What to expect from the home buying process



				Looking at properties, negotiating and escrow - What can you expect to find? How long will it take to find and purchase your new home? What do the prospective areas have to offer?

		Look at properties		• Looking at property. A few home buyers waste time looking through classified ads and looking at properties that just don't match up with their needs. The right agent can speed things up and help you to get into just the right home in the shortest possible time. There may be homes that look good on paper, that don't match your imagination when you tour them, so be patient. Click on the map above to see the prospective North County San Diego areas for the best homes.
		Your offer		• How to determine your offer - As you are thinking about your offer to purchase a home, look at the condition of the home, what other homes have sold for in that area recently, how many other people are making offers, and how badly you want the home. • Looking up comparable sales - The county recorders office records the sales of homes about six to eight weeks after the sale. You may also be able to get this information more quickly from the MLS service or your real estate agent. Strategy - What's too low - If you make an offer which is too low you run the risk of losing out to a higher offer and or alienating the seller. • What's too high - Most buyer's are unlikely to make an offer that is too high, but in some cases people just fall in love with a certain house and offer over the market value. The danger here is that if they pay too much, and the home does not appreciate past that amount, they could lose money at the point they decide to sell in the future. "What's the best way to make sure my offer is the one that gets accepted?" - Give a fair bid very close to their asking price, and be prequalified with financing.
		Escrow		• Real estate escrow - In the State of California, all real estate transactions go through escrow. The definition of escrow is: Money or documents, such as a deed or title, held by a third party until the conditions of an agreement are met. For instance, pending the completion of a real estate transaction, the deed to the property will be held "in escrow." Length of escrow - Usually 30 to 60 days, but rarely as little as 10 days. Escrows include the following - Buyers responsibilities, which typically include title insurance, the escrow fees, document preparation, notary fees, recording charges for all documents in the buyers name, some of the loan charges as required by lender, assumption of loan charges, inspection fees, city transfer, and the first year of the fire insurance premium. Sellers responsibilities, which typically include the real estate commission, document prep for the deed, document transfer tax, loan fees which are required by lender, payoff of the loan in the sellers name, termite inspection and costs, home warranty, clear any judgments, liens or taxes against the property, tax proration, remaining unpaid homeowners dues, recording charges clearing sellers documents, any bonds or assessments, escrow fees, title insurance premiums.


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