Deciding to Buy
Deciding to buy a house is one of life’s biggest decisions. Where should you buy? How much can you afford? What does the future look like? Are you having children…Getting married? Here are a few signs to recognize it’s time to buy a home and secure a future asset for yourself and your family.
Get Pre Approved
You can get Preapproved online! Yes it's that easy. A Pre-Approval Letter is the first step toward buying a home. This verifies your financial information and it gives you and a lender a clear picture of how much home you can afford.
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1. Apply and Check Your Credit.
2. Figure out Your Mortgage Solutions.
3. Get Your Approval Letter.
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Pre Approval Checklist:
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Proof of Identity
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Proof of Income
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Proof of Assets
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Acceptable Credit History
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Employment Verification
Preparing to Buy
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Your Income To Debt Ratio Is Low
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When you apply for a mortgage, lenders want to make sure that you can handle an additional monthly payment, so your credit card payments
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They say there’s no fixed requirement when it comes to the Debt to Income Ratio (DTI), but mortgage lenders usually prefer borrowers with a DTI under 50%.
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Your Credit Score Is Increasing
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620. Thats the minimum credit score you can have to qualify for most mortgages. Having a higher credit score significantly increases your chances of getting a better interest rate and approval of the mortgage loan.
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You’ve Saved Money For A Down Payment
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I don’t know why our parents (I’m specifically talking to the people of my generation 70’s/80’s babies—sorry I can’t quite count you 90’s babies) scared us about a dang down payment! Like it was more impossible than getting into college. I remember in 2009 I know I could of bought a house but I was too busy listening to what other people had to say and backtracked on my idea.
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Anyways, I’m saying all this to say that contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to have 20% down payment to buy a home. You can now buy a home with as little as 3% down on a conventional loan or 3.5% down on a Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan. Check to see if you qualify for a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loan or a United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) loan with no down payment at all.
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You Have A Real Job
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Yes. I said it a Real Job. That means that you have a reliable source of income to make the monthly payments on your mortgage. If you don’t have this ON PAPER you will not get considered for a mortgage therefore you won’t get a house.
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You’re Consistent In Your Lifestyle
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There are TWO ways to think about this.
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ONE - Are you living in the house?
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TWO - Is this house an investment property?
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You Need Another Room
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Having a baby is a big responsibility? I don’t know which one is more stressful having a baby or running a business! Just kidding, obviously it’s the business!! No but seriously, do you need that extra space for a crib or a desk/storage. Either way as you are expanding and shifting is another time when it’s time to decide that you need to buy a house.
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You’re In Reality About What It Takes To Own A Home
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Facts: Owning a home is not living in an apartment. You will have to pay for EVERYTHING. Anything that comes up with your home and needs to be addressed will need to be expensed and paid for by you. Ask me why I’m so familiar about the situation? I lived in my parents house for 14 years (aka I lived in my childhood house)—so certain things that came up I had to pay for and/or go without. So understand that owning a house means swiping that card—even if you want to do things such as improvements to increase the value of your asset.
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Extra Housing Expenses
(That you may not think about when thinking about buying a house)
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Insurance - mortgage lenders require you have adequate insurance as a condition of your loan.
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Property Taxes - local governments calculate property taxes as a percentage of your home’s value.
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Closing Costs - you can expect to pay 3-6% of the total cost of the house in closing costs.
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Utilities - you must pay water, electricity, trash collection, and sewage bills every month.
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Maintenance - your landlord will pay for that pesky pest or if something goes down with the plumbing, but the entire bill falls on you when you own your home.
Escrow Inspections and Appraisals
An escrow inspection is an important part of the home buying process. The purpose of this inspection is to ensure that the property is in good condition, and it's usually conducted by a licensed inspector. In most cases, the buyer pays for this service out-of-pocket; however, if there are any major issues with the property after they move in and discover them themselves (which happens more often than you might think!), they may be able to recoup some of those costs from their seller through arbitration or litigation.
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The report produced by your inspector will determine how much money you'll need to put down on closing day as well as other factors like whether or not repairs need to be made before closing takes place--and if so how much these repairs will cost.
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An appraisal is a professional opinion of the value of a property. An appraiser will determine the amount of money that should be paid for the property and often uses comparable sales data from similar properties to make this determination. The appraisal may also include an evaluation of improvements on your home, such as landscaping or additions made by previous owners.
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An appraisal is usually required by lenders before they will approve your loan application, so it's important that you have one if you're looking to buy a home or refinance your existing mortgage loan with another lender (or another type).
Buyer's Consultation
The buyer's consultation is the first meeting between a potential buyer and their Los Angeles commercial real estate agent, and it gives both parties an opportunity to get to know each other and establish whether there's a good fit. Buyers can expect the agent to ask questions about why they're interested in buying property in Los Angeles (i.e., what type of space they need), how long they intend to occupy it for (lease terms), how many people will occupy it on average weekdays/weekends) and more.
Closing the Deal
Buying a property can be a stressful journey. Whether you're selling a home, buying one or both for the first time, we're here to walk you through the process step-by-step and be your advocate through every stage of home buying or selling.
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Closing the deal is an exciting time in any real estate transaction. We will walk you through what to expect on the day of closing, including: signing paperwork, scheduling the closing appointment, bringing copies of all documents and paying any remaining costs due at closing.