2024 CBTPE Buyer Guide

Your CBTPE guide to buying a home

A GUIDE TO THE INS, OUTS, AND WHAT-IFS OF BUYING A NEW HOME IN CHEYENNE.

your partner in the process

Buying a house could be the next chapter in your story.

There’s so many exciting parts about the house hunting experience–from starting your online search, making lists of things you want or love, and stepping through the doors of your first ever open house.

There’s also quite a few steps that need to happen before you fall in love with one and get the keys at closing.

Start with a budget.

This’ll serve as a starting point for your search.

Head online to browse.

Realtor.com and Zillow are your initial go-to sites.

We’ll get you home.

There’s a lot of steps to navigate, but there’s help!

When an agent becomes a part of your home buying story, you’ll have someone by your side every step of the way.

Your REALTOR® will: • Meet with you to discuss your needs and goals to help plan your search; • Ensure you get pre-approved and establish a budget; • Show you properties that meet your wants & needs list; • Research comparable homes in the neighborhood(s) you choose until you find one you love; • Help you determine your best offer and negotiate in your best interests;

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Set up the various home inspections and appraisal, then negotiate the repairs with the seller; Prepare for your closing with the title company, help you organize the final documents needed by the lender.

Complete the final walkthrough, sign closing docs, and ensure you know the correct amount to bring to closing.

Keep you updated on the progress of your transaction every step of the way!

ADDITIONAL ITEMS OF NOTE

MORTGAGE SERVICES: We can help you find a lender to get you pre-approved, explain the different types of loans you qualify for, and tell you your estimated monthly payment.

WARRANTY SERVICES: American Home Shield® offers extra security for the appliances and systems within your new home for peace of mind.

INSURANCE SERVICES: Typically, part of your monthly payment will include homeowner’s insurance.

Your agent can help connect you with local agencies that offer great rates & umbrella coverage.

TITLE SERVICES: Title issues can be researched & solved before closing so you close on time.

your partner in the process

Buying a house starts before you begin looking for homes Start with a budget.

This’ll serve as a starting point for your search.

Your agent is more than happy to get you through the following steps.

They’ll recommend individuals to help if you don’t already have a contact.

1. GET PRE-APPROVED: Meet with a lender, prepare your credit, set a budget.

2. MEET WITH ME: Discuss budget, research neighborhoods, set wants/needs.

3. MAKE AN OFFER: Review comparable listings, calculate best offer. Negotiations may occur.

4. OFFER SIGNED: Negotiations are finished.

Both parties sign contract.

5. INSPECTIONS: Professionals inspect property.

Discover issues that may need to be worked into the purchase agreement. Negotiate repairs.

6. APPRAISAL: Professional ensures property is worth the loan and purchase price you agreed to pay.

7. TITLE COMMITMENT: Title company will send a title insurance policy after closing.

8. DOCUMENTS TO LENDER: Make sure all requested docs are sent to your lender prior to closing.

9. CLOSING: Final walk-through. Sign closing documents. Receive your keys.

Income Qualifications Qualifying income W2 Income/Salary Income from part-time jobs* Income from a second job* Overtime & bonuses* Seasonal jobs Self-employed income (Requires additional documentation) Rental property income (Requires additional documentation) Alimony & child support (3-6 months of receipt & 36 additional months of continuance required) *Considered qualifying income with 24 months of receipt

non-qualifying income Income from the lottery (Dependent upon lump sum winnings in trust or other asset account. Contact a tax prof. or financial planner for additional info.)

Gambling Unemployment pay Single bonuses Unverifiable income

Needed Documents Income is different for each borrower and each lender—consult your mortgage professional early in the process to assure that you have as many options as possible.

W2s from past 2 years 1 month worth of pay stubs Bank statement from past 2 months Previous 2 years of tax returns List of debts & assets Divorce decree/marriage license Additional income documents

loan types & Qualification Guidelines TYPE OF LOAN VA Loan USDA Loan FHA Loan 203k Loan Conventional Loan VA Housing

CREDIT SCORE -580 580+ and 500-579 580 620 620

DOWN PAYMENT Varies No down payment 3.5% and 10% 3.5% Varies No down payment

*Information is subject to change.

For most up-to-date loan requirements, please consult with your mortgage professional.

mortgage loan types VA Department of Veteran Affairs*

Who Qualifies

Down Payment

Veterans

Determined by the amount of Entitlement available to the borrow and the type of coborrowers (if applicable)

Personnel with honorable discharge Reservists & National Guard Surviving Spouses

Upfront Mortgage Insurance

Monthly Mortgage Insurance

Minimum Credit Score

VA funding fee varies based on type of service.

