So, you found your perfect home, now what? You fell in love with a home and now you’re thinking oh my gosh what do I do next? I haven’t thought past this point...
I’m going to explain the home buying process in 5 steps.
Dowload my free guide at the bottom of the page!
#1 Earnest Money
Before we submit the offer to the seller's agent, we need to determine the amount of earnest money you will be giving, which is typically 1% of the offer price. Earnest money is a check that signifies to the seller that you are an interested and serious buyer. The earnest money check needs to be delivered to the listing office typically within 3 days after an offer has been accepted depending on what you agreed upon in your contract. That check does get cashed, so make sure you do have the funds available in your account! The amount does get credited back to you at closing. It is very important to have the money delivered by the date stated in the contract since it could be considered breach of contract if it does not.
#2 Financing
In the presented offer we will also have to include what type of financing you will have, such as Conventional, FHA, VA, what the approximate interest rate will be, how much money you're putting down, and the term of the loan. This is why it’s important to have a mortgage pre-approval before you start searching for a home. You will also have to include a date by when you would like to close. Since most mortgage approval processes take at least 30 days, a common closing is between 30-60 days from the offer acceptance. You will also need to have the loan application and loan process started within 10 business days of the offer acceptance. If you want to learn more about different types of financing you can click on the link above and that will take you to my other video where I explain that.
#3 Attorney Review and Inspection
From the date the offer is accepted by the seller, the buyer now has 5 business days for an attorney to review the contract and to have an inspection performed on the property. After that, we have 10 business days to negotiate on any finding during the home inspection. You will also need to obtain a home insurance quote within 10 business days.As you can see the first 10 days are going to be quite busy, but when you're working with a great realtor, attorney, and lender it really makes this process go very smooth.
#4 Next steps
Next, there is one more important piece, the appraisal. Your lender will order an appraisal on the home you're purchasing because they want to make sure the home is worth what you are paying for it.
#5 Closing fees
This is the amount of funding that you will need to have available at closing. A large amount of that will be for the home’s title fees and lender fees. The various title fees can add up to approximately $2800, however, lender fees vary quite largely from lender to lender depending on the mortgage structure. Some will charge points, others will just have higher processing fees and others could charge the processing fee upfront. The attorney fee due at closing varies from $400-$500. One of the most common upfront fees that you will be paying before closing is to your home inspector which can vary with the size of the home and ranges from $400-$700 based on that.
I know there are a lot of dates and steps to keep track of, so I've included a link where you can download my free date tracker.
There is a lot of price calculating that you need to consider when you start planning to buy or sell a home.
In order to make things a little easier for you, I've assembled a list of the lifespan and average cost of replacement of the common items that could need replacement in a home. I've been through quite a few moves and knowing information like this ahead of time can make the whole process go more smoothly, because you know what to expect.
I am here to educate and guide you through the process, so that you can can have the best experience possible. Feel free to reach out and let me know how I can help you.
Thanks,
Alex Schultz
We quickly went from a housing market that we knew very well to one with a lot of uncertainty with how things will look in the future. Now, I don’t know about you, but when major events like this happen my mind jumps to the crash of 2008 because we all still remember very clearly how difficult those times were. My parents were one of the many families that had to foreclose on their home, and that is actually where my passion for real estate began. I wanted to help others to not end up in a situation where they were being taken advantage of, so it became my passion to learn anything and everything about real estate.
The housing market right now is very different than it was back then. In 2008 the market crash was caused by the actual housing entities. Loans were given to anyone and everyone whether or not they were able to afford the mortgage. Since then and until now the standards for giving out loans have remained conservative.
Appreciation of homes has also remained a lot more stable than it was before the crash. Additionally, we don’t have a huge surplus of inventory like we did in 2008, we are actually at the opposite end and have a shortage of available homes. The biggest difference is that prior to the market crash of 2008, people were refinancing their homes at a high rate and taking the money out which then made it impossible for them to make their monthly payments.
From 2005-2007 there was a total of $824 Billion dollars in refinancing compared to from 2017-2019 where there was just $232 Billion. All of these are huge differences in our current housing market compared to the 2008 market.
Now that we are coming up into the busy Spring real estate season, there are still many safe options for buyers and sellers that still need to or want to move in the near future.
If you have any questions about whether you should sell your house or buy a house please reach out to me and I would more than happy to answer them and provide some guidance.
Do you need to buy or sell a home? I can help!
