Charlotte NC Buyers Steps to Owning a Home
Buyer
Steps to Homeownership, The Series
HOME BUYERS! What should
you expect when buying
a home? You should expect unsurpassed
customer service and knowledge of the area. You should expect
to have this be the easiest home-buying processes you've ever
experienced! You
will no longer be allowed to
‘worry,’ we
will take care of the details for YOU!
As we work together to achieve the common goal
of your homeownership, the process will be broken down into
four simple
stages:
1. Pre-Purchase
Consult
2. Shopping for
Your Home
3. Purchasing Your
Home
4. Settling-in
Part I: THE
PRE-PURCHASE
CONSULT
Before
we head out shopping, we'll spend some time
‘planning’ so that we can ascertain
that you feel confident about the entire home-purchase process,
including your
choice of REALTORS®.
- What are you looking for in a home? What are your jobs, your
hobbies and special interests, your concerns about location,
transportation, schools, places of worship etc.?
What do you like or dislike about your current home
and your current neighborhood? If
you are moving to a different type of neighborhood, what would
you like in your new neighborhood?
- We’ll review your
financial situation, including your income, investments, debts, and
liquidity. We’ll
discuss your down payment, and what type of mortgage loan that would
best suit your financial needs.
- We’ll arrange a meeting,
either online, by phone or in person with a reputable loan officer who
can further assist you in narrowing down your financial qualifications
and what price point we’ll be looking in while shopping for
your new home.
- We’ll
review my 'job' duties and the standard NC
Bar Forms that you’ll be using during the home buying process.
We've reviewed the
first step, the pre-purchase consultation,
now
let's go shopping!
Part II: SHOP
FOR YOUR HOME
Now
that we know your price point, neighborhood and home preferences,
location,
etc., let’s go shopping!
- Using the Carolina Multiple Listing
Service (CMLS®) gateway and other home shopping sites, the
homes that fit your specifications will be previewed and
you’ll select a few that fit your needs and preferences.
- We’ll begin by narrowing
down the areas to your favorite neighborhoods, then proceed
to visit a few homes in those areas.
- We’ll schedule
appointments for us to view homes at a time that works best for you. You will be provided a
note-taking packet so that we can list pros and cons that
we’ve found in each home we visit.
When
we’ve narrowed down to one neighborhood, we’ll see
several in that particular neighborhood so that we can help you gain
knowledge of the builders and floorplans in that neighborhood.
- When you’ve narrowed your
search, the lender and I will review your financial costs and monthly
payment with you.
- Due diligence will begin so that we
will know everything that we possibly can about the history of the
neighborhood and that particular home; any planned road or neighborhood
improvements, home owner’s association dues or assessments,
etc. will be disclosed to you.
- You will be encouraged to visit the
neighborhood at different times of the day and different days of the
week so that you can visit with the
homeowners in the area and get a better ‘feel’ for
your potential new neighborhood.
If
we are unable to find the home of your dreams, we’ll review
your most pressing
points of desire for a new home and start over again—until we
ARE able to
locate your new home!
We've reviewed the
first step, the pre-purchase consultation and the shopping stage, now let's make
that purchase!

Part III:
THE PURCHASE
When
you find a home that you’d like to purchase, we’ll
review the typical CMA and
list-to-sales prices in that particular neighborhood and prepare an
Offer
accordingly.
- Using the standard NC Bar forms,
I'll prepare an Offer To
Purchase as well as other documents that will
be needed (as
reviewed in Stage 1) explaining your rights and obligations related to
this Contract to you. Should you need legal advice, I can introduce you
to an attorney for further questions that would be beyond my scope of
knowledge as a Realtor®.
- We’ll negotiate
vigorously for you and assist you in evaluating any Counteroffer and
any response which I would recommend that you make.
- Each step of the negotiating
process will be reviewed in detail and
changes made accordingly to the
Offer to Purchase Contract.
- When we have arrived at an
agreement, each party will initial any changes made to the Offer to
Purchase your new home and we’ll forward this Contract to a real
estate
attorney—one of your choosing or I am happy to
make
recommendations should you not know one in the area.
- You will then work closely with
your lender
and provide him/her all of the necessary documents
required
for the process. Timely
response is needed as we are all working towards a closing date which
you and the Sellers have contractually agreed upon.
- You will be asked to decide if you
would like a survey
of the property which you are purchasing.
I
strongly recommend that
you have the attorney order one—they run about $350.
Should
you waive having the survey done, the attorney will ask that you sign a
release/waiver.
- A home
inspection will be
scheduled, either one of your choosing or again, I’m happy to
make recommendations should you not know one.
The inspection will run about $400. An
additional $85. will be added for a termite
letter/inspection.
- I will attend the
home inspection
either with or without you.
- During the inspection and loan
phase, I will ascertain that all contractual agreements are addressed
and completed; the closing attorney, lender and I will remain in close
contact while doing so.
- We will then review all items on
the inspection report and request, formally, that the homeowners make
the necessary repairs. Again,
this is a negotiating process and we will make certain that issues that
are structural or of urgent nature are further inspected by engineers,
etc. A follow-up
inspection can run anywhere from $75.00 to $350.00,
depending upon the
specialty; a roofer will charge about $75. and a structural
engineer’s fee will be about $350.
- You will be given a list of
providers for all of your utilities,
depending upon the area which you
select. You can
visit my website at www.DebeMaxwell.com,
click on UTILITY CONSOLE and provide all of
the necessary information required for your utilities to be transferred
into your name and on your specific closing date.
- Your lender will also require that
you provide your homeowners
insurance agent/company contact information. Should you not know who to
contact for homeowners insurance, a list of several ‘tried
and true’ agents will be provided for you to select and begin
the process. This
should take about 10 minutes to acquire.
- The final
walkthrough will take
place prior to the Closing and the sellers will be notified should
there be any discrepancies. Should
there indeed, be discrepancies, and there is not enough time prior to
closing to remediate, this will be resolved at the closing table with
the attorney.
- Approximately 24 – 48
hours prior to Closing, you will be given a final
‘tally’ which is detailed on your Closing statement
called the HUD-1. All
expenses (debits) and adjustments (credits) involved in the transaction
will be included on this document.
We will review this thoroughly and either the lender
or myself will give you the amount which you will be required to bring
to Closing. This
will need to be in the form of a cashier’s check or a bank
countercheck, required by the attorneys in order to record the Deed of
Trust.
- We will
attend Closing with you, at which time you will sign all mortgage and
sales
documents and will be given the keys to your brand new, beautiful home!

Now that we've
reviewed the first three steps, the pre-purchase consultation, the shopping stage, and the purchase stage, you can begin the enjoyment of your
new home!
Part IV:
THE SETTLING-IN STAGE
Before
we had moved too far along in the process, we would have reviewed
available moving
companies, listing opportunities for you, either locally or in your
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