When thinking about buying a property, the pre-approval is probably the most important step.
There are a number of reasons why.
Depending on your price point, there are a lot of sellers that won’t even let you come view their property without pre-approval or proof of funds. The pre-approval is basically a letter from a lender saying that you’re good up to a certain amount on a home loan.
Sometimes hopeful buyers will view a property without pre-approval, and become excited after their spouse and kids have seen it, only to be let down when they find out they can’t afford the property after getting pre-approval.
In other cases, some buyers wait two or three days too long for pre-approval. Here in Tucson, anything below $250,000 is in a hot seller’s market, and will likely have multiple offers after just a couple days. Oftentimes, one of those early offers might even be accepted.
Don’t miss out on a home you love by waiting to get pre-approved.
If you’re looking to buy or sell in Tucson, don’t hesitate to reach out to me or my team!
When your house is listed and available for showings here in Tucson, it’s important to make it as easy as possible for a buyer’s agent to show your property.
Typically when an agent is showing homes to a potential buyer, they’re showing them 3-6 homes in a short time, which could be just one or two hours. There are two things we recommend our clients do to make showings easier and increase their chances to sell.
If the house is vacant, we recommend a key safe, which allows agents to show the property at any time.
Sometimes we have clients still living in the home. If this is the case, we still recommend a key safe, but we put in a notice for either a 30- or 60-minute courtesy call. This way the agent can call or text the homeowner with the time they wish to show the property.
This gives the homeowners enough time to exit the property so the agent and potential buyer can view the home by themselves.
If you have any questions about selling your home or any other real estate questions, give me a call or send me an email. I'd love to work with you!
Typically, when we work with buyers, many assume that the down payment is the only money they will need to pay out of pocket for the property. These buyers get a rude awakening when they realize there are other costs. That’s why today, we’re talking about closing costs.
First of all, there’s the down payment. There are some loan programs that don’t require any money down. In Tucson, there’s even a down payment assistance program. If you don’t want to pay any money out of pocket, you will still need a savvy agent to negotiate closing costs.
Closing costs include loan origination fees and other fees. If you are working with a DPA program, you can probably come in with a 3% down payment. If your agent doesn’t negotiate the closing costs, however, you will actually need to pay 6.5% out of pocket.
In our current market, homes priced around $250,000 are in a strong seller’s market. That said, sellers are still paying closing costs. You may have to offer closer to the asking price in order to make that happen, but it will mean less money out of pocket at the end of the day.
There are other fees that a buyer needs to be aware of as well. We always recommend that buyers conduct a home inspection. These usually run around $300 to $350. For smaller properties like townhouses and condos, a home inspection might only cost $280. This is a small investment to make in order to know everything about the property before you buy it.
On top of the regular home inspection, you should also get a termite inspection. Termite inspections only cost $40 to $60. It’s important to make sure that the property doesn’t have any termites because banks won’t finance your home purchase if there are termites.
As you can see, there are many costs involved in buying a home. If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!
Long-term listing agreements are ultimately designed for failure. You wouldn’t go out on a blind date and marry that person right on the spot, would you? It’s the same kind of thing when you interview an agent to sell your property.
Don’t hire the first agent you interview. Talk to at least two to four agents before making a decision. You may know one of them better than the others already but you won’t know their whole history. You need an agent with proven experience.
Typically when you sign a listing deal, you commit to working with that agent for 6 months to a year and there’s no clause to exit the agreement. If things don’t go smoothly with the agent, you are stuck with them until the agreement is up.
On our team, we include a no-questions-asked clause that allows you to get out of the contract. In the state of Arizona, you need to provide the start and end date in a contract. We include this clause so that if you’re not happy with our services, you can cancel at any point. This holds us accountable. We will do what we say we’ll do during the listing appointment. If we don’t, you don’t have to continue working with us.
This is the best way to go into long-term business relationships. Most agents will just tell you what you need to hear and, after they get the listing, you won’t hear from them. The no-questions-asked clause keeps us on our toes and working hard to sell your home.
If you have any questions about today’s video or real estate in general, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!
