Realtor Referral

Time to look for a house!  After you and your Loan Officer decide how much money you are able to borrow, you can begin looking for a house that falls in your price range.  At Benchmark, we highly recommend (especially for first-time buyers) that you work with a local Realtor.  They work for you at no cost to you (the person selling you the house has to pay their commission.)  and acts as your advocate to help you negotiate a price with the seller. 

If you don’t know any Realtors, please ask your Loan Officer!  Benchmark works with many respected Realtors in the area, and can give you several recommendations based on the neighborhoods you are interested in, if you are a first-time buyer, or relocating and need some expertise on city vs. suburbs, schools, ammenities and more. 

A good realtor will pay  attention to the things that you are looking for in your new home, so start working on a list - Is school district important?  Do you need a yard for your pets?  Do you prefer city or suburban lifestyle?  Would you rather have an extra bedroom or garage?   Are you looking for neighborhoods with lots of kids, or a quiet corner of the community?

To have a Realtor work for you, you need to sign an agreement saying that they will be your realtor for a specific amount of time (for 2 months, for example.)  You and your realtor need to work well together, so if setting up the agreement is difficult, it is a good sign that you need to interview a few more to find one that will work well with you.

Once you find a house you are ready to buy, your realtor will draw up a contract that nails down the price and the closing date.  This gives you a deadline to complete the rest of the homebuying process.  At this time, you will need to put down a deposit on the house called “earnest money” so that the seller won’t offer the house to anyone else while you are in the process of getting your loan.  A typical earnest money deposit will range from $500 to $2500 depending on the price of the house.  When negotiating the price of the house, it is common to ask the seller to pay some of the fees associated with getting your loan.  You can also ask the seller to make minor repairs at this time.  If you have money saved up to cover these costs, you can usually get the house for less than the price they are asking.