Home Buying Guide

Buying a home in Colorado Springs can be an intimidating, stressful, and confusing experience for the homebuyer, but it doesn't have to be. It can be a fun and memorable time in your life. Your first question in the home-buying process should be in deciding where you would like to reside. Since Colorado Springs and the surrounding areas have a population of 500,000, some areas are hilly, treed, and have unique soils while others do not, deciding what areas you would like to live can be a challenging task in and of itself. A homebuyer needs to consider the location in proximity to jobs, schools, recreation, shopping, and lifestyle desires.

Once an area is determined and you are ready to look at property, there are various things you should be aware of to be prepared for a smooth and enjoyable time during the home-buying process.

• One of the most crucial things the buyer needs to do is to be pre-qualified or pre-approved by a lender.

• Earnest monies should be easily accessible to show consideration for the contract offer. This amount is usually 1-2 percent of the sales price.

• When you have found the property that meets your needs and you desire to purchase it, a written offer is then prepared and submitted to the seller to examine. The offer may be accepted, rejected, or countered. There may be one or numerous counter offers involved until both the buyer and seller are totally in agreement with the conditions of the contract.

• Once a contract offer is binding on both the seller and the buyer, the earnest money is deposited in a trust account until closing of the property.

• As the prospective buyer, you have the right to have a certified inspector do a thorough inspection of the property. This is not mandatory but is highly recommended. Having an inspection done can save you a lot of money and headaches in the future.

• If there are some items of concern that must be addressed from the property inspection, these items must be dealt with to the satisfaction of the buyer and seller. If an agreement cannot be reached, the earnest money will be returned to the buyer and all parties to the contract are therefore released.

• When a lender is involved or if a cash buyer wishes, an appraisal of the property is performed. If the appraised price is not close to the sales price, two things can happen. The buyer can choose to terminate the contract or the seller can reduce the sales price to the appraised price.

• Finally at last, all parties go to closing and you become the proud owner of a new property!!!

My job during the whole process of buying a house entails having a fiduciary duty to inform you of any knowledge I may have in terms of physical defects of the property. Assisting you with the negotiations and providing recent sales comparables to enable you to make a decision about a fair market price for the property. I will not jeopardize any negotiations by informing the seller of any motivating factors you may have to purchase the property, what you are willing to pay, or taint your negotiations in any manner.