Purchasing a home is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. The agents at Jimmy Brown, REALTORS®, firmly believe that you should be properly informed so you can make an educated decision that will bring lasting enjoyment.
Therefore, we have compiled the following buyer information as a guide. As always, we will assist you personally, whenever you are ready.
Buyer’s Agent
Texas real estate law allows you, the buyer, to have broker representation in the transaction. You and the broker of your choice may enter into an agreement for the broker to be your buyer’s agent, representing you.
As your buyer’s agent, we will help you find the best home for your money, determine the home’s condition, negotiate the purchase, find the best money, and close the transaction. As your agent, we will be with you through the entire transaction, ready to help you become a part of our community.
Finding the Best Home for You
How do you wade through the multitude of properties? Signs, flyers, brochures…do you know the neighborhoods, the schools, the distances? It can get very confusing and time consuming!
Some buyers like to remain “free,” using lots of agents, expecting to get more service with more people working for them. All agents have access to the same properties, but most agents do not have the time to spend finding that special property for a buyer who may or may not remain loyal to that agent.
The best way to find the right home is for you to pick an agent you trust to work in your best interest…one who knows Denton, who has been here for years, who keeps up with the market, who knows the history of the houses, and will give you the personal service you deserve…and stay with that agent.
We are that real estate professional. We will work with you to establish your home priorities by listening to you, getting to know you and learning what you want in a home. We will search our computer base for all properties meeting your criteria, eliminate those that don’t, view suitable properties prior to your arrival to save you time, and provide you with tax, school, and neighborhood information, property histories, and sales comparisons to help you decide on an offering price.
As members of the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems, Inc., MLS, we have access to every property listed by every agency in the entire Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. We know what is new on the market each day, and we know the true values of the properties. It is our job to find you the right house at the right price.
We are not high pressure salesmen depending upon a large volume of sales to pay our expensive overhead. We are a small company offering you high tech, professional…yet totally personal…service. We are your neighbors.
Determining the Home’s Condition
You’ve picked out the house of your dreams and you are thinking of making an offer! The house looks great, but what is its real condition? You don’t want any surprises.
Texas law requires that most sellers give you a Property Condition Disclosure as a part of the sales contract. The seller must honestly disclose what he knows about the property, but it is not a guarantee that the property has no other problems than those listed on the disclosure. The seller may not be aware of some conditions.
After studying the disclosure, if you decide to continue with the purchase, the purchase contract also gives you the opportunity to have an “option period”. This gives you a pre-determined period of time in which you can have the property inspected, etc., and determine if you still wish to purchase the property. If you decide not to purchase during that option period, you will be released from the contract and your earnest money will be refunded to you.
During the option period, we recommend you have the property inspected by a licensed, professional Property Inspector. For a reasonable fee, he will inspect all the mechanical and structural systems, showing you how the systems work, what problems there are, and what possibly needs repair. You will want to be present for this inspection if possible.
You also have the option of requesting or purchasing a one-year Residential Service Contract, which covers certain systems and appliances. The cost is reasonable, the deductible low, and the extra assurance is comforting. There are numerous licensed Home Inspectors and Residential Service Contract Providers available. We will be happy to assist you with these decisions.
Negotiating the Contract
Texas law requires that real estate sales agreements be in writing. As your Buyer’s Agent, we will represent you. We will provide you with all the information we know about the property. We will also provide comparable sales information to help you determine what price and conditions you want in your offer; then we will prepare the contract for you and present it to the seller’s agent.
The seller can accept your offer, counter it or reject it. If it is countered or rejected, we will work with you in determining if you want to continue with the negotiations. Whatever the decisions, we will be with you throughout the negotiating process, and beyond.
How Much Home Can You Buy?
If you are considering buying a home, you first need to determine how much home you can afford. A thirty-minute phone visit with a mortgage lender of your choice will help you determine your maximum loan amount, with no obligation.
How Much Will Your Payments Be?
Finding the Best Financing
Finding the right loan is very important. After all, you will be living with it possibly as long as you live in the house. However, there are almost as many loan options as there are houses! Which one is the best for you? That’s where we can help.
Our first step will be to determine the maximum loan available to you, how much you have available for down payment and closing costs, whether you need a VA, FHA, conventional uninsured, conventional insured, fixed rate, adjustable rate, First Time Homebuyers, HAP program…and the list goes on and on.
We will work with numerous lending institutions to find the best loan for you and your particular circumstances. There is a “best” loan for you and we will help you find it prior to negotiating your contract so you will be negotiating from a position of knowledge.
Closing the Transaction
You have found the right house, negotiated the contract, finished the inspections and found the right loan. Soon the house will be yours.
The “closing” is when you (and your lender) pay for the house and the seller conveys title to you. It can be a nerve-wracking experience.
In Texas, closings are generally held at a Title Company, with a Closing (or Escrow) Officer. The lender will have your mortgage papers prepared and sent to the title company with closing instructions. The deed will be prepared and the title company will complete a “closing statement” determining your costs and the amount of cash needed to close the transaction. Normally, the title company closing officer will send us a preliminary closing statement a day or days prior to closing. We will call you and let you know how much money you need to bring to closing. The funds must be certified funds, so you will need time to go to your bank.
There will be a large stack of papers to sign, especially if a lender is involved. After you and the seller have signed, the lender will release the loan funds to the title company. At that time, the sale will be “closed and funded”. Usually keys and possession are not given to the buyer until this happens; therefore, it is very important that everything goes as scheduled.
We will be with you through the closing transaction. Unlike some large companies, we will not
be so busy with other customers that we just send you by yourself or with a staff member. Sometimes, problems arise at closing. As your personal Buyer’s Agent, we will be with you to make sure the property is closed and funded as scheduled. We are with you from contract to closing, and beyond.