From beginning to search to closing, this guide offers all of the details you will need to successfully buy your new home.
Home is more than just a physical space. It's where you create countless memories, share moments with loved ones, and where you feel most comfortable. When it comes time to buy a new home and begin a new chapter, the process can oftentimes feel overwhelming. Buying a home can be an emotional journey, and it's understandable to feel apprehensive. Rest assured that together, we can help you navigate the process with ease. We'll outline the process and create a plan together, so you don't have to do any of the heavy lifting. From setting a budget, to finding the right neighborhood, negotiating the best terms for you & creating a smooth close, this booklet will be your guide.
Real Estate Brokerage serving the Catawba Valley for more than 30 years.
A firm can't reach the success we have without great service. With more than 630 5-star reviews on Google, you can tell our agents are loved and trusted by their clients. Our 5-star reviews out number every other firm in our market. At Realty Executives, we serve a larger area than many companies. With our membership in 3 area MLS services, we are an effective sales force across a wide geographical area. Our agents reside in a broad range of communities across our market, and many specialize in multiple counties. Thus, we can offer neighborhood-specific insight to sellers as well as be a gateway for buyers throughout broader Western NC and the foothills.
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When it comes to buying or selling a property, having a real estate team on your side is a game-changer. Not only will they always be available to take calls and show properties, but they'll also bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the table.
When it comes time to purchase what is often a client's largest asset, it's vital to have experience navigating the challenges that come with negotiating the purchase of real estate. Our brokers are independent contractors but also a part of a team culture. We often share things we have learned about properties and potential off-market listings giving you the best opportunity to find a home without competing with other buyers in the market.
Our job is to get you the best deal and oftentimes that is through leveraging our combined skillsets...and NETWORKS.
While we personalize our approach to working with clients, we systemize our approach to paperwork, ensuring you always know what's coming next. We have a full administrative staff in the office who work to ensure all paperwork is complete and accounted for, making your buying experience as smooth as possible.
But it doesn't have to be. Instead it can be the glorious start to a new chapter and can bring anticipation of creating new memories in a home that better serves your needs. We're here to help you determine your budget, find the perfect neighborhood & hear "OFFER ACCEPTED!" Moving to a new home is EXCITING and we can't wait to help you every step of the way.
I know...the dreaded B word, but if you're crystal clear on what your budget is, this process will be SO MUCH EASIER. You'll want to meet with a lender to determine final numbers, but take some time to determine what monthly payment feels comfortable for you and your family at this time. As a rule of thumb, it is recommended that your mortgage not exceed more than 1/3 of your take-home pay. Before you lock yourself into that, I will tell you that there are exceptions depending on your season of life. A few things to consider:
Are you at the front end of your earning potential? If so, you might want to push on your budget a bit. This would be for young professionals just beginning their careers. Their entry-level pay has a lot of room to increase over the coming years, so it might make sense to overextend just a bit, knowing you can grow into the monthly payment. Are you at the end of your earning potential? If so, you might not want to push on your monthly budget. This would be for anyone on the back end of their career OR with a fairly fixed income.
Inside real estate transactions, there are typically two agents involved. One agent represents the seller; the other agent represents the buyer. Each agent works to create circumstances that are agreeable to their clients. Typically, seller's offer an agreed upon percentage of the purchase price to their agent and historically the seller's agent has split that amount with the buyer's agent. New NAR regulations prohibit us from offering a buyer co-broke inside the MLS, but it is still recommended that seller's offer a co-broke to a buyer's agent, here's why:
Sellers are not required to offer a buyer's agent compensation, this means buyers need to be prepared to pay their agent out of pocket if need be. As a buyer's agent, it is my job to seek best circumstances for your purchase, which is why we'll try to negotiate a seller paid commission structure. Our agents commonly charge 3% for their services. It is our goal to always seek that payment from the seller whenever possible, but it passes to the buyer when the seller is not willing to cover it.
UNREPRESENTED CONSUMERS ACCOUNT FOR 70% OF ALL REAL ESTATE LAWSUITS.
