What to Do After You’ve Found a Home You Love

Congratulations! You’ve found a home that you want to buy. You’re probably feeling a wide range of emotions, and you’re eager to see what happens next. This is a good time to develop a plan for how to move forward so that you don’t miss out on the chance to make an offer. It’s important to learn about everything that must happen before you can lock in a deal to purchase Ocean Reef Club homes.

If you haven’t already scheduled an in-person showing or attended an open house, you should make this your top priority. Homes often appear differently in person than they do online. You don’t want to be surprised by anything when you first visit the home, especially if you already submitted an offer. Seeing the home in person will also give you a better feel for what the neighborhood and the area is like. Since these are elements that you can’t change, you’ll want to make sure you’re fully comfortable with the neighborhood where the home is located before you complete your purchase.

Unless you plan to purchase the home with cash, you’ll need to work with a lender to secure the funding necessary to purchase the home. When you first connect with a lender, they will ask questions about your current debt-to-income ratio and your credit score. They may also want to see recent tax returns or pay stubs to confirm that you have a consistent source of income. After they assess your financial health, they will provide you with a pre-approval letter that details the type and amount of loan you can qualify for. Remember that different lenders can offer different interest rates, and it’s a good idea to speak with multiple providers before you make a final decision so that you can confirm you are receiving the best deal.

The exact amount that you’ll need for your down payment varies based on what type of loan you are using. Most packages require the buyer to put down at least three percent of the total cost of the home at closing. If you’re able to include more money in your down payment, you can save money over time by reducing the amount of interest that you’ll accrue. You should also have enough cash on hand to cover the buyer’s share of the closing costs, which can range between two and six percent of the total value of the home. If you want to reduce your initial obligations when purchasing a home, you can sometimes negotiate a deal with the seller where they will pay your share of the closing costs in exchange for a higher price on the home. You’ll have to spend more on your monthly mortgage payment, but you won’t have to bring as much cash to the table at closing.

Knowing what the market is doing will impact how quickly you move and what sort of initial offer you make. Right now, Ocean Reef Club homes are staying on the market for two to three months before going under contract. It’s rare for homes to receive multiple offers, but it happens sometimes. If a home is in especially high demand, it may sell less than a month after the listing goes public. The market is constantly changing and evolving, and it’s a good idea to ask your real estate agent about how they think you should proceed based on where the market currently stands.

Your first offer doesn’t have to meet all of the seller’s demands. If the home has only been on the market for a few days or weeks, it’s unlikely that the seller will accept an offer far below the asking price. They will probably prefer to wait and see if anyone else is willing to meet their demands. If the local market currently favors buyers more than sellers or if the home has been on the market for several weeks already, you may have some additional negotiating power. Regardless of what type of initial offer you make, you shouldn’t be surprised if you receive a counteroffer from the seller. Your real estate agent will help you respond to each offer using various negotiating tactics and tools. They are experienced in these types of situations, and they know how to use a variety of strategies outside of the seller’s asking price to help you get a better deal.

Once you have a deal in place to purchase a home, it’s highly recommended that you schedule a time for an inspector to come and look at the property. They will carefully look over the home’s interior and exterior before providing you with a full report about the current condition of the home. You can use this information to determine what repairs or renovations may need to happen before you take ownership of the home. Many contracts include an inspection contingency or an option period that allows the buyer to renegotiate the sales price (or walk away from the deal entirely) depending on what the inspection reveals. Some buyers will offer to skip the inspection in order to incentivize the seller or expedite the deal, but this creates a tremendous amount of risk for the buyer and is not advised.

Eric Woodward is an expert when it comes to buying and selling Ocean Reef Club homes. His clients appreciate the emphasis that Eric places on trust and integrity in his practice. He consistently ranks as one of the top-producing agents in the area year after year. Reach out to Eric if you have more questions about shopping for Ocean Reef Club homes or if there’s anything he can do to help you move forward in your search.