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For Buyers


 

If you are here to search all properties in Westchester County go back to the Home Search Button on the Home Page for 100% of Westchester's MLS Listings.

Below gives information on the process of buying a home. 

 

Buying A Home

In today's market many buyers prefer to search the web on their own before getting calls from real estate agents. Please feel free to explore on my site but know if you have any questions or need assistance I am here to help. There are 100% of MLS listings through-out Westchester County on this site. Just go into Search Homes. If you have questions, please feel free to contact me by e-mail or phone.

 

This section includes information and real estate services for buying a home in White Plains, Rye, Hartsdale, and the surrounding communities in Westchester County NY Homes For Sale. View My Listings, My Office Listings and then I recommend you try the HOME SEARCH. As a professional Realtor, I am privy to some of the best homes for sale before they actually hit the market. Simply fill out the PROPERTY REQUEST form, and you will start receiving listings shortly that meet your specific requirements.

 

The Step by Step Process of Buying A Home

Their are two very important steps to take simultaneously when purchasing a home. The first is to find an experienced Realtor who can assist you in finding that perfect home and then can negotiate the transaction successfully for you. Pick a Realtor who listens to your needs and won't waste your time showing you properties that don't match you priorities.

The second step is finding a lender who can match a loan program to your specifics profile. 

Loan Officer: Before you do anything else sit down with a loan officer and share with him what you would like to accomplish with this purchase. You may want to speak to family and friends for the name of someone or you may ask your real estate agent. She will find someone who will be certain the transaction gets to closing. 

A loan officer will be able to advise you on just how best to proceed. In particular, if you are currently a property owner who plans on using the proceeds of your sale to purchase a new home, discuss with the loan officer all the options you may have to make your purchase that are directly linked to you selling your home. You may qualifiy and be able to make an offer on a new home, non-contingent on the sale of your current house. This will make your terms and conditions for the offer much stronger and may be the difference of getting your dream home or losing it to another purchaser.

Once you have decided how you will finance your purchase, get a pre-approval for purchase. A pre-approval is your key tool in showing a seller that you are a serious buyer and in fact you will not be able to make an offer on a property without one. Don't hold off thinking that it will take you months to find the right home. Should you find the perfect house your first weekend, you may lose out if you find out on Monday that there are multiple offers. Without your pre-approval you won't be able to present a valid offer and you won't have time to get one.  It is essential that you get yourself in the best negotiating position you can be in and that means getting Pre-Approved with a reputable lender.  Get it done early. It will eliminate a stressfull situation.

A pre-approval letter is much stronger than a pre-qualification letter. A pre-approval letter will not only check your credit but will also verified all your income and assests in writing. A pre-qualification will check your credit but will still have to verifiy in writing all the information you have given verbally.

If you are doing an income verification loan be certain that you get all your paperwork to the lender in a timely fashion so  he can give you a Pre-Approval where income and assets have been verified (A stronger tool for you to use than a Pre-qualification). Even in changing markets there is always competition. If you are doing 90-100% financing be prepared to possibly provide income, employment position, time employed and other pertinent information to the selling agent if necessary. The selling agent is often responsible for recommending an offer to her sellers, she may need more than a pre-approval letter to make her seller's feel comfortable with an offer.  

Home Inspection: Line up your home inspector before you find a house.They now must be licensed in NY state for your agent to recommend someone. You may want to ask friends and family who have purchased recently who they used as a home inspector. If you need assistance with finding someone, ask your real estate agent. They should be able to provide you with the name of several good inspectors. You should interview these people over the phone to find out what they actually cover in their inspection and what they will charge. Some inspectors do not do termite inspections and if your new home has oil heat you will need to have the tank tested by a company that handles that specifically. You may also wish to have a radon gas test done, lead paint test, lead water test, or perhaps mold test done.  Having your inspector lined up prior to finding that perfect house will help to make the purchasing  process run smoothly. In Westchester County we do not take binders on offers to purchase. What that means is that you are not bound nor is the seller to an offer until the actual contract is signed by both parties. The contract must be signed after inspections have been completed. So, once you have an acceptable offer, the house will continue to get shown to other potential buyers until contracts are signed. You want this time frame to be minimal so that you don't lose the house to a higher offer. To do this you want to get inspections done quickly.   offer has been accepted by a seller) neither of you are bound to that offer until you have both sides (buyer and seller) sign the contract. If you want the home you picked out, having your inspector and attorney will save time and help you to get to contract quickly.

