Honest Realtor Blog in the Twin Cities

This question has been coming up more and more often. I can tell you my professional opinion is this...

If you are thinking of a buying a home, DO IT! Interest rates are low and prices are low. The biggest problem with waiting is how much money it could cost you. We are already seeing some trends in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area that the prices have stopped dropping and even started rebounding. If you consider that, along with the fact that interest rates can't stay this low forever, waiting could cost you hundreds of dollars per month added to your payment. We are also seeing houses selling faster, some of this is because of the time of year. I personally think most of it is because of the finance rates. You can just afford more house, right now, than you could afford 18 months ago.

As always. If you have any questions please email, text or call me. You can find my contact information at www.mntrealestate.com

You hear about it every day, the amount of Foreclosures in the Twin Citites area grows weekly. These can be a great way to get into a property for less than market value. BUT... there are many factors to consider when you start going down this road.

• Some Financing options will not allow you to purchase these properties
• Most of these properties need $5000-$20000 or more in repairs
• Most of these properties need all new appliances

This list is just a little of what you will need to consider, if you have any questions or want more information, please feel free to post a question, email or call me directly.

Purchasing your first home can be a very stressful and intimidating experience. But, it can also be a very relaxed, fun, exciting and educational. Most of the clients prefer the relaxed and fun route.

When you are ready to make the leap into your first home there is a lot of things to think about:

Where do you start?  How do you know how much house I can afford? What area is going to be best for you? What is the second best area for you? How do you protect yourself and not get taken advantage of, etc...

Realtor:

Please find a Realtor before you start anything. A Realtor will guide you through every step of the process. If you are looking in the Minneapolis / St Paul area and surrounding suburbs, I would be happy to help you. Or you are welcome to find another Realtor.

A good Realtor will help you, guide you and answer questions all day long. Try and stay away from a Realtor that always has something better to do than answer your questions or return your phone calls quickly. I know for a fact that as first time home buyer you are filled with anxiety and excitement. It is my job to help you feel confident and make you feel comfortable with everything we do and talk about. If another agent is to busy, they are to busy for you. A Realtor will also protect your best interest and make sure you are protected in case anything goes wrong.

Commission:

The first thing you need to understand is how Realtors work. First, Realtors that represent a Buyer are paid by the Seller, the Buyer does not pay a dime. Most Real Estate companies will charge you a "Broker Admin Fee", this can range from $99-$499. They want you to believe that this fee is needed to cover offices, receptionists, advertising, basically all the costs every normal business. The difference is that these companies want you to pay for them. Change of Place Realty NEVER charges Admin Fees.

Dual Agency:

You also need to know about Dual Agency. If you call a Realtor that has property listed and you ask him or her to show it to you and you end up wanting to buy it, that Realtor will get both sides of the commission.

How that Realtor can represent you as the Buyer and represent the Seller if any court issues come up later? It can't be done, plus, the Realtor gets both sides of the commission, double pay day. How much do you really think you can trust that Realtor?

The other kind of Dual Agency is not so bad. If a company has a property listed by an agent and another agent from the same company has a buyer they show it to, that is also dual agency, but at least it two different Realtors.

Pre-Approval:

Pre-approval is very easy. All you need to do is contact a mortgage loan officer and talk to them. The pre-approval process often takes less than ten minutes and is basically just you supplying some information.

If you don't know a mortgage loan officer let us know, we can give you some names of people we have gotten to know over the years and we trust.

The pre-approval will also let you know what you can qualify for and let us start narrowing down what your needs, wants and expectations are based off of the target purchase price we are working with.

Purchase Agreement:

Once you have started looking at homes that fit in your criteria, you will start to narrow down choices. You might chose to go see a couple for a second or third time. You will eventually find a house. When that day comes, you get to write an offer. Please make sure your Realtor has your best interest at heart.

You will go through it page by page and put in writing the amount you want to offer, the closing date, your pre-approval letter, and all the details of the offer. Your Realtor will then email, fax or deliver the Purchase Agreement to the Realtor that has the property listed. With any luck that Realtor wll get it presented to the Sellers and they will sign it. They might counter offer you, or they might decline it all together. Either way, the fun has begun.

Earnest Money:

You will need available funds in your checking account to write a check for earnest money. This can be anything from $500-$5000 or more. It really depends on the property and the purchase price. Most of my first time home buyer clients wrote checks for about $1000. Earnest money like a deposit, it goes with the purchase agreement and it does count towards our down payment money.

If something happens and the deal falls through you will get it back, if your Realtor wrote the purchase agreement in a manner that protects you.

Home Inspection:

If you write an offer that is accepted please make sure you have an Inspection Contingency. This allows you to hire a Home Inspector at your cost to go through the house and look for major flaws. If that person finds anything wrong, you have choices: You can continue on with no action, you can counter offer the Seller a lower price, or you can request that the Seller fix or replace the items before closing. If you cancel the Purchase Agreement because of the inspection results you are entitled to get your earnest money back.

Closing:

The closing is the final step. That is the place you go to sign papers for an hour. The closing is pretty easy as long as you have a good Closer, a good Realtor and a good Mortgage Loan Officer. This is where you sign off on all the mortgage and Title documents. Once done, you officially own a home. Congratulations!!