Can be waived for disabled veterans.

None

N/A

USDA Department of Agriculture*

Someone who is buying a home in a USDAdesignated area.

Income restricted.

None

1% upfront fee

Required

580

FHA Federal Housing Administration*

Anyone who meets the minimum credit and income levels

At least 3.5% of purchase price

1.75% of loan amount

Required

500

Anyone who plans to purchase a fixer-upper or needs to renovate their home and meets credit & income requirements.

At least 3.5% of purchase price

1.75% of loan amount

Required

580

203K Federal Housing Administration*

Conventional 97*

Depending on the program, available fire-time home buyers (a buyer who hasn’t owned in the last 3 years) can put 3% down with a Conventional 97 program.

WCDA*

First-time home buyers in Wyoming who meet the minimum credit % income levels

Varies from 3% - 20% of purchase price

None

Varies based on program

1.75% of loan amount

97-81% Loan-toValue could have PMI paid monthly, upfront or by the lender (or a combination)

Required

620

620

A credit score is based on your credit history, and is used by many lenders as a scale of how likely you are to pay a loan back on time.

Scores range from 300 to 850. Experian, Equifax and TransUnion are the 3 credit bureaus that report this number.

The home buying process starts long before you meet a real estate agent and start looking for homes. Building your credit in anticipation for a large purchase should be considered the first step.

As you’ve seen on the previous page, there’s a minimum credit score that any home buyer must meet in order to secure a loan for a mortgage. If you haven’t already been on FreeCreditReport.com, head there and pull a free credit report (you are entitled to one free report each year, without the need for a financial institution to pull it for you—too many hard credit inquiries actually deducts points from your credit score!).

On average, it takes 3 to 6 months to build a credit score from scratch, and could take 2-3 years to improve it significantly (depending on the age of credit, mix of credit types, available credit, and how you pay your bills).

Your lender is able to look at your specific financial blueprint and help you set a course for improving and building your credit so you look more appealing to lenders.

Things to start doing immediately to build better credit: 1. Check your credit reports and scores. Does everything on your credit report look accurate? If there’s things listed that shouldn’t be there, you’ll need to have those removed immediately.

2. Focus on paying every bill on time. This shows lenders how you’ll handle repayments.

3. Stop applying for credit. House hunting is not the time to buy a car, open a credit card, or take out a personal loan. Consider yourself cut off.

4. Limit big purchases. You want your debt-to-income ratio (DTI), the percentage of your gross monthly income that goes toward debt payments, to be low.

5. Reduce debt. Make payments and try to pay current loans off.

OTHER TERMS TO KNOW

Rate Lock: When an interest rate doesn’t move

Mortgage interest rates can change daily. If your rate is locked, it won’t change between when you get the rate lock and closing, as long as you close within the specified timeframe (30, 45 or 60 days) and there’s no changes to your application.

Rate lock policies vary by lender. To avoid surprises, ask: • What does it mean if I lock in my rate today?

• What rate lock time frame does this loan estimate provide?

• Is a shorter or longer rate lock available, and at what cost?

• What if my closing is delayed and the rate lock expires?

• If I lock my rate, are there any conditions under which my rate could still change?

• If I lock my rate, and interest rates go down, what happens?

From the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

A GUIDE TO THE INS, OUTS, AND WHAT-IFS OF BUYING A NEW HOME IN CHEYENNE.

Making an offer You’ve found a home—Congrats! In today’s market, when the demand is higher than the amount of homes available, it’s important not to wait if you’ve found the perfect property.

HOW MUCH TO OFFER:

SUBMITTING THE BEST OFFER:

AFTER YOU SUBMIT AN OFFER:

You may only have one chance to make a good impression. Can you make it more appealing? There’s some things that make an offer more appealing to a seller: allcash purchase, shorter inspection period, offer to close quickly.

The seller could accept, decline the offer (if yours isn’t close to their expectations to further negotiate), or counter (seller asks for different terms). If there’s a counter, then you can accept, decline or recounter.

When your offer is accepted, you’ll sign a purchase agreement—you’re finally under contract! Now inspections, appraisals, or anything else built into your purchase agreement takes place (unless you’ve waived this). Note: You’ll be asked to cover the cost of the inspections and appraisal costs out of pocket.

If one of the contingencies was a home inspection, you’ll have a certain number of days to complete this after the offer is accepted.

Note: typical inspections include roofing, plumbing & sewer, electrical, and HVAC. Foundation, asbestos, septic & well, lead-based paint and radon can be done if there are specific concerns.

