JANET MCNOWN BUYER'S GUIDE
WELCOME
Home is more than just a physical space. It s where you've created countless memories, shared moments with loved ones, and where you feel most comfortable.
When it comes time to buy a new home and begin a new chapter, the process can oftentimes feel overwhelming. Buying a home can be an emotional journey, and it's understandable to feel apprehensive.
Rest assured that together, we can help you navigate the process with ease. We'll outline the process and create a plan together, so you don't have to do any of the heavy lifting.
From setting a budget, to finding the right neighborhood, negotiating the best terms for you & creating a smooth close, this booklet will be your guide.
Janet McNown
JANET MCNOWN
Principal Broker since 1998
NW Greenwood Avenue
My focus on strong customer service, integrity and professionalism is what keeps clients coming back and referring others to me. My drive to make every experience for my clients a positive one has resulted in the implementation of systems to keep me organized and keep my clients informed.
In my years as a Realtor I have built a successful business based on honesty and integrity and the highest level of customer service. With combined experience and a strong knowledge base I work hard to provide professional, results driven service to my buyers, sellers and investors.
I firmly believe in building long term professional relationships with my clients, utilizing advanced marketing strategies and state of the art technology to assist clients in achieving their real estate goals in the most productive and efficient manner.
My community is incredibly important to me and I look for opportunities to live life as a 'contribution' including my group called BLEND where we introduce community members to new venues and new people. Join us!
Experience counts when results matter and I am eager to my experience to work for you!
WHY HIRE A TEAM?
When it comes to buying or selling a property, having a real estate team on your side is a game-changer. Not only will they always be available to take calls and show properties, but they'll also bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the table.
When it comes time to take your largest asset to market, it's vital to have a variety of perspectives to build your specific marketing plan. As a team we build a plan just for your home and each listing is vetted through the team, which ensures we don't have any holes in our marketing.
Our job is to get you the best deal and often times that is through leveraging our combined skillsets and NETWORKS
While we personalize our marketing approach, we systemize our approach to paperwork, ensuring you always know what's coming next.
SAY HELLO TO MY TEAM...
JANET MCNOWN PRINCIPAL BROKER
FRANCIS TRANSACTION COORDINATOR
UNREPRESENTED CONSUMERS ACCOUNT FOR 70% OF ALL REAL ESTATE LAWSUITS.
Buying a home is a complex process. There is a wealth of information at your fingertips to help you get started including homes for sale, market statistics, and how-to-advice. When you add in the guidance and perspective of a professional, you have the best chance for a smooth, relatively stress-free transaction.
To make the best possible home buying decisions, you should have the best guidance and information. A real estate professional can assist you through the search process, give you details on comparable recently sold homes, help you craft an offer and negotiate successfully, and advise you through the inspection, repair, and appraisal processes. Your agent can help you find the best value, neighborhood, and quality for your budget and requirements.
Buying a home is often one of the biggest financial investments you’ll make in your lifetime. A lot can go wrong and unfortunately, it can go REALLY wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing.
MY ROLE AS YOUR BUYER’S SPECIALIST
Selecting Stellar Realty and myself to represent you is the most important decision you will make during your home buying process, next to actually choosing a home. I will help you in the following areas which are critical to a successful & satisfying real estate experience.
DETERMINE YOUR HOUSING & COMMUNITY NEEDS
Help you determine your wants & needs in a home that is located in the area you would like to live.
Help you find the amenities that each community & neighborhood offers within your chosen area.
Help you access school & crime reports in your desired area.
ACT AS YOUR PROPERTY SPECIALIST
Help you prioritize your housing criteria & find a home that meets your needs & budget.
Review new or updated listings for suitability to your criteria.
Eliminate marginal or unsuitable properties, and adjust your search criteria accordingly.
Assist you in previewing properties using our website.
Arrange for private tours of home within your criteria and help you evaluate them.
BUT THAT’S NOT ALL...
Square footage & acreage
Fair housing
Contingencies
Waivers and release
Escrow
Allocation of taxes, costs, fees
Default, termination & response
First rights
FIRPTA
Seller-carried financing
Defective products & materials
Home buyer protection act
Tenant occupied properties
HOA, CC&Rs
Wells Cross connection & backflow
Sewer & septic systems
Lead based paint disclosures
Wood stoves
Professional home inspections
Radon
Mold
Underground oil tanks
Repairs & remodels
New construction
Title report and commitment
Smoke alarms
Carbon monoxide alarms
Risk of loss provisions
Seller’s property disclosures
Vacant land
Property taxes
Omitted property tax
Wire fraud
Flood insurance disclosures
Short sale properties
Real estate owned properties
Historic property
Home warranty
SERVE AS YOUR EXPERIENCED NEGOTIATOR
Research & review recent comparable sales in your area to determine the approximate fair market value.
