GETTING READY
So exciting (and kind of scary)... You're ready to buy - or maybe you're just ready to start thinking seriously about buying.
There's a lot you can do to prepare. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you get started.
There are so many questions.
How much money do I need to have for a down payment? How much will I qualify for, and will I be comfortable with the monthly payment? What kind of paperwork do I need to provide? What if I have a house to sell first? What other costs will there be? Will it hurt my credit to apply for a mortgage? How long will it take to be approved?
We can help answer many of these questions, but when you're ready to begin this journey you'll need to speak with a loan officer.
Your real estate agent can refer you to several trusted loan officers - any of whom can assist you in answering these questions and in evaluating different loan programs to find the type of loan that fits your needs best.
Being pre-approved, knowing what your monthly payment will be and what price range you're comfortable with, means you can house shop with confidence. And, once you find that right house, we'll be able to provide a pre-approval letter with your offer showing that you're all ready to go.
Click on the Mortgage Center tab for more information about financing.
Everyone has a picture in their mind of their dream home.
As with any big decision, let's set some goals. Your search will be more productive and you're likely to be much happier in the end if you are able to prioritize those dreams.
Imagine your ideal home and community and how long you'd like to live there.
Make a list of everything you envisioned. Break it down from high to low priority. High-priority items are the things you cannot live without in your new home: your needs. Lower-priority items are those that are an added bonus, but probably not necessary: your wants.
Consider the number of bedrooms and baths, the size of the yard, the style of the home, the schools.
But also, and maybe more importantly, think about natural light, the orientation of the driveway, the care required by the landscaping, your storage needs, and the kind of neighborhood you'd like to be a part of.
Once you have a feel for your wants and needs, we can set up a search which will email you as homes matching your needs come on the market.
Online photo tours and Google Maps make it pretty easy to look for homes online - but remember, this is just like online dating.
Some things we'll just have to see in person: how the sunshine comes into the room, the view of the back yard from the kitchen, the potential to expand as your family grows, how walkable the neighborhood is, and (honestly) how it smells...
When you're ready, contact your real estate agent and let's go see some homes! This is the fun part, seeing what's for sale, learning what to expect in your price range, comparing this one to the one you saw on Tuesday.
Once you've seen several homes you'll start to recognize the good ones and one day, when you walk into the right one, you'll know! (Again, this is just like dating...)
BUYING PROCESS
You've found a great house! But now what?
A wise person once said, "Don't steal in slow motion."
When you're visiting the spectrum of available homes and one stands out from the rest, it's likely that you're not the only buyer to notice it. So if you see an opportunity, take it! We've got your back.
Writing an offer to purchase a home is fairly straight-forward, though there can be a lot of strategy involved.
This is when your real estate agent's experience becomes super valuable. What's normal, what's not? What protections can be written in to the offer? What can we do to make our offer more attractive? What if the house has been for sale for a while? Is the Seller negotiable? What if WE REALLY WANT THIS HOUSE!?!
This can get pretty emotional, especially if you've found the perfect home. Your agent is there to hear you, to discuss the pros and cons of different offer strategies, and to help you craft a winning offer.
Your agent will then, calmly and professionally, negotiate on your behalf to get you the home you want.
The seller accepted your offer! Hurray!
And then your eyes get big and you turn to your agent - who has an easy and clear checklist of next steps.
Most offers are written subject-to the buyer's Due Diligence.
During your Due Diligence period you may have the home professionally inspected, test for hazardous conditions (like radon, meth, or mold), and check crime rates. You may also talk with the neighbors, go to the nearby church, clock your commute, visit the schools, park out front and listen for rush hour traffic, bring your mom through, and even, if you'd like, read the home's aura. But mostly it's time for you to consider your decision (and maybe even keep looking).
In Utah, you can walk away within the Due Diligence period for any or no reason and get your earnest money back, no questions asked.
Or we can negotiate to have repairs done, or for dollar concessions so you can make changes after closing, or some combination of the two.
Your lender's Pre-Approval is based on their initial interview with you.
For final Approval they'll work on documenting and verifying the information you gave during your interview, and once you have an accepted offer they'll order an appraisal and submit your loan to final underwriting. A Clear to Close means you're all done.
In Utah, offers are typically subject-to an Appraisal coming in at or over the purchase price, and are subject-to your loan being approved. This process, from Pre-Approval to Clear to Close, typically takes 20-30 days, but can be much faster, depending on the complexity of your financial situation and how busy everyone is.
Usually we write offers so the deadline for completing your Appraisal and Financing happens after your Due Diligence deadline.
To learn more about the loan approval process, pay a visit to our Mortgage Center.
Title insurance has been required by the State of Utah for over 100 years and, like all insurance, you hope to never have to use it.
Title insurance is very different from homeowner's insurance, which protects your home from fire and theft. An Owner's Policy of title insurance covers your ownership rights to the property - if something were to come up, even years from now, that jeopardized your ownership of the home the title insurance company would send their lawyers to defend you.
In order for ownership to transfer, the title to the property must be 'clear.' A title search is done as part of issuing a policy of title insurance. This search shows all liens, easements, judgments, and other encumbrances on the property title or against the seller personally - things like the property taxes, the seller's mortgage, IRS liens, a charge from the city for sidewalk replacement, back-due child support, an old health care bill that somehow didn't get paid, and that pesky $40,000 criminal fine from when the seller's nephew jumped bail.
Anything valid must be paid by the seller so that clear title can be transferred to you a closing.
Closing on the sale of a home requires some trust - you trust that you'll receive clear title and a deed to the home in exchange for all the money you're paying. That transfer can be a little more complex than buying a used bike with Venmo, but it's basically the same thing.
In Utah, the title company acts as an 'escrow' office - a neutral 3rd party that holds 'other people's money' in exchange for transferring title according to the terms of the purchase contract and applicable state law.
The title company holds your money until the title is cleared, the seller has signed the deed, and the change of ownership has been recorded with the county recorder's office, then they release the funds to the seller. It's a big responsibility, and one that is closely supervised by the state.
Settlement is the day everyone signs the closing paperwork - the buyer at their title company with their agent, and the seller at their title company with their agent. For a buyer this usually includes a 1/2" tall stack of loan documents, so limber up your writing hand.
Settlement is also the deadline for the buyer to deliver the balance of their down-payment and other closing costs to the title company.
The money you're borrowing will be sent directly to the title company. Sometimes the loan 'funds' the same day, sometimes on the next business day. Once the title company has all the money, down to the penny, they'll record the deed with the county, formalizing the change of ownership, and the transaction will be considered 'closed.'
Possession is a separate date on the purchase contract. If a home is vacant, we usually ask for keys upon Funding & Recording. Sometimes a seller will need 2-3 days after Closing to move out of this house and into the next. Occasionally we'll see a seller negotiate a 'lease-back' to stay in the property for a few weeks after Closing. It all depends on what is negotiated on the purchase contract.
In Utah, when a buyer takes Possession of a home the seller is obligated to leave it 'broom-clean and free of debris and personal belongings' and 'in the same overall condition as on date of acceptance'. Any 'moving-related damage' must be repaired at the seller's expense.
