akeffer@kefferrealty.com

Great Bridge 4 br/2bth

Great Bridge 4 br/2bth

Well good for you, is the American dream and congratulations on taking the steps to get your part of it. Now...a coupla questions. Are you planning to fix it up and flip it or live there for 5 or more years before you move on and up or is this the house you'll live in forever, building dreams, raising a family and making memories that will outlive you?

Silly questions perhaps, but the answers make a radical difference in how you should approach buying.

In short, if you're planning to buy and flip (great idea right now), then you need something that demands a bit of work and is priced lower than whale droppings. I've been flipping houses for 20 years now and will be glad to share my experience, sub-contractors and more advice than you likely need. If you're going to live there several years then you need be aware of the possibility/probability of price appreciation but if you're gonna live there forever, buy what you can afford today that makes your eyes light up 'cause it doesn't matter if you overpay or not, you're creating home and history and your heirs won't care what you paid for it.

Buying a house...step by step

What price?

How much per month are you comfortable paying? For a rough estimate multiply that number by 145...ie if $1,000 a month is good, then you should look at houses you'll need a $ 145,000 mortgage for....a very rough estimate but a starting point. For a more precise number, call me and I'll be glad to run the numbers particular to your situation and give you a price you can buy.

Get qualified

More important than what you are comfortable with or what I estimate is what a mortgage company is willing to lend, so the first real step is to call a mortgage banker, spend about ten minutes on the phone giving him your income, debts, monthly payments and so forth so he can run a credit report and tell in a few hours what payment can be approved and what price range that will be. It may be higher than you're comfortable with and my advice is to stick to you comfort level. This costs nothing and obligates you to nothing but will give you that all important piece of paper, the "PreQualification Letter" that ever seller is going to ask for when you submit an offer.

Here are a couple of fellas I've worked with and trust...call 'em and tell them I gave you their names. Won't even get you a cup of coffee, but at least there is a connection.

Chris Morrell Wells Fargo Mortgage o) 757-413-6679 c) 757-635-6447 e) chris.morrell@wellsfargo.com
Bryan Martin BB&T Mortgage o) 757-437-3783 c) 757-450-0694 e) bpmartin@BBandT.com

Go looking

This is the fun part...we get to ride around looking at houses inside and out, place furniture in our minds eyes and dream dreams that are within grasp. How? Having gotten the price range I will set up a tickler thingy that sends you all the listings meeting your criteria by e-mail, every day, as soon as they come on the market. Being curious you will also spend hours in front of the computer doing searches on your own...it is fun...changing the criteria a bit, looking, hoping, planning...mostly dreaming and it's fun so enjoy it.

Any houses you find or I send you that pique your interest, call me and I'll set it up and we'll go look. First criteria I have...it must make your eyes light up or we keep looking.

FOUND IT!

I could see it in your eyes before you made the decision. This is the house, you wanna make an offer. Hold on...first, let me do a mini-appraisal, a written estimate of value comparing this house to others like it that have sold nearby and recently so we have an idea if the price is good or not. You'll have an instinctual gut feeling just from having visited what's out there, but is nice to have the formal nuts and bolts on paper too. Using your instincts, my more formal approach and the reality of what's in your bank account we sit down and formulate an offer that is fair to you and enticing to the seller, complete the forty eleven pages of paperwork and I present the offer to the seller's agent. We wait.

Negotiating

This is not the fun part because you'll be on pins and needles, waiting, hoping. Don't marry it yet, but we'll get there. Is likely the seller will make a counter offer and we'll sit, talk and decide whether to accept or make a counter-counter offer. Just remember, the seller is as anxious to sell as you are to buy so we have to craft something in which both sides win.

DEAL!

We have a deal!! Believe it or not, we're only halfway home. Now to get past the home inspection, the termite and moisture inspection and the loan approval. Oh, this really is not the fun part for your very nice loan officer is going to have you biting nails asking for the most inane thngs when all you wanna do is settle and move in....bank statements for the past three months, your mother's maiden name and oh, do you have dog named Skippy? But hang in there, the prize is worth the headaches and I am here to get us past the hurdles and to handle the unexpected glitches along the way.

Your house

We get past all the hurdles and closing day arrives. We all arrive at the lawyer's office (or title company) with cashier's check in hand for the downpayment and find four inch stack of papers that give you writer's cramp signing but an hour later you have the keys, the house is yours and life is very, very good. I'd be most happy to help you move in did I not have pressing business this weekend...grin...enjoy, prosper and be happy.