Home Buying Tips

Today’s housing market demands have made it difficult for home buyers. Two of the largest challenges facing buyers include the following:

• Do not have a large amount of available funds to compete against buyers with 20+% on down payments
• Do not have the available cash to pay over list price/appraisal value. With it being common for homes to sell well over list price, sellers are wanting buyers to waive appraisal value which most likely will require the buyer to bring more money to closing.

Here are some ways to counter this:

• Wait a year or so to save as much money as possible to increase your down payment OR have surplus funds to bid over list price/appraisal for the home
• Work with a lender that provides a cash close with their funds. This sounds like a complicated process, but it’s not  that expensive to do. See below for an overview of the process.

We have used HomeLight Cash Offer in many transactions. Their process is not expensive, simple, fast and really provides a great advantage in purchasing power. In simple terms, HomeLight Mortgage will pay cash for the home and then close on your loan.

• Get Approved - You must get qualified first. Not a hard process and something you have to do with any mortgage. Typically takes about 15-to-20 minutes to fill out online form.
• Approval is quick, typically in just hours.
• Make an Offer on a Home - We are experienced in HomeLight Cash Offers. They help your offer stand out above the competing offers. Many listing agents are not familiar with mortgage/cash offers. We present how the buyer has been prequalified and the home value has been verified. When the offer is accepted, HomeLight guarantees closing date with their own money.

To use HomeLight Mortgage Company for your home loan, they require a 5% minimum down payment. HomeLight interest rates are competitive. Overall, the additional fees will cost about 1%. (cash offers may allow to negotiate a lower price which will counter some or all the additional fee)

HomeLight will review value of the home to verify the offer price is viable. If the offer price is above current market value you may need to bring more money to closing, just as you would with other lenders.

Cash offers are viewed more favorably by sellers.

• Faster sale
• Less chance of buyer loan denial
• No appraisal
• Sometimes buyers forgo inspections (We do not recommend this. Even if you will not ask for repairs, you need to know condition of home.)
• No Sales Contingency on other home

Overall the process gives you a chance to compete. The Mortgage/Cash Offer does not work out for everyone. If you are interested and want more information on how the Mortgage/Cash Offer process works, please contact us!