Are You Ready to Buy?

Are you ready to renew your home search this spring? As I am sure you are aware, the housing market remains tight. Still, as the weather warms, there are increasingly more homes coming on the market in northwestern Vermont. I’d love to help you get ready to find your place and make a winning offer. Here are a couple of recommendations:

First, if you are not pre-approved for a mortgage, do it now. A pre-approval requires submitting financial information to a lender that they use to verify that you can fund a purchase. It frequently takes a few days to process, there is no effect on your credit score, and the pre-approval is usually good for 90 days. Speaking of lenders, work with a local one. If there are two similar offers on a property, having a local lender who understands this market can be the deciding factor in sellers accepting your offer. If you don’t know any local lenders, I can recommend some whom I’ve worked with successfully.

In terms of funds to make your purchase, you will need enough cash to put an earnest money deposit on a property as soon as you go under contract. This is usually somewhere between 1% or 2% of the purchase price, but sometimes a higher deposit is appealing in an offer. Remember you will still need cash for a down payment and closing costs, so these should all be part of your planning as you decide on your budget. I always recommend having additional cash reserves in case something comes up in the first months of owning your home as well.

To get a jump on your search, please let me know what you’re looking for including your criteria and budget. You can also set up listing alerts on your preferred website to ensure you see new listings as soon as they come on the market. If a property is interesting to you, let me know and I’ll look into it further and arrange to see the property as soon as possible.

In terms of seeing properties, I know scheduling showings can sometimes be a challenge. If you can’t find a time to see a property in person, I am happy to arrange to do virtual viewings. I can be your eyes and ears–and nose. I can answer questions as we move through the house and help you get as close to seeing it in person as possible. Anything to make sure you have all the opportunity to get into your home when it comes on the market!

Let’s talk about what you’re looking for, whether you’re ready to gear up your search, and how I can help make it happen. Contact me today to get started!