Virutally Buying a Home during COVID-19

  1. Someone who is wanting to buy a home calls me. They come into my office to meet and be pre-approved by one of my preferred lenders.

  2. We come up with a game plan. I start sending homes on the market to them that night. They tell me what they like/dislike about the homes.

  3. View homes in person. Usually, we meet at the office. I play chauffer, so they can get the best idea of the neighborhood. On average, a client will see eight or nine houses until they find “the one.”

  4. We put offers down on the ones that we love. This is the most competitive part of the process and it is important to have an agent that knows how to package your offer to get accepted. Prior to April of 2020, there were A LOT of buyers in the market. Sellers typically had piles of offers to sift through per home.

  5. Our offer is accepted.

  6. Do inspections. With this information, we decide whether or not to renegotiate price in order to make up for unexpected repairs, accept as is, or rescind our offer based on new information.

  7. Get the Home Appraisal (if you using a lender). Banks want to protect their investments, so they need to conduct an appraisal to get the stamp of approval that what they’re making is a “good investment!”

  8. Closing Day. This is the day the buyers get the keys and all parties are paid accordingly. This includes down payment for the loan, closing costs, and any extra fees.

  9. Move-in!

For the most part, the actual process is the same.

That being said, all things that involve human contact have been shifted to “virtual meetings.” The buyer’s consultation can easily be done via telephone, zoom, FaceTime and now most homes are viewed from the comfort of your own couch using 3D photography. as for inspections, those can be a bit trickier and we are having to be a bit more “creative” and “tech-savvy” to make these happen.

In addition, our office at Think Real Estate and the California Association of Realtors are requiring us to include addendums to every real estate transaction that is occurring.

With buyers not being able to see any homes in-person that are not completely vacant, some buyers are hesitant to purchase such heavy ticket items without having set foot on it first - completely understandable. Hence, we write the contract in a way to keep you protected during this time and properly communicate with the other side to make sure everything is done fairly for both sides.

The last thing that completely changed in home buying is the amount of buyers currently looking for homes has dropped drastically! This does not mean that it is easier to get your offer accepted. On the contrary, it means that you are competing with the most serious of the serious buyers. And now more than ever, it is important to have an agent in your corner that know what they’re doing when they draft your offer.

I have formulated a step-by step guide to help you understand exactly how things have changed and to be able to follow along in order to stay up to date on exactly where we are at in the process.

To receive the full guide, please email thinkbarkley@gmail.com

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