The Home Buying Process      


Richard and Jan Lappan RE/MAX Specialists 904-386-9994 or 904-386-3529 Toll Free 1-800-535-9994
E-mail us at teamlappan@gmail.com with any questions!

 The Home Buying Process

A note about How Realtors Work and the Role of the Realtor(s)

Realtors work together to sell homes. The SELLER pays the realtor commission! The listing agent and buyer's agent split the commission. Buyers do not pay a commission! Also, we can sell you any home listed in the Jacksonville area, (or the State of Florida) not just our listings or RE/MAX listings! In fact, we can also help you buy an FSBO and New Construction.
Professional Real Estate agents are in actuality facilitators of the purchase and sale. While buyers agents and listing agents represent and protect the interest of their clients they also work diligently to ensure that all stages of the purchase and sale process are hassle-free. Realtors negotiate the terms of the "Contract" and make sure that all "Contract" terms and contingiencies are met in a timely manner and that the Purchase and Sale closes ON TIME! 

Step 1. Get Pre-Qualified or Pre-Approved A pre-approval or pre-qualification letter from a lender should always be part of an offer made to purchase a home. Offers that include this document will be considered more seriously by sellers.

There is nothing more disappointing than to find a great home that you love and then find out it is out of your price range! Talking to a lender before you start looking helps you establish a monthly payment range and price range you are comfortable with. The lender will also discuss closing costs and various loan program options available to you.

 A Pre Qualification for a mortgage can mean several things depending on what bank or mortgage company prepared the qualification. In most cases, a mortgage Pre Qualification means simply that a loan officer has asked you some financial and credit questions and has then issued you a non binding statement that you will probably qualify for a mortgage to a certain amount.

A Pre Approval is a much more formal process. It is an actual loan application prior to finding a home to purchase. A pre approval gives you the peace of mind that you are looking in the right price range and when you find a home and want to make an offer it gives the seller peace of mind that you are a qualified buyer.

We will discuss in detail with you whether you should actually get a pre approval. Many factors come to play in this decision including interest rates and costs involved in getting a mortgage pre approval.

We would be happy to provide you with a referral to a local lender for either a pre qualification or a pre approval.

Step 2. Define your Price Range, Location and Home Preferrences

Sit down establish the areas you are interested in and what you must have in your new home. We can then search the MLS for homes in the areas you define based on the criteria you give us and e-mail the results of that search to you in the form of a Listing Tour which includes all the information and photos of the listings. The MLS includes all properties for sale listed by any Realtor, not just RE/MAX properties.

As you are driving by homes, you will probably notice other real estate signs showing homes for sale that were not part of your list or updated lists. This may occur for several reasons; the property may already be sold but hasn't closed yet. Also, the property may not match the criteria you gave us, it may be out of your price range; or finally, it may be a brand new listing that is not yet entered in the MLS.

We encourage you to note any addresses that you come by as you drive around the city. We can easily check the details and the price of any home!

Please note that homes advertised in various non-MLS publications or shown on television are usually sold by the time the publication comes out or the program airs due to the 2 to 3 week lag in submission and actual publication. Therefore, non-MLS homes won't be included in the e-mails we send to you. However, we will check with By Owners in the neighborhoods you are interested in! By Owners frequently "co-op" with an agent who has a qualified and willing buyer.

Step 3. Touring Homes

Once you have decided which homes you want to tour, an appointment will be set with the listing company and the seller. Some sellers require 24-hour notice for showings. Ultimately, all appointments are at the seller´s option.

If we are looking at more than one home, we will probably arrange appointments within 1/2 hour increments. Naturally, any home you want to go through a second time will also require an appointment.

As we tour these homes, MAKE NOTES on the MLS printout for each home that we will provde you. This will help you remember the pros and cons of each home we view!

Step 4. Writing the Offer

We can't cover all of the details that are included in writing an offer here, but let us provide you with a basic understanding of what writing an offer means. (Remember the "Contract" has many time-sensative requirements that must be met in a timely manner or the "Contract" is no longer valid).

A Contract To Purchase (offer) is a legal document. It clearly outlines each and every item that will be sold with the home, how the sale will be consummated (cash, mortgage), when the closing will occur, what inspections will be done, who will pay for repairs required if any, when the seller will move out of the home, who will pay what closing costs, and many other items! You will be required to review and sign a form entitled "Sellers Disclosure Statement". This disclosure is attached to any offer you write. The Sellers Disclosure Statement is a document that the seller completes listing in detail whether or not there are any defects to the property that they are aware of.

The Contract To Purchase and all of the addendum´s and disclosure statements are documents that we will review in detail, paragraph by paragraph, before you sign anything.

Typically and Offer will result in a Counter-Offer from the Seller. We will guide you through the process of responding to the Couter-Offer.

The Earnest Money Deposit and other Up Front Costs

Once you decide to write an offer on a property, a deposit will be required. This deposit, also referred to as "Good Faith" or " Earnest Money" will be held by RE/MAX Specialists and deposited in a trust account for you if and when the seller accepts your offer. Your deposit will then be applied as a credit to the closing costs at the real estate closing.

In most cases, a $1000.00 minimum deposit will be required. A larger binder is sometimes an incentive for a Seller to accept your offer over other offers with smaller binders. The reason for a deposit is to show that as the buyer, you are serious about your offer. It gives the seller comfort in taking their home off the market for you while you apply and get a final mortgage approval.

In most cases, the buyer is also required to pay "Up-Front" for an Appraisal and Home Inspections. Appraisal is typically around $400.00. The Home Inspection is typically $375 (more for homes with sq. footage over 2,000). The WDO inspection is $125. This is an inspection for termites, wood rot and any other wood destroying organisms.

After the "Contract" is executed, you, as the buyer, will be required to apply for your loan within five to seven days.

Step 5. Home Inspections and WDO Inspections

Most offers we make for buyers are "contingent" upon a Home Inspection. A licensed Home Inspector inspects the home for defects. A typical "Contract" will provide that the seller pay for repairs up to a certain dollar amount, usually $500.00 to $1,000.00. "Defects" do not include items "cosmetic" in nature, such as walls that need painting, etc.  The buyer is required to ask the seller to make necessary repairs and the seller must make such repairs (to the dollar limit specified in the contract) within a defined period of time. In some cases, the seller may simply offer to pay the buyer the stated amount at closing in lieu of repairs.
Most lenders will also require a WDO (Wood Destroying Organisms) inspection. The inspector looks for termite damage or infestation and any other damge caused by water, moisture, mold etc. The seller is typically required to repair any such damage up to a cost of 1% of the purchase price.


Step 6. Final Walk-Through and Closing

We will accompany you to the final walk-through of the home, usually the day before closing. This is to ensure that the home is in substantially the same condition it was when the offer was made.
We will also accompany you to closing. (The closing attorney/title company is usually selected by the Seller). We will go over the HUD-1 Settlement Statement with you in detail before closing. Typically a HUD-1 Settlement Statement is issued by the closing agent the day before closing, but, in some cases, it may not be available until a few hours before closing. This statement shows all costs assiociated with the transaction and is the document used to determine the amount of certified funds that you, the buyer, will need to bring to closing.