For Buyers
Our Proven Process
Buying a home can easily be one of the biggest financial decisions you will ever make. It’s a complicated process that requires making important financial decisions, understanding complex issues and completing a lot of paperwork. Our family at Technical Advice Realty makes the buying process clear and transparent for our clients.
Whether this is your first home or your tenth, you will be treated as if this is the only home you will ever buy. We believe that making the home-buying experience as painless as possible for you is the perfect foundation for a happy experience for you as a homeowner.
Qualifying
As a first step, we always have a free no-commitment one-on-one interview with our clients to understand their needs and expectations and to explain the home purchasing process. It is important for us to know what our clients need when it comes to the number of bedrooms, square footage, school districts, neighborhoods, etc. For the first appointment with our clients, we request their assistance by providing basic income documentation. We will not run our clients credit which could unnecessarily lower their credit score. Instead, with our technical knowledge of bank rules and mortgage loans, we are able to estimate for our clients the maximum mortgage for which they will qualify. In case our clients are not ready to qualify, we will work with them to set them on the right path for home ownership. This applies for buying new or previously owned homes.
If a client is planning to purchase within the year, the priority should be to clean up their credit. In our first consultation, we will walk through the necessary steps to have a clean credit or establish credit. Based on the clients’ financial documents (2 years of taxes, paystubs, and Credit Karma score), we can estimate their buying power and determine if the credit score is high enough to apply for a home loan. If the credit has problems such as late payments, judgments, collections etc, we will guide the client on best practices to fix these problems. This applies for buyers of new homes or previously owned homes.
Applying
This is when the bank pre-approves the client for a specific loan amount. This requires the client to provide all financial documentation and for the lender to run their credit. The necessary documentation includes pay stubs, 2 months of bank statements, and 2 years of tax returns. The bank will run the credit to review all debt and credit score and check for judgements, collections, late payments, leans, child support, and student loans. With our knowledge of all available loan programs, we help our clients find the loan officer and bank with the best program and downpayment assistance if available. We help our clients with submitting all necessary documentation and communicating with the loan officer to address any questions. This applies for buying new or previously owned homes.
Once the client has been pre-approved, we work with our clients to find the right home anywhere in the Houston metropolitan area and surrounding areas. Based on their mortgage qualification, we help our clients focus on the best neighborhood, subdivision, and school district. For buyers of new homes, we will help them find and select the home builder that will provide the most amenities and help with closing costs if available. For buyers of previously owned homes, we will conduct extensive searches of listings in the preferred area and schedule showings of the homes with you.
For buyers of new homes, once pre-approved and the home has been selected, the contract for the home is signed with the builder. We sit with our clients and the builder representative to explain every part of the contract and answer any questions at the time of signing. At this stage, the client also provides a payment of earnest money and the house is reserved for the client and taken out of the market.
For buyers of previously owned homes, once the client has decided on a specific house, we present the offer and necessary paperwork to the homeowner. If the offer is not accepted a counter offer can be made or the home search can continue.
Closing
For new homes, two weeks before closing, we conduct a walkthrough of the home with our clients. We examine the interior and exterior of the construction and the builder is required to address and fix any outstanding issues. Newly constructed homes are inspected at different stages of construction by city inspectors. Before the closing date, for new homes, we will do a final walkthrough with our client to make sure all previous issues have been resolved and the house is in perfect condition.
For previously owned homes, we assist our clients with an independent home inspection. The findings of the inspection are sent to the homeowner and for any items that need repair we will negotiate with the seller. Just before closing, a walkthrough of the house is done to check any agreed-upon repairs.
The last step of the buying process is the closing day when the client will sign all the relevant paperwork and the mortgage contract. We will accompany our clients to the closing of their home and explain every document they have to sign and answer any questions they might have.
We will schedule a follow up visit after closing on your home to review your property taxes. We provide assistance on filing the homestead exemption and changes of ownership to property records.
Get Your Free Consultation
Contact us with any of your questions and we’ll be happy to help.