I was reading an article recently regarding the $8,000. tax credit for first time home buyers, and the writer expressed shock at how many people are completely unaware of it. I have noticed in my own practice recently that the larger PR machine has evidently not been doing a very good job at educating the public, as some of my clients reveal innocence on this subject as well when they discuss their leisurely plans to purchase “sometime in January of next year” etc. (the tax credit is only applicable if the home purchase is completed before December 1st of this year.) I also have heard more & more folks lately talking about attending “First Time Home Buyer Classes” presented usually by Realtors and Mortgage Brokers as a service to the public.
It seems to me that there is a real need for information out there right now. I thought I’d give a little primer below on at least the basics of what to expect during your first home-buying experience. Hope you find it helpful!
(Note: The sequence below does not apply to each and every transaction as each is individual and scenarios/time lines obviously vary. Your Realtor will be doing many more things behind the scenes than I indicate below as well, but I am sticking to outlining YOUR experience and how you can expect that to unfold… generally speaking.)
- Retain services of a mortgage professional (lender) to give you best options for financing, and have an approval letter ready for you when you make an offer. Discuss “closing costs” with your mortgage professional, and review the “good faith estimate” that they will provide to you. (If you have a relationship with a Realtor first, ask them to recommend good resources for you.)
- Work with your Realtor to find the home that meets your needs.
- Work with your Realtor to determine appropriate offer & details/then write it up.
- Realtor submits offer to Seller along with approval letter from lender and earnest money check. Note: The EM check is to show good faith, and is applied to the sale should your offer be accepted and proceed to close. Talk with your Realtor about what amount will put your best foot forward. (*Sometimes Promissory Notes may be used, and/but I highly recommend using an EM check to be taken most seriously.
- Receive response/acceptance/counter from Seller in time frame you specified on the offer (in a normal transaction you typically ask for response within 24 hours, but if it is a “short sale”, the process of hearing back that you are indeed accepted by all parties concerned can take months.)
- Upon mutual acceptance (usually within 1-3 days), schedule an inspection ASAP (you have 10 business days to conduct inspections & may back out if concerns arise during this time). Your Realtor will help you with this- Ask him or her for good resources to guide you through the process of inspecting the home. Prices vary, but a 2000 square foot house will often run around $400. more or less, and size as well as other factors come into play in the cost of an inspection.
- Upon mutual acceptance, your earnest money check is sent to the Escrow Office, and held by them on your behalf until closing, or until nullification of the offer if this occurs within your inspection period.
- Realtor writes and negotiates any Inspection Addendum items during this period according to your wishes (you will work with your Realtor to discuss and determine any give and take in the negotiation process that may occur. Your Realtor will offer you information and give professional advice, negotiating on your behalf and with your permission. You are in the driver’s seat, and you make the final decisions albeit under good counsel.
- Upon mutual acceptance & reaching the end of your inspection period, your Realtor notifies the lender who orders the appraisal.
- Your Realtor continues to work with the lender as the lending process moves forward. As long as the appraisal comes back at or above sale/offer price, you will proceed to closing through the underwriting process of the lender. Should the property not appraise for at least the sale amount, the lender will bring this to your attention and there will be some decisions for you to make around the sale price and your desire for the home (you are not required to pay any monies over and above the appraisal amount, and lenders will not lend more than the appraised value generally speaking.)
- You may be requested by the underwriter to provide additional information on a case by case basis. Your Realtor will work with you and help in any way possible and appropriate to facilitate the flow of information required from you, but you are in the driver’s seat as far as responsibility to provide the necessary information to the lender.
- When all underwriter/lender requirements have been met, the file is signed off by the underwriter, and passed to Escrow. The whole lender process usually takes around 3-4 weeks.
- Escrow processes all paperwork, title insurance, and all distribution of funds between you and the seller as per the contract provisions agreed upon between you and the Seller. Documents are drafted, and a “signing date/time” is scheduled. (“Signing” is not the same as “Closing”.)
- Your Realtor will often attend your signing with you to help with any questions that arise, and to offer moral support. (Frankly, I just love being a part of the exciting culmination of the home buying adventure!)
- Escrow will then send signed documents back to the lender, and to the county. The transaction will then “close” or “fund & record” in 1-2 days after signing, at which time you will receive a call that you are a homeowner!
- Your Realtor will usually meet you at your new home and deliver you the keys. (More fun!)
- The whole process from offer to close usually takes around 30 days… sometimes 40-45. It can take a little longer depending on the lender, and sometimes it takes less time than that. You and your Realtor will assign a “no later than” date on your offer in conjunction with talking to the lender about their current load & closing time line. All parties are then obligated to “perform” within that time frame, or draft an addendum extending the closing date if that proves necessary and IF all parties agree to do it. (Because there always exists the possibility that one party may not agree to sign an extension addendum, and the contract specifically states “on or before” a particular date, the closing date is a binding contractual agreement and should be taken very seriously. As a buyer, your earnest money is at stake if you should not “perform” to contact terms.)
The above may be missing some pieces of the puzzle as each transaction is different, and various issues can arise during the process, but hopefully this give you a basic idea of how it will go!
