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Mark's Website

Mark Minelli
Agent
O: (702) 683-2450
F: (702) 974-1969
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Realty ONE Group
9089 S. Pecos Rd, Ste 3400
Henderson, NV 89074
Licensed In NV

Buyer's Tips

Pre-Purchase Planning

Well done, you have decided to purchase a new home! First, you should consider analyzing your family�s needs. We would be pleased to aid you in examining your needs and desires in order to achieve a better picture of what your new home should consist of.

You should begin by writing down ideas of what you are looking for in a new home. For example, have you recently expanded your family and are looking for a more spacious residence. Or, has a promotion come your way and you can finally purchase your Dream Home? Maybe you would prefer a home more centrally located to restaurants and businesses. Many factors need to be considered in this process to secure a better home search.

Next, set up a time frame that you wish to stay within for purchasing your home. Depending on your motive for buying a new home and the recent state of the market in this area, you should be able to ascertain a rough guideline, which can be adjusted as you collect more information.

Finally, you have probably conceived a mental image of what features you would like your house to have and what the overall look should be. These ideas and visions should be written down from time to time to avoid any uncertainties or misunderstandings during your home search. We suggest making two lists: one list should be of things you would like your Dream Home to have, the other list should have the things you feel are mandatory in order for you to purchase the home. Ideally, both lists would be fulfilled. However, it is more likely that you will develop a combination of the lists. This new list will prioritize the items you wish for your home to have. This process usually evolves as you find out what is available in the market you are purchasing within.

Pre-Approved or Pre-Qualified

With the vision in your mind and some ideas written on paper, you are almost ready to start searching for your new home! First though it is important to know what price range to be looking in. So, now you should get pre-approved or pre-qualified for a mortgage. Contacting a mortgage company should be easy and we would be more than happy to refer a company or loan officer that we have previously worked with and we believe will make your dreams a reality.

You should be aware of the key differences between pre-qualification and pre-approval for a loan. Pre-qualification for a loan is a simple process. It uses some very basic information concerning your financial status and returns with an amount of which you may qualify for. This can be done over the internet or phone, or on a verbal level. The pre-qualified amount is exclusively based on the information that you offer. Pre-qualified buyers often hold little influence against pre-approved buyers in most markets. This is due to the fact that information given throughout the pre-qualification process is not carefully inspected and therefore has the possibility of being unreliable.

Where a pre-qualified buyer is only told that they could be approved for a certain amount, a pre-approved buyer is truly approved for a loan of a certain amount. However the pre-approval process is much more involved. A lender will take all relevant information regarding your finances and carry out an extensive check on your present financial status. In the end this should give you the precise amount that you will be qualified for (depending on the type of loan you choose to go with). Being pre-approved is a more attractive quality to a seller than being pre-qualified because it ensures that your financial background has been checked. Also, it dramatically decreases the amount of unexpected obstacles that come with buying a home.

Choosing an Area

Now would be a good time to consider the larger picture of looking for your home. You know what you want and need in a house, you know how much you can spend, but have you thought of an area of where you would like to buy? On our website you can search for a number of things that could make or break your purchasing a house. Such as, what kinds of restaurants or businesses are located nearby? Are there schools and churches close by? Also, it would be a good idea to research the subdivisions that your future home possibilities are located in. Do they offer any amenities such as a swimming pool, tennis courts, parks, etc.? You may even decide to make a list of the things you wish to have access to when you purchase your home.

All the information that you have acquired from the previous steps will better equip you in your home search. And it will also help us in assisting you in finding your perfect home. Our knowledge of the local communities in the area for which you wish to purchase will also be a valuable resource during your home searching process.

Finding Your Dream Home

This website is designed to help make finding your dream home as easy as possible. You can use the maps to search for local restaurants, schools, police stations, post office, churches, hospitals and gas stations. This website also allows you to save your customized searches and will e-mail you daily of any new homes that go on the market matching your search criteria, all from the comfort of your home. And with the enhancements of Google Street Map you can see the home and the surrounding community before you even drive out.

Using the areas most progressive website available you will be able to view subdivisions, area schools and much more. So now you can let technology help you find the right home. If your life is a bit hectic you will benefit by signing up to be a registered guest of mine.� With that, I will be able to e-mail you new homes on the market matching your saved search criteria and you will be able to save your favorite homes to e-mail me questions about.� As a registered guest you can also be part of a Virtual Meeting Room (VMR) which allows you to see any documents that have been downloaded on a home you are purchasing.