Attorney: You also want to line up an attorney. Once again you may want to ask friends and family for recommendations if you don't have an attorney. Just realize that if you use a real estate attorney, the process usually runs smoother for obvious reasons. Often if they are local and familiar with local procedures it also helps to eliminate possible difficulties. If you don't know of an attorney, ask your real estate agent. We work with attorneys all the time and can recommend good people.   

 

Real Estate Agent: Make certain that your real estate agent you pick is someone you communicate well with since you will want the agent to listen carefully to your housing needs. This will help eliminate your time getting wasted. Also, don't use more than one agent in an area. We all have the same access to the same MLS in Westchester County and it is unusual for there to be many homes if any homes that are not on the mulitple listing service in lower Westchester County. By utilizing one agent who communicates well with you, you will eliminate the possibility of getting mutlple listings of the same house from several different agents. You will also eliminate the possiblity of being driven up to a house you have already seen with a different agent...a waste of your time. 

You will determine with your real estate agent whether you are working with a buyer's agent or broker's agent. She will have detailed information for you to read to help you determime which choice is right for you. Once this is done, you will be on your way to identifying listings and homes you are interested in seeing. Make certain you communicate what you like and dislike about the property. This information will help your agent determine what type of properties to send you and will help eliminate sending you things you won't like and wasting your time.

How your agent communicates your offer and interest in the home will depend on whether it is a sellers market, a buyers market, a stable market or currently a market in flux...whether there are other offers on the house, whether the listing agent will negotiate each offer received individually or if there will be a wait period ending in a "Highest and Best" situation.

The real estate market from 2000-2006 was a strong seller's market whereby there were many more buyers than houses available for sale. This has changed to a market in flux. But don't be confused by what you hear on the National Media. Real Estate is a local issue and what happens Nationally may not be what is occuring in your market. We have been fortunate in Westchester County not to see drastic price reductions in housing value up to this point. It is a great time to buy however, since many homes have come down in price and since there are more homes on the market there is more ability to negotiate your price. Interest rates are still low as well. If your credit is good and you have 20% to put down on a purchase, there is money out there to be had and banks will write mortgages. If you are financing more than 80% of your purchase, please check with a loan officer as to the practicality of buying.

Please note if you must use the equity from the sale of your current home to purchase a new home, you must then have your current home on the market and with an accepted offer before you can present an offer on a new home. Seller's will not wait for you to market your current home and find a buyer. They will move onto the next buyer who has less risk.     

 

 

What Happens in a Seller's Market?- When there are fewer homes for sale and more buyers we have what is called a seller's market. In that case most homes on the market will get multiple offers from multiple buyers and the competition to purchase a home can be quite fierce. When multiple offers are presented more than likely all offers will be held (no counter given) until such time as the seller decided with their listing agent to go back to all interested parties and ask them to give their very highest offer (price) and the best terms and conditions (listing all contingencies or in recent history, all non-contingencies) they can come to the table with. This makes it particularly difficult for the buyer and their agent but it is in fact the type of market we have seen in the last several years due to the low interest rates we have experienced.  

If you are fortunate to find a home that is not in high demand, you will be able to negotiate a price and terms and conditions with the homeowner. In a changing marketsit takes great care to know how to present your offer. 

