HOME BUYING 101
 Please take the time to read some of my helpful tips in home buying. I am here to make the process easy and convenient, but thorough!
The single largest investment most people make in their life is the purchase of their home. And the truth of the matter is that most people doing it for the first or even the second time do not REALLY know the ins and outs of what is going on. I hope this will shed a little bit of light on the process and what you can anticipate. Every locality has its own customs and procedures. What I want to discuss with you is the local process of home buying in the Florida Panhandle area to include Ft. Walton Beach, Destin, Niceville, Crestview and Navarre. These areas have a unique demographic composition in that the Ft. Walton Beach, Niceville, Crestview and Navarre area have a large number of home owners that work at Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field. The Destin and South Walton County regions are made up of a high percentage of second home owners and typify the beach lifestyle.
The home buying process is not nearly as intimidating as it may seem. And when you work with an experienced Realtor it can actually be very simple. I will do my best to make it an enjoyable and an educational experience.
To begin with you will need to select a Realtor to work with; since we all have access to the same information what you need to look for is an agent that has experience and a proven track record. I have represented buyers and sellers in over 325 successful transactions. I am a Certified Military Relocation Specialist (ask how this can benefit you) with a customer satisfaction rating over 96%.
After you have picked an agent you need to let the agent know exactly what you are looking for in a home. We frequently find that buyers new to an area do not really know what they want. There are several reasons for this. Often times people new to our area are accustomed to different architectural styles, or neighborhood designs. I can help you find an area that is most suitable to what you desire.
The typical process will start with you letting me know what is important in a home to you and then I will set up a search for you on our local MLS, which is the Multiple Listing System that I subscribe to; it has all the real estate listings in the area. Because of this system I am able to show and work with you on any home you see for sale regardless of who has it listed. Real estate listings will be sent to you via an email link when they become available. You do not have to wait until they are on Realtor.com, Yahoo or any other website, they will be sent within 24 hours of posting on our real time network. Typically these listings come with multiple photos and often with virtual tours.
When you arrive here (if your out of the area now) you should have a fairly good idea of what you like and a reasonably good idea of what to expect in the local market.
We have several distinct markets locally; you will notice that Fort Walton Beach has an abundance of older homes that are more expensive than the Navarre and Crestview areas. This is mainly due to the fact that the area was developed earlier; it is located directly between Eglin AFB and Hurlburt Field and adjacent on the Gulf of Mexico. The Niceville and the Bluewater Bay area have higher home prices, somewhat newer homes and more “upscale” and gated communities than Ft. Walton Beach. Destin, Sandestin, and the Beaches of South Walton are the home to some of the most expensive real estate in the area. Multi-million dollar homes are common place; the water of Choctawhatchee Bay, Gulf of Mexico and world class golf courses are the main attractions. The two remaining main areas are Crestview, this is about a 15 minute drive north of Eglin AFB and is one of the newest areas to be developed in Okaloosa County. Houses are typically newer, more affordable and larger than the “south county” houses. Crestview is now the largest city in the county as well as the county seat. It is still only about a 30-45 minute drive to the beaches.
Navarre is located about 12 miles west of Hurlburt Field and is a very popular place for people that work at Hurlburt to live. Navarre is also very close to the beach with most locations in Navarre less than 15 minutes to the beach.
After you have decided on which community you think is best for you we will narrow our search to what neighborhoods suit you best in the community and then to which home you like best.
Prior to your arrival or soon thereafter you will need to “pre-qualify” for your mortgage. This is a necessary stage of the process; it will give you a good idea of just how much your house payment will be. I can assist you with this phase as well. It is important that you are comfortable with your house payment and I can help figure what your total payment will be to include principal, interest, property taxes and homeowners insurance. This is commonly referred to as your PITI payment.
After you arrive and pre-qualify for your mortgage is when the real fun begins as we explore the area and the different neighborhoods. For some people this part is a very simple & quick process, others are more detail oriented and take a longer time to find the neighborhood and house that suit them. Either way I am there with you to answer questions and point out some of the attributes and amenities of the different locations.
Once you have picked a home we will sit down and go over the different ways to structure an offer. This is an important stage of the home buying process and this is the point that we will determine what offer strategy will work best for you. We will discuss closing costs and mortgage choices and structure the best offer for your individual situation. This is perhaps my strongest attribute as an agent. There are several variables that we will take into consideration such as what type of loan do you want; VA, FHA, Rural Housing, Bond Money eligible, ARM, 80/20, 80/10/10,100% conventional. We will also determine what is more important to you; price or closing cost assistance, etc.
After the offer is accepted and you now have a binding contract there are just a few remaining things that you have to do, such as finalize your mortgage application, complete a home inspection and secure insurance. Now that you are “at contract” this is where your Realtor earns their pay as we are responsible to get everything together for the final “closing”. We will be sure the title work is ordered and completed, order a survey, make sure the appraisal is done, insurance is secured, and order a WDO (termite inspection), work on your behalf to be sure any repair issues from the home inspection are taken care of, make sure the “settlement statement” (how all the money gets distributed) is accurate in accordance to your contract, and deal with all the bumps along the way. You will not have to be involved with most of these other items but your agent will put in long hours and countless phone calls to be sure everything is tracking properly.
The next and final step of the process is the part most buyers like the best, the “closing.” This is where you will sign all the final documents to take ownership of the home. Once the closing is over, it usually takes about an hour when buying and perhaps half an hour when selling, the buyer is handed the keys and they are free to take possession of the house which will now become a HOME.
When you are ready to get started or if you just want more information and have questions please feel free to email anytime. bill@EglinNOW.com
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