Buyers – Denise Mai Real Estate

Buyers Services

Buying a property requires making many important financial decisions and understanding the complex home buyer’s processes. As an established and trusted real estate agent and advisor with many years of experience, Denise Mai will be at your side from beginning to end to achieve your dreams and goals for home ownership.

Buying a Home or Property

Perhaps it has been a while since your last home or real estate purchase, or you are a first-time home buyer. Or perhaps you are purchasing a vacation or investment home, or simple land. Denise can guide you through the entire process. The following 10 steps process to real estate ownership will give you an overview of the Buyer’s process from start to finish:

1 – Determine a Price Range

Establish a budget for your new home, and determine how much you can afford. Meet with a mortgage professional (or lender) who will review your income, assets, and credit history in order to pre-approve you for a loan (If you don’t currently have a lender, Denise can help you connect with one). With Pre-Approval, the buyer actually applies for a mortgage and receives a written commitment from a lender. With a Pre-Approval in hand, seller(s) immediately knows that you are a serious buyer for their property.

2 – Make a Wishlist

Make a prioritized list of needs (must have) and wants (desires). Imagine your ideal home everything you envisioned, such as the number of beds/baths, the style of home, and location. Then break that list down into high-priority items you can’t live without, and lower-priority things that you could live without, but it would be an added bonus to have.

3 – Start Your Search

Once you know how much you can afford and what you’re looking for in a home or a property, it’s time to start your search. And one the best place to start is online. Most all real estate website, and their associated social media, are different. However, Denise has direct access to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), where you can explore the vastest network of available listings and receive up-to-date alerts on open houses. Denise has the tools and online technology systems to ensure that you see and review every available property that meets your needs and criteria.

4 – Making an Offer and Negotiations

Once you find a home or property you like, Denise will help write the offer (the Purchase and Sales Agreement) based on your terms. Denise will advise you on the terms to make your offer the most attractive based on the market. This can include negotiating the price, home inspection, repair costs, timelines, contingencies, and closing costs. Denise will submit your offer to the seller agent for the sellers review and acceptance. If the seller counters your offer, Denise will help you understand their new terms and negotiate accordingly to achieve a mutually acceptable agreement.

5 – Earnest Money

After your offer is accepted and as part of the Purchase and Sale Agreement, the buyers agree to pay Earnest Money, where a percentage of the home’s asking price is placed into an independent account, or Escrow, to show the seller that you’re serious about buying. When the sale closes the earnest money is put toward the down payment or closing costs.

6 – Home Inspection

Once the Purchase and Sale Agreement is completed, and you have an accepted offer, a home inspector is hired to examine the home’s health, safety, and major mechanical systems. Denise can facilitate the process of getting the home or property inspected and give you a great recommendation for a high-quality home inspector. If any issues arise from an inspection, Denise will help the buyer renegotiate their offer to address or correct any issues.

7 – Title Report

This is a report for you and your lender detailing the history of the home or property that you are buying. A good Title Report ensures there are no legal barriers to purchasing the home or property.

8 – Financing

After your offer is accepted, another step is to get final loan approval. During this process the lender will decide if they’re willing to approve your mortgage based on things like, your creditworthiness, the title history, the home or property inspection, and appraisal of the home you want to buy.

9 – Escrow

Escrow is an impartial third-party process in which documents and funds are deposited by buyers, sellers, and lenders to facilitate the closing of a real estate transaction. Once all of the necessary documents and funds have been received or placed in escrow, the transaction can move into closing.

10 – Closing

During this final step of the home-buying process, ownership is transferred from the seller to the buyer, closing costs are paid, and a number of documents are signed. After you’ve signed the paper work, the contract is set to fund and record. The closing is finalized and recorded, and the home or property is now yours.

Guide to Buying a Home

Want more detailed information? Download your free Guide to Buying a Home – With helpful tips on how to search for listings, moving checklists, and information on the buying process from making offers to closing, it’s your ultimate resource for buying a home.