First Time Home Buyers

The outline below gives you a timeline for your transaction, shows you who is involved during the process, and what it takes to get you to your exciting closing day.

“I tell my buyers the first thing they should do is get their pre-qualification letter from one of our local lenders.” – Gaynell Blackshear

We have worked with many different lenders over the years, but local lenders have consistently provided the best service to our clients.

“Being able to reach your lender after hours and on weekends can take a lot of stress off of the buyers.” – Tye Blackshear

Communication is an important aspect to look for when choosing a lender.

The main document you want to look for from your lender is the Loan Estimate. Your agent can review this with you as soon as you receive it.

While the lender is preparing your pre-qualification letter, we will create a list of homes for you to match your needs and special requests.

How can we make sure you see new homes before any other buyers?

We set up an email program for you that will automatically send new listings as soon as they hit the market.

When you find the home that is perfect for you, will write up an offer and submit it to the seller’s agent. Our objective now is to prepare a strong and reasonable offer that gets the seller’s attention so they will accept it above any others submitted.

When both parties sign the contract, it becomes an executed contract, and no one else can buy the home unless you cancel your contract.

Congratulations on getting a home under contract! We can now move forward in the process of closing on your new home.

From here you will schedule your home inspections during your option period, and you and your agent will review the inspection reports.

Your agent will help you resolve any items of concern on your inspection.

As soon as the option period has passed, the survey will be ordered and reviewed as well as the home appraisal. In some cases, the seller may be able to provide a pre-existing survey and a new one will not be needed.

Over the next few weeks, you can expect to be in communication with your lender as they may request additional documentation to get a final loan approval.

Documents typically requested include: two years of tax returns, check stubs from previous months, and two months of bank statements. Your lender can fill you in on more details about the information they need to approve your loan.

Three days before we are scheduled to close on your home, the lender will provide you and your agent with an approved closing disclosure which details your itemized list of fees to purchase your home.

This closing disclosure will closely match the loan estimate that was provided to you when you first talked with the lender.

Once the title company has your documents prepared, we will meet at the title company to close on your home.

If there is a seller’s temporary lease negotiated in the contract, the sellers will have a few days to move out of the home after closing.

You will receive your keys and the garage door openers to the home after closing and funding. Congratulations, you are now a home owner!