Evaluate each scenario and recommend a negotiation strategy, taking into account current or multiple offers on the property, days on market, previous sales history, seller motivation, and of course fair market value.
Represent your best interests in all negotiations and explain any seller’s counter offer to you (and your counters to them).
ACT AS YOUR TRANSACTION COORDINATOR
Work closely with your lender to help you figure out the arrangements for the financing option you have chosen.
Oversee the entire transaction & handle complications that may occur throughout the process, eliminating any stress on you
Provide you and all parties with updates as to the status of your closing.
Assist you in scheduling a home inspection and any repairs if necessary.
Help you obtain an insurance quote, utility list, and other tools helpful for a smooth transaction into your new home.
Examine all closing documents for accuracy.
Review & explain all documents to you so you have a better understanding of the home buying & closing process.
Send a transaction timeline to the seller’s agent to help you and the seller arrange the closing and assist in synchronizing the transaction.
BUYER’S REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT
What’s that?
One of the latest changes in the Real Estate industry is the requirement of a Buyer’s Representation Agreement. This agreement allows the buyer & buyer’s agent to establish a working relationship in writing & it is now required before an agent is allowed to show a buyer a home. This agreement outlines the commission that is being charged by the buyer’s agent similar to how a listing agreement outlines the commission that is being charged by the listing agent to the seller. This allows you, the buyer, to have full transparency on what you are ultimately paying your agent.
THERE ARE BASICALLY THREE WAYS THAT BUYER’S AGENTS ARE NOW PAID WITHIN THE TRANSACTION:
01
02
Sellers agrees to pay Buyer’s agent commission through a seller contribution within the contract.
Listing agent pays Buyer’s agent with an offer of compensation at closing.
03
Buyer can pay out of pocket through escrow at closing.
The fee can also be paid through a combination of the above The fee cannot exceed what the buyer & buyer’s agent have agreed upon in the buyer representation agreement and offers of compensation are not allowed to be published on the MLS
THE BUYER WILL KNOW WHICH OPTION THEY ARE CHOOSING PRIOR TO ACCEPTING AN OFFER ON A PROPERTY. THIS WAY THE BUYER KNOWS EXACTLY HOW MUCH THEIR AGENT IS BEING PAID & THERE ARE ZERO SUPRISES.
AGENT COMPE
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It makes a sellers listing more appealing to buyers. Many buyers do not want to pay out of pocket to pay their buyer agent’s fee. A seller that is offering seller contributions to pay the buyer’s agent fee makes the home more affordable for the buyer.
It creates a smoother transaction. A represented buyer is a buyer that is educated with an agent working to ensure a smooth and successful transaction that gets everyone to the closing table.
Sellers are not required to offer a seller’s contribution, however, when you allow the buyer to roll their agent’s commission into the purchase price of the home, it greatly reduces the amount of cash they are required to bring to the table and could be the difference between a buyer being able to purchase the house or not.
BUYING PROCESS
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increase over the coming years, so it might make sense to over extend just a bit, knowing you can grow into the monthly payment. Are you at the end of your earning potential? If so, you might not want to push on your monthly budget. This would be for anyone on the back end of their career OR with a fairly fixed income.
PREAPPROVAL
Once you have chosen me as your buyer’s specialist and reviewed your wants & needs in a new home, it’s time to begin a loan application so that you can get preapproved for financing, if needed, by a lender. It is extremely important to have a preapproval letter prior to beginning your home search for many reasons:
1. You will know what your budget is. A lender will be able to let you know how much your potential mortgage payment will be and also give you an idea of how much down payment you will need to come up with.
2. This will help you decide on a price range for your home search and if financing, you will be ready to write an offer once you find your perfect home.
3. After you are preapproved & once you have an accepted offer, you will continue to work with your lender’s instructions to close the loan!
DOWN PAYMENT
Determine what your down payment is. While some put 20% down on their home, you can often qualify with as little as 5% down. It’s important to be clear on this number as it will impact your monthly payment. You’ll also need to have your earnest money on hand as well. Typically buyers put 1-2% of the purchase price down as earnest money. I’ll break down your earnest money in just a bit, but know that your earnest money will be added to your down payment on closing day.