The post-inspection agreement is the next form you’ll sign if there are any counter-offers to the seller, asking that items considered defective, problems related to the safety of the home or repairs found during inspections are corrected prior to closing.

This period of time is called the contingency period.

Appraisals are ordered during this period as well.

Typically repairs are completed by professionals.

We’ll sit down and look at recent sales and current buyer activity in that neighborhood, as well as the value of the property in its present condition. Putting all this info together, we’ll determine the price that you want to offer.

Asking for closing costs, rate buy downs & repairs Concession Requests: According to a report from Redfin, nearly a third (35%) of sellers offered concessions during 3-month period ending October 31, 2023.

Negotiations are a normal part of a real estate transaction. Before you even have a chance to negotiate with the sellers of a property about repairs, you first have to come to an agreement on price and concessions (a benefit or a discount offered by the buyer or seller to help sell a home and close a deal). There’s typically 3 types of concessions you’ll see thrown the seller’s way:

1. CLOSING COSTS. These include a range of fees that include appraisal, mortgage insurance, property

taxes, title and origination fees, escrow, title insurance, and more. Sellers might cover all, a portion, or none of these. While having this covered won’t put cash directly into your pocket, it’ll reduce the amount of money you have to bring to closing.

2. MORTGAGE-RATE BUYDOWNS. This can help lower your interest rate and, as a result, your monthly

payment. You can permanently buy down your interest rate by buying points—each point generally costs about 1% of the mortgage amount and lowers your interest rate by approximately .25%. You can ask the seller to cover all or part of the cost.

3. TEMPORARY RATE BUYDOWN. There’s 3 common types: 1-0 Buydown, 2-1 Buydown, 3-2-1 Buydown.

Information related to concessions are meant to be a high-level overview. If you have specific questions about these or other items related to buying a home, please consult your agent as well as your chosen mortgage professional for additional details. Items stated here are subject to change and are not final.

A GUIDE TO THE INS, OUTS, AND WHAT-IFS OF BUYING A NEW HOME IN CHEYENNE.

The Appraisal process Most home buyers will never meet the appraiser or review the appraisal report. The lender will send the estimated appraisal value to the real estate agent to pass along.

Appraisal and valuation are incredibly important steps in the home buying process. Your lender will hire a board-licensed appraiser to come out and place a value on the property. Although the primary goal is to ensure the house is worth the amount of the loan the lender is providing, the appraisal can also protect you from overpaying. Your lender will typically add the appraisal charge on to your closing costs.

WHAT AN APPRAISER DOES

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Review living area of the home, land area, style, age, quality of construction, number of beds & baths, garage and outbuildings, etc.

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Inspect the interior and exterior of the property.

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Research county and municipal records for documentation about the property and market area.

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Review recent sales and listings of comparable properties (similar utility, quality, age and amenities).

Consider what it might take to rebuild or construct a reproduction of the existing property.

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Determine how many living units are present (in the event of a duplex, triplex, etc.).

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Home Warranty: A home warranty can be purchased to cover repairs and replacements on systems and appliances in your home, usually for a period of a year. This may include coverage of your home’s electrical, plumbing, heating and air conditioning systems, as well as other home appliances.

Title Search: Title is the right to own, possess, use, control and dispose of a property. When purchasing a home, you are actually buying the seller’s title to a home. During this period, the title company will look to see if a previous claim or lien is present on the property (this will affect the ability to purchase it until the claim or lien is handled).

You’ll want to determine how you wish to hold title to the property--especially if you’re buying with a spouse, partner, family member or colleague.

Final Commitment Letter: After the lender approves your loan, you’ll get a letter that lays out the loan term and mortgage agreement.

This final letter will include the annual percentage rate (APR) and monthly costs rolled into repaying the loan. It also includes any loan conditions prior to closing.

Homeowners Insurance: Lenders will require proof of insurance on a home before issuing a mortgage. Note: payments toward the homeowners insurance policy are usually included in the monthly payments of the mortgage.

Refinancing Later: You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase, “Marry the house; date the rate.” If you’re looking to refinance to lower the interest rate on your mortgage and/or take out equity, your lender will typically request an appraisal at that time, too. Again, this helps ensure their investment is sound and can determine the amount of equity that can be taken out. For more information, contact your Lender.

Closing Day: What happens There’s a lot that happens as each individual company wraps up their side of this deal: from your lender and title company, to your inspectors, appraiser and agent... Once closing day comes, you’ll need to, essentially, sign a bunch of papers and then hand over your final check.