There is such a panoply of amenities in Lake Oswego that Dianne and I have been talking about incorporating profiles of local favorites from time to time. I thought I’d begin with a very special person who I would be lost without… my local “dog-whisperer”, Valerie Pulley.
seems it has been the subject of pets, and dogs in particular. We all know what a Portuguese Water Dog is now, thanks to “Beau” at the White House. I know our own friend & blogging cohort, Ron Ares, wrote a post most recently about his own dog, Nyree (left), adopted by the Ares family to save her from becoming a casualty of foreclosure. I’ve seen pieces on local and national news about the amazing number of dogs that have been abandoned or taken to shelters as fallout from the current economy, and it is heartbreaking to consider.
Staffordshire Terrier, Fedore, is her pride & joy, I’ve been taking my crazy black Standard Schnauzer, Kato (right) , to Valerie for years, and she is the only one who can calm him down enough to let his toenails be clipped. Turns out others have noticed this talent as well, and dog owners from far and wide bring their “hard to handle” pets to Valerie for tender loving care. Valerie mentions that “Some dogs have been kicked out of every grooming salon in Portland for biting, scratching, and generally squirming and freaking out. They bring them to me because I am the only one they’ve found to be able to handle them.” I 
ask her why she thinks this is, and she says “I’m just not afraid of them, and I care about them.” She has been working in the Lake Oswego area for around 12 years now, spending some of her career at the Lake Oswego Dog Shoppe, and now is working for 
When looking for a new home and desiring easy care and potential community amenities such as pool, larger grounds, meeting space etc (without the responsibility of upkeep), most people will consider either a condo or a town home. Most also aren’t necessarily familiar with several relative factors important to the selection process, so I thought I’d highlight just a few for you here.
Well, the cherry trees are in full bloom, temps are in the 80’s, and real estate activity continues to move forward… a gradually enlivened, seasonal bustle.
3190 Duncan Drive – This property is 2401 SF, 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, built in 1986, and is bank-owned. It is at the bottom end of a long, steep, private drive shared by a couple of properties, and sits on a hill/perched above Boones Ferry Rd., which you can hear when outside, but not really see too well through the beautiful, natural greenery surrounding the home. Practically speaking, you enter from the driveway side into the kitchen 
area. Double attached garage, deck, large laundry room… generous living room w/fireplace opening to a dining room… flows nicely. Nice master on the main with walk-in closet and jetted tub. Large bath and bedrooms upstairs… You’d want to do some updating, especially in the kitchen and with flooring/new carpeting, but this just seems like a great opportunity in Lake Oswego for someone at $259,900!
4411 Lakeview Blvd.– This home is a split level (sometimes I confess not to like them personally), but this one is a nice layout with a very open entry where you feel like you’re in the living room as you are entering/not in a little hallway as some tend to feel. It is 1828 SF, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, built in 1972 and remodeled. It has seasonal lake views, and is basically across the street from the 
water. It is close to the intersection of Bryant and Lakeview, and so is close to schools, shops etc etc etc. It is just a really nice house with a great flow, and tasteful updates. Enter the back from a sitting room off the kitchen with beautiful picture window. The backyard is large & very relaxing.You’ll hear the train when it passes (I happen to LOVE the sound), but you’ll be in good company! …other homes on 
Lakeview currently for sale range from $425,000 to $7,500,000. The listing agent states: “Sellers will entertain offers between $299,000 and $338,876.” This home is also listed as a “possible short sale w/one lender”. I am told that the Broker’s Price Opinion (BPO) has already been finished, and the listing agent’s experience is that the Rep is very responsive. Seems like a great deal to me, especially at the bottom end of the range that is specified!
18791 Indian Creek Way – This property is 1965 SF, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, built in 1977 and remodeled. When we say remodeled, this one is really gorgeous. Dianne and I both looked at each other and said “This is nicely done.” The living room and fireplace are inviting, the feel is open and airy, there are stainless gas appliances, a wine fridge, 2 gas fireplaces, hardwoods, vinyl
windows… lots of them, skylights, and a beautiful backyard patio surrounded by English Gardens (it was evidently featured in Sunset magazine) great for entertaining. The home is advertised as having Bryant Woods pool membership, and proximity to the grade school and middle school is excellent. The price on this one is $439,900. Compare what’s out there… this one is special.
1921 Park Forest Ct– This home is 2531 SF, 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, built in 1975 & remodeled. The owners have relocated, and I have to say that both Dianne and I were very impressed with this one. The owners took great care in special details, and this home includes high-end features like a gourmet kitchen with beautiful slab 
quartz countertops, a spa w/fireplace, walk-in stone & tile steam shower, air jet tub & heated floors. The plank wood floors are a favorite of mine. The windows in the living room are large and feature beautiful tree’d views, the baseboard detail is stonework throughout the home, and there is a hot tub outside which is 
included “as is”. This one is situated above SouthShore Rd in back. Greentree Pool and Lake Easement is advertised as available. The entry to this home is deceiving… Once you’re in the door you feel like you’re on vacation. There is a water feature to your left as you enter, and the beautiful quartz kitchen with spacious pantry to your right. Walk in and the fireplace and windows say “relax”. The owners wanted that “spa feel” throughout. The asking price is $529,000.
17675 Cardinal Drive – This home on the Blue Heron Canal is 3458 SF, 3 bedrooms and 3 baths, built in 1966 and is advertised as a fixer. Dianne and I took a look at it yesterday, and were very impressed with the waterfront location. The living room is open and the window views are out onto the deck & water. The home needs 
extensive cosmetic fixing such as wallpaper removal, flooring updates, kitchen updates, etc. We are not inspectors, but truly, the feel is of a solid home that has been well lived in with just not much attention to updating. At $599,000 on the canal, I’d say this one deserves some attention.