How exciting to start the process of buying your own home! This is a very exciting time, but can also be scary with the fear of the unknown! Our goal is to help ease your nerves and learn the home buying steps before you hit the pavement and view some properties. The worst is when you find a home you’re in love with only to find out you can’t have it just yet. 

1) Who is this Ryan Guy? 

You’re probably wondering who this Ryan guy is that we recommend for your Mortgage! Check out this video of him explaining the process of applying for a home loan and answering some questions you might be already thinking! Talking to Ryan is going to be your first step in learning what you can afford and the steps it will take to achieve your homeownership dreams.

Meet Ryan!

2) The Downpayment Assistance Programs

Lots and lots of our clients have benefited from the Down Payment Assistance Programs including ourselves! Contrary to Popular Belief, these are not only for First Time Buyers. If you’re planning to occupy the home, let’s “taco” bout the Downpayment Assistance Grants.

Info about our experience here:

How We Bought For Only $750 Down

3) Buyer Cheat Sheet

A copy of our Buyer Cheat Sheet will be crucial to your home search. This has tips for what to do when preparing to buy, info about the loan programs, and a list of the home buying steps. You can use this as a checklist throughout the process to check off where you are and know what’s next.

Email me for a copy of the Cheat Sheet! 

[email protected]
  
4) What Costs Can I Expect?

Next up! Here is a sweet informal video from Katie Lambert, our Team Owner, about some costs to expect when buying or selling a home. The first half is geared toward home buyers. Definitely take a peek at it when you get a chance!

Closing Costs for Buyers and Sellers

5) Where to Move?

So you’re ready to start looking, YAY! This link has 5 Tips for Choosing the Right Neighborhood. There are some GREAT tips here that you probably didn’t think of!

Tips on Choosing a Neighborhood

JD a.k.a. Jen Duncan

[email protected]

480-707-7554

An appraisal can be a scary thing! Is the home going to be worth what I’m buying it for? Or, is my appraisal going to be high enough so I can get rid of my Private Mortgage Insurance? Some people are wondering what the heck an appraisal is!

When you buy, sell, or refinance a home, it must have an appraisal completed to ensure the home is worth what you are purchasing it for. The only instance where you wouldn’t need an appraisal is if the buyer is paying cash and not taking out a mortgage.

An appraisal can be very exciting if you find out your home is worth more than you are buying it for, but can also be detrimental if it comes in under value and both parties can’t agree to lower the price.

It’s important for your Realtor to take some measures to help with this process. Because the Phoenix Real Estate market is a sellers market currently, sellers are pricing their homes higher to see what kind of offers they can get, and they are getting them! Some agents are encouraging their clients to offer above list price in an effort to secure the home against multiple offers. However, this plan can backfire badly! It’s always a good idea for your Realtor to research the last 90 days of comparable home sales when putting together an offer to be proactive and avoid any appraisal headaches. A great listing agent will have a conversation with the appraiser to go over the comparable home sales, best features of the home, and perks of the neighborhood in an effort to educate them on why the purchase price should be supported.

We recently started the process of refinancing our new build home in Eastmark. Because the home is only 6 months old, there are not many listings on the Multiple Listing Service to run a comparable home search. This lead the appraiser to just grab homes in the same size range that weren’t truly a match to our home.

Here are 5 Things I Did to Help the Appraiser Determine Our Home Value:

1) Pulled all of the park facing homes that closed in the last 90 days that are model matches.

2) Compared lot sizes and similar features

3) Listed all upgrades that we’ve done to the home after moving in

4) Attached a sheet with all of our upgrades from the design center

5) Provided a link to the builder website to show the cost to build our exact model

As always, if you are thinking of moving in the near future please feel free to reach out so we can chat about what’s best for you!

Much Love,

Jen Duncan a.k.a. JD a.k.a #NewBuildNinja

[email protected]

Message me on Facebook!