Closing Disclosure: Lenders are required to provide you with a closing disclosure, at least three days before closing. This will show you what your final loan terms and closing costs will be. You’ll have three days to review the statement (to make sure there’s no surprises at the closing table). If there is a significant discrepancy between the loan estimate and the closing disclosure, the agent will notify your lender and title company immediately.

Final Walk-Through: You’ll have a final walk through of the home within 24 hours of closing to check the property’s condition. This final inspection takes about an hour and is your opportunity to make sure any repair work that the seller agreed to make has been done. You’ll also: make sure all appliances are working property, run the water in all faucets to check for leaks, open and close garage doors with opener, flush toilets, run the garbage disposal and exhaust fans.

Closing Table: Closing is typically held at the title company, where you’ll sign lots of paperwork, including the deed of trust, promissory note, and other docs. At the table, your agent, the seller, the seller’s agent, a title company representative, your loan officer, and any real estate attorneys involved in the transaction could be present.

It’s not uncommon for it to be you, your agent, the title company rep, and the seller’s agent to be present instead.

Bring to Closing: You’ll want to make sure you have a government-issued photo ID. It never hurts to also bring a copy of the sales contract, homeowner’s insurance certificate, proof of funds to cover the remainder of the costs, and your contribution to the closing costs (typically 3-4% of the home’s sales price, unless negotiated with the seller).

Cheyenne Utilities

Helpful home buying tools

Google Lens Search Google through your camera lens in case you can’t identify any item in the house.

Family Watchdog Board of Public Utilities 307.637.6460 Black Hills Energy 888.890.5554 High West Energy 307.245.3261 Duke Energy 800.777.9898 S. Cheyenne Water/Sewer 307.635.5608 Charter/Spectrum 866.874.2389 CenturyLink 866.963.6665 BluePeak Fiber 888.975.4258

Government/Services

Check out a neighborhood and see if any of your neighbors are a safety risk. All info should be confirmed with the Laramie County Sheriff’s Department.

Zillow Mortgage Make quick calculations on various financial aspects of purchasing a home.

iScape free Take a photo of a prospective home’s yard and then add trees, shrubs, flowers, and more to see what it could look like through AR.

Homestyler VR Place furniture similar to yours in a home you’re considering to see how it will look and fit.

US Postal Service 800.275.8777 LC School District #1 307.771.2100 LC School District #2 307.245.4050 Parks & Recreation 307.637.6423 Sanitation Department 307.637.6440 Laramie County Library 307.634.3561 Cheyenne Recycling 307.635.5986 Drivers’ Licenses 307.777.4800 License Plates 307.633.4232 Vehicle Titles 307.633.4247 Vehicle Registration 307.633.4232 Marriage Licenses 307.633.4350 Vital Records 307.777.7591 County Health Dept.

307.633.4000 Parking Permits & Tickets 307.637.6586

Centriq Winner of the National Association of Home Builder’s Game Changer Award— a one-stop-shop to help you access appliance manuals, order spare parts, and video guides for DIY repairs.

Homezada Record your home inventory, along with repair projects and their progress. Set budgeting plans for home remodeling, log research, schedule reminders for seasonal maintenance, stay on top of home insurance policies and claims.

How your real estate agent is compensated Am I required to sign an agreement with my agent?

No. Without signing the form, you will be considered a customer with no agency affiliation (see Wyo. Stat. 33-28310 (a) for full list of duties and obligations as a customer). If the agreement is signed, then Wyoming law requires a duty of utmost good faith, loyalty and fidelity, in addition to the obligations and duties listed in Wyo. Stat. 33-28-304(c).

As an agent, the income your agent earns comes from commissions, often based on the final sales price of the property they help you buy.

There’s no set or standard fees for the services your agent provides, and they’re determined by negotiations between brokers, or between the sellers and me. Their job is to apply all of the knowledge they’ve gained in their career and pull together a variety of resources to protect you and your family during this large purchase (sometimes, the largest purchase you’ll ever make!). They’ll always work toward getting you the best possible outcome.

As an independent contractor with Coldwell Banker - The Property Exchange, they are obligated to share a portion of this commission with their brokerage in return for the support the brokerage provides, as well as cover their own business expenses, taxes and other fees.

In return for that service, your agent will establish a minimum compensation that they receive when you purchase a home. That commission fee is established in the Buyer Agency Agreement. You’ll always know what compensation they’re receiving, and from where, prior to entering into a contract to purchase.

A GUIDE TO THE INS, OUTS, AND WHAT-IFS OF BUYING A NEW HOME IN CHEYENNE.

255 Storey Boulevard Cheyenne, WY 82009 307.632.6481 homes@propertyex.com

@Coldwellbanker307 @cbtpe