Hi Kia and Timothy,



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How JOHN CHILD can help …

YOU GET INTO YOUR NEW HOME

The decision to look for a house is the result of many months of saving and sweating and thinking about your future & where you want to be in life. Your decision to buy a new home is so important. But "The Devil Is in the Details", isn’t it? If you haven’t been through the process before, the mechanics of getting you to the settlement table can be an emotional roller-coaster.

Buying a new home is like an avalanche of details … it can be a little daunting. That’s where I come in. I’ve been through this process dozens and dozens of times … I can be a tremendous help to you in guiding you through the maze of details.

The following is a primer… a thumbnail sketch of the steps involved in buying a home. This isn’t a text book, just a bird’s eye view of the mechanics, time-frames and things to look out for when buying a home.

So here are some questions you should know the answers to… if not now, then soon … ready?

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#1 Question: Do you have your mortgage pre-approval lined up?

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I’m not in the business of recommending lenders, but these are some folks who have helped my clients in the past:

Tom DiBiase, Bryn Mawr Trust, Ph: 610-581-4818

Carol Martino, Weichert Financial, cell: 609.774.5095

Jack Myers, AMC Funding, ph: 215-633-9836

Gary Riser, American Home Bank, Cell:  (215) 669-0944

#2 Question: What time frame have you given yourself to move into your new house?

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If you find the house of your dreams TODAY & you made your offer tonight & your offer is accepted tomorrow, realistically, you won’t be moving in for 60-days.

Sometimes less… sometimes more… but two-months is normal. PLUS you’ll need another one or two or three months to find a place that’s suitable.

You’ll have to find the time to look at a couple hundred houses on the internet. You’ll have to find the time to drive-by maybe 50 - 75 individual properties.

You’ll have to find the time to physically visit with me maybe seven or fifteen or twenty-five or thirty five houses. Then you’ll have to find the time to make offers on one or two or three houses.

Altogether you’re looking at three to six months from the time you start seriously looking until you actually move-in.

#3: The Mechanics of Making Your Offer?

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Block out two hours to make your first offer. There’s a lot to go over… a lot to explain. What we’re doing is entering into a legally-binding agreement with the Seller, so it’s important to fully understand what you’re signing onto.

a. The Offer Itself: is a 21-page Agreement of Sale which includes the answers to the following questions: the price you’re offering to pay for the house? The amount of the first deposit that you’ll include with the offer (your personal check made out to the listing agent’s Office)? The amount of the second deposit (usually delivered within seven to fifteen days of the offer)? Agreement date (the expiration date of your offer)? Settlement date is when you want to get to the settlement table? Property Inspection contingency? Option 1? Option 2? Termite? Radon? Mortgage Contingency? Yes? No? Date for Mortgage Commitment? Any conditions? Any stipulations? Remember: Everything is negotiable.

b. Mortgage Pre-approval: should be address-specific, price specific is best.

c. Your Buyer Financial Information (BFI):

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This is where you demonstrate to the Seller that you can get him to the settlement table. Remember: Sellers are absolutely fearful that if they accept your offer and take their house off the market for a month and a half during prime selling season that you won’t be able to get to settlement. Your job is to make them feel very comfortable with your ability to get them to the settlement table. You list where you work & how long you’ve worked there; your address your phone; your email address. List your liabilities, balances and monthly payments on your credit cards; car loans; mortgages; student loans. List your assets: cash money; Stocks; Bonds; (remember, your retirement accounts don’t really count in this unless you’re taking an early withdrawal with penalties), real estate… Main thing is to show you have the cash money to pull of the deposits and closing costs.

d. HUD-1: or the Summary of Buyer’s Closing Costs …

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this is the sheet that spells out all the costs involved in purchasing the house you’re making the offer on: closing costs, down payments, accrued taxes, insurance (remember you have to pay a whole year’s-worth of insurance ahead of time and bring proof of payment with you to settlement), home inspections, conveyancing… this sheet can be a shocker, brace yourself. NOTE: Ask me about how to write a Seller Assist into your agreement of sale so we can mitigate some of the expense of closing costs.

e. Deposit Money Notice: this is your acknowledgement that your deposit money is held by the listing agent in an escrow account.

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#4 Here’s what happens once your offer is made:

The actual offer may take a day or two or three to negotiate… We’ll go back and forth on the phone with the Seller’s agent to nail down all the particulars. Once the Seller has signed off on whatever terms you and I and the listing agent have negotiated, then the real work begins. You’ll have usually seven to twenty days to get the home inspected, termite inspected, and radon inspected. The inspection will often reveal issues with the house that may need to be addressed. The home inspection may reveal more issues than the Seller wants to fix or more issues than you want to deal with.

NOTE: The negotiation of the inspection is THE MOST DIFFICULT PART of putting an agreement together.

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If you’ve checked off OptionOne on the Inspection Contingency, then you have the right to walk away from the entire matter as long as we present written notice to the Seller that you want a release, and then your deposit monies are safe. All you’ve lost is the money it took to home inspect the property (usually under $500, depending on the size of the place).

The Reply To Home Inspection is what you and I will write up as a list of things that need to be addressed by the seller before we finally agree to go to settlement. It’s usually a good idea to include the Home Inspection Report with the Reply To Home Inspection as proof to the sellers that your issues are legitimate. Often the Sellers will hear about issues for the first time when the home inspection report comes back to them.

In real estate (unlike a lot of paper investments) money can cure most every problem. So you’ll see issues like: wet basement often the result of improper storm water drainage and grading? Cracked sewer pipe? Corroded valves; Bad seals on the toilets? Leaky faucets? Broken garage door? Corroded electric service? Door won’t close properly? No GFCI protection for electrical outlets by sinks? Loose basement step? Ancient Roof? Drains need snaking?

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Your home inspection report will grade every component of the house by category: Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory, or “Keep an Eye On It”. Many of the items in the report are little things that you should be aware of but don’t necessarily require the seller to repair. Like everything else in real estate, it’s all negotiable. Once you and the Seller sign off on the Reply To Home Inspection, then the Conveyancing Department goes to work in ordering title, ordering Use & Occupancy Certificates, Sewer Certificates, Pay off Notices, Settlement Notices… all the details to get you to closing.

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So there’s a thumbnail sketch of what happens in this entire process of buying a house. MY JOB is to walk you through the process and to keep you calm and focused. The process frankly is at times an emotional roller-coaster… Rule #1: DO NOT get emotionally involved (yea, right! try not to) in the process until you get the keys at the settlement table… it can be an-again/off-again roller coaster… Many issues that seem so important to a first time home buyer are nothing more than noise. Other issues that seem unimportant can drive you crazy. Important thing is to keep your sense of humor; remember this is business, nothing personal; remember: stay focused and together we’ll get you to the finish line.

Call with any questions anytime & thanks for your time

Sincerely,

John Child

610-203-6458

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Home Sweet Home

Call me anytime: 610.203.6458

Fax: 610.879.5112

Email: JohnBuysProperty@

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