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Preparation to Buy a Home

Congratulations on your decision to purchase a new home. Purchasing a new home is both exciting and promising. Joanne Parker and Associates is committed to making this venture a positive experience for you. We offer you professional and conscientious service to fulfill your needs in helping you find a new home.

For the majority of persons, purchasing a home represents their single highest investment. We understand and respect the importance of your financial investment in a home. We take seriously that where you choose to live is supremely important.

Determine needs

Buying a home takes considerable work! Preparation is key. There are several aspects that need your attention prior to searching for and looking at homes. Making preparation and decisions on the following crucial tasks will enable us to work with you in a partnership for the purpose of helping you meet your goals. Attention to these details will enable us to serve you better and forge a productive partnership.

First , timing is important. You will need to decide on your timeline for making a purchase. This is key, since market conditions can and often do change drastically in a short period of time. The availability and demand for homes waxes and wanes over time, and prices can either rise or fall for a host of reasons. Once we know your time frame, we can then offer you the type of assistance appropriate to your needs.

Second , you will need to determine what your personal and/or family needs are in a home. You will need to identify:

Number of Bedrooms
Number of Bathrooms
Square Footage and property dimension needs
Type of Home: Condo, Townhouse, Stick Built Home, Modular or Manufactured
Style of Home: Ranch, Colonial, stories, etc.
Location preference: city, country, suburban, etc.

Third, you will need to decide what area you want to live in and why. For example, Wilmington and the surrounding Tri-County area offers many possibilities with a wide spectrum of neighborhoods with a variety of types and styles of homes, and price ranges. You've heard the saying the three most important things in buying or selling a home are, “Location, location, location.” This is true in many ways, not just financial. We know that answering the following questions (and more) will be crucial in your decision.

Are there any special needs for you or your family that are important in terms of location?
What about proximity to schools, medical care?
How far do you want to travel to and from work?
How close do you want to be to recreation opportunities- the beach, boating, etc.?
How close do you need to be to public transportation, the airport, to shopping?
How much property do you need or want with your home?
Are accessibility to the city and its amenities important to you?
Is the tax rate important to you as to whether to live in the county or city?

Fourth , you will need to decide on what your price range is for purchasing a home.

Loan Pre-qualification and Pre-Approval

To determine what your price range is for a new home we suggest that you contact a lender and meet with him/her. He/she will review your financial status with you, qualify you for an amount of a loan and look at options on types of loans you might want to consider. Lenders can pre-qualify you, and in some instances may pre-approve you for a loan.

There are key differences between pre-qualification and pre-approval. Loan pre-qualification is a relatively simple process. The lender obtains basic information regarding your financial status and gives you an amount for which you may qualify.

Please note that the pre-qualified figure is determined on the information you provide and pre-qualified buyers in most cases are not in as strong a position as pre-approved buyers. Why? A pre-approved buyer is actually approved for a maximum loan of a certain amount. As a pre-approved Buyer when making an Offer you place yourself in a stronger position than other buyers since they may only have pre-qualification.

Pre-approval is a much more detailed process and takes more time. The lender will secure all needed information regarding your past and present financial picture. Once the lender does this he/she will be able to give you an exact amount of how much you qualify for in a transaction (contingent on the type of loan). Being pre-approved communicates to the seller that you are a ready, willing and able buyer. Thus, being pre-approved is more advantageous than being simply pre-qualified. It gives you and us the confidence that when you identify a home that meets your needs and make an Offer it will be a strong Offer.

Once you have met with your lender with this knowledge in hand you will know:

how much money you can afford on a new home including the taxes, insurance and PMI (if necessary)
that when you find that special house you can confidently make an Offer, and
that the Offer you make will be strongly considered because the Seller will know that you are a serious buyer.

This is a very crucial part of the process. There is nothing more frustrating for a buyer than to find a home that is desirable and then face a delay for pre-qualification and/or pre-approval and possibly lose the home to a rejection of the Offer, or to other buyers, or to find out that the numbers will not work to buy the desired home. Being pre-qualified and pre-approved saves you time and energy, and possible frustration.

Joanne Parker and Associates welcomes the opportunity to serve you and your needs. We will professionally assist you through the process of preparation by spending time with you and providing all needed information about Wilmington and surrounding areas. We will provide you with a short list of lenders, if needed, to assist you in obtaining loan qualification. We will identify, for and with you, those communities in the Wilmington, or Tri-County area that will fulfill your housing needs.