What is the Home Searching to Closing Process?
Hey, it’s Treasure Valley Dave here in Nampa, Idaho. Are you ready to go through buying your home process? Let’s dive into the details of the home search process to closing and learn how to get with it quickly. Home search to closing is where your whole team collaborates to make the entire process work. Your team aims to get you to the finish line and into that house.
The People You Need in the Homeownership Process
Having a good team working hand in hand is extremely important. If you’re selling in a different state, that team must be there, too. This team comprises your lender, the transaction coordinator (TC), the home inspector, and the agent helping you sell your house. The TC handles all the paperwork and ensures all the timelines are met.
The home search is probably one of the first things, especially if someone’s not local, but even if they are, we set them up a home search on the Collab Center.
What is the Collab Center?
The Collab Center is a search engine tied directly to our MLS. It has the most up-to-date, accurate data possible. We have seen instances where Zillow is way out of date.
The Collab Center is where the client tells us what they like, asks their questions, and gives us their non-negotiable. That helps us to narrow down what we are looking for. Then, we’re going to start looking for houses. We will go out; we can take videos of neighborhoods and homes. We are going to be very critical about homes.
We’ll set up the collab center to give you an email once a day or once a week, depending on your preference. We could set you a custom notification as soon as a house that matches your criteria comes on the market. You’ll get an email alert immediately.
What Does the Treasure Valley Dave Team Do for You?
We set up the search for you. We also bring to you people who will be part of your team that gets us to the finish line. If you are relocating to Idaho, we have a particular segment there. This includes some extra things that will take place, like working with your agent, selling your home, and being your eyes and ears regarding your home inspection. We are also there during the final walkthrough.
What Happens When You Can't Come In Person?
We have New Homeowner Orientation (NHO) if you buy a new construction. Some people need help because they can’t come in person. We’ve had some people where half the family could come, and the other half couldn’t. We’ll still go out there and videotape it so that you can refer to it, or the person who wasn’t there can refer.
If the house does not work for you, we’ll put it aside and move on to the next one. Even though we have low inventory, you still have many houses to look at.
What's Next?
What do they need to do next? Since we have all the steps done before, everything is almost set. You have to be ready to make a decision. Even though the house has 20-40 days on the market, we need to get our offer in because other people are also looking into getting the home you like.
Prepare for Competition
As we said, as soon as you fall in love with the house, somebody else will, too, and bid competitively. We might get rejected without communication if you make a lowball offer.
We had an experience with a seller where we reached counter six. The process got bitter and frustrating for all parties. There was a lot of nitpicking on things. From that point on, it would’ve just been too complicated. We passed and moved on.
Keep Contingencies to a Minimum
If you want to sell your house, have your realtor on that side already in place, have your pictures taken, and have your lender ready. It is part of a contingency that you must get pre-qualified if you do this with a loan. The further you’re in the process, if you need to sell the property, the better it is after inspection and after the appraisal.
The other contingencies aside from getting pre-approved with a lender and having a house to sell is the inspection, which plays a significant role. It is something to protect the buyer. You want to protect your investment.
What Do You Need After Putting in the Offer?
You must know the terms, how soon it will close, and the price. We are going to do the CMA. You’re going to be the one who’s going to decide the price you are comfortable spending for this house.
What Is the Earnest Money?
The earnest money is the money you will need to put down. It doesn’t go to the seller. It goes into an escrow account. It shows that you are able and willing to purchase the property.
If you don’t have money to put down, we can go with zero earnest money. We will communicate with the seller’s agent and explain your situation. Let’s say you don’t have the money because you are selling your house and have yet to close.
Inspection Contingency
If the inspector goes out and finds something wrong, we would not recommend you ask the seller to get everything fixed so the house is in a new condition because the inspection reports are very detailed. You will see a lot of tiny things like caulking. Everything is on there.
You will always find something hazardous if an existing home is 20 years old. It would be best if you asked to have these types of findings repaired. For example, a GFC outlet is an easy fix. Some homeowners do it themselves; some need to bring in an electrician for that. But that is something that has to be repaired.
You should also check the septic system, water, well pump quality, and productivity test. You may ask the seller to make some repairs, or you could negotiate a credit. If you discover the foundation is terrible, it’s time to walk away, terminate, and get your earnest money back.
Benefits of Buying a Brand-New House
The benefit of buying a brand-new house is there are warranties. There are home warranties that come with new construction. Usually, home warranty prices depend on the house size and what you want it to cover.
Home Warranty vs. Home Insurance
There is a difference between a home warranty and homeowner’s insurance. A home warranty is something that you buy to cover the different systems in your house, appliances, and things like that. Home insurance is when your house burns down or somebody trips on your sidewalk; you have that protection.
What Happens After Closing?
The transaction coordinator will contact you to give instructions on how to get your earnest money over to the title company. In Idaho, we use a title/closing company. They do both of those things. The transaction coordinator (TC) will be getting with you, providing you with different information, and coordinating with the lender to make sure the lender has everything they need.
TVD's Role in Home Inspection
One notable thing we do during home inspections, whether you’re in the area or not, is to let you have a one-on-one conversation with the home inspector. If you’re not here, we will have that conversation, take a video, and send it to you before you even get the report, just as peace of mind. It can take up to 48 hours to get it.
When we get closer to closing, we have that three-day walkthrough. We have the NHO. We can do the videos for you, but we help you get all that coordinated, whether you’re here in person or virtually, and then we close.
When Do You Officially Close?
We don’t officially close when you sign the paperwork. If you’re not here, or even if you are here, we can help the title company set up a mobile notary to come out to you where you are to get all that paperwork signed. You’re still open when the lender sends the money to the title company. We officially closed when we finally got the call that it was funded and recorded at the County.
You can get the keys once it is recorded. We have a moving company we highly recommend. We will help you navigate when to start and when to switch over your utilities.
What Can You Expect from TVD?
Be prepared that we’re going to keep bugging you. You became a friend during that process. We will remind you of other things you still need to do, like registering your appliances if you have new construction, filing for homeowners exemption, and getting check-ins.
The Treasure Valley Dave Team is here to help you solve your real estate problem. You can contact us at 208-860-2004.
