WORK WITH A
REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL

A real estate Broker will help you find a home, negotiate the contract and handle other details of your purchase process such as making sure inspections are done and that obligations are met in accordance with the contract. Your Broker will also keep in communication with you, the escrow company, your lender and the seller to make sure the transaction goes smoothly. It’s best to meet with a lender to be “pre-qualified” before looking at homes. That way you and your Broker will have a better idea of what loans you are qualified for. Your Broker will recommend several lenders for you to speak with. If you have any questions after you have spoken to the lenders, call your Broker.

Your Broker has access to all homes listed for sale. If you see a “for sale” sign in front of a home or see an advertisement, even if it is not listed with the company your Broker works with, call your Broker. In most cases, your Broker may have already seen the home or have information regarding the home or area that may be important to you. If you go to open houses, let the agent representing the home know that you are working with a Broker right away. The real estate community is a pretty small community and most likely your Broker and the agent representing the open house have worked with each other on other transactions or know each other on a more personal basis.

HOW REAL ESTATE AGENTS
ARE PAID

Real estate agents work on commission, not salary, and get paid only after your home search is over, the contract is negotiated and the transaction complete. Under the typical arrangement, the seller pays the commission to the real estate agent’s company, and the agent's services are free to the buyer. Most sellers pay 5% to 7% of the sales price.
Because most real estate transactions involve two brokers -- one that produces the buyer and one that helps the seller -- the commission is divided, usually 50-50, between the two brokerage companies. Your Broker will then get a percentage of what the brokerage company receives.

CLOSING COSTS

Typically you will need to put down 20% of the purchase price of your new home and the lender will loan you the other 80%. There are many different types of loans and some do not require you to put down less than 20% and sometimes more than 20%. There are other costs that you will need to pay such as escrow fees, title insurance fees, prorated property taxes, loan fees, and appraisal fees. A lender will give you what is called a “Good Faith Estimate.” That will give you an idea of what your loan costs will be. We can also ask the escrow company to give an estimate of what the escrow and additional closing costs are. Typically, the escrow and closing costs are about .5% to 1% of the purchase price. The loan fees will be in addition to those costs.

MOST IMPORTANTLY - -
IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS,
COMMUNICATE THEM TO YOUR BROKER!!!!

 

There are no stupid questions
and please, never “assume” anything.