With so much to see and explore, every Chicago suburb offers something special. Beautiful architecture, historical downtown, Libraries & parks. You have an almost unlimited supply of some of the nation's best restaurants, schools, forest preserves, botanical gardens, Ravinia, golf, Lake Michigan beaches, amusement parks, world class shopping malls, theater, and well-connected Metra train ride to the city. There are a hundred reasons to call Chicago suburbs home!
Having said that buying a home is a major step! Whether you're a first-time homebuyer or your tenth house, you're not just purchasing a house; you're finding a community where you will belong, a place that will truly feel like home. I know how important this is to you, and I make sure together we find the perfect property for your specific needs and circumstances. With the local knowledge and resources, I'll educate you throughout the buying experience - from finding the right property, (active,off-market or private) finding comps, negotiating, home inspection and even after closing. I will be the point on all small and big moments in the process, I am just not involved in the big moments, I will help you navigate through the little ones too.
I understand buying a house is a big undertaking and can be nerveracking. Having someone that has your back even after the closing, who you can trust makes that decision much more easier. I offer one year home warranty to all my buyers' clients, so you can unlock the door to your new home with a big smile excited to decorate your home or home improvement and not worry about what if something breaks.
THE BUYING PROCESS:
CHOOSE AN AGENT: It's important to ask potential agents what value they bring and what makes them different than other agents? and to listen for the response. Your agent should be someone you like, trust, and respect. Buying a home is a highly personal experience. I provide buyers with valuable market insights, including recent sales data (weekly), comparable' s and more importantly educating on current market conditions, understanding the data, about the house and neighborhood. Lot of agents don't know how to interpret the data themselves. I recently had a potential seller came up to me and said here's the comparable I received from another agent, this house few blocks down the line listed for $XX dollars and sold for $YY dollars. The most important metric that his agent failed to point out is days on market (DOM), that house was on the market for 45 days when rates were in there mid 5% range , now if you have 15 houses available for sale in that neighborhood and only 1 or 2 pending, with rates now 7-8%, no one is going to pay that price you saw on comparable, it very misleading.
GET PRE-APPROVAL FOR MORTGAGE: In today's high pace home-buying environment, a mortgage pre-approval is essential (pre-qualified is different that pre-approved). It lets you know what you can afford to buy, but also demonstrates to sellers that you are a serious and willing buyer. Home loans can make or break that dream of owning a home. Mortgage rates can have a significant impact on the monthly cost of your home loan, I offer all my buyers my recommended lender if they'd like to run any scenarios or preapprovals.
CREATE A WISHLIST: Almost every home purchase involves some degree of compromise. Depending on your lifestyle, budget, future home value and needs/wants, but some universal considerations in real estate include:
LOCATION, LOCATION & LOCATION: You should consider important factors such as schools, transportation, and neighborhood amenities like shops, groceries store, restaurants, recreation, and parks.
TYPE OF HOME: There are a variety of housing styles from ranch, two stores, Victorian, Tudor, split-level, MCM, colonial, contemporary, farmhouse. FEATURES AND AMENITIES: Think about your wants and needs, such as garage parking 2 or 3, hardwood floors, outdoor space, siding, windows etc.
FINDING A HOME: Start reviewing listing, I send my clients not only active but off-market and private listing. Once you like the property I research more property tax records, assessments etc. schedule tour and visit open house, gather feedback, and refine the search. Ask agent to provide comparable to help formulate your offer.
MAKE AN OFFER: When you find a home, it's important to act quickly and make an educated offer based on the strategy. I always educate my clients about different levers they can pull to make their offer more stand out based on the market and circumstances of the seller and ask my clients to have backup counteroffer ready. Based on the strategy with the buyer I draw up a contract that include offer price and other terms and contingencies.
Here are some of the most common sections of a real estate contract:
PRICE: Market and negotiation will determine the final price; I will help you formulate an offer based on current market conditions and comparable listings and sales.
MORTGAGE CONTINGENCY: A mortgage contingency also known as financial contingency stipulates that you will buy the home subject to obtaining a mortgage. If you cannot obtain a mortgage, this clause allows buyers to cancel the contract of the home purchase without penalty and receive a refund of their earnest money deposit. The contract will be void.
HOME INSPECTION CONTINGENCY: Also refer as due diligence contingency allows buyers for a thorough inspection of the property by a licensed home inspector, this will protect you against structural or material problems that may not be detectable in a casual walk-through.
ATTORNEY APPROVAL: An attorney's review is always highly recommended. Attorneys review your purchase agreement and generally takes a one-week period in which your attorney can review the contract and suggest alterations to help protect you from any undue obligations.
EARNEST MONEY: Think of Earnest money as a security deposit, given to the seller to secures the contract until the closing. If the sale does not go through due to contingencies covered in the contract, then the earnest money may be returned to the buyer.
UNDER CONTRACT: The buyer has made a formal offer, and the seller has accepted.
SALE PENDING: The home is under contract and all contingencies have been removed or met.Pending sale is much closer to close than under contract.
CLOSING DATE: This is usually the date the seller must vacate, and the buyer may occupy the property. Flexibility on the closing date can give a buyer a big advantage over other potential buyers during negotiations.
AFTER CLOSING: One of my core values is "Relationship is Everything". I like to maintain relationship and communication even after the communication whether its finding good tradesman, recommending good stores and tips. Between rebuilding the saving, home improvement and unexpected expense new home buyer can get overwhelmed, therefore I offer one year home warranty to all my clients to help lessen stress of unexpected expense for first year of their homeownership.
