SPECIAL INFORMATION FOR FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS
IN MARYLAND OR VIRGINIA
No doubt about it, being a first time home buyer in Maryland or Virginia can be frightening.
Buying a home is a very complicated procedure. Home buyers all go through the same steps:
Selecting a buyer's agent
Getting pre-qualified
Touring homes in the selected area and price range
Negotiating the Contract of Sale
Making loan application
The Home Inspection
The Termite Inspection
Arranging for Title services
Attending the closing, paying for the home and getting the keys to your newly purchased home.
Home buyers who have purchased a home below understand that most of the process is managed
by the buyer's agent in cooperation with the lender, inspectors, the title company and anything that
happens is usually routine. However, first time home buyers in Maryland and Virginia are not familiar
with the procedures and are often a bit frightened at the prospect of having everything go smoothly.
Your HOMEFINDERS.COM buyer's agent will be with you every step of the way, from search to
settlement. So, relax and let us help.
Finding Your First Home in Maryland or Virginia.
Let's take a tour. Homefinders.com is always ready to take new home buyers on a tour of homes
to help you understand what your money will buy.
What Will Your Money Buy??
The first step in any home search is to determine the price range. Your Homefinders.com buyer's
agent will gladly pre-qualify you for a price range based on your income, assets and liabilities, regular
monthly debt payments. Home buyers are qualified to spend a percentage of their gross monthly
income for mortgage payments including principal, interest, taxes and insurance "P.I.T.I.
Once we have determined your qualifying price range, your Homefinders.com buyer's agent will
schedule a tour of homes. This is a very important step in the home buying process because it will
help first time home buyers really understand what the homes in their price range are. Often our
Maryland and Virginia home buyers are from out of town, relocating for a job transfer, and don't
understand that the Maryland and Northern Virginia real estate market is quite expensive compared
to some other parts of the country.
To help our home buyers understand what their money will buy, the first home tour is critical.
We often meet home buyers who are qualified for a particular price range, but want to keep their
payments much lower than that for which they are qualified. Seeing home in their selected price
is important. Homefinders.com will gladly show you homes in a selected price range as long as
our buyers are happy with the homes they see.
YOU ARE READY TO BUY
Once you have toured homes and are satisfied with
homes in your price range and location of choice,
it's time to get prepared with a "LENDER'S
LETTER". It's important to be ready with a
Lender's Letter in case you see a home on which
you wish to make an offer. Real estate sales in
Maryland and Northern Virginia is a very
sophisticated market and sellers do not seriously
consider home buyers who have not been "CREDIT
APPROVED" by a recognized lender. It's important
that home buyers be prepared to buy. Without a
Lender's Letter, you are not ready to buy. If
you already have a lender of choice, contact them
and request a Lender's Letter. If you are not
already working with a lender, your Homefinders.com buyer's agent will gladly refer
you to experienced local lenders who will prepare
a letter for you following a review of your
credit report and considering your cash, income factors.
Once you have (1) found your home of choice (2) obtained the Lender's Letter, you are ready for your
Homefinders.com buyer's agent to prepare a WRITTEN CONTRACT OF SALE OFFER. All offers
to buy real estate in Maryland and Virginia are in writing. Nothing else will be taken seriously and
your Homefinders.com buyer's agent will want to make sure that your offer is given a serious review.
The seller, with the listing agent will review all offers. They have the option of (1) accepting the offer
as written, (2) making a counter-offer, or (3) rejecting the offer.
Let's jump ahead and assume that the contract was negotiated and accepted and you now have
a Contract of Sale. Time to make a formal loan application. Some of the documents that will be
needed are
- Copy of Contract of Sale
- 2 years W-2 Forms
- 2 months bank statements
- 3 months earnings statements
- Landlord name, address and phone
- VA Certificate of Eligibility for VA buyers
Relax And Wait For Settlement



