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Your Crofton MD home purchase contract is ratified, now what do you do? Early on you received pre-approval or pre-qualification from your lender. Now that the contract on your Crofton MD home is ratified, you need to formalize, and get a commitment for the loan.

In the contract is a specified period of time when you have to apply for a loan, and when the loan will actually be committed to by the lender. All this has to happen before settlement. Your agent will help make sure that the dates specified in the contract are met.

The formal application is first and the lender will require documentation of your assets and income. Your credit check and FICO scores should have been done earlier. They'll be checked again to make sure nothing has changed.

REMEMBER, don't go out and buy that new car or furniture for the house as that could affect the commitment for the loan. Wait until after settlement before making any major purchases.

Once you submit the formal application, the lender will order an appraisal of the Crofton MD property. This process usually takes a week or two to complete.

During this time your documentation will be forwarded to the lenders Underwriting department for review. For the lender, this is where it all comes together. Even though they work for the same company, the underwriter works at arms length from the loan originator.

If the appraisal is acceptable to the bank, your documentation is complete, and underwriting has completed their review, the loan can be committed and we can move on to settlement.

Once the financing contingency is removed, settlement on your new Crofton MD home is just a matter of time. Financing is usually the last contingency to be removed.

Financing, securing the loan, is one of the most critical steps in the purchase of your Crofton MD home. Having a professional loan officer working on your behalf is absolutely critical.

If you're SEARCHING for a home in Crofton, MD or any other city in Maryland, click here to view all ACTIVE LISTINGS.

Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 1, Making The Decision
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 2, Getting Professional Assistance
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 3, Time To Start Looking At Homes
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 4, Know The Local Market
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 5, Finding Your Dream Home And Writing An Offer
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 6, Negotiating

Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®
Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.
Crofton, MD 21114
410-451-6255 Office
443-995-9595 Cell
Web: http://www.RichSellsHomes.com
eMail: Rich@RichSellsHomes.com

Annapolis MD Real Estate Specialist
Bowie MD Real Estate Specialist
Crofton MD Real Estate Specialist

©2009 - RichSellsHomes, All Rights Reserved

Once your offer on a Crofton MD home is submitted, it is reasonable to expect a counter-offer from the sellers. Being in a position where the seller actually does submit a counter isn't all that bad. When the sellers provide a counter offer, they feel that there's room for negotiation. After all, they could have rejected your offer and moved on, but they didn't.

How you react to the counter offer is something we need to discuss. You can accept it, reject it, or actually provide another counter offer to the sellers. Remember, it's not just price that the sellers may counter on. Each contract is complex, and there may be other terms and conditions that may not be acceptable to the seller.

This can go on for a while, but at some point one of the parties, buyer or seller, may stop negotiating. Our goal is to keep the negotiations going and get a contract that is totally acceptable to you.

Your desire for the house, market conditions, and your ability to counter within your affordability level, are all important. As a buyer, you need to have an upper limit during negotiations and more importantly, stick to your limit. Above all, we want to make sure that this transaction is still in your best interest.

Negotiating fairly and firmly in order to get the Crofton MD home of your choice, is in your best interest.

If you're SEARCHING for a home in Crofton, MD or any other city in Maryland, click here to view all ACTIVE LISTINGS.

Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 1, Making The Decision
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 2, Getting Professional Assistance
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 3, Time To Start Looking At Homes
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 4, Know The Local Market
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 5, Finding Your Dream Home And Writing An Offer

Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®
Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.
Crofton, MD 21114
410-451-6255 Office
443-995-9595 Cell
Web: http://www.RichSellsHomes.com
eMail: Rich@RichSellsHomes.com

Annapolis MD Real Estate Specialist
Bowie MD Real Estate Specialist
Crofton MD Real Estate Specialist

©2009 - RichSellsHomes, All Rights Reserved

Buying a home is complex and costly. You want to make sure you end up with as many features you want, and can afford. The home you eventually get may not have everything you wanted, but for the price, you're getting the features most important to you. Even in the highest price ranges, it's rare that a buyer gets everything on their wish list.

Crofton MD has a large real estate inventory to start your search for the home of your dreams. At some point, you'll find that perfect home for you, and we'll write an offer.

In Maryland, all real estate purchases have to be in writing. No handshakes allowed. That offer we write together is going to take a while. The standard real estate contract is 11 pages but when we add all the required addenda, it can easily blow up to close to 40 pages. Get out your blue pen because you'll be initialing and/or signing just about every one of them.

Bring your checkbook too. When we write an offer on a home. you have to include an earnest money deposit. It's customary, but not mandatory, to provide an earnest money deposit of approximately 1% of the purchase price of the house. This money will be used at settlement if your offer is accepted.

It used to be pretty standard to close in 30 - 60 after the offer was accepted. New lending and appraisal practices have bumped this up to 45 - 60 days.

If you're searching for a home in Crofton, MD or any other city in Maryland, click anywhere to view all Active listings.

Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®
Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.
Crofton, MD 21114
410-451-6255 Office
443-995-9595 Cell
Web: http://www.RichSellsHomes.com
eMail: Rich@RichSellsHomes.com

Annapolis MD Real Estate Specialist
Bowie MD Real Estate Specialist
Crofton MD Real Estate Specialist

©2009 - RichSellsHomes, All Rights Reserved

If you're looking to buy a home in Crofton MD, or the surrounding communities, it makes a lot of sense to use someone with local knowledge of the housing market. My knowledge of the local market can help you find the home of your dreams. I live and work in Crofton MD, and am familiar with the surrounding communities as well.

