Upcoming Free (& non-promotional) Home Buyer Classes:
Saturday, May 13th , from 9am-12pm (ish)
Marshall Community Center, conference room
1009 E. McLoughlin Blvd, Vancouver WA (kitty corner from Clark College)
Saturday, May 20th, from 12pm-3pm (ish)
Vancouver YMCA, conference room
11324 NE 51st Circle, Vancouver WA (corner of SR500 & Gher Road/112th Ave)If these class dates and/or times don’t work for you, please let us know. We understand that you have lives, and families, and work. We will work something out that works better with your schedule. Just let us know….
….we also have home seller classes available too…link on left on website
Remember…with reservation…we will throw in lunch, or dinner! 😀
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Happy Monday!
It’s that time again (and again!)… CLIENT APPRECIATION EVENT time… Yay!! 😀
Saturday, June 17 from 3pm-6pm.
Chris Berg & I would like to invite our clients to come watch a movie with us. Didn’t we just have one? Well, yes…yes, we did and we had so much fun that we want to do it again!
Which one now? Well, it involves some Disney, a red car, a tow truck, some really good music, and really good friends along Route 66 .
This is just our small way of saying, “THANK YOU” for your continued support, friendship, and oh yes, referrals. We appreciate YOU so much. Come watch a movie with us! There’s always room for friends and family too. 🙂
We do need rsvp’s, and those can be made via Facebook or email to either Chris Berg (cberg@pcmloan.com) or Tracie DeMars (traciedemars@aol.com) for right now.
….and… free coffee card to the first 15 people who can tell me what their favorite NON-Disney cartoon movie is, and why! ….. 😀
We are always excited for the client appreciation events, and it’s almost as exciting for us as getting someone’s offer accepted on their dream home… or getting an offer signed around on the home they’re selling. I know people think that Real Estate is about houses, and while, yes…that is correct, it isn’t really correct. 😀 Real Estate is more about the relationships we form with our clients, and assisting them with their goals. Once we get an offer signed around…there’s so much more that needs to happens before we get keys. So, let’s talk about that for a bit…
What does happen after you have a mutually accepted offer?
Earnest Money…..
Now that we have a mutually signed around and accepted offer, we need to get the earnest money check deposited with the title company. The earnest money is due within 3 days of mutual acceptance….business days. The earnest money is typically for $1000- $2000 and is refundable based upon the rules from earlier emails. The earnest money check can be a personal check unless we are dealing with a bank owned property. Bank owned properties will want a cashiers check deposited with their title company. Earnest money checks are made out to the title company and not to the seller or your buyers agent. Earnest money checks are deposited with the title company and they will deposit the check. The title company will also receive a copy of the signed around purchase and sale agreement to open escrow. The title company will send you a title report either by email or mail. Take a look at it and follow any instructions they have sent you. Any questions please contact your buyers agent, or call the title company as well. Your buyers agent will make sure that the title company, and your lender also receive a copy of the purchase sale agreement to begin the actual loan process.
Lender…
At this time you will be meeting with your lender and going over more paperwork, signing more things, and providing updated paperwork. Once your lender has the purchase sale agreement, s/he will have you come in to sign disclosures.
Inspection…..
Remember that while we have 10 days to do the home inspection, I usually advise my clients to have one ordered and done within 7 days of the mutual acceptance as that gives us time in case something comes up. As always, you and your buyers agent should be at the home inspection! Once the home inspection is completed then you and your buyers agent discuss and write up the requested repairs. Sellers have the right to negotiate repairs, and/or to deny doing any of them at all. The home inspection is around $350-$425 and is non-refundable.
Appraisal….
Once the inspection is completed and all parties have agreed upon repairs, if any, then it is time to order the appraisal. As the buyer you need to let your lender know that it is ok to order the appraisal. An average appraisal is $600-$800…depending upon the lender and/or company, and is paid for by the buyer. The lender orders the appraisal, and s/he comes out within a couple of days of the lenders phone call. Most appraisers will not contact either agent about when they are doing the appraisal…they just go out and do their thing. There are a couple of different types of appraisers out there….there is the appraiser who thinks s/he is an inspector and will poke around the home, the appraiser who just walks around the home and takes some notes…there is also the type of appraiser who will only appraise the home to the purchase/sale amount and stop once they have reached that amount, and the appraiser who will do a complete and total appraisal…who we get is a crap shoot….you just never know. We don’t get to choose the appraiser, and neither does the bank or lender.
Once the appraisal is done the appraiser will turn in the paperwork to the lender within 5-10 days…with or without additional stipulations. Sometimes an appraiser can, and do, ask for some repairs to be done to the home. These are considered bank required repairs as if they are not done, the bank will not loan on the property.
When the lender receives the appraisal they will contact the buyers and buyers agent with any bank required repairs, and the appraised amount of the home. For this example we are just going to assume that your home appraises for at least the purchase/sale amount, or more.
Underwriters….
