Buying or selling a home can be nerve-wracking. Learning the rough outline of how a home sale or buying process works is crucial to making your ride a bit smoother. This post walks you through a foolproof timeline that can help you buy or sell your New York home.
A foolproof timeline to help your buy your home
When looking for a new home, you should narrow it down and buy a home that conveniently highlights the kind of property you want. Here's a step-by-step process to buying your luxe dream home.
Knowing about the search process
While most buyers start their search for a dream home online, many high-end houses for sale in places like New York City are not available on most search engines. Therefore, you would probably need to get deeper with your search. Some of the considerations you should make include:
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Look for a highly recommended realtor specializing in the luxury real estate market. This can take between 1 and 2 weeks, considering that you want to take time to assess the potential of all your candidates.
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Narrow down to a local and experienced realtor to get precise advice about crucial aspects such as the neighborhoods, schools, and daily conveniences
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Narrow down to specific properties in person. However, be prepared to get fewer photos of your dream homes since most luxury property owners are more private with the pictures they share online.
Assessing your top picks
Assessing high-end properties can be a bit complicated. There are many sophisticated aspects about them, and these factors can be challenging for a first-time buyer. That's why it's worth working with an agent. Consider the following factors when assessing your top picks:
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Seek a second tour of the property
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Look for a large square footage property to get clear highlights throughout the house and a better assessment of its neighborhood.
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Ask about any disclosures, such as sewer lines and underground tanks.
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Compare different properties by obtaining their pricing information.
Assessing your top picks can last up to 12 weeks, depending on the availability of your desired houses for sale in New York City. A typical buyer can actively search for up to 10 homes, but you can still find "the one" on your first day. You don't have to rush on this or end up with a property with lots of issues that would cost you to repair.
Make your offer
You have assessed different houses and narrowed them down to a specific option. All that's left is making an official offer.
Making an offer
It's best to make an offer through your real estate agent. It helps avoid purchasing out of emotions. Besides that, real estate agents are well conversant with the New York real estate market and would help you deal with issues that might come along the way.
An offer doesn't only include the amount you prefer to buy the property but includes other aspects related to the property you're about to purchase. Some of these factors include:
- The amount you intend to pay
- The survey and legal description of your preferred property
- Your earnest money - this is a deposit that homebuyers make to show that you're serious about buying the property
- Any financing you may be seeking
- Your expected closing date
- Your expected occupancy date
- Contingencies, including repairs, home inspections, and whether the seller can provide clear titles of the property
- Your expiration date
Some of the factors in your contingency are usually negotiable. If the seller doesn't meet some of them, you can give them a timeframe to correct their shortcomings. You should also include a deal-killer into the offer is also crucial, which frees you from the consequences.
Place your down payment
The key to buying your luxury home narrows down to how well you structure your down payment. Knowing how much you will pay as your down payment can affect your chances of getting a mortgage, your banking fees, and your monthly payment. Therefore, you must be careful with the decision you're about to make.
Check out your desired property's loan-to-value (LTV) ratio if you plan to buy it through a mortgage. The loan-to-value (LTV) refers to the unpaid amount compared to the value of your dream house. Most lenders accept an 80% LTV meaning that you should at least pay 20% of the total value of your luxe home. Paying a high down payment makes your monthly payments smaller and attracts low interest.
Earnest money
A down payment doesn't prove enough that you're serious about buying a home. To show you're serious about your purchase, you should consider offering a cash deposit, referred to as earnest money. You will deposit this money in an escrow account and will go towards closing your purchase once your deal goes through. You should be careful with this consideration since you may lose your money to the seller if you sign the agreement and back off from it.
Closing date
Your offer should also include your estimated closing date. It's upon your real estate agent and financier to decide on this based on the status of your housing loan. If you intend to buy the property in cash, there's not much hustle determining when to close the deal. Ensure you indicate where you plan to hold your closing meeting and the records you will bring along.
