3 Easy Steps To Find Your Next Home

This post was inspired by a discussion amongst real estate agents on a web forum I read recently. Contributions came from agents all over the country. These agents represent both national franchises (Keller Williams, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, etc.) and independent firms.

The discussion was about whether it was acceptable to force prospective home buyers to register on an agent’s property web search page or whether to make the information viewable without. There are thousands of web based home search sites and most (virtually all) are funneling data from the same source - the local multiple listing service (MLS). The unspoken secret is that these property search sites are great for the consumer but can also be incredible lead generation tools for an agent at the same time – if they force you to register to see the information. If you do register on a site just be prepared for some sort of follow up from whoever is hosting the site you used.

The forum posts got me thinking about what really is the most effective way for a consumer to search for and ultimately buy their next home.

Your best opportunity to locate and buy the perfect home is a simple three step process – loan preapproval, utilizing a web based property search, and employment of a professional Realtor. I’ve listed them in order of importance as each builds on the previous step.

There is absolutely no sense in even dreaming about a new home until you’ve had your loan preapproved. I worked with dozens of clients over the years who were heartbroken when they came to me with the home already picked out and I had to tell them they did not qualify.

It doesn’t matter how high your credit score is or how much money you make, I guarantee you that “good” borrowers are having their loans denied all the time for one reason or another. There are just too many potential skeletons in the closet that lenders are trained to look for. A preapproval will make the process much less stressful, allow you to shop with full knowledge of exactly what your payments and closing costs will be, and place you in a much stronger negotiating position with the seller of the home you chose.

Expect the preapproval process to take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks depending upon how many and what kind of skeletons you have! It should not cost you more than $15 for the credit report the lender will need to order on your behalf.

After your lender has assured you that you are fine to move forward you’ll want to begin using the web to search for homes. I wrote “homes” plural because I believe your mindset at this point needs to be that you are just trying to zero in on a particular neighborhood or two and to get an idea of how much your dream home is really going to cost.

Once you’ve done your preliminary home search on the web it’s time to partner up with an awesome agent. Why? Three reasons – an agent costs you (the buyer) nothing, an agent will have information about specific homes and neighborhoods that just aren’t available on the web search pages, and the agent will help you negotiate the deal with the seller.

Your real estate agent should be someone you like and trust as they will be handling a very expensive transaction on your behalf. It’s best if you can be referred to an agent by someone who can personally vouch for their past performance. If not you certainly want to interview a couple until you find one you are comfortable with.

To get pre-approved for a loan or to get a Realtor referral, please send Rebecca or me an email at MMullin@TheLoanConsultant.com, or give us a call at 509-252-9151. We’d love to share our knowledge with you!