Buyer's Guide

From 2020 to 2022, the real estate market saw unprecedented activity, with buyers facing intense competition and often having to make offers well over market value. While things have since leveled out, preparation is still key when making that first offer.

During our buyer consultation, I’ll walk you through all the contract forms and break down the key terms needed to craft the strongest, most competitive offer.

• When we view homes, follow this rule. You need to like 80% of the property right off the bat.
• 10% of the property may be things that need to be updated, changed, or addressed. But they are fixable towards making it YOUR home.
• 10% will be a factor you don’t like, but cannot change. This may be location in a neighborhood, road noise, HOA rules, and regulations. You have to be at peace with this 10% to know if it’s right for you.

Due Diligence is something specific to North Carolina that requires buyers to make a payment to sellers up front, within 24 hours of a contract being accepted. This deposit is non-refundable, but does go towards your downpayment on the home. There have been circumstances where offers have been accepted not because it is the highest purchase price, but because the offer had the highest DD amount. This shows sellers that you have “skin in the game”, and should never be overlooked!

Inspections - We will pay for all inspections that you want to have. This includes a home inspection, potential septic inspections, water quality, air quality, termite inspection, mold tests, and radon. Not all of these will be warranted for every home, but they are available to you. They will be additional costs, so budget accordingly.

Appraisal - This is what the lender will order (if not a cash purchase). The appraisal will need to come in either at our contracted purchase price or above. If it should come in below, the lender will not be able to fund the loan. This is when we would go back to the listing agent and ask for financial concessions to cover any inspection or appraisal items.

It's no secret that the housing industry has changed over the years. Gone are the days of newspaper listings and word-of-mouth lead generation—now, most people turn to the Internet when looking for new homes. With 95 percent of home buyers using it, the Internet is an essential tool in the home search process. In fact, 54 percent of buyers say that using the Internet is their very first step in finding a new home.

The average home buyer spends 10 weeks searching for a home and previews 12 properties before deciding on their purchase.

This is it! The big day!!! I’ve done this dozens of times, and I promise you, we’ll get through it just fine. You’ll be signing a lot of paperwork today—most of it pretty dull, all of it important. The good news is, it's all paperwork we’ve already reviewed. After you sign everything, the deal is closed once the following is done:

1. The deed isn’t a legal document until it has been recorded by the county recorder’s office. Once each party has signed, the title company will send it to record. This can take a few hours.

2. Depending on when the deed records, funding will follow. Some loans fund the same day, while others take up to 48 hours after recording. The home is officially closed once it is recorded. Don't stress about the funding being immediate—the lender and title company have the funds, it's just a process to transfer them into your bank account.

Once the deed records, we'll release keys to the new homeowner.