Educate Your Buyers with “8 Steps to Buying a Home”

As a real estate professional you will likely visit with prospects with varying levels of expertise in property acquisition. Some prospects will have done their homework and are within signing distance of a contract while others may have very little understanding of what it takes to purchase their own home. The following list is designed to help you help your prospects from the very beginning.

1. Reports, Homework and Pre-approval It is possible that some of your prospects want to visit properties in search of a dream; however, you do them a disservice if you don’t gently assist them back to the beginning of the process. They should begin with a discovery phase that includes learning their credit score (A free annual report is available at www.annualcreditreport.com and is the official site sponsored by the primary credit reporting agencies). Provide your prospect with information on the mortgage process and suggest they look at what it takes to gain pre-approval. There is nothing more disheartening than having your hopes set on an already-viewed property for which you cannot get a mortgage. 2. Dream Tuning Your prospect may be overwhelmed with the process of a property acquisition, but it is in their best interest to take some time to think about the things that will be most important to them in the home buying process. They should determine those things that are flexible and those things that are non-negotiable. By narrowing things down you have an easier time helping them find only the properties that fit their predetermined profile. The use of CRM software will assist you in gaining a clearer picture of your client’s perceived and real needs. 3. Fitting Room The process of viewing homes can now begin. Make sure the client understands that they need to honestly convey their thoughts about any of the properties you visit. You will enhance relationship building by making sure their needs are given proper attention. Do not try to insist they would ‘get used’ to some feature they are not comfortable with. Assure them they are in the driver seat and their needs are most important to you. 4. Full Disclosure Assist your clients in an understanding of all conditions, both good and bad, about any property visited. They will need to move forward with any purchase with their eyes wide opened. You cannot build long term relationships if the client feels you were not truthful about a property. 5. Show Me the Money Once a property is selected, your client will need to be apprised of issues related to offers, counter offers and contracts. They will also need to know of the need for earnest money to demonstrate the commitment to following through on the land purchase. Help your client understand the issues and fees associated with closing. 6. Foundations, Termites and More – Oh My! Help your client understand what rights they may have if they order a variety of inspections to be performed on the property. These inspections may include foundation and pest infestations but may also include plumbing, heating and electrical. In many cases the purchaser will be responsible for payment of these inspections while the owner is typically responsible for fixing the issues although in some cases the owner may not be responsible for the entire repair costs even if problems are discovered. 7. Contract in Hand – Appraiser on Site When the final contract is available, your client’s lender will need to work with your client although your client may need some assistance in working through last minute issues and will need to understand the process of the appraisal and the effect it may have on the ability to close. 8. A New Set of Keys? Closings can go very wrong and your client needs to know that the final closing costs may differ from figures their lender may have provided. This can be a deal breaker, but by being on hand you can help guide them through some of the questions they may have before and after closing. If all goes well, your client will retain the keys to a new property and you have just completed a major hurdle in maintaining a satisfied customer. As a real estate professional you have access to a silent partner who can manage many of the details of this process when you use the services of a virtual online assistant. These professionals work hand in hand with you to accomplish much more than you can alone. The many details managed by a virtual assistant can help make this process less frustrating for both you and your client.

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