WISH LIST
Buying a new home is so much fun and this is the part where you day dream about all the possibilities. I like to remove all constraints of budget and location and write down ALL the things I’d love to have inside my home. Not gonna lie, my list is fairly epic, but it makes me happy to think about all the possibilities. After I’ve filled my mind with all the possibilities, I start sorting them and ranking them in order of importance, narrowing it down to 3-5 must haves. It’s important to do this BEFORE you start looking at houses so you don’t get distracted by something that might seem like what you want, but really isn’t. We’ll refer to this list when we’re out looking at homes. If a shop is on your MUST HAVE list, then we’re only going to walk homes that have shops OR are priced in a way that allow you to immediately have one built. This ends up saving everyone so much time AND ensures you get what you really want.
DECIDING WHICH HOME TO BUY
AFFORDABILITY: Your monthly payment should be comfortable for you to handle, in relationship to your total obligations. You should also be in the correct loan for your needs. A fixed rate is more expensive, but offers more protection than an adjustable rate mortgage. Don’t forget to consider the monthly operating costs of the home as well, including utilities, HOA fees, landscaping and other costs.
LOCATION: is about convenience, and you’ll pay a premium to be in certain locations. You can buy a smaller home or a home in need of updates in order to be in your desired location and budget. To purchase a larger home with land, you may need to consider a location further from the city.
FEATURES: When considering potential homes, it’s important to know the difference between what you need to have in your new home, and what you want to have. Use the needs list to begin narrowing your choices and make sure the home you choose allows room for your family to grow.
BATHROOMS
New Home
WISH LIST
KITCHEN BACKYARD
FAMILY ROOM
FRONT ENTRY
BEDROOMS
MISCELLANEOUS
we re ready to go to market overnight so we don’t delay the closing process.
If you’re renting, know that your first mortgage payment isn’t usually due for 45-60 days AFTER close of escrow, which helps you not double up on rent and mortgage payments.
SET UP YOUR HOME SEARCH
Now it's time to start shopping for your new home! I’ll be setting up a custom home search for you with
And finally, there are almost always cameras, so save any talk of pricing for after the showing.
WRITING THE SALES CO
Once you find your perfe you with facts and info make the purchase decis standard terms of the sal variety of contingencies w Some might be presented the contract. I will compl with you and discuss each
In addition, we will talk about negotiation strategy. Once the agreement has been reached, the seller will sign the sales contract & addendum(s). The sales contract will include specific dates as to when certain contingencies must be met, such as: home inspections, preliminary title report, and financing contingencies. Remember, I am working for YOU and have your best interest in mind.
HOW DOES A REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION WORK?
BUYER SELLER
LOAN EVALUATION
BEFORE MAKING AN OFFER, TALK WITH A FEW LENDERS TO DETERMINE YOUR BUDGET
BUYER’S REALTOR SELLER’S REALTOR
FIND YOUR DREAM HOME!
OFFER PRESENTED PURCHASE NEGOTIATION
BUYER’S REALTOR PRESENTS OFFER TO SELLER’S REALTOR, WHO CONVEYS IT TO SELLER
GOOD FAITH DEPOSIT INSPECTION PERIOD
BUYER BEGINS INSPECTION PERIOD & SUBMITS REPAIR REQUESTS.
LOAN APPLICATION PROCESSED & APPRAISAL ORDERED
BUYER SUBMITS
EARNEST DEPOSIT TO TITLE COMPANY WHICH IS HELD IN EARNEST
SALES PRICE, TERMS AND CONTINGENCIES ARE NEGOTIATED & AGREED UPON.
SELLER’S DISCLOSURES
SELLERS PROVIDE DISCLOSURES THAT MAY MATERIALLY EFFECT THE VALUE
TITLE SEARCH
CONCURRENT WITH LOAN PROCESS, CLOSING AGENT CONFIRMS SELLER HAS CLEAR RIGHT TO SELL PROPERTY & ESTABLISHES FACTS, SUCH AS WHETHER THERE ARE ANY RESTRICTIVE COVENANTS ON THE USE OF THE PROPERTY
SALES
CLOSING DOCS ISSUED
LENDER PROVIDES LOAD ESTIMATE & CLOSING DISCLOSURES DETAILING ALL TERMS & COSTS
FINAL WALK THROUGH
1-2 DAYS PRIOR TO CLOSING, BUYER
CONTINGENCIES SATISFIED
ONCE FINANCING IS COMPLETE, INSPECTION REPAIRS MADE, APPRAISAL COMPLETE, CONTINGENCIES ARE DROPPED OFF.
