Buyer's Guide

Speaking with a lender is a great next step in your home buying journey. A lender will be able to determine the maximum amount you qualify for. Just because you know what is the most you can get on a loan does not necessarily mean that is what you want to spend each month. On top of knowing what you qualify for, you will also want to set your budget for what you are comfortable paying per month. Your estimates will vary slightly by property because property taxes, HOA, and other considerations come into play. Once you have decided you want to work with the lender, you will want to get a pre-approval letter. This pre-approval letter I will submit with your offer so having it befor that stage is critical.

This part is optional, however it has been so handy and clients have really liked using it. After our consultation, I will send you an invite to your “Home Collection”. This is an internal Compass tech tool where you can add homes of interest that you find, I can add homes that I find, and together we can comment on the homes.  This tool helps narrow in on what works and what does not work for a home while also keeping all of our options in one place. If you end up not liking the tool, we can always just text or email listings back and forth and that of course always works as well.

I will get in contact with the listing broker to let them know that you are interested. This will help us build rapport and create a relationship with the broker. From there, we do a deep dive into the property. We see if the agent has any additional information on the home, we will look at any permitting and county records that are available, and if title is available we can look at that as well. Here we investigate to see if there are any potential “red flags”.

Depending on your offer, you may have already accepted a seller pecured pre-inspection, decided to do an inspection before submitting an offer, or your offer may have been contingent on getting an inspection. We will go over all of your inspection options in our initial consultation. If you are under contract while getting an inspection, we will set a time for an inspector to come out and do an inspection. I will be present during the inspection and always advise my clients to be as well so they can ask any questions. This is an out-of-pocket cost to the buyer ranging from $450-$650 depending on the size of the home. From there, we will get a written report within 24 hours. After, we will talk about what we would like the seller to fix or not.

If you are getting financing you will need a home appraisal. This is a third party who will come out to the home and evaluate the value of it. They will then send the report back to the lender. In general, their job is to report back saying that “yes the home is selling for a reasonable value or no it is not.” This helps the bank understand the value of the home in case the buyer is unable to pay for it and the banks have to resell it.

You made it to closing! At the day of closing you can expect paperwork will get finalized between escrow and the lender. After, escrow will be released for recording to the county. From there we wait for recording numbers to come back from the county. This could be relatively fast or could take the entire day to get the recording numbers. For this reason, I usually suggest we meet in the evening. In the state of Washington, unless otherwise stated, a seller can have possession of the property until 9pm the day of closing, usually they are moved out well before 9pm however they have up until that point to leave. We will meet at the property and I can give you the keys to your new home!