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Buying
Sterling VA Homes For Sale:
- Figure out how much home you can afford with our Affordability Calculator
- You can also contact a lender to get more personalize information and to have them provide you with an approval letter (You’ll need the letter before you can write an offer on a home). If you don’t have one, You can find one on our proven lenders page.
- Write down a list of things you absolutely must have – For instance, do you need a certain number of bedrooms, garage spaces, or bathrooms? Do you definitely want to have a basement, only one level, or a fenced in backyard? MORE HELP on your Sterling VA Homes for sale Needs List…
- Write a second list of things you definitely don’t want. You can combine this on the list you need to build as above. Try using our needs list outline, linked above.
- Both lists will have a tendency to grow BUT just having this list will put you light years ahead of most buyers entering the market
- Now you are ready to begin your online research – Search the local MLS for Sterling VA Homes for sale
- Warning – Don’t forget to contact VIP-CashBack before you ask us to show you property – You have to register first, so you can get your rebate and evaluation fee checks
- As you begin to visit properties, your sole focus should be to eliminate as many properties as you possibly can, using your lists. Don’t be tempted to let the good qualities of any property you see override your list of must haves and don’t wants.
- If you start out with the plan to eliminate the most possible homes as quickly as possible, not only will it make the process fun, but you will shorten your home buying process as well.
- Once you find a property that you can’t find a reason to remove from the list, check to see how many of the “like to have” items are including – Realistically, it rarely happens that you will be able to find a property with all of your items from both lists, but you will be surprised how close you can get. It just takes a good knowledgeable agent/broker and a little patience
- Once you find a “good” property – Rule #1 is “Do not allow yourself to become attached to the idea of owning it”. This early in the game. Rule #2 “Don’t go looking for another property until you are sure you can’t get the one you like for the price you are willing to pay”.
- Your agent/broker will do similar research as might be done for a listing, and provide you with comparative, recent sales, of similar homes in the local area – You can do some initial research from our Sterling VA Homes For Sale Research Center
- Remember that the contract negotiation is just the first part of the transaction. There are likely to be more terms added as contingencies are removed through-out the process of executing the contract through the settlement. The the time that allows your agent to manage the process of executing the contract – performing the home inspection, completing the appraisal and financing process, and removing other hinderances to completing the deal – is called the “executory period”. Settlement is the final step in getting you into your own home and is where the deed and keys are exchanged for the full amount of money to satisfy the purchase terms of the agreement.
- We strongly suggest that you ask your agent to request the seller provide you with a copy of their title insurance binder as this can save you hundreds of dollars when you go to your settlement. Once you have it, your agent can forward the binder to the title company and they will give you what is called, “the reissue rate” rather than charging you full price for your title insurance. While not obligated to do so, most sellers will be happy to provide this to you. One word of caution – Should you choose to do this for a future buyer when you sell, remember to keep the original in a safe place as the binder will continue to protect you, even after you sell the property.
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Selling
Sterling VA Homes For Sale:
- Figure out “why” you want to move – Too little space, too far from work, school, too big, or any combination of reasons, but be sure to write them in order of importance. This will come in very handy later
- Find an agent that has a proven track record of success – Not just a set of letters after their name, but actual documented closed transactions. You can see some of ours on the “About” page of this site
- If your agent fails to provide an super strong, local internet presence, find another agent. According to the National Association of REALTORS, over 97% of all buyers start their home search online, so be sure to pick a listing brokerage company with hyper-local online search relevance. So you can get your home in front of as many buyers as possible – In a perfect world you would be featured on a site with a page one search result ranking for your listing. Local sites for small listing companies offer you the benefit of less competition than larger companies offer, but just as much relevant online buyer traffic
- Once you have worked through identifying why you want/need to move, the right agent with the right web tools to effectively sell your home, you have arrived at the point where you need to determine value. While there are many automated valuation models out there, none are effective enough that I would suggest using them for the purposes of actually pricing your home. You need an agent/broker with experience in the local market, education, work ethic, and the right tools in order to assure you are both getting everything you can out of the property, while not pricing yourself out of the market. A good agent will bring you comparable sold properties that are as recent sales to demonstrate their pricing
- Because your agent has a high ranking website for your geography, you should require that he list your property on the site as “Coming Soon” for several days before allowing anyone to see it – Then, one day before the MLS showing goes live, let him allow his/her buyers an early preview. REMEMBER – You don’t want to take any offer until after all buyers have seen the property. The idea of this strategy is to allow your agent to generate some buyer customers who are ready to compete for your home whenever possible. The fact that buyer agents now know your agent has some buyers of his own can often create stronger offers, even when the market is less than spectacular for sellers. Its not a guarantee, but it is more than worth the little bit of extra effort.
- Once the property is on the market, it is important to understand market dynamics. Sterling VA homes for sale will generally see the lion share of their buyer traffic in the first 10 days. Some agents will suggest waiting for 30 days before and price change. My personal choice of strategy is much more aggressive and I suggest price reductions every 10 days until sold. In more than one case over the years, I have seen this work to actually net sellers more after the reduction than they would have realized at the original list price. Here’s how that works out – More than one buyer is interested but unsure. The price is reduced and now two or more buyers both decide they really want the property. When they find out about each other the competition validates their belief the the property is terrific and they negotiate harder to win the home
- Finally, you must stay completely detached from the property and the contract, as you allow your broker/agent to lead you through the negotiation, executory, and settlement processes. For more information, contact us on the contact form or Simon’s direct number and we will happily help you understand the opportunities available through these processes
- Its is always good to have a copy of your title insurance for the buyer, as this can save them money. It really is a good way to muster good will later in the transaction. Let your agent know if you have a copy, but never loose the original. Even after you sell the property, the binder should always be kept in a safe place.
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