What Happens in a Buyer's Market? - In a buyers' market there are more homes than buyers to purchase them. You have a better chance of negotiating on a home and issues that need to be addressed. However, even in a buyer's market there can be competition. Be prepared to possibly have to go higher in price than you originally planned if another offer comes along. In a market in flux remember that the list price you are seeing the home in may not be the original list price and therefore the homeowner may have already compensated for the market. It is possible that you will not be able to negotiate much more in terms of price. There is no such rule as 10% below asking price is the price the house should sell for. Real Estate agents do not price homes at 10% more than market value.  

A Stable Market?  A stable market is one where prices for houses have stabilized and the mix of properties for sale and buyer out there who are looking to buy are pretty much equal. You can still negotiate in this market but the swings in price and terms is not so great unless the house is over priced for the marketplace. A home is worth what the marketplace is willing to pay, not what a buyer, themselves alone is willing to pay. You need to pay attention to competitive priced homes and sales over the last 3-6 months.

Making an Offer

Once you have found a home you are interested in, it's time to present an offer. You can ask your agent for comparable sales in the neighborhood which may or may not help you in deciding on an offer amount. What you need to determine is what the house is ultimately worth to you; market conditions will dictate how your agent suggests you present your offer. Whether it is a buyer's market, a seller's market or a stable market will have a distinct impact on what you can expect. In the last 5 years or so we have been experiencing a Seller's Market. The market however is now changing...I would classify it as a more stable market but far from a Buyer's Market. 

The Offer

Your Offer will be written out or presented by your real estate agent and will consist of two parts: 1. the price 2. The terms and conditions. Price is self explanatory but terms and conditions specifically relate to the following:

How much you will put down at contract signing (your down payment/average is 10% of purchase price); How much you are mortgaging or if it is a cash deal; What the offer is contingent on: ie. mortgage, selling a current home (if it is not contingent on selling your property your pre-approval letter must state this), inspections (home, termite and radon...possible lead paint, mold etc.), any other special conditions and finally your timing of when you wish to close on the property. You also need to present your written pre-approval from you lending institution at this time.

 

Once your offer has been presented, the seller can do one of three things: reject your offer as too low or the terms and conditions unacceptable, accept your offer or counter your offer. Countering your offer means that they will present a new lower price than the list price but higher than your offer to consider and possibly ask for different terms and conditions. If both parties can agree to an offer or counter offer, we have what is called a meeting of the minds and therefore an acceptable offer. 

Be aware that in Westchester County, NY the real estate agent does not write the contract and we do not take binders on offers. What that means is that until the contracts are drawn up by an attorney and are signed by both the seller and the buyer, the offer is not binding on either party and the house will continue to get shown to other prespective buyers. If a more pleasing offer is presented to the seller, the seller has the option of taking that offer in place of the acceptable offer. In the same way, if the buyer determines that they do not wish to continue the process of buying the house, they too can back out of the offer.

As the buyer, if you are determined to purchase this house, you need to get your home inspection completed as quickly as possible since a contract will not be presented until this is done. Once the inspection is completed it is important to determine if anything major needs to be renegotiated.

Once all issues are resolved the real estate agent will draw up a Memorandum of Sale which is a document the seller's attorney uses to draw up the contract. The contract will be reviewed by the buyer's attorney for any needed changes. Once the final contract is issued it is the buyer who is the first one to sign it. The buyer sends along with the signed contract their down payment which will be held in the seller's attorney's escrow account til closing. Once the seller has signed the contract, the house will no longer be shown. A copy of the contract is given to both parites and the buyer presents the copy to their lending institution so the mortgage processing can be finalized. This process will include an appraisal to be done by the bank on the property.

At this time the buyer should start calling movers to get on their calendars but be aware that the closing date in the contract is only an estimated closing date and can move 3-4 weeks easily on either side...make the mover aware of this. Booking early with a mover is particularly important if your closing is to take place during the summer months...movers get booked during this busy season.