Are you required to have a real estate agent to purchase a home? No. But you're also not required to have a professional cut your hair, so why do you pay someone to do that? Because you don't want to walk around with your hair a mess, right? Buying a home is often one of the biggest financial investments you'll make in your lifetime. A lot can go wrong and unfortunately, it can go REALLY wrong if you don't know what you're doing.
Buying a new home is so much fun and this is the part where you day dream about all the possibilities. I like to remove all constraints of budget and location and write down ALL the things I'd love to have inside my home. A list can often be quite extravagant, but it can be fun to imagine all of the possibilities. After considering all possibilities, it's time to sort them and rank them in order of importance, narrowing it down to 3-5 must haves. It's important to do this BEFORE you start looking at houses so you don't get distracted by something that might seem like what you want, but really isn't. We'll refer to this list when we're out looking at homes. If a pool is on your MUST HAVE list, then we're only going to walk homes that have pools OR are priced in a way that allow you to immediately put one in. This ends up saving everyone so much time AND ensures you get what you really want.
Determine what your down payment is. While some put 20% down on their home, depending on multiple factors you could potentially qualify with as little as 0% down. It's important to be clear on this number as it will impact your monthly payment. You'll also need to consider deposits such and earnest money and due diligence money. Typically buyers put 1% of the purchase price down as earnest money and due diligence money. We will break down how your earnest money and due diligence money factors in in just a bit, but know that you're earnest money and due diligence money will be added to your down payment on closing day.
Now that you have a clear idea of what you want and the numbers you'd like to hit, it's time to talk to a lender. Every buyer must have a pre-approval before seeing any homes. Depending on your price point (usually luxury listings), listing agents will require proof of funds prior to showings. This ensures sellers aren't prepping their home for showings for buyers that aren't in a position to buy. Your pre-approval will be submitted with any offer so the sellers know you can secure a loan for their property. Once you have your pre-approval, revisit your 'must have' list to be sure those items can realistically be secured at your price point.
Are you renting? Do you need to sell your current home? Closings typically take 30 days, so line up your dates to be sure they work for you. If you need to sell your current home in order to buy your new home, it's important to have it cleaned, staged and photographed PRIOR to looking at homes. This allows your agent to best negotiate a Buyer Contingency, meaning that your new home purchase is contingent on your current home selling. Your agent must be able to show the sellers we're ready to go to market 'overnight' so we don't delay the closing process.
If you're renting, know that your first mortgage payment isn't usually due for 45-60 days AFTER close of escrow, which helps you not double up on rent and mortgage payments.
Now it's time to start shopping for your new home! We'll automate this by setting up a custom home search for you with all of the criteria you listed above. This means anytime a new home hits the market that meets your criteria, you'll get an email notification. If you like what you see, reach out and I'll set an appointment to walk the home. A few ground rules to make this process as enjoyable as possible:
Once we have an accepted contract, we send it to the Title Company who will facilitate the closing documents. The Title Company works with all parties involved (buyer, seller, both agents and the lender) to compile all the documents necessary to close.
The due diligence check is paid directly to the seller and is non-refundable. This amount varies from one transaction to the next. Your earnest money deposit along with your due diligence deposit is typically 1% or more of the purchase price. Once your due diligence date has been reached, your earnest money will be non-refundable and will be applied towards your down payment.
his is your time to do all of your due diligence on the property. It is HIGHLY recommended that you hire a professional inspector to do a full inspection of the home.
The appraisal is a lender required third party evaluation of the home. Depending on loan type, the property will have to appraise for a certain value for the transaction to be able to proceed. Once the inspection is complete the next contingency to remove is the appraisal contingency. Most loans require an appraisal prior to funding.
This is your time to do all of your due diligence on the property. When you make the offer, you will specify a time period for the due diligence period. During this time, it is HIGHLY recommended that you hire a professional inspector to do a full inspection of the home. You can google some options or your agent will be happy to share a few companies we have worked with in the past, but who you use as your inspector is your decision. The inspector will climb into the attic, check the a/c, run all the faucets, check all the electrical and look for anything that is out of order. They'll then provide you with a full report that is often dozens of pages long - you want them to be thorough! They'll point out everything that is in working order and everything that is not. Once the inspection is done, you'll have an opportunity to ask the seller to repair or replace items that are not working properly. Let it be noted, you should not ask for things that are working properly to be repaired or replaced.
