How Much Home Can You Afford In Today's Market?
Copyright ©2001 Jody Hudson

If you haven't figured your credit worthiness and borrowing power lately, you might be surprised at how much home you can afford to buy in today's market! Mortgage Lenders are very optimistic about the future of the real estate market in Sussex County and as a result they are willing to loan more on properties than you might expect! And, lenders are making loans at rates not seen since the late 1960s.

We will be most willing to align you with one of our favored lenders for a private and complete analysis of your borrowing power. There are many different mortgage programs available to you -- some that you may not have heard of or even imagined before. Now is a great time to take a look at what's available to you! Every day we help buyers find and finance their next dream home. We can help you, too -- if you call us.

Here's what we'll do for you:

Step 1: We can get you pre-qualified or even get you a signed loan commitment for an exact maximum amount with exact terms and conditions -- and THEN you can search for the land or home of your choice with full knowledge of your ability to purchase it in today's challengingly fast moving market. Properties close to the beaches have been selling in hours or days if they are priced at or below the market; seldom more than a few weeks. There are some exceptions; where the home is an unusual color, the lot an unusual shape or the floor plan too eccentric for most buyers. These can be exceptional buys. Further away from the beach, properties sell more slowly as the distance to the water increases -- but there are VERY FEW to choose from. Your ability to purchase and own the property you want will be greatly enhanced after a phone consultation with a lender. You will get the answers from your lender, usually in a few minutes or hours. If you are looking for an older property or a "fixer-upper" the lender will usually tell you that they can make arrangements to finance the restoration and remodeling costs too! For those with strong credit, there are even loans for up to 103% of the purchase price, allowing you to get a home with nothing down and finance the settlement costs too.

Step 2: We will meet with you and discuss with you a selection of properties that are within your ability to purchase. Many will not suit your needs perhaps; but we can mutually learn from that first meeting and tailor a few meaningful appointments and showings that will better utilize your time and ours. It is difficult to make an informed and logical choice when too many properties are seen at one time -- especially when most or even all of them could have been eliminated due to unsuitability for you and your family.

Step 3; At this point you will be advised to sign an agreement with us so that we may represent YOU in your purchasing decision. Otherwise by law we must represent only the seller; that is the way the law is written and we must obey or lose our license to do business. All of our buying clients sign Buyer's Agent agreements! We can also work as dual agents for you as a buyer when the property for sale is our listing. Either agreement allows us to represent YOU too and not only the seller. You should take advantage of the Buyer's Agent agreement.

Step 4: Kate and I can then usually preview the properties that look the most interesting to you. After we inspect them, we can better guide you as to whether certain properties are more or less suited to you. In some cases we can even advise you to NOT purchase a specific property when we are representing you instead of the seller. We can also go to a specific property for you and take more pictures with our digital camera and then send them to you via e-mail to give you more insight and help you better determine your interest (or not) in coming to see the property yourself.

Step 5: This is the exciting part! After these first steps we will go with you (and your spouse or other family members) to see those few properties that are affordable and suitable for you. AND since you now know exactly what you can afford -- you can then write a purchase offer or agreement at this point without any surprise or any difficult financing problem! In this market some sellers will not even sell a property to someone who is not already qualified to purchase their property with proven cash, a loan commitment or some other suitable financing capability.

Step 6: At this point you can return to your normal life with only a few more short and easy responsibilities between your agreement to purchase (once the seller has also agreed) and your final ownership of the property. It is usually only four to six weeks from the time of a fully agreed upon and finalized agreement to purchase and your ownership of your new property -- on land the final settlement can be two weeks or less!!! You will need to make some choices regarding inspections and evaluations by professionals during this time. We can usually handle all but a few details of these recommended actions.

Step 7: Enjoy your new property! And, remember Kate and I are available to you after you own your property, if you need some additional professionals to help you enhance your purchase, improve the property, make repairs, remodel, paint, find a lawn service, etc. We know folks who have proven reliable and if we give their contact data to you we want you to let us know if they don't serve you well! If they don't we have some additional clout in that we can stop referring them and we are locals who they know will spread the word if they don't properly care for our clients. Once you have done business with us -- we consider you family!

Kate and I are available for you; just call us or write us. Meanwhile you may want to recommend others to come to our Web site here as we add articles from time to time. Or just send it to anyone who may benefit from it as you wish. All we ask is that you send our web site address as well when you send them the article so that they will have the source; that will give us the copyright protection we ask for.