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REAL ESTATE 101

EAL ESTATE 101
All the Basic Steps You Need to Know When Buying
or selling Real Estate

So you want to buy your first home? You've saved
your minimum down payment of 3% and you're
looking to buy that first home.

At one time, in 2006, you could have purchased
your first home 100% Financing - No Money Down.
The market was up and banks were willing to
finance any 1-4 family home provided that the
buyers FICO Middle Score was 640 or higher.

Needless to say we had a huge demand for 100%
financing with buyers pushing prices up to record
highs in Passaic County. Many properties, in my
opinion, were overpriced and there seemed to be
no stopping it.

Well, that was then and this is now. In Passaic
and Bergen County, we are seeing record numbers
in foreclosures. I attended a foreclosure seminar
held by the Bergen County Sheriff's Department
where an attorney that specializes in
foreclosures stated that his office alone was
dealing with some 5,000 foreclosures.

Can you buy a foreclosure property at auction?
You sure can. Just be prepared to come to the
sheriff's auction with a 20% down payment on what
you intend to bid on and be able to close the
transaction within 30 days. Oh! By the way, most
foreclosure properties are bought sight unseen.
So, make sure there are no liens on the property.
This is accomplished by having a title search
completed by your attorney.

You can still buy a property with no money down
you just need a middle FICO score of 720 or
better and income to show the bank you can afford
the repayments.

Find yourself a good Realtor and Mortgage broker.
The mortgage broker is very important in
determining how much you can afford in repayments
so you don't find yourself in foreclosure.
Realtors also need this credit information so
they can narrow down your property search to an
affordable price and your preferred location.

If you can't find a good Realtor drop me a line
at www.24seven-Realtor.com and I'll see if we can
help you with our nationwide network of referral
Realtors.

Having been approved from your mortgage broker
and found a Realtor that you can work with, start
the search on what you're looking for in a home.
Take lots of notes and don't be afraid to ask
your Realtor to show you more homes if the ones
he's shown don't fit your needs. Building rapport
with your Realtor will help you make this process
nice and easy.

I've been to many closings in the last 18 years
to know that it's the little personal touches
that matter. Insist that your Realtor keep you
informed every step of the way.

Now you've found the house that you're been
looking for and it's time to make an offer. A
good Realtor will call the listing agent and see
if he can get some insight as to the plans of the
sellers. Some Realtors will volunteer information
with the sellers approval that could prove vital
to your negotiations. (Ex: 'The sellers have put
the house back on the market again and are keen
to sell.' 'They refused an offer in the amount
of $$$') Every little bit of information helps
you to make an intelligent decision on what to
offer.

So start your offer based on an intelligent
decision. Everyone likes to get it for less and
you're no different. Things could change if you
hear that another family is bidding on the same
property. This is called a multi-offer situation
where there's more than one offer for the
property. A strong position for the seller to be
in but a nervous situation for the buyers as this
can become very stressful. At this point, you
have to decide how badly you really want the
property.

Keep this thought in the back of your mind: Real
Estate Buying is like waiting for a bus. If you
miss the first one, there's bound to be another
one right around the corner. So don't worry! You
will eventually get your home.

After sound negotiations, you've come out with
the winning bid and you're 'over the moon' with
excitement. The offer goes to each parties
attorney and you enter a attorney review period
which normally lasts about 3 days ( NJ ) but by
mutual consent this could go on until both
attorneys come to an agreement over the
conditions and terms set in the offer. Please
remember that during this process the sellers
could still entertain another bid for the
property so it is important to get it out of
Attorney Review quickly.

Once you come out of Attorney Review, you will
need to get the home inspected by a Certified
Home Inspector plus a termite inspection and
radon gas test. An Appraiser will also wish to
view the home as you have a mortgage contingency
to fulfill in the financial conditions of the
contract and banks require the property to be
appraised before they make a decision to lend
you the money.

If all the tests come back positive and the
appraisal comes back OK, your mortgage broker
will issue you a commitment from the bank.

Then you set a closing date agreed upon by both
attorneys and the mortgage broker.

This whole process could take 2-3 months
depending on how busy your mortgage person and
attorneys are. Another time factor to consider
is how quickly your agent gets things resolved
regarding issues arising from any of the
necessary reports ordered.

This process of getting it closed can be a
nightmare with any one of the parties involved as
things come up and they have to be dealt with in
order for the property to close.

That's it! Happy hunting and let me know how you
get on.This really is a basic guide to purchasing
your first home. Some people have an easy time
throughout the process where as some have had
complete nightmares from it.

Drop me line! If I can come up with a
suggestion to resolve a matter, please let me know
www.24seven-realtor.com
About the Author
Terry Maiava has 18 years Real Estate experience
as a realtor here in the USA
and New Zealand. He is a Broker /owner of his own
real estate company
www.24seven-realtor.com