The buyer's attorney will also order a title search on the property. Once the bank has sent all the pertinent information to their underwriters and the title search is complete, the house is ready to be closed on. Once everything is ready to close the attorneys and the banks attorney will determine a closing date with the buyer and seller.

The buyer should call the utility company just before closing to tell them the bills should be forwarded in their names from now on. The buyer also want to make arrangements with the phone company and cable company since by waiting to close may cause you to have to wait for a date these companies can come out to the new home.       

This basically simplifies the buying process but give you an over view of what to expect.

 

Other Helpful Information

Explore the buttons on the left! They are designed to assist you in answering the many questions you may have involving the purchase of a home. I provide you with free reports designed to assist you in your search. The LOCAL RESOURCES section contains useful information regarding communities, schools, local area entertainment and NYC entertainment, transportation information, hotels, home and garden, maps and Westchester weather  as well as real estate information from sites that have been researched for you. Take a peak, I think you will find it very convenient and helpful. 

The MORTGAGE CENTER will assist you with your financial questions and needs and give you the option to be contacted by one of several of the finest mortgage people in the area who can answer all your financial questions.

If you are selling your home, please be sure to visit the section FOR SELLERS to obtain an online market estimate of your home.

I hope you enjoy your visit and come back often. I am always available for personal service by phone or e-mail, so please contact me with questions any time! 914-329-6787 or e-mail at Deb@HomesByDeb.com.

Buying a home is an exciting time in one's life. Making the smart move of choosing a REALTOR® is your first step to ensuring that your new home and community meets your needs. My services and experience range from financial aid to helping you find the home that best suits you and your family. For your convenience, I also provide listings by email. I pride myself on repeat business and hope you'll come to understand why.

 


How I Can Help In the Process 

As Your Agent, I Will:

  • Assure that you see the properties in the area that meet your criteria. And provide you with a means in which you can search yourself, if you like.
  • Guide you step by step through the entire home buying process, from finding homes that meet your criteria to assisting you with finding some of the best financing options.
  • Discuss your housing options to help you avoid costly mistakes.
  • Answer your questions about the local market area or direct you to sources to assist you in answering these questions, including schools, neighborhoods, the local economy, and more.

Before You Start Looking For Your New Home:

  • The most important first step is to discuss with a financial institution what it is you are trying to accomplish with this home purchase. Make sure that you obtain a pre-approval letter from a reputable institution. Make certain that they have not only run a credit report but better yet have also verified your income and assets. The pre-approval letter is your greatest tool to tell a seller that you are a serious buyer. It must be presented with all Offers to Purchase property. If you don't have a pre-approval letter or,  less desirably, a pre-qualification letter, your offer will not be considered.   
  • You may wish to check your credit rating. If you don't, the financial institution you plan to finance your purchase with will do this. It can be helpful to run a report on your own so that you can straighten out any information that is not correct prior to the time when you need to obtain a pre-approval quickly.
  • With the information you have received from your finacial loan officer, determine a comfortable monthly budget for your new purchase, including down payment and monthly mortgage payment including taxes.
  • Choose a REALTOR® that you trust and who understands your needs. It is most important that you communicate well with this person and feel that they understand your needs. 
  • Determine what neighborhood best matches your requirements.
  • Identify important features you need your new home to have and list them in order of priority. Depending on your price range, you may find yourself having to compromise on some of the items you first thought of being essential.  

Closing Costs to Expect:

In general a rule of thumb is that closing Costs can run 3-4% of the purchase price

  • Lender fees include charges for loan processing, underwriting, preparation and establishing an escrow account, credit report, appraisal of the property, bank attorney fee.
  • Third-party fees include charges for insurance, title search, and other inspections such as termites, radon, lead and home inspections.
  • Government fees include deed recording and state & local mortgage taxes.
  • Escrow and interest fees include homeowner's insurance, loan interest, real estate taxes, and occasionally private mortgage insurance.


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Deb Altieri