eBook Chap 3 Buying your Katy Cinco Ranch Richmond Area Home For The Best Price

Buying Your

Katy Cinco Ranch Richmond Area Home

For the BEST Price!

Chapter 3
Fred, Miller, Realtor serving Katy, Cinco Ranch, Pecan Grove, Richmond, Westpark Tollway, Fulshear. www.RichmondKatyHomes.com

Once I find my "Dream Home" how will I know how much to offer?

It is time for your realtor to prepare a market analysis for you. We have access to reliable sales data in the area. A comparison of your house with similar houses that have sold in the area is the most sound basis for determining the value of a property. Also an analysis of similar properties for sale gives vital information. How much you offer depends upon your motivation, but should consider this value as a baseline to operate from.

When you officially apply for a mortgage after an offer is accepted, the lender will have a professional real estate appraiser perform an appraisal of the home. This is a safeguard that ensures you won't pay more than the property is reasonably worth. By the way the appraiser will be using the same technique and probably some of the same sales information that we used for our market analysis.

When we have found the home we like, how do we make an offer?

When you have found a house that you want to call home, you will probably feel excited and a bit nervous. This is natural. We are ready to help you during this important time. With your agent you will write an "Earnest Money Contract" which is an official, written offer to purchase. It spells out everything in detail including the price, the financing, the date of the sale and many more things.

This is a legally binding contract that you sign and date. In the contract is an "Option Period". By putting up a small amount of money you can have the unrestricted right to "tie up" a property five to fourteen days while you get your inspections done. During this period you may "walk away" from the deal and get your Earnest Money back. When the Option Period expires the contract goes into full effect. Often the contract may go back and forth between you and the seller until the price and repairs are fully negotiated and agreed upon by all parties.

Be prepared to feel some "Buyer's Remorse" once the offer is accepted. This happens when you make a large purchase of anything. Remember when you bought your last car? You ask yourself "Did I make the right decision?". The answer is yes because you like the house, it fits your budget and there should be no surprise expenses. Consider this self analysis to be entirely normal.

How do I determine how much to offer?

There is really no rule to use to calculate a realistic offer. Naturally the buyer wants the best price, but negotiations can be influenced by many factors. After you have looked at the home's features, asked your questions, checked out the market analysis and talked with us, you should have a good idea of what the home's value is in the current market. That is, the house should sell for about this amount on the current open market within a few months. In a slow market, or during a slow period of the year you may be able to get the house for less. During a "hot market" full price may not be enough, because they may get multiple offers during a short period of time. It is your agent's job to analyze the house's value and to advise you in relation to what he has learned about what you want and the current market.

What is "Earnest Money" and how much do I need?

When you sign the Earnest Money Contract you are expected to write a check for Earnest Money. This says to the seller "I want your house and I am willing to put up money to show you that I want it". We will hold the check until the contract has been accepted by all parties. At that time the check is given to the Title Company, and they will cash it and put it in a special "escrow account" where it is held until closing, then applied to your down payment or closing costs. If the offer to purchase is not worked out, we will tear up the check and return it to you.

The amount of Earnest Money varies to some degree with the price of the property, and with what the Seller wants. For cheaper houses this amount may be as little as $500 and usually not more than $2000. For higher priced houses this amount may be $5000 to $10,000. Your funds must be available at the time of acceptance of the offer. We try to keep the amount as low as possible so that your funds are not tied up.

Keep in mind, though, that if you back out of an offer once it's accepted and all of the conditions have been removed, you may forfeit the full amount of the deposit.

You will also need to make a check for $50 to $200 for Option Money, but we will discuss this later

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Save Time And Money By Sitting Down With Your Realtor For A Buyer Consultation BEFORE You See Any Homes!
No one likes to waste time, but many buyers do. Their Realtor didn't take time to sit down with them to teach them about the home-buying process and to find out in great detail about their ideal home. That is what a Buyer Consultation is all about.
Because we have taught many home-buyer seminars and have years of experience we enjoy teaching people about the whole home-buying process and to learn what each buyer's "Ideal Home" would look like. Isn't an hour of your time well spent when you plan to spend many thousands of dollars to make such a major investment?
During a Buyer Consultation with us we will cover:

• An overall review of the home-buying process
• We will discuss your time-line for buying
• We will tell you how we operate
• We will ask you to address this most important question of exactly what is important to you regarding this purchase
• We will review the mortgage process, determine where you are in regard to qualifying and getting approved
• We will discuss the amount of money you will need

Earnest Money and Option Money

Cash you will need for inspections, appraisal, closing costs

• We will discuss how offers are presented and counter offer procedures

Our goal is to make you into a very informed purchaser who will feel confident when the time comes to sign an offer to purchase your new home!
At the consultation you will also discuss signing an agreement form to hire us as your Buyer's Agent which allows us to perform top quality service and all of our resources and experience to help you find the home of your dreams. BUT, don't worry! If at any time you are not completely satisfied with our service we write in an "easy exit" clause for you allowing you to cancel your contract at any time.
At last we will sit with you and make a detailed list of features that you want in your new home, then we will get started.
It is important to get started off right!

The information contained in this site is the opinion of Fred Miller and does express any policy or opinion of Re/Max International, Rd/Max of Texas or Remax Plantation.

Fred Miller, Re/Max Plantation, FredMiller9@gmail.com , www.RichmondKatyHomes.com, Office secretary: 281-342-2288 Cell 281/924-2531