Find Your Dream Home & We'll Help You Get It
Work with a Great Lender
The Right Lawyer Closes the Deal
Communicate with your Realtor
We work with banks and independent mortgage brokers to ensure you have a smooth closing process.
Communicate with your Realtor
The Right Lawyer Closes the Deal
Communicate with your Realtor
Coordination with your Realtor is key and our office has the process down to a science so you close on time.
The Right Lawyer Closes the Deal
The Right Lawyer Closes the Deal
The Right Lawyer Closes the Deal
Close the deal, get it right. Whether buying or selling, know what you are committing to do. Having the right lawyer saves time, money, and stress.
Great Lenders
Great Brokers & Agents
Things to Do When Starting a Homesearch
Getting Pre-approved for a Home Mortgage Before You Start
- Before you start, sit down with a lender and get a pre-approval letter. Some online sites will send you one immediately, but beware, these lenders often take the most time to close because they require so little information up front.
- When you meet with your real estate agent, you should know your price range; the key components of that price range include your down payment, interest rate, lender fees, points, and any terms specific to any mortgage for which you qualify.
- When getting pre-approved for a mortgage, you will give your loan officer information about your income and expenses, debts and assets.
- ·You can then give your pre-approval letter to the seller when making an offer. The stronger your offer, financing, and lender qualification, the more likely the Seller will accept your bid over someone else's.
Seller Disclosures
- When shopping fora home, look for any Seller Disclosures. Disclosures can cover a variety of topics, to include physical, environmental, legal, and other issues related to the house and property.· Carefully review any disclosure information your real estate agent. If the defects are more than you want to deal with, you can back out of the home purchase, subject to any time limits stated within the form.
What is it Worth to You?
- It’s not realistic to expect that you will find everything you want in a house at a perfect price.
- Your Real Estate Agent will explain to you that in some market conditions the Buyer controls and in others, the Seller.
- In reality, the price at which a house ultimately sells is a function of the market and how many people are bidding.
- Visit open houses to get a sense of local real estate prices and discuss this with your agent.
- The value of a house is what a willing Seller and a willing Buyer agree upon. A Buyer may be willing to pay a premium for a particular house because you really want it or need it fast. A Seller may be willing to part with it for less if a deal can be closed quickly.
- Beware… just because a Buyer and Seller agree on a price doesn’t mean a lender will go along unless the house appraises for (at least) that value.
Making the Offer to Purchase
- The written offer to purchase is a legally binding contract in Massachusetts so be careful. It will include several terms, including the price, time to close, and detail about the type of financing. numerous provisions, such as the closing date, information on the type of mortgage you are using.
- It will also have a home inspection contingency… a clause that allows you to have a professional look over the home and allow you to withdraw the offer if any defects are found. Sometimes these are waived, or made “informational only” in an effort to present a better bid (less likely to cancel), but beware – if you waive this you are likely buying the property in the condition it is in (unless you an prove a defect was so well hidden by the Seller that an expert inspection would not have been able to find it.
- After you submit an Offer to Purchase, a Seller will either accept, reject, or counteroffer. Anything short of an acceptance does not create a contract.· Your real estate agent will help you prepare this paperwork.
Hire a Good Home Inspector
- A good inspector will probably find issues that the Seller wasn’t aware existed, and will prepare a written report for you which, depending on the contents, may cause you to accept, reject, or renegotiate the offer.