When you're searching for a home in Crofton MD, not all neighborhoods are the same. Houses coming on the market in some neighborhoods sell faster than other areas. You need to know all these factors so you can make an informed decision.

Realtors are precluded by law from answering direct questions about neighborhoods, and yes, it frustrates us too. Over time though, we develop a set of resources that you can use to perform direct research on neighborhoods, schools, etc.

Let's look at various neighborhoods that meet your Crofton MD home buying needs. Which ones are "hot" right now, and which ones aren't. How difficult will it be to commute to where you work? There are so many questions a local Realtor can help you answer.

Use a Realtor who has local knowledge of the areas you want to consider for your move and you won't be disappointed. BTW, the cost is free to home buyers.

Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 1, Making The Decision
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 2, Getting Professional Assistance
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 3, Time To Start Looking At Homes

Searching for homes in Crofton MD or any other Maryland location, just click here.

Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®
Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.
Crofton, MD 21114
410-451-6255 Office
443-995-9595 Cell
Web: http://www.RichSellsHomes.com
eMail: Rich@RichSellsHomes.com

Annapolis MD Real Estate Specialist
Bowie MD Real Estate Specialist
Crofton MD Real Estate Specialist

©2009 - RichSellsHomes, All Rights Reserved

You've already made your decision to buy. You've already talked or met with a lender to determine your affordability level. Now, it's time to go out and look at some Crofton MD houses.

Most people start their search for Crofton MD homes on the internet. Everything we're going to go out and look at is available on the internet or in the Multiple Listing Service.

The National Association of Realtors statistics show that 86% of home buyers begin their search on the internet. While this is great, it can never replace opening the front door and previewing homes.

This can get confusing so you better be keeping good notes on the homes we visit in Crofton MD. We can select the homes you want to preview and make appointments for a time convenient to you.

Each house we preview will have positive and negative features. It's pretty rare to find that one house that has everything you want or need in a home.

As we continue the search for Crofton MD homes, we'll be refining the criteria so we can pinpoint the home of your dreams.

Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 1, Making The Decision
Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Step 2, Getting Professional Assistance

Searching for Homes in Crofton MD or any other Maryland location, click here.

Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®
Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.
Crofton, MD 21114
410-451-6255 Office
443-995-9595 Cell
Web: http://www.RichSellsHomes.com
eMail: Rich@RichSellsHomes.com

Annapolis MD Real Estate Specialist
Bowie MD Real Estate Specialist
Crofton MD Real Estate Specialist

©2009 - RichSellsHomes, All Rights Reserved

After you make your decision to buy a home in Crofton MD, I'd like to schedule a time to meet with you and discuss how we can make your plans come alive.

We'll talk about neighborhoods, schools, economic factors liable to affect the market today and tomorrow, as well as how you would like your house and neighborhood to grow with you.

At this time, I will also help you get pre-qualified for a mortgage loan. I can recommend an excellent loan officer or work with your current lender.

Pre-qualification is a written statement from a loan officer indicating his or her opinion that you will be approved for a mortgage loan up to a certain amount. The fact that you are pre-qualified will help us when we are negotiating the deal and is required when we get to the point of writing an offer.

Buying a home in Crofton MD, or any other Maryland location requires a team of professionals working on your behalf:

• Your REALTOR®
• Loan officer
• Home inspector
• Title company
• Insurance agent

I can help you get started and can recommend professionals that will help in every aspect of your home purchase.

Don't forget, my services are free to help you find that perfect Crofton MD home. All you need to do to make that happen is call Rich at 443.995.9595, and we can get started.

If you're searching for a home in Crofton MD or any other city in Maryland, click anywhere to view all Active listings.

Step 1 - Buying A Home In Crofton MD - Making the Decision

Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®
Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.
Crofton, MD 21114
410-451-6255 Office
443-995-9595 Cell
Web: http://www.RichSellsHomes.com
eMail: Rich@RichSellsHomes.com

Annapolis MD Real Estate Specialist
Bowie MD Real Estate Specialist
Crofton MD Real Estate Specialist

©2009 - RichSellsHomes, All Rights Reserved

It seems obvious, but it's good to note that the first step to buying your Crofton, Maryland house, is making the decision to buy. That's right. At this point it really is still a process and there is little emotion involved, unlike later in the process. Make the right decision now and you'll rest easier. This is a house you're buying, with a large financial commitment, so the decision shouldn't be taken lightly.

Consider the reasons you want a new house, and it's always a good idea to write them down. Put together a pro and con list and share it with your REALTOR®. If you haven't made the decision which Realtor to use yet, I can help.

Determine how long you want to live in the new house - does buying still make good financial sense? Personally, I wouldn't recommend buying a home unless you plan on living in it at least three years. Investment properties are a different issue.

Can you afford a house that will meet your list of requirements? A good rule of thumb is your mortgage payment, including taxes and insurance, should not exceed 1/3 of your net monthly income. Detailed financial discussions will be held with a mortgage lender a bit later in the process.

Of course, after a detailed financial analysis, if you still can't decide, just use my coin flipping iPhone App.

Richard Iarossi, REALTOR®
Long and Foster® Real Estate, Inc.
Crofton, MD 21114
410-451-6255 Office
443-995-9595 Cell
Web: http://www.RichSellsHomes.com
eMail: Rich@RichSellsHomes.com

Annapolis MD Real Estate Specialist
Bowie MD Real Estate Specialist
Crofton MD Real Estate Specialist

©2009 - RichSellsHomes, All Rights Reserved