Buyer's Guide

• Legible photo I.D. and social security card.

• Addresses for the previous 2 years (if renting, include landlord’s name and phone number).

• Name, address, phone number of employers (current and previous 2 years)
• Engagement letter (for new employment situations, citing dates and terms of your
  employment)

• 2 of most recent pay stubs and proof of any additional income including benefits, dividends,
  social security, retirement, rental income, etc.
• Last 2 years W-2s and/or 1099s
• If self-employed or commissioned, business/personal Income Tax Returns for the previous 2 years (with all schedules K-1s) and year-to-date Profit/Loss and Balance Sheet Statements

• Names, addresses, account numbers, and approximate account balances
• Last 3 month’s bank/savings account statements
• Checking, Savings, Investment Accounts and Retirement accounts

• Leases on rental property owned
• Settlement statements (previously owned property, sale of a business, etc.)
• Copy of divorce decree or Separation Agreement Bankruptcy with release
• Documentation of child support/alimony
• Transcripts from school if recent graduate

• Mortgage companies name, address, account number, and approx. balance; the market value
• HOA Bill on any properties
• Homeowners Insurance declarations page (reflects agent contact info, premium, and coverage period.

• Certificate of eligibility if applying for VA loan; copy of DD 214
• At the time of loan application, you will generally need to pay an application fee, appraisal fee, and credit report.

Once you find a house you love and you are ready to make an offer, we will give you advice about the price and terms to offer along with comparable sales to support purchase price. This will be a careful balance of your needs, what you can and are willing to pay, how much you want the house and consideration of what the seller may take. We will help prepare your offer, which includes your offer price, establishing contingencies, obtaining disclosures, and establishing a closing timeline. Be prepared to negotiate the purchase price if the seller presents a counteroffer.

Within 3 days of going under contract, earnest money will need to be submitted to the title company designated by the seller. The Earnest Money amount is determined by the sellers and agreed upon within accepted offer. These funds can be dropped off with personal check or cashiers check at title directly or wired.

• For the highest level of security, when wiring funds please contact the title company directly to ensure proper instructions.
• To contact title, obtain phone number through company website not via email you have received.

As part of the sales contract, you have the right to inspect the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and structural portions of the property along with any other concerns that you have about anything that affects the property. Think of the inspection as a “health” physical of the property. The property inspection is for things that you cannot see.

Inspections take around 4 hours to complete. Plan on meeting us and the inspector at the end of the inspection for them to point out any concerns about the property and to answer any questions we have about the property. The inspector will send us an itemized report with photos for our review and records. We highly suggest having the sewer scoped, the property scanned with infrared/thermal scanner to locate any active water leaks and to have the property tested for Radon.

For any issues pertaining to health and safety items found during inspection, we will submit an inspection objection, requesting the seller to repair/replace prior to closing or to offer a credit for the amount to repair/replace after closing. The seller will then submit an inspection resolution of terms they agree to complete. We will either sign seller's resolution, or we will be able to terminate the contract and receive our earnest money back.

If a lender is being used to finance, a home appraisal will be preformed by a randomly selected appraiser to evaluate the property and determine the market value of the property. The appraisal is sent to the lender to use to approve the loan value. An appraiser uses comparable properties in the area, current condition and upgrades of the subject property, location and market stats to determine property market value.

If the appraised value does not come in at purchase price, a resolution between buyer and seller will need to be agreed upon by appraisal resolution deadline. If a resolution is not agreed upon by both parties within deadline date, the contract will terminate and earnest money will be returned to the buyer.

Earnest money is an amount of money the seller has requested for us to “put down” showing we are serious buyers. You will already have known and agreed upon this amount prior to submitting an offer. If for any reason we terminate the contract outside of appropriate deadline timeframes, the seller could potentially keep these funds. If we terminate within timeframes, you will receive these funds back. Earnest money amount will be held by title and applied to your Cash Due at Closing/ Down Payment. Earnest money will be due within 3 business days of going under contract.

You have until this date to discuss and obtain homeowners insurance- If for any reason there are issues with insurance, you can break contract.