What is the home buying process? Where do we start?

That’s always the question I hear on the first conversation with my clients, specially first time home buyers.

Step 1: To make sure that you can qualify for a loan which is the mortgage.

This step is very important for couple of reasons;
First, you will know if you can get a loan (pre-qualify or pre-approval) and for how much and if not qualified, at least you will know what you need to work on to be qualified in a few months.
The second reason, that most of home sellers including banks for foreclosure properties, requires that the buyer sends the pre-approval letter with the offer, otherwise, they are not going to consider the offer.
Third reason, that you can have some expectations on how much downpayment you will need to pay and closing costs, so you can plan accordingly.

I can’t tell you how many times people went out for months looking for a house and then they found out that they are not qualified when they wanted to submit an offer; also can’t tell you how many times people lost a great deal because their offer was not considered without the pre-approval letter and other buyers got the house.

You can contact mortgage lender for pre-approval or contact me for a list of lenders in the Houston Area. I don’t recommend at all working with any of the big banks for many reasons.

Step 2: At this point, we can start looking for houses. I will set up a page based on what you are looking for as of how many bedrooms, bathrooms, price range, location, size, school district, etc and will email you all the houses that meet your searching criteria and then we can go view the houses you like of the list.

I will not talk in details here about the remaining steps as I will be working with you and guiding you through the whole process step by step

Step 3: Making an offer
Step 4: Have inspection
Step 5: Remove contingencies, if any
Step 6: The loan process
Step 7: Closing & Key for your new house

 

Jimmy Farag, REALTOR Realm Real Estate Professionals Phone: (832) 303-5000 Cell: (832) 744-7424 Fax: (281) 598-5402 Homes for Sale in Sugarland TX Homes for sale in Katy TX See All Foreclosure Homes

Short Sale: The way to avoid foreclosures and save credit

As we started to feel the downturn in the economy, the increase in unemployment across the nation and in turn the increase in the risk of losing one of the big dreams from each one, the dream home.

With the increase in unemployment, some terms come up more than others like bankruptcy, foreclosures, debts, etc.. and the ways to avoid them.

Today, we are going to talk about short sales, how to avoid foreclosure using short sales and why would a lender accept short sales.

What is a Short Sale?

When the house value falls below the outstanding loan, the short sale should be considered. For example, if your house value is $100,000 but your loan amount is $115,000.

This situation is assuming that you are facing foreclosure or behind on your payments but if you don’t want to sell your house, you don’t have to worry and you can wait until the market values appreciate again.

If you have to sell your house, short sales is the most recommended option. If you don’t go for the short sale, the remaining options are to try to sell your house for more than the loan amount, which will have slim chance to be sold in that price. (This still might depend on different aspects)

To qualify for a "Short Sale", homeowners must demonstrate a hardship and be financially insolvent. The homeowner should be able to demonstrate inability to make the loan payment. Most importantly, homeowners must prove a willingness to cooperate with the process.

Why would a lender accept short sale?

Short sale saves the lender from the costs of foreclosure and all the other problems that come with taking back the property. The costs of foreclosure can include not only legal fees, but also taxes, insurance and the expense of maintaining the home until the property is sold and repairing any property damage.

What is the advantage of Short Sale vs. Foreclosure?

Any option is better than foreclosure. Foreclosure is painful and embarrassing. Foreclosure effect on the credit is the worst, you can lose around 300 points. Foreclosure appears on your credit for 7-10 years and will make it harder to buy another house during that period.

With short sales, you retain some dignity in knowing that you sold your home. You don’t have to make mortgage payments during the short sale process unless you choose to. You might be eligible to buy another house in 2 years. If you act fast and start short sale before your credit report reflects late pay, you can save valuable credit points from running away.

So save your credit now and stop foreclosure, the faster you act before the delinquency is report to the credit bureau, the better.

For more information about short sales or other available options to sell your house in the Houston area and the surroundings, go to www.webuyhouseshouston.net

Jimmy Farag, Realtor with RE/MAX Southwest specialized in short sales and distressed properties.