Cathy Burns Real Estate

Broker / Realtor^© in North Carolina and South Carolina

704.307.3839
info@cathyburns.com

BUYING A HOME

Whether you are looking to buy your first home or you are an experienced home buyer, finding and financing your new home is a very exciting time.   It can also be very stressful!  However, with a bit of preparation, you can help prevent the experience from becoming overwhelming or even disappointing.  Before you start searching, the first question you'll want answered is . . .   

How Much Home Can I Afford?

     You can find out the answer to this as well as enhance your buying power by getting Pre-Approved or Pre-Qualified. What's the difference? 

Prequalification vs. PreApproval

Pre-Qualification is an informal discussion between you and the lender. The lender estimates the amount that you can borrow based solely on what you tell them about your income and assets. The information you give the lender is not verified by them and therefore, there is no guarantee that you will be approved by them for the loan amount. However, it will give us a good idea of your general price range.

Pre-Approval requires that the lender verify your financial information and serves as a commitment to lend a specified amount. This gives you significant buying power with a seller who recognizes that you will be approved for a loan. If a seller knows that your financing is secure, your offer is stronger.

We will gladly refer you to a top-notch mortgage broker to assist you with the process!

Mortgage Calculator

To get an estimate of what your monthly mortgage payments would be based on sales price, down-payment, interest rate and term length, try this mortgage calculator.
 

Home Buyer Tips

Here are some articles that will help you understand the home buying process:

•   Resale Homes
•   New Homes
•   Good Neighborhoods
•   Making An Offer
•   Mortgage Payments
•   Closing Costs

The Buyer's Agent

     When we meet for the first time and/or before we talk at length about your personal or financial situation, we are required to show you the brochure called Working With Real Estate Agents and to make sure that you understand the buyer and seller agency relationships. We will ask you to sign a brochure acknowledging that we provided this information. By law, real estate agents represent the Seller, unless we enter into a Buyer Agency Agreement. This Agreement can be verbal, but must be in writing at the time we submit an offer.

The Buyer Agency Agreement allows us to promote only YOUR interests, and protects your confidential information.

To read the entire contents of the brochure, click here.
 

Please contact us to discuss your buying needs.  You can complete the online form below and we will get back to you promptly.
 

704.307.3839
info@cathyburns.com