Since we have all been on our stay at home order in Illinois to fight the spread of the Coronavirus, there has been some uncertainty in the state of the housing market.
Housing is an essential business and there are still plenty of people who NEED to buy and sell their homes.
Your safety is my number one concern, and I would like to tell you about the services that I can offer during these difficult times.
One of the best tools that we can use right now is Video Chat! –
I can meet with you and your family using the Facetime, Facebook messenger video, or any of the other video chat services available. If you want to look at homes, I can preview them first and show them to you live. If you need to sell, you can show me your home and I can offer tips and advice on what we can do to get it sold.
Open houses are not allowed at this time, but a good alternative is live video marketing. I can host a virtual open house in your home and allow others to see its features as well as tour the floorplan while answering questions.
Finally, you can still go out and look at homes. I will work with you and everyone’s safety as my number one priority.
Please feel free to call or email to discuss all of the options that I can offer you. Thanks for reading and I hope to hear from you soon!
Are you in love with interior design and are always on the lookout for the latest trends? So am I! I love everything real estate and of course that includes designing! Staging and keeping up with the current trends is such a big part of real estate. I have included all of my research from multiple sources about interior design changes and the new trends in 2020!
#1 Farm house style.
I personally love the farm house style. I love me some subway tiles, barn doors and linen. People definitely have some mixed feelings about the farm house design but it is not leaving us yet! Thanks to Chip and Joanna Gaines I think farmhouse design will be here to stay for a while. I think it gives a cozy and homy feeling to the area. But in 2020 it will be more of a chick design with more patters and colors and less of a cluttered busy feel.
#2 Mixing Patters.
So for a while matching was more popular than a mix of things but now different accent pillows, wall paper, rugs or paintings do not have to be the same! Mixing Patters and colors has become more popular and it will continue to do so in the new year. I think since grey and neutral tones have been popular for so long we are starting to crave those patterns and colors again for a change.
#3 Two Toned Kitchens
They are becoming more and more popular especially black and white! It just creates such a great contrast and since so many of us love our white cabinets this is such a simple way to give your kitchen a new look. You can simply paint the bottom cabinets or the island black and you’re in style! If you’re too worried about the black you can also go with a grey color and add a natural wood as a shelve or countertop and give that area a brighter warmer feel.
#4Neutral Woods
I have been crazy about natural wood elements in the house since I went to Mexico in August. The whole hotel was designed with natural wood. It was so elegant but warm and gave so much natural brightness to an area. You can add a floating shelf, barn door or an island countertop to give your area a little bit of that feel.
#5 Black paint
It is the new popular interior color and especially mate black. Black with hues of Green or Blue are also among popular colors. Dark colors are making their way back. You can keep up with this trend by create a mate black accent wall, paint a bedroom, or your kitchen cabinets or an island. It would be an easy and inexpensive way to transform your space. Just make sure to not paint a small dark space black since it will close in the area and make it seem smaller. However when paired with the right accents it is an elegant calming choice.
#6 Mixing metals
You no longer have to have all of your metals matching, adding some gold kitchen hardware with black light fixtures and stainless steel appliances is in. I am very excited about this trend in 2020 as I actually did this in my kitchen and bathroom last year. I think mixing all of the metals gives a space more character and uniqueness. Why should we be confined to just one when we can use them all!
#7Using Geometric Designs.
The Moroccan design is no longer popular as it was so widely used for many years. 2020 design style involves using geometric shapes to add character and a design element to your space.
#8 Kitchen Backsplash
It is getting more bold with brighter colors and unique patters. In style is also carrying your countertop material over to the backsplash and creating a seamless smooth look.
#9 Using Classic Velvet Furniture.
Velvet furniture gives a room a warm comfortable feeling and the best part is that it comes in many different colors. I think velvet furniture is a great decor item because you can add so much character to a space.
#10 Decluttered Open Space.
Minimalistic style is still popular as we’ve seen in 2019 but with more personal art and decor vs bare white walls.
Now for the bonus! Even though neutral tones are still In. Trends are becoming more bold and colorful so the best way to achieve that look is to use this color wheel! It makes it really easy as you just pair the colors opposite of each other which are called complimentary colors and this give you the ability to decorate with a lot of colors that will look beautiful together.
Let me know if you have any design questions!
475186827
Keller Williams North Shore West
350 N. Milwaukee Ave #200
Libertyville, IL 60048
alex@schultzhomesales.com
If you are ready to start your buying or selling process
give me a call. I'm happy to answer all your questions.
