"Can you show us houses?"

This is one of the most exciting times of your life,  and one of the most expensive.  The questions are, where do you start, how do you get started,  how fast can you get into your new home, and should you start packing now? At this point, I usually get the call..."Skip can you show us houses this afternoon?"  No question--I can show you houses. The problem is, YOU may not be ready for me to show you houses. "WHAT!  I just told you we are going to buy a house...what else do you need?  Let's go kick some doors down!"

Hold up there, killer, we may need to do one or two things first. As we get started, we need to know what your comfort level is with price. "Man, Skip, I just don't know. I think we would like to be around $100,000. What would the monthly payment be on that?" At this point we need to bring in the expert on mortgages so we can get you pre-approved for a loan.  As we move forward, this pre-approval will be critical in presenting offers to the sellers.  If you want a seller to take you seriously, you must attach the approval letter with your offer. This letter also guarantees we are looking at houses in the right price range.  If you think you about it, starting with a pre-approval keeps you from wasting your time looking at homes that are too high or too low.  Let's just say we started out looking at homes in the $220,000 range and found one you were absolutely in love with--after which you go for the pre-approval only to find you are only approved for $175,000. Ouch!  Take it from me, if you start in the higher price range and find you must come down, it will be difficult to reset your thinking to look at homes in the lower price range.

 Grace and Peace...

Skip Geiser

(850) 221-6442

http://www.skipgeiser.com/

SkipGeiser@live.com

The Geiser Team with Main Street Properties