The Buying Process

Buyers,

Investing in real estate is the biggest financial purchase most people make in their lives. Whether it is your first home or your 100th, buying a home is a big and sometimes scary task. Every Real Estate transaction is different so please keep in mind that yours might look nothing like this but I hope that this information gets you excited to start the process!

1. Choose Mortgage Lender

Choose a bank and a Mortgage Loan Officer(AKA The Lender).

Other than you as the buyer, your Lender is arguably the most important person in the transaction. That is why it is very important to choose a great Lender you can trust. There are many great Lenders in Central Arkansas. My biggest piece of advice in choosing a Lender is to choose one that is local.

Important things your lender will do at this stage.

1. Help you choose your loan type

2. Get you pre-approved
3. Help you determine your price/payment range
4. Do you need to include a contingency when making an offer.

2. Find a Home

This is the fun part! Now that you know your budget and have a pre-approval letter in hand we can start finding your dream home. There are a ton of resources out there to look for houses here is a breakdown of a few of them.

CARMLS- Cooperative Arkansas Realtors Multiple Listing Service

This is the database we directly use as Realtors. This is the source where all the other apps, websites, and Realtors get their information

HomeSnap- Best source for info and connects buyers to their agents.

This app is directly run by CARMLS. The best place to get the right information. I will send you an invite to get connected to my account so when you favorite a home, I can see it on my app.

Collab Center- Best way to see homes as soon as they are listed.

This is a feature of CARMLS that I will set you up with. It will automatically send you emails of homes that hit the market that fit your criteria.

Realtor.com- Very reliable and easy to use.

This app is a big favorite of Realtors all over the country. They have a great app and website. I highly recommend it.

Zillow- Unreliable and inconsistent.

Zillow is widely disliked between Realtors. Most of their info is run through automated algorithms which results in wrong info. If you choose to use Zillow I HIGHLY recommend cross referencing all info through other sites.

3. Schedule a Showing

Once you find a home or a few homes you want to look at we will schedule some showings. The trend since the beginning of the pandemic has been that homes do not last long on the market so we need to schedule showings fast. I recommend not looking at more than 5 homes in one day to prevent them from running together. The most important thing about looking at homes is to be honest with me and yourself.

4. Make and Offer

You have found the perfect house and you're ready to make an offer. There are a few things that you need to decide on to put together an offer.

1. Price?
2. Amount of closing costs paid by seller?

3. Seller to pay for a survey?
4. Seller to pay for a home warranty?

5. Asking for any personal property?

A few more things to remember.... “Any items bolted, nailed, screwed, buried or otherwise attached to the Property in a permanent manner” remain with the property. This includes certain appliances like the dishwasher, stove, and trash compactor. It does NOT include washer, dryer, refrigerators or mounted TVs. Those would be considered “personal property” If the listing

advertises something like “Fridge Stays” We still need to include it into the offer.

5. Inspection

As soon as you go under contract on a home you are on the clock! The Real Estate Contract states that you have 10 business days to get a home inspection and turn in your list of repair

requests. The home inspection is a very important step in the process so it is very important to hire an inspector you trust. Here are some important things to consider at this step

1. Every home inspection company has different packages at different prices.
Home inspectors know a little about everything. It is recommended to call a specialist to

also come inspect if you have any concerns about any “speciality items” (i.e. Pools, roofs, plumbing, HVAC, electrical)
It is highly recommended if you can come to the last 30 min or so of the inspection so the inspector can give you the summary in person.

4. These guys stay booked up so call and get an appointment ASAP!

6. Pick a Title Company

Pick a closing company and closing officer.

This is another very important member of your team. The closing officer will be the one to put all the pieces together for your closing.

7. Hurry Up and Wait

At this point everything is in the hands of the closing company and the bank. You will be doing a lot of waiting. Your main concern during this point is to check in with your lender and closing officer at least once a week to see if they need anything from you. If they do, it should be your top priority to get them what they need as fast as possible. Things to keep in mind at this step.

Your closing date is still a moving target. I strongly advise against scheduling movers, cleaners, painters and other services for the closing day or 1st day of possession.
Start compiling a list of service providers for your new house. Water, electricity, gas, TV and Internet. Start calling them to schedule service start dates. (AT&T can sometimes take a long time to get internet set up)

8. Closing Time

You did it! You are a few short days away from closing. The last week of closing a ton of stuff happens.

Your lender will send out a Closing Disclosure (CD) at least 3 business days before closing.
Your Closing officer will calculate how much to bring to the closing table in the form of a cashier’s check.

Your closing officer will schedule you a closing time.
Do your hand stretches and practice your signature!

Jonathan Dixon Realtor