Buyer be ready

What does this mean? It means a lot. In todays market, buyers need to be ready. You really need a check list to make sure you really are ready to buy a home. NOT just willing, but ready.

Here is what I mean. In order to be successful putting in offers today you will need several things in place before you ever go out shopping.

1. Loan approval letter, not just a pre-qualification letter. Get with your lender and have them review your income, tax returns, savings for a down payment, credit history,income to debt ratio and work history.  Go the extra mile and see if they will have underwriting look it over to tell you if there is any thing hiding in the weeds that will derail your transaction. Better to know before you get any earnest money and time and efort into a transaction so you dont get into a deal and cost yourself some money.

2. Once you get step one out of the way you will also know what price range to shop in and be comfortable within your budget.

3. Many sellers will not take offers in todays market with out a good loan approval letter. The best homes sell fast, sometimes in hours not days, so it pays to be ready.

4. Make sure you have your down payment socked safely away so it is there when you need it.

5. Market research. Make sure your agent is experienced and knows what a home or land is worth, so you can quickly determine if a certain property is appropriately priced so you can get your offer in quickly if need be.

6. DONT make any sizable purchases or use your credit up when shopping for a home. I recently met some buyers whom had lost out on a home when they purchased a new vehicle only to later learn that the vehicle purchase pushed their debt to income ration too high and took them out of the market , they no longer qualified for the home they had wanted. A bad mistake that now has kept them in the “renter status”.  For more info on how to “get ready to buy” contact me and I can help you “get ready and get home.”