Most loans require an appraisal and if the home doesn't appraise for the purchase price buyers and sellers have a few options. The buyer can exercise their right to cancel the contract and receive a full refund of their earnest money prior to expiration of due diligence date, or buyer and seller can renegotiate on the price or buyer can bring the difference between the appraisal amount and loan amount in cash to the closing table to bridge the gap. A copy of the appraisal is typical delivered to the buyer within one week of being performed.
The appraisal is typically not shared with the buyer's agent. If you would like to discuss the appraisal with the buyers agent, please share a copy of the appraisal with them.
If you're selling your current home in order to buy your new home, you'll have this contingency as well that needs to be fulfilled before you are able to complete the transaction. We'll go over all of these dates so you know exactly what is expected of you and the sale of your home.
During this time, it's imperative that you stay in close contact with your lender. They'll need specific paperwork and information only you can provide them. It is also of the utmost importance that you refrain from any other major purchases that could impact your financing. This includes buying a new car or boat on credit or swiping your credit card for furniture for the new house. These purchases can negatively impact your debt to income ratio and implode your deal before it's done. Hang tight until we close on your dream home and then you have full reign to get that home furnished or buy that new car.
This occurs a day or two prior to close and is your chance to walk the home one last time to ensure that all of the repair requests have been completed and that the house is in the same condition as when you bought it. It's normal to see boxes stacked in the garage because sellers are moving too! If everything looks good, you'll sign paperwork accepting the home's condition and we'll be on our way to a smooth close.
Closing day happens at the completion of a few days. The Title Company will receive loan documents 3-5 days prior to close and you'll have two options: you can make an appointment to sign at the closing attorneys office OR they we may be able to arrange for the documents to be sent to you with a notary to sign at an agreed upon location. Either way is just fine, but you'll need to be sure if you're signing outside of the closing attorney's office, that there is time for documents to get back to the Title Company in a timely manner (this often only is a concern if you're signing out-of-state). One all documents are signed by both parties, all that is left to do is send the title to be recorded at the County Recorder's Office.
Your property is officially closed once the deed has been recorded, then funding will follow. Depending on which day of the week and the time of day, sometimes funding doesn't happen until the next day. Banks often work on Eastern Time so if you've recorded late in the day on a Friday, you can expect it to fund on Monday.
Once it's funded we can release the keys to your new home to you!
We know this is about more than selling high and buying low and we can promise you that while there will be some bumps in the process, our agents will be using their experience to best to help you avoid any delays or roadblocks. You can expect regular communication & creative problem-solving to get you where you want to go.
During this time, it's imperative that you stay in close contact with your lender. They'll need specific paperwork and information only you can provide them. It is also of the utmost importance that you refrain from any other major purchases that could impact your financing. This includes buying a new car or boat on credit or swiping your credit card for furniture for the new house. These purchases can negatively impact your debt to income ratio and implode your deal before it's done. Hang tight until we close on your dream home and then you have full reign to get that home furnished or buy that new car.
"Ms. Krauth is such a professional and so knowledgeable in her field. She helped us sell our home fairly quickly and made valuable suggestions that helped us achieve the outcome we wanted and needed. My husband and I would definitely recommend her to anyone needing a buyer or listing advocate."
— Donna Marie R.
"Our experience with Janee Krauth was wonderful! She made the whole home-buying process seamless, from viewing homes to getting the keys to our new place. Janee is incredibly knowledgeable, friendly, informative, and diligent. We always felt like our home purchase was her top priority. I would definitely recommend Janee for your real estate needs."
— Sandy R.
Whether you're ready to make a move or simply beginning to wonder what comes next, you don't need to have all the answers before reaching out. Janée starts by listening—understanding your goals, your concerns, and what you want life to look like—and then helps you determine the right path forward. Sometimes that means buying or selling today. Sometimes it means creating a plan for six months or two years from now. Either way, the first step is simply a conversation.
M: (828) 270-9673
O: (828) 328-8900
[email protected]
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785 US HWY 70 SW
HICKORY, NC 28602
Realty Executives of Hickory & Lake Norman
