House Hunting When You Are In A Time Crunch

In an ideal world, you'd have plenty of time to find the perfect home. However, that does not always happen. Maybe you are relocating because of a job transfer. Fortunately, it doesn't have to take months to find the perfect home. You can speed up the process of buying a home utilizing some tried and true tips.

Here are some of the best ways to speed up the house buying process.

Find An Experienced Real Estate Agent 

An experienced agent likely has an extensive network and many connections. They might know what properties are coming on the market before anyone else does. They can also help you assemble a great team of real estate professionals such as a mortgage banker and real estate attorney.

Get A Mortgage Pre-Approval 

Obtaining a home loan is a long process that requires a lot of paperwork. You can speed up the process by getting pre-approved before looking for homes. You'll need to gather some paperwork for pre-approval including bank statements, tax returns and information about your debt. Have all of these things ready when you talk with the mortgage loan officer.

Having a pre-approval letter also demonstrates to sellers that you are serious about buying. They might be more likely to respond quickly to your offer if they feel that the deal will go through.

Make A List Of Things That You Must Have 

If you are in a hurry to buy a home, you don't want to waste time looking at houses that won't meet your needs. So, before doing any online research, make a list of things of your must-have amenities. Zeroing on the things that you must have will help keep you focused on properties that are right for you.

Search Areas That Have A lot of Inventory 

Don't waste time looking at communities that don't have much inventory. The real estate market will be a lot more competitive. Instead, try choosing areas that meet your needs as far as easy access to your work, quality of the school and so forth. Make sure that they have plenty of inventory available. You might have to hunt in surrounding neighborhoods to find something quickly.

Be Available to Act Quickly 

If you want to close quickly, you must be available to act as soon as an offer is accepted. It is essential to be available anytime to get in touch with your agent, respond to counter-offers and answer questions. Provide your agent with multiple ways to reach you -- by phone, email or text.

Contact your trusted real estate professional today to help you with these tips and many more to make your new home purchase as hassle-free and timely as possible.

5 Ways Millennial Buyers Can Snag Their Dream Home In This Sellers Market

According to the 2017 Home Buyer and Seller Generational Trends Report, Millennials bought 34% of the homes sold; the largest of any generation last year.

Millennials looking to buy their first, or second, home need to ready themselves for a surprisingly competitive market. Lack of supply causes attractive homes to garner multiple offers in just a few hours!

What can a Millennial buyer do to appeal to sellers and be the one who ends up with the home? Here are 5 ways they can snag their dream home in this seller's market.

Get Pre-Approved

Figuring out what a home buyer can afford is a crucial step and no different for these savy Millenial home buyers. Sellers like to avoid nasty surprises. Being pre-approved shows the seller that the homebuyer is serious and financially able to purchase their home.

Meeting with a mortgage originator and getting pre-approved is how it's done. This professional will pull credit history and look at current financial infomation to determine precisely how much of a mortgage is affordable. The pre-approval can then be used as part of their offer letter.

Be Decisive

A hot real estate market is no time for cold feet. Millennials should proactively create a list of must-haves and be ready with an offer when they find a home that meets their requirements.

Taking too long to mull over whether they like the house, the neighborhood, or the price can result in a dream house being sold right out from under them.

Get Real

Millennials should research pricing in the neighborhoods they like, and lean on their real estate agent for helpful guidance. Low-balling an offer is not likely to be received well in this competitive market. Making a fair, reasonable offer close to, or even above, the asking price is the best course of action to land the home they want.

Show Personality

If sellers feel like they know the buyer, they are more likely to choose them over a faceless offer. Include a personal letter with the offer. Go into detail about why the house is appealing. Add personal details about what the Millennial buyer wants to do in the house like raise children, plant a garden, or enjoy baking in the kitchen.

If all buyers are equal, a heartfelt letter just might tip the scales.

Agree to the Seller's Timetable

Some sellers prefer unloading their house fast. Others may want to wait to move until their kids are out of school or the new home they are building is ready.

Millennial buyers may need to dig to get this information but it can be used to their advantage. Being flexible might just set them up to be the best choice for the seller.

While challenging, it's not impossible for Millennials to end up with the house of their dreams. With a bit of planning, decisiveness, flexibility, and a preapproval from their trusted mortgage professional, Millenials can make homeownership a reality in the very near future!  

What Important Items Can Upset My Mortgage Pre-Approval Status?

When you are purchasing a home, your lender may recommend you obtain a mortgage pre-approval before you find the home of your dreams. There are some benefits to being pre-approved before you find a home, but oftentimes, people confuse pre-qualifications with pre-approvals.

