It is still a great time to buy a home in San Diego. Prices are still down and mortgage interest rates are low. Although it is still a buyer’s market, the number of home sales has risen. This is due to having a large number of buyers in the San Diego market, which includes investors and first time homebuyers.
In today’s real estate market, properties sell relatively quickly if they are priced properly. It is not uncommon to have multiple offers on a listed home.
Here are the basic steps that you will need to take, when you plan to purchase a home or income property:
Get pre-qualified: Unless you are paying cash, you will need to select a bank or mortgage broker and have them pre-qualify you for a loan. By getting pre-qualified, you will know the amount for which you qualify. You will be prepared with a lender letter when you are ready to submit an offer.
Find a realtor: It is important to find a full-time, seasoned realtor. A good and experienced agent will work with you before, during and after the sales transaction, and will guide you through everything you need to know for a successful home purchase.
Set your criteria: It is helpful to determine what you want in a home. Typical criteria include location, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, condition, lot size, upgrades and price. Knowing what you want in a home will narrow down the properties you review and make your search easier. There are many things to take into consideration when buying a home and a good realtor will help you through each step of the way.
Start looking: Although there are many ways to view homes, the most effective ways are to have your real estate agent email you the homes that meet your criteria. This way you can preview all these properties by looking at each listing with pictures and detailed information. This will help eliminate many homes that may meet your basic criteria, but for many other reasons are not right for you. By having the listings emailed to you, you can look at them at a time that is convenient for you, whether it be early in the morning with your cup of coffee or late at night with your goblet of wine.
Make an offer: When you find the property that feels like home and are ready to make an offer, it is recommended that you work with your agent quickly to submit the offer. You will need to be prepared and have your pre-qualified or pre-approval letter from your lender ready along with your deposit check, which is usually at least 1 percent of the price you are offering. You will also want to determine what the appropriate price is to offer on the property by working with your agent and looking at comparable sales that have recently happened in the immediate area. There are several factors to take into consideration; whether or not there are multiple offers in on the property, how long the home has been on the market, whether or not it is priced properly for today’s market and the condition.
Open escrow: Once you get an accepted offer, escrow will be opened for your transaction. Your earnest money deposit check will be given to escrow and they will deposit it in their trust account where it will be held until the close of escrow. You will receive escrow instructions from your escrow office, which you will need to fill out and send directly back to them. Your escrow officer is a neutral party who will be responsible for many aspects of your transaction.
Buyer responsibilities: As a buyer, you will be responsible for tasks during the course of the escrow period. Some buyer responsibilities include, but are not limited to, doing a home inspection on the property, getting the appraisal done, obtaining your final loan approval, reviewing and filling out your escrow instructions, disclosures and various related documents and paperwork, getting insurance on the home, reviewing conditions and restrictions, if applicable, transferring the utilities into your name, changing your address with the U.S. Post Office, doing a final walk through on the home before the close of escrow and a variety of other tasks. As a general rule, you have the right as a buyer to ask for any “reasonable” repairs from the seller. The seller is not automatically required to do the repairs, because this is a negotiable part of the escrow.
Close escrow: Towards the end of escrow, the lender will send loan documents to escrow for you to sign. Once they are signed, the loan documents will be sent back to the lender to go in line for funding. Once the lender funds the loan, the escrow office will set up the property to be recorded into your name the next business day after the funding has occurred. At this time, you become the new owner of the home and escrow is complete. Your agent will then make arrangements to provide you with the keys to your new home. Then all you have to do is live happily ever after.
San Diego remains one of the most desirable places in the world to live. While most cities have continued to experience a decline in home prices in the last year, San Diego has led the nation in price increases, even though they have been small increases. Keep in mind, there are many benefits to owning a home, which I will share with you in the near future.
Until then, remember there’s no place like home! A California native, Trent St. Louis currently lives in Hillcrest and works as a full time Realtor at the Metropolitan Group.
