Here are some things that you need to do once you find a home.
I want to update you on a couple of things you might not know if you were buying a house here in the Desert.
First, you’re going to want your proof of funds and show the seller that you actually have the money to buy the home. That could be a bank statement or your stock broker saying you have the money. Attaching that to your offer will make it a lot stronger.
“WE WANT TO MAKE IT EASY FOR THE SELLER.”
Let’s assume your offer is accepted by the seller. Within the next three business days, you need to put in a 3% good faith deposit. Then the contingency period starts. In California, it lasts 17 days. We’ve been changing that to a shorter time period because we want to make it easy for the seller and let them know that they’re moving on in their life.
Until the contingencies are removed, the seller doesn’t know that they have a firm deal. They want to know so they can make plans to rent, buy, or hire a mover. It’s great if we can shorten the contingency period down to 10 or 12 days.
The next step is to hire an inspector; they’ll inspect all areas of the house. You’ll get a report by the next morning that shows the things that are in good, fair, and poor condition.
If the home’s in an HOA, you’re going to want to review and sign off on the HOA documents. You’ll want to know what the board’s been talking about in the last several months. If you’re buying into a country club, you need to make sure you have a membership lined up as well.
That’s the general process. We don’t have a settlement table like some states do. We rarely have buyers or sellers here. When we close, it’s usually one agent giving keys to another agent.
If I can answer any more questions or you need help buying/selling a Desert home, give me a call.