So the question many buyers have is what exactly is a mortgage pre-approval? In a nutshell, it's when the lender provides you (the buyer) with a letter stating that your mortgage will be granted up to a specific dollar amount.

What Do I Need For Pre-Approval?

In order to obtain a pre-approval for your home purchase, you will have to provide your lender all of the same information you would need to show for qualifying for a mortgage. This means providing tax returns, bank statements and other documents that prove your net worth, how much you have saved for your down payment and your current obligations.

What Conditions Are Attached to a Pre-Approval?

Generally speaking, a pre-approval does have some caveats attached to it. Typically, you can expect to see some of the following clauses in a pre-approval letter:

• Interest rate changes - a pre-approval is done based on current interest rates. When rates increase, your borrowing power may decrease
• Property passes valuation and inspection - your lender will require the property you ultimately purchase to come in with a proper appraisal and meet all inspection requirements
• Credit check requirements - regardless of whether it's been a week or six months since you were pre-approved, your lender will require a new credit report. Changes in your credit report could negate the pre-approval
• Changes in jobs/assets - after a pre-approval is received, a change in your employment status or any substantial assets may result in the pre-approval becoming worthless

What Items Can Change My Mortgage Pre-Approval Status?

One of the major issues that affect some borrowers as they are preparing to purchase their new home is financing large ticket items before the home purchase loan is completely funded.  Even if you are buying new furniture or other items for the home, it's best to wait until after your home loan is entirely complete before purchasing any of these new items.

Work changes can also drasitically affect your pre-approval status.  Make sure your loan professional is well aware of any changes well in advance of them happening in order to plan effectively.  There are ways to work with job changes but it is a delicate matter during the mortgage underwriting process.

Getting pre-approved for a home mortgage may allow you more negotiation power with sellers and may help streamline the entire loan process. It is however important to keep in mind there are still things that may have a negative impact on actually getting the loan.

It is important to make sure you keep in contact with your trusted real estate professional, especially if interest rates increase or your employment status changes after you are pre-approved.

Should You Get Pre-Qualified Or Pre-Approved For Your New Home Purchase?

Often times, home buyers can be disappointed when they find their dream home only to discover they are not able to get a mortgage to purchase the property. There are methods that potential buyers can use to ensure this does not happen to them.

One of the options is to ensure you obtain a pre-qualification from your lender. It is important to understand the difference between a pre-approval and a pre-qualification. While both are helpful, they do not carry the same weight.

What are the differences between these options?

A pre-qualification allows a borrower to determine how much money they may be able to borrow. For most borrowers, this allows them to start the house-hunting process with a mortgage amount in mind. Borrowers should understand, while the loan amount can be calculated, changes in interest rate as well as the borrowers credit are not evaluated in this process.

In general, the lender will request specific information from the borrower including income and expenses as well as ask about their credit. None of this information is typically verified by the lender through an underwriting process before sending a pre-qualification letter.

On the other hand, a pre-approval requires the borrower to provide a number of documents to the lender, typically the same documents borrowers need to apply for a loan. The documentation supplied to the loan professional is then treated as a full purchase loan application and run through underwriting to secure a conditional commitment from a bank or mortgage lender.

Oftentimes, this difference between the two options leads borrowers to speculate as to whether a pre-qualification is useful.

Why pre-qualification helps in your home hunting?

There are many valid reasons why potential homebuyers should ask about pre-qualifying for their mortgage. Some of these include:

• Home prices - if a borrower is eligible for a mortgage of $200,000 they will know they will have to seek homes in a specific price range. If a borrower is only able to put down 10 percent, they know the maximum home price they can afford is $220,000.
• Down payments - in most cases, borrowers who can afford to put down a large down payment will have more options available to them. In some cases, understanding how much mortgage a borrower may qualify for beforehand allows them to save additional money for a down payment.
• Estimates of dollars needed - another advantage to pre-qualifying is borrowers can get an idea of what additional closing costs they may need to qualify for a mortgage. This can be very helpful for a first time home buyer.

Pre-qualifying for a loan can save a home buyer from being disappointed. There are few things that are more upsetting than finding a home you love only to discover you are not eligible for the loan you need in order to purchase that home.

Typically, when you are seriously looking for your next home it would be a good idea to move to the full pre-approval process in order to get the most leverage when you find the home of your dreams.

As always, it's a good idea to consult with your trusted real estate professional for advice when preparing to look for your new home.