CONFIRMS THAT THE HOME IS IN THE SAME CONDITION AS WHEN PURCHASED & ALL AGREED UPON REPAIRS HAVE BEEN MADE
TRANSACTION CLOSED
the TIMELINE
BUDGET
Determine what you want your monthly payment to be
Determine how much you want to put down
MEET WITH A LENDER
Interview lenders
Crunch the numbers to determine how much home you can afford
SET UP YOUR HOME SEARCH
Determine what your 'must have' items are Define the location you want to live in
Set up your home search
Walk any homes that meet most of the qualifications you've set until you find the right one & submit an offer
OFFER ACCEPTED!
Deposit earnest money Inspection period Appraisal
CLOSING DAY
Sign all lender documents
Sign all title documents Sent to record + fund
MOVING DAY
Schedule your movers Welcome Home!
Now what?
Once we have an accepted contract, I’ll send it to the Title Company who will facilitate the closing documents. The Title Company works with all parties involved (buyer, seller, both agents and lender) to compile all the documents necessary to close.
02 03
EARNEST $ DEPOSIT INSPECTION APPRAISAL
01 02 03
EARNEST DEPOSIT: Your earnest deposit is typically 1-2% of the purchase price. Once all contingencies are met, your earnest money will be nonrefundable and will be applied towards your down payment.
INSPECTION PERIOD: This is your time to do all of your due diligence on the property. It is HIGHLY recommended that you hire a professional inspector to do a full inspection of the home.
APPRAISAL: Once the inspection is complete the next contingency to remove is the appraisal contingency. Most loans require an appraisal prior to funding.
INSPECTION PERIOD
This is your time to do all of your due diligence on the property. It is HIGHLY recommended that you hire a professional inspector to do a full inspection of the home. You may have a preferred inspector or I’m happy to share a few companies I’ve worked with in the past, but who you use as your inspector is your decision. The inspector will climb into the attic, check the a/c, run all the faucets, check all the electrical and look for anything that is out of order. They’ll then provide you with a full report that is often dozens of pages long — you want them to be thorough! They’ll point out everything that is in working order and everything that is not. Once the inspection is done, you’ll have an opportunity to ask the seller to repair or replace anything that isn’t working properly. This is a new negotiation between the buyer and seller. If buyer and seller cannot come to an agreement during this due-diligence period, buyer has the opportunity to cancel the contract and receive a full refund of their earnest money.
APPRAISAL
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FINANCIN
OTHER
CONTINGENCIES
re selling your current home in order to buy new home, you’ll have this contingency as hat needs to be fulfilled before your earnest y goes hard. We’ll go over all of these dates u know exactly what is expected of you and le of your home.
During this time, it’s imperative close contact with your lend specific paperwork and inform can provide them. It is also importance that you refrain major purchases that coul financing. This would be buyin boat or swiping your credit card the new house. These purchas impact your debt to income ra your deal before it’s done. Ha close on your dream home and then you have full reign to get that home furnished or buy that new car.
FINAL WALK
THR
OUGH
This typically occurs 2-4 days prior to close and is your chance to walk the home one last time to ensure that all of the repair requests have been completed and that the house is in the same condition as when you bought it. It’s normal to see boxes stacked in the garage because sellers are moving too! If everything looks good, you’ll sign paperwork accepting the home’s condition and we’ll be on our way to a smooth close.
CLOSING DAY
Closing day is usually a collection of a few days. The Title Company will receive loan documents 3-5 days prior to close and you’ll have two options: you can make an appointment to sign at the Title Company OR they’ll send the documents to you with a notary to sign in the comfort of your own home. Either way is just fine, but you’ll need to be sure if you’re signing at home that there is time for documents to get back to the Title Company in a timely manner (this only comes into play if you’re signing out-of-state). Both buyers and sellers usually sign all the documents a few days prior to close, so that on closing day, all that is left to do is send the title to record at the County Recorder's Office.
Your property is officially closed once the title has been recorded, then funding will follow. Depending on which day of the week and the time of day, sometimes funding doesn’t happen until the next day. Banks often work on Eastern Time so if you’ve recorded late in the day on a Friday, you can expect it to fund on Monday
Good news? Once it’s funded we can release the keys to your new home to you!
What you
CAN EXPECT
I know this is about more than selling high and buying low and I can promise you that while there may be some bumps in the process, I'll be doing my best to help you avoid any delays or roadblocks. You can expect unwavering dedication to your needs and goals throughout this process. I'll provide clear communication, expert guidance, and a commitment to securing the best possible outcome for you. I'll be there every step of the way to make your real estate journey as seamless and successful as possible.
