Category: The Caton Team Realtors

Steps To Buying a Home

The Caton Team believes that buying a home is a journey.  We are happy to meet with buyers at any leg of their trek, whether it be a few years out, or we’re ready to buy now – Susan & Sabrina are happy to create a home buying plan with you and your family.  We believe communication is essential and understanding your goals as a home-buyer is they key to success.

Steps to Buying a Home

1.     Our Initial Interview

  • Determine needs, wants & desires for your new home
  • Discuss parameters
  • Discuss financial qualifications

2. Get Pre-Approved for your Home Loan

  • Contact your Financial Institution (Bank, Credit Union, etc) for a pre-approval of a Home Loan
  • Obtain a Pre-Approval letter once you have provided them with all necessary documentation (income verification, taxes, debt)
  • Once you know your purchase power we can help you shop your loan if necessary to find the best loan for your price range with the best interest rate & terms
  • Remember to make sure you have funds saved for your closing costs.*
  • REMEMBER – DO NOT OPEN ANY NEW LINES OF CREDIT OR MAKE LARGE PURCHASES – it will affect your credit score and purchase power!

3. Property Tours

  • We will preview many homes in your criteria
  • We will show you available properties that match your needs & wants
  • Listen carefully to fine-tune your ideal home
  • Provide information about the current market and reliable resources regarding cities, schools to help you with your decision

4. Write an Offer on the Home that fits your needs & wants

  • When possible – we get the Sellers Disclosure package beforehand so you can review the disclosures before we write an offer
  • Writing an offer will take between 1 to 3 hours
  • Complete the purchase agreement contract & review all the necessary disclosures with you
  • Buyer provides the earnest money deposit (this can be in the form of a personal check & will be held until an accepted contract is created – generally 1% – 3% of the purchase price)

5. The Caton Team Presents Your Offer

  • Prepare a presentation by highlighting the strengths of the offer & your strengths as the buyer
  • Present the offer to  the Sellers’ Real Estate Professional & when possible the Sellers
  • The Seller with either accept your offer, counter it, or reject it
Of course, our objective, if it is your objective – is to get your offer accepted on the first try.  If your offer is not accepted or rejected right off the bat – you begin the counter offer process.

6. Counter-Offer

  • Discuss the counter-offer with you and how it relates to your goals and prepare a response
  • Negotiate the counter-offer in your best interest while keeping the Seller happy as well

7.          Escrow

  • When the offer has been accepted & signed by all parties, escrow is opened
  • Earnest money (good faith deposit) will be deposited AND CASHED by the escrow company and held in escrow
  • The Escrow Officer will order the Preliminary Title Report & send copies to the Lender & us – your Realtors

8. Contingency Period

  • Buyers approval of Seller’s Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement
  • Buyers approval of the Preliminary Title Report
  • Buyers approval of any disclosures not provided prior to writing the offer
  • Conduct all desired Physical & Pest Inspections
  • Verify that the Property Appraisal & Loan have been approved & secured
  • Once the buyer is fully satisfied with the home, the buyer, in writing, will remove all their contingencies and is not locked into contract

9. Homeowners’ Insurance Coverage

  • Select an insurance company and discuss coverage (it is best to start with your car insurance company – they often offer umbrella discounts)
  • Give insurance agent escrow information.  They will need to order a copy of the policy for the new Lender prior to escrow closing

10. Signing Documents at the Title Company

  • Lender will send the loan documents directly to the title company several days before close of escrow
  • Buyer will receive copies of the title documents and the Lender documents (Take the time to review your loan documents prior to our signing appointment to make sure all the terms & conditions are what you agreed to – changes to the loan documents must be made before you sign so escrow will close on time)
  • Buyer will need current photo identification

11. Down Payment and Closing Cost Funds

  • You may bring a cashier’s check to the Title Company several days prior to closing or have funds wired directly from you bank
  • The Escrow Officer will provide a Buyer’s Estimated Closing Statement, which will itemize costs and credits, estimating the total money due at closing and also provide wiring instructions if you are doing a wire transfer of your down payment

12. Funding

  • Lenders will send funds directly to escrow the day before closing

13. Close of Escrow

  • The deed will be recorded at the County Recorder’s office by the Title Company (Buyer will receive the original back from the County Recorder in approximately 6 weeks)
  • Real Estate Professional will coordinate the transfer of the house keys after the transfer of sale is on record.

14. Move In!

  •  Get those boxes in the car, pop the bubbly – the house is yours!  Congrats
Got Questions – The Caton Team is here to answer them – email us at info@thecatonteam.com or visit our website at http://thecatonteam.com/
Visit my personal journey through homeownership at http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com/

Senate Bill 458 – Help for Short Sale Sellers

A new California law will further protect homeowners pursuing short sales by barring first and secondary lienholders from going after sellers for money owed after the short sales close.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 458, authored by Senate Majority Leader Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro,) into law on Friday.

A short sale is a transaction in which the homeowner owes more on the loan than the property is worth. To sell the home, the lien holder or lien holders must approve the sale because the amount owed to the lien holder will be “short” of what is currently owed by the borrower.

Real estate tracker DataQuick said short sales made up 17.7 percent of Southern California home resales in June.

The new law builds on the protections offered by a previous law, SB 931, which required the first lien holder in a short sale to accept an agreed-upon payment as the full payment for the outstanding loan balance. The previous law did not address junior lien holders.

The new law, which became effective immediately, now prohibits secondary lien holders from pursuing deficiencies after a short sale closes.

“As the economic recession continues to impact Californians, SB 458 will allow homeowners forced to sell at a loss to have closure at the end of the process,” said Corbett, in a statement to the Union-Tribune. “By extending anti-deficiency protection to all loans on a home when a short sale occurs, a homeowner can use a short sale as an alternative to foreclosure or bankruptcy.”

The California Association of Realtors call the bill’s signing a “victory for California homeowners.”

“SB 458 brings closure and certainty to the short sale process and ensures that once a lender has agreed to accept a short sale payment on a property, all lien holders – those in first position and in junior positions – will consider the outstanding balance as paid in full and the homeowner will not be held responsible for any additional payments on the property,” said Beth L. Peerce, president of the Realtors group, in a statement.

For more information please visit: http://www.car.org/newsstand/newsreleases/sb458/

 

Got Questions? – The Caton Team is here to help.  Email us at Info@TheCatonTeam.com or visit our website at http://thecatonteam.com/

 

 

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Please enjoy my personal journey through homeownership at http://ajourneythroughhomeownership.wordpress.com/