These three aspects are usually the most crucial ones in an offer. Once you've made the offer, the seller will accept or reject it. If the seller accepts it, quickly move towards a settlement. If they reject it or are topped by a competing buyer, start by confirming whether it's still open. If it is, respond with a better offer as quickly as possible. This process should take between 1-7 days since it may take a maximum of three businesses day for the seller to respond to the offer.
These three aspects are usually the most crucial ones in an offer. Once you've made the offer, the seller will accept or reject it. If the seller accepts it, quickly move towards a settlement. If they reject it or are topped by a competing buyer, start by confirming whether it's still open. If it is, respond with a better offer as quickly as possible. This process should take between 1-7 days since it may take a maximum of three businesses day for the seller to respond to the offer.
A reliable process to help you sell your home
Factors such as the nature of the local market, time of the year, and property type play a significant role in determining when a home will sell. Fortunately, high-end properties sell a lot, meaning you must be quick with moving out and listing your home.
Two months before you put your property into listing: Research
Your move-out plan should start two months before listing your home. At this point, take your time to learn about the local market, especially with the general home cost in your neighborhood. It would help if you also took note of features and amenities such as the number of bathrooms and bedrooms that would boost your property sales.
The next step is putting your paperwork in order. Some documents might be easy to find, but others might take time to track. Ensure that you get original or official copies of your property title, homeowner's insurance, and mortgage in order.
Finally, figure out your transaction cost. While you may be focusing on closing a deal as soon as possible, you cannot assume the added cost of property tax, insurance, escrow, and title insurance. Set aside extra money to cater for these costs.
The next step is putting your paperwork in order. Some documents might be easy to find, but others might take time to track. Ensure that you get original or official copies of your property title, homeowner's insurance, and mortgage in order.
Finally, figure out your transaction cost. While you may be focusing on closing a deal as soon as possible, you cannot assume the added cost of property tax, insurance, escrow, and title insurance. Set aside extra money to cater for these costs.
Two months before the listing: Make necessary repairs
It's essential to make some home improvements before selling your home. However, you don't have to break the bank for a home you'll not be living in. Some issues may require simple fixing, like a deep clean or adding a fresh coat of paint. Others might require extensive upgrades and repairs.
Remember, you're legally expected to disclose any issues when selling a home. Therefore, assess whether taking that expensive repair route is worth the investment or if you can accommodate the repairs by lowering your price. However, it's advisable to repair to avoid having the buyer use this as leverage when negotiating your sales price.
A month before the listing: Get your home sell-ready
How you present your house to potential buyers matters a lot. That's why it's crucial to get your house sell-ready. You may want to invest in a professional cleaning service, learn staging techniques, and make your house inviting. You can add some throw pillows or artwork to accentuate some of your home features.
Once your home is ready, you can continue advertising it in a listing. Listing your home through a real estate agent like Anil Jintoorkar gives your home better visibility and the possibility of closing your deal as soon as possible.
Once your home is ready, you can continue advertising it in a listing. Listing your home through a real estate agent like Anil Jintoorkar gives your home better visibility and the possibility of closing your deal as soon as possible.
6-8 weeks: Negotiations and closing
Negotiating and closing a home sale may take weeks. It's best to remain honest and be fair with the buyer. However, with the help of a real estate agent, you will have the experience needed to negotiate and close the deal. You may not walk away with the amount you wanted, but it's much better if you're content with the fee than breaking it.
Once you've arrived at a deal, bring all the necessary paperwork during the closing day. This includes the property records, building permits, receipts, insurance documents, and legal documents needed for estate planning.
Buy or sell your New York home with Anil Jintoorkar
If you want to buy or sell your New York home, no other real estate agent is best suited to handle your deal than Anil Jintoorkar. His focus on delivering top-notch services to his clients with empathy and adaptability also significantly creates a successful business relationship. Contact him today and experience unique home selling or buying services in New York.
