ARE YOU A FIRST TIME MARYLAND HOME BUYER?
WANT TO KNOW HOW YOU CAN GET INTO A HOME FOR ZERO MONEY DOWN? If you answered YES, then KEEP READING!!!!! There are many different funds and programs available in Baltimore County, Harford County, Baltimore City, and the rest of Maryland to help First Time Home Buyers purchase their first home. Since I primarily work in the Greater Baltimore Metro (City and County) and Harford County Areas, I am going to focus on the programs available primarily in those areas. If you are in another area in Maryland, I still would strongly recommend that you CONTACT ME TODAY and I can try to help you locate other programs in your specific area. ONE OF MY TOP PARTICIPATING LOAN OFFICERS can help you with EVERYTHING you will need to get the necessary approvals to get these funds for FREE! I also have a GREAT NETWORK of inspectors, contractors, insurance representatives, and settlement officers that can help ensure you complete a SMOOTH & WORRY FREE TRANSACTION! BUT WHO PAYS THE REAL ESTATE AGENTS COMMISSION? I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT I WILL REPRESENT YOU FOR ABSOLUTELY NO COMMISSION EXPENSE ON YOUR PART AS GENERALLY IT IS CUSTOMARY FOR THE SELLERS TO PAY ALL OF THE REAL ESTATE AGENT'S COMMISSIONS! Please note that there are always exceptions and not every seller is willing to compensate an agent (i.e. For Sale By Owners). If you happen to find a home where the sellers will not compensate me for my services, you can either opt to pay for them yourself or I can help you locate a real estate attorney and/or title company that can help you complete the purchase without any real estate agents being involved. I very rarely see a situation, especially in the current buyer's market, that the sellers are not willing to work with and pay for the services of a real estate agent to represent you as the buyer! 10 STEPS TO HOME BUYING SUCCESS! - CONTACT ME TODAY to register for one of my upcoming FREE Home Buyer Informational Workshops or Sign up for your FREE PERSONALIZED CONSULTATION!
ATTEND ONE OF MY HOME BUYER INFORMATIONAL WORKSHOPS! To find out when the next one is scheduled for VISIT MY MAIN PAGE or CONTACT ME TODAY. When you attend the workshop you can expect to receive information on the following topics: credit, budgets, affordability, loan options, selection of a real estate agent, house hunting process, home inspections, settlement assistance programs, and more.
SET UP A FREE COUNSELING SESSION! After your FREE Home Buyer Workshop, schedule your appointment for an individual counseling session with ONE OF MY TOP PARTICIPATING LOAN OFFICERS! They will sit down with you one on one and answer any questions you may have and also make sure you are comfortable and ready to start the home finding process. You may also start at this step if you do not want to attend the workshop.
GET PRE-APPROVED! Select a lender and get a PRE-APPROVAL to purchase. If you do not currently have a lender, feel free to CONTACT ONE OF MY TOP LOAN OFFICERS and they will get you PRE-APPROVED very quickly. This step is usually completed at your FREE COUNSELING SESSION and of course is 100% FREE!
CONTACT ME! Once you are pre-approved, CONTACT ME and we can set up an appointment to discuss where you are interested in living and what kind of a home you are interested in purchasing. And don't forget that prior to our appointment you can always start your search online with my FREE MLS SEARCH! My website shows you ALL of the active listings, as well as their addresses, no matter what broker they are listed with so you can be assured that you are not missing any homes that are available for purchase! All of the properties are downloaded from the same MLS database the agents use and are updated instantly when the agents update the listings information. Additionally, you can also set up a FREE INSTANT EMAIL NOTIFIER that will notify you as soon as properties come onto the market that meets your criteria. You will see them the same time that the agents do. All you have to do is enter in your criteria and the database will do the rest!
START PREVIEWING HOMES! This is where the fun starts and we actually start making the appointments and going out and looking at the homes that you are interested in seeing. I will take care of scheduling, coordinating times, and confirming all of the necessary appointments for ALL of the homes that you would like to go out and see. We can either drive together in my car or yours, or you can follow me in yours (whatever is easier for you)!
WRITING AN OFFER TO PURCHASE! Once you find that special home then we need to put together an offer to present to the sellers and the sellers agent. Don't worry, I will help you write an offer to purchase your home and will also help you negotiate the BEST POSSIBLE DEAL FOR YOU! Many of my buyers wonder how they will know what to offer? Don't worry, I will complete a market analysis of the property that you are interested in and show you ALL of the activity that has happened in that area within the past several months to help you come up with a fair offering price!
NEGOTIATING! This is the MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE PROCESS and why you need to make sure that you choose the right agent to work with. In the current housing market, buyers definitely have the advantage and having an agent who is an EXCELLENT NEGOTIATOR can literally get you THOUSANDS of DOLLARS from the sellers (in 2008 I have successfully negotiated OVER $100,000 in savings for my first time home buyers from the sellers through negotiating)! And the best part is that 99.99% of the time, the sellers are the ones who will pay for your agents commission! That's right, the sellers actually pay so you can hire someone to negotiate on your behalf. DO NOT BE FOOLED, if you call the agent who's name is on the sign, they work for the SELLER not you! It is their job to get their client (THE SELLER) the best deal that they can. Sure they can help you write a contract and will be more than happy to do so (SINCE THEY WOULD GET THE ENTIRE COMMISSION OR BOTH SIDES), but they are not putting your interests first since you are not their client(s)!
THE HOME INSPECTION! This is another critical part of the process and is your opportunity to not only discover any potential problems that you may not have otherwise known about, but is also your opportunity to learn how to care for your new home! I have some great inspectors that I refer my clients to and they give ALL of my clients their own binder that contains excellent year round maintenance tips to prevent future problems that could cost lots of money. As one of them always says, "you can either spend coins on prevention or you can spend bills on repairs!"
FINAL WALK THROUGH AND SETTLEMENT DAY! If you requested any type of repairs from your home inspection report, I recommend that you do a walk through of the property several days before settlement to make sure that they were completed to your satisfaction. This way, if they were not done correctly, there is still time to correct them before settlement. However, I still recommend doing a final walk through the day of settlement just to make sure the hot water heater didn't break or the house didn't burn down over night. Once you sign the papers, the house and everything in it is yours. There are many things that I have seen happen at the settlement table, but if you have the right agent and listen to their advice you can surely avoid most of them and have a SMOOTH and ENJOYABLE settlement that may only take 20 minutes of your time (yes it really is possible and happens every day)!
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