Once the lender has the appraisal, and all your paperwork, the lender will turn in your file to the underwriters. Hopefully the underwriters have already seen your file at the pre-approval time, but you need to remember that underwriters work for the bank, and their job is to protect the bank, and the banks interest. They will go over your file with a fine toothed comb and sent some stipulations back to your lender. Your lender will then contact you, the buyer, your buyers agent, or whomever they need to get your stipulations met and cleared. Sometimes it is just explanations, sometimes it is more information, and more paperwork. Once they have all those underwriters questions cleared up, they will send your file and all the new stuff back up to the underwriters again. Sometimes the underwriters send it back again with even MORE stuff they need….it happens… Once the underwriters are finally content and happy they will approve the file and order docs. Docs are good! During this time it is really ALL UP TO the underwriters…not your buyers agent or your lender. We will do all we can to help you with all the information you need, and to get as much information as we can as to what is going on. It is a scary time as no one really knows what is going on…or what the timeframe we are looking at is…..
This whole process can take about 2-4 weeks after the appraisal…depending upon the situation and what all is needed.
Documents (aka: Docs)…and Title….
When buyers hear the beautiful words of, “we have ordered docs and the title company should be calling you soon to make an appointment to sign”…most buyers want to call the title company immediately to make that appointment, and I am sorry, but it can’t be done. 🙂 Once docs are ordered it takes anywhere from 24-48 hours for the title company to receive those docs. Once the title company receives those docs they will call you, the buyer, to make that appointment. The title company will also let you know how much, if anything, is owed at closing. If the buyer needs to bring anything to closing it does need to be in the form of a cashiers check, and don’t forget to bring your drivers license!
Signing and Closing….
We all get excited at the call from the title company for signing. Yes, even your buyers agent…we are excited for you too! ;-D As a buyers agent we have been there every step of the way with you and know how hard you have worked for this. It is a great feeling to help someone buy a home…. Anyhow, I digress… When the title company calls you for the signing appointment they will also let you know if you need to bring any money to signing (see above). The title company will also let you know how much you can expect to receive back after closing as well, and to be honest, most people like this better! lol
Signing is done at the title company and takes about 45 minutes to an hour. You are signing for acceptance of the loan, and the property….acceptance and responsibility. You will receive copies of everything you have signed. Your buyers agent may, or may not be there for signing. Some agents don’t go to signings, and some do. I plan to be at all my clients signings, but sometimes appointments conflict. The signing appointment is at YOUR convenience, and not mine. 😀 Once signing is done, you will be advised to call all the utility companies and put all the utilities into your name at closing so that nothing gets shut off. Remember to PUT ALL THE UTILITIES IN YOUR NAME AFTER SIGNING…. there is a lot going on right now, and you will be so excited, and nervous that it is easy to forget. Your buyers agent will help remind you. 🙂 .
When all your paperwork is signed the title company will be contacting the banks and sending all the paperwork back to the underwriters for a final review, When all is ok’d, then the banks authorize funding, and then funding gets confirmed.
Closing….
Closing happens without you or your buyers agent. The title company handles closing. Once the title company receives confirmation of funding which is all done by wires then the paperwork is taken to the courthouse for closing. Closing is where the courthouse actually transfers ownership of the home. This whole process takes about 24-48 hours from signing…and remember nothing happens on the weekend! If you sign Thursday morning, you will get keys Friday night. If you sign on Friday, it won’t be until Monday afternoon. If you sign on Monday afternoon, it will probably be Wednesday morning. Recording at the courthouse depends upon when the wired funding confirmation happens. If they get it in the morning, you could record that afternoon and have keys around 5pm…..if it happens in the afternoon, then it probably won’t record until the next morning in which case, you will record and get keys the next morning….around noon.
Closing is the best because closing means your agent will give you keys!!! Once the title has recording numbers for closing, the title company will call you, or more likely, your buyers agent. Once I receive that call, as a buyers agent, I will call you immediately and let you know that we are closed and to see when we can meet up to get you KEYS!!! Congratulations as this is the moment you have worked for and it can be very emotional. As a buyers agent this is my favorite time, and one of my saddest…. I love to give clients keys…it is just the best feeling! The saddest part about is that now we won’t be talking almost every day, and I need to find another client! lol
As always, there is always more going on than what I can put in a quick email. Every transaction is different, and so are you. No two deals are the same…..call your buyers agent with any questions. A buyers agent will be there with you every step of the way and will be open to all questions. A buyers agent will also let you know each step and what we can expect during that step, and after….no surprises! 😀
I hope that explains this a bit, but if you have any questions, or comments please call or email me anytime! Please remember that while I mean these emails/blogs to be helpful, and educational, I am still hoping that you will call, or email me. I would love to help you with your home buying, or home selling adventure! 🙂
As always….this is just a quick overview…. again…and I can’t say this enough…please remember that your agent is NOT a salesperson, and should not be acting like one. Real Estate is not really about houses, it is about relationships. Your agent, and your lender work for YOU. You drive the bus…we are merely GPS to help you get to your goals. Like the classes, this weekly blog email is to help you with your home adventure. The goal is to be informative and non-promotional. 🙂 We are, however, hoping you will call and want us to help with your adventure.
If you have any questions about this, or something you have heard…or if you would like me to help you with your home adventure, please call, email, text, or facebook me anytime. I am, as always, happy to help!
Thank you again for your business and your referrals!! …and thank you for referring these classes to your friends, family, and co-workers.
….disclaimer…if you have already purchased a home, or would no longer like to receive these emails, please let me know and I will be happy to remove you from any further mailings…
Upcoming Topics: Buyers Due Diligence,
What if I don’t have a Down Payment? ….. &….
What does an Agent do for me?
Last Week: Costs & Fees of Buying a Home
Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon,
;-D