Making an Offer

Now the purchasing process for your new home begins. This process starts by making an offer. You should take into account the price of recent home sales in that area which had a similar quality and size, and similar amenities and conveniences. After consulting with you and giving you our advice, we will be able to make an offer that has the best chance of being accepted. This is the time where no verbal agreements will take place, everything will be written down.

After carefully discussing the offer, it will be put in a written agreement that fulfills all the legal requirements according to our national and local guidelines. The seller will be presented with the written documents that details what needs to be completed by both parties in order to complete the transaction. This agreement will benefit the best interests of all the parties concerned and will be comprehensive. It will also guarantee your financial situation as a buyer by including any unforeseen events; this will protect you if a certain requirement is not met. Once a seller accepts an offer, it is often too late to make any changes.

The agreement that is made should include, but is not limited to, the following:
    *A legal description of the property
    *The price which was offered
    *The agreement for down payments
    *All Financing arrangements
    *A list of fees and who will be paying them
    *Deposit amount
    *Possible repair allowances
    *Who will handle the closing
    *A list of furnishings/appliances that will stay in the home
    *Date which settlement will occur
    *Any pertinent contingencies
Legalities during this phase are very important. If you have any questions or concerns, please express them so that we can address them right away.

Negotiations

After an offer is made, it is likely that some negotiations may need to take place in order to reach an agreement. It is important to remember that when buying a house, almost everything is negotiable. Sufficient information can give you a great deal of leverage during the buying process if used properly. We have accumulated the best negotiating expertise and knowledge of the market to make sure that your offer will be accepted at the best terms and price that benefit you.

Negotiable things include:
    *The purchase price
    *Financing Terms
    *Closing costs
    *Repairs that need to be done and who will pay for it
    *Appliances and fixtures
    *Landscaping work
    *Painting
    *Occupancy time frame

Successful negotiating has taken place when both you and the seller are happy. You must keep this in mind in order to guarantee that there will be few, if any, negative feelings between you and the seller through the remainder of the buying/selling process. We do not want you to walk away feeling that you were treated unfairly.

Final Planning

Once the seller has accepted your offer we will oversee the process which takes place with all the necessary vendors. We will serve as your support with each of the vendors. Also, we will make sure that there is an appropriate time set aside for each of the vendors to come perform their procedures or inspections of your home. During these times, we will be there to watch over those procedures on your behalf.

For example, the property will probably need a thorough inspection. You may need to have a survey done on the property and possibly a formal appraisal; this will be accomplished through working with your lender. It is also possible that inspections such as foundation or environmental will need to take place to make sure the property is up to the agreement standards.

If any contingencies or issues are brought forward during this process, it could delay or even terminate the previous agreement. This of course depends on the type of contingency that occurs, and whether or not it was listed in the agreement.

At this point, homeowners insurance is a very important item that will need to be obtained. It is recommended by insurance experts that you take out a policy that is of equal value to the replacement value of the home. Closing cannot occur on the home unless you have insurance coverage. These procedures must be done in a professional and timely manner. Look into each merchant to make sure they have a clean operational history and a good reputation. Our familiarity of this process will be very valuable in guaranteeing that everything is done in a professional and legal manner, and that it is done on time.

Closing

Closing takes place when the ownership of the property being bought is exchanged from the seller to you, the buyer. The procedures of closing usually happen at the title company�s office. The disbursement of funds and document signing is coordinated by your closing officer. At the closing we will be present to make sure that everything goes smoothly. This includes answering any last minute questions, taking another look at all documents, and resolving any last minute details that may appear.

It is important for the closing to go smoothly. In order for this to happen each party should be sure to bring the mandatory documents and be ready to pay any closing costs or related fees. Make sure to ask your closing officer about the different closing costs that are required and who they should be made out to, because it is possible that there is more than one form of acceptable payment. Two to three percent of the total loan not including the down payment is the usually amount of the closing costs. Depending on local market conditions and terms of the purchase agreement, sellers may pay for a portion or all of the closing costs. Compromises such as these should be acknowledged in writing. For non-recurring closing costs, most lenders will allow a credit from the seller to the buyer. Nonetheless, credit that reduces the amount of the buyer�s down payment or any of the buyer�s recurring costs (i.e. PMI, property taxes, or expenses for fire insurance) is usually not allowed.

After the Closing

Congratulations you are now the owner of a new home!

Now is the time to have local services setup, such as cable, electricity, and phone. We are happy to help with this, since we know the local vendors for such services, and we can provide you with their contact information. Also, if there are expenses associated with your home like Neighborhood Association fees, annual taxes, landscaping costs, etc., you should become aware of those.



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