about this home. This keeps the other Realtors in the area from calling you at home and bothering you.

 

4. We find the home and your ready to put in an offer. Don’t hesitate if you love the house. Homes are sold right out from under noses because of an inability to act. When we make an offer we will ask for certain things such as: Closing costs from the seller, we might ask for the washer and dryer or other appliances, we could even ask for the lawn mower (it doesn’t happen very often but it has been done). We will state a date that we want to close by and get possession. We will state the terms of your financing. And we will write in that this may be contingent on the sale of your home, financing, inspections and appraisal of the home.

 

The Offer to Buy is a Legal Binding Contract that was written by lawyers. It is very important that you understand that you can’t just walk away from the house if you decide you don’t feel like buying it that day, you could lose your earnest money or worse yet get sued. The contingencies that we fill in will break the contract if a problem arises. Please bring your checkbook for earnest money. I usually ask for 1% of the offered price. This shows the seller that you are serious about buying the house. This check gets cashed on the day the offer is accepted by all parties. Your earnest money goes toward closing costs. If the offer is not accepted then you will get your check back. It takes about an hour to write the offer.

 

Occasionally there will be other offers on the house at the same time you submit yours. The seller will look at whether you have been to the bank for financing and a pre-approval, how much you have to put down, and how many extras you are asking for. The seller will decide which buyer looks best to them. If you do not get the house, my belief is “That it wasn’t meant to be” and we start to look again. It is very disheartening to not get the house and it does happen unfortunately.

You will also be asked to sign disclosure forms. The seller provides this for any physical defects that they are aware of in the property. This is not a guarantee. If you have a house to sell, then you will have to sign a 72 hour right of refusal. Which means that if someone comes along with no house to sell and they put an offer on the house you want, then you have 72 hours to either sell your home or get a bridge loan until your house sells.

 

We will also sign forms concerning agency. Agency is very simple – There are four types of agency in this area.

v Buyer agency – I represent the buyer

v Seller agency – I represent the seller

v Dual agency – I represent bother the buyer and seller. This means I don’t want to know how high the buyer is willing to pay for a home and I don’t want to know how low a seller is willing to sell their home for. This is so no one has a disadvantage in negotiating a price for the home.

v Self represented – you or I can sell or buy a house on our own.

 

5. If the offer is accepted, we go back to the bank and get the financing usually within five days. At this point all the inspections need to be done usually within 10 to 15 days after the accepted offer. When the bank O.K.’s the loan, the appraiser will inspect the property. If the appraisal comes back lower than you offered on the house, then we will go back to the seller and renegotiate the price. This doesn’t happen very often. Then we start abstracting which just means that the abstractor will bring the abstract up to date and make sure that the legal description is correct. Then it goes off to your attorney for a title opinion which will state any concerns about whether or not there are any liens against the property and to get them cleared before closing. Then the seller’s lawyer will complete a deed, which will be recorded on the day of closing. This whole process will eventually give you clear title to the property.

We also have Amy Trease in our office who does the closings on our sales. She may be in contact with you during this time. She is very knowledgeable and stays on top of the closings.

A wood pest inspection will take place before we close to make sure there are no termites or carpenter ants in the wood of the house. This is not a guarantee because the inspectors cannot see behind the sheet rock. But it is very important if wood pests are found.

One week before we close, you will need to buy insurance on the home (a full year, approximately $600.00), you will also have to change utilities into your name, and then get ready to move in.

 

6. Closing. You will sign document after document. This takes about an hour. At this point you will pull out your checkbook and pay. I will have more papers for you to sign and then I will give you the keys and you can move in. Seriously think about getting new locks put on the door, you have no idea who has a key to your house.

 

At some point in this process, something may not go as planned. Please communicate with me. Tell me if you are worried, mad, frustrated, anything. Because if you are upset with one or all of us: me, the bank, the seller, your lawyer, whoever, I need to correct the problem. My job is to make sure this is a smooth transaction into your new home with as few problems as possible. But if I am not aware of the problem (even if it is me!) I cannot correct it!

 

VERY IMPORTANT** I will be there with you every step of the way, doing the paper work, making sure everything is on schedule. Keeping you informed of the process. I am here to listen, console, and try to make everything easier for you. I can be reached any time of the day or evening and I am not too busy for any questions or concerns that you may have. We will be a team for years to come. My help doesn’t stop when you get the keys, even though you may not need me anymore. I am still available to answer questions for you, your family members or your friends.

 

This is my career and the only way I get paid is if I sell a house. I am not on a salary, only commission, which means I continue to work after the sale has been completed, because someday you may want to buy or sell and I want to be that Realtor that you call. It is very important to me to have the best possible name in the Real Estate business.

If you choose at some point to work with another agent, please call me. I won’t be upset with you, just inform me and tell me why.

 

Mission Statement: To help others buy or sell a home with as few problems as possible, with professional guidance, with moral and ethical values and always with honesty.

 

Sincerely,

Julie Rose