10 Tips to buying a home in Mission Texas

by Luciano Martinez

Are you thinking about buying a home in Mission Texas? Here are 10 tips for you to consider when buying a home!

Find yourself a good real estate agent

  1. You want an agent that is going to go to war for you, well I mean, maybe not war, but who will fight for you to make sure you get into your home and at the best possible price.
  2. Make sure you sign a buyer/rep agreement with your agent so both you and they are protected.
  3. A good buyer’s agent will run a CMA for you on a property you are interested in putting an offer on.

Before you start your hunt, GET PRE-APPROVED!

  1. In today’s market your chances of seeing a home, falling in love with it, placing an offer on it, and getting it accepted, are greatly improved if you are pre-approved and contract ready. Don’t force your agent to see a home if you are NOT READY. This will likely agitate your agent, the seller, the listing agent, and even you when your home is gone in the wind because you chose to not be contract ready.
  2. Your agent likely knows some of the best lenders in the industry that are ready to help you buy your home.
  3. If you are buying cash, give me a call! Nah but really, if you are buying cash, deals are more likely going to move quickly. (Another blog post on cash offer’s later)
  4. Find out too if there aren’t any DPA programs (down payment assistant programs) to help you with down payment, and how they affect your interest rates

Fall in love with the property

  1. Before you put an offer on a home, make sure it’s what you want, don’t feel you need to place an offer on a home you don’t want. Fall in love with the property, that’s key.

Once your offer gets accepted, Get an inspection!

  1. I highly recommend getting an inspection on a home, even if it is brand new construction, or the home looks immaculate. Your buyer’s agent likely has a network of different inspectors they work with. You don’t have to go with the inspectors they have chosen, but I’m sure they have a general idea on how good they are.
  2. There may be some repairs you may be wanting to ask for, negotiable in my opinion, and maybe the seller doesn’t want to fix them, but you can then maybe ask for a discount on the home sales price, or even ask for help in closing costs. Again, it’s negotiable.

Pay for your appraisal and get it appraised asap.

  1. The faster your appraisal gets ordered and processed, 1) the faster you can close assuming all contingencies are met, or 2) you find out that you may need to renegotiate if the appraisal came in lower than what you put in an offer at.
  2. The appraisal is important in that sense, ask your realtor more about the appraisal and how it can affect you, if any.
  3. The bottom line, if the property doesn’t appraise, you don’t have the cash, and the seller isn’t willing to renegotiate, you may need to terminate the contract and start the house hunting process all over again (but make sure you and your real estate agent are on the same page)

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING ON CREDIT!

  1. This is super huge and super important, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING ON CREDIT until after you close on your home.
  2. Buying on credit may affect your chances of closing on your home and now you are homeless! You don’t want to be homeless right?

Consider a home warranty!

  1. When your agent put in an offer on a home, consider asking the sellers to pay for a year’s worth of home warranty. A home warranty is a good investment regardless of whether you pay for it, or the seller does; there may be a time when you need some sort of repair after you close on the home, and with out this warranty the repair may cost 100’s of dollars, but with the warranty, it’ll be a $75 service charge (depending on your warranty company).
  2. Case in point, I had my warranty for about 4 years, it saved me thousands the first two years I owned my home. My AC leaked and leaked, and when I called the warranty company, they repaired it. Another time they had to replace the coils, all for $75 bucks, that’s a several hundred dollar fix if you ask me, but I’m not an AC tech guy.

Get the clear to close

  1. Alright one step closer to closing. This means we’re almost at the finish line. Clear to close means you are clear to close. No more contingencies on your loan. Usually takes about 2-3 days after the clear to close is given to close, depending on your loan officer, agent, title company, they may be able to get it done earlier. Ask if it is possible to do so. If not don’t sweat it.

Closing Day: Don’t Forget your money!

  1. You’ve made it to closing, DO NOT FORGET valid IDs and your cash to close. Typically, a good funds is a cashier’s check. This means it’s acceptable funds You can get that at your bank, just ask a cashier, hence cashier’s check lol.
  2. At the closing table verify you got your home warranty and read over the closing documents. Don’t feel rushed.
  3. If your agent is present, ask questions, if need be, or ask the title rep.

Write a 5- star review and take a picture.

  1. After you close, take a picture with your agent, either at the title company, or rush on over to your new home and take a picture there.
  2. This will greatly help your agent market himself after having helped you out in your journey to home ownership.
  3. Write a 5- star review for his testimonials section. Well maybe not a 5-star, but you get it, remember your agent must eat, and makes a living out of this. A good review will help ensure they get more business. Be honest in the review, you don’t have to lie to make them look good, and if they didn’t perform at a 5-star level, that’s fine too, be honest about that, it’ll provide feedback to them on how they can better their performance.