The Consultation
THE BASICS
In this segment we will go over what the consultation will regard and how you can best prepare for these very important questions
What is your budget ?
What is your credit score?
Where do you want to live?
Have you been pre-approved by a lender?
How much do you have in savings?
What is your availability to view?
THE DEETS
1.What is your budget?
Probably the most important question to ask yourself before window shopping. If you set yourself in an area where the prices are too high, you’ll spend months in agitation. Click here to view the areas where your price point will most likely match up.
2. What is your credit score?
I know these are personal questions to ask on a first time basis and you might be thinking, “can we just view first? or Take me to dinner at least!” and while I was in all agreement in the past myself, the reality is that time is precious. Not only is time precious, but it can bring you down mentally, no one likes to be rejected. So it’s best to walk in knowing that you won’t. Not to mention that your credit can also affect your mortgage rate, but these are all things that will be discussed during a full consultation. The home buying process should be productive, and as a credit repair specialist, we can use this time to build your credit up in less than a year.
3.Where do you want to live?
This is a question that reflects your budget. If you are set on living in a neighborhood where you currently rent, the chances are the actual home prices are different to your expectations. The best way to resolve this is to pick 5 neighborhoods that you want to live (price point aside)
During the consultation you will choose 5 neighborhoods that you would generally see yourself living in. Once chosen, we will breakdown the general price points of each neighborhood. The above map is an example of base price-points for one bedrooms in each chosen neighborhood. From there we can navigate which areas to focus on.
4. Have you been pre-approved by a lender?
It’s important that you get pre-approved before shopping. While previewing homes is the funnest part of buying a home, it can really be a let down when you have found “the one” and are not prepared to move forward quick enough, even worse if you are not qualified. During this consultation, we will go over your financial situation and match you up with the right lender to get you started. The best part, it costs $0 to get pre-approved.
5. How much do you have in savings?
Savings, stocks, bonds, liquid cash etc. are all sources that condo/co-op boards will want to review before approval, possibly even before accepting an offer. Some co-op boards will require that you have a minimum of cash in the bank to cover mortgage and maintenance and if this is not shown in your board application then it will most likely get denied, costing you hundreds in fees.
6. When are you available for viewings?
This is the fun part. Once all these questions are submitted, we can then begin to schedule showings. On a side note, Sundays are the best days to view since most listing agents tend to have open houses on these days.