Real Estate Matters : 8.10.2021

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine (WAGM) -Now that you’ve decided to take the plunge into homeownership, its time to explore what you can expect from the home buying process itself. In this week’s Real Estate Matters Shawn Cunningham continues her discussion with Realtor Stephanie Fields on how to get through the chaotic process with ease.

You’ve selected the home and neighborhood you want to move into. But there’s a lot of moving parts before you can arrive at the destination to new homeownership. Now comes the next task...making an offer.

Stephanie Fields Realtor, Fields Realty LLC.

“Your real estate agent will help you decide how much money you want to offer for the house, along with any conditions you want to ask for. Your agent will then present the offer to the seller’s agent; the seller will either accept your offer or issue a counteroffer.”

Shawn Cunningham NO STANDUP

The back and forth offer debate can have many complicated moving parts...

“Before submitting your offer, take another look at your budget. This time, factor in estimated closing costs(which can total anywhere from 2% to 5% of the purchase price), commuting costs, and any immediate repairs and mandatory appliances you may need before you can move in. Think ahead: It’s easy to be ambushed by higher or unexpected utilities and other costs if you are moving from a rental to a larger home. You might request energy bills from the past 12 months, for example, to get an idea of average monthly costs”

Next comes the task of having the home inspected. Fields that’s an important element that homebuyers need to invest in...

“Its a very minimal expense compared to an 80-100 thousand dollar purchase it does seem a lot but its a minute expense considering the type of ourchase you’re making.”

And there are other important aspects of the inspection...and there are other steps even after that....

“we negotiate back and forth once you agree people either move past the inspection report then the next step would be the appraisal and preparing to close and if we can’t get past the inspection report the buyer is just not satisfied with the inspection the buyer and seller cannot agree the buyer will get the earnest deposit back anf then they’ll continue looking and then the seller will put the home back on the market again.”

She says that can happen. But don’t lose heart,. She says going through the right steps and having the right team including a realtor involved can eventually land you into the right brand new home. Shawn Cunningham, NS 8.

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