It takes a village to purchase a home. Though it’s ultimately you who is paying for the property, successfully purchasing a home is a result of several people’s contributions. It helps to know who these individuals are, how they responsibilities pertain to your home purchase, and when you’ll encounter them during your journey. Here are ten important people to keep in mind during the process of buying a home.

10 Important People in the Home Buying Process

1. Real Estate Agent

You’ll be represented by a buyer’s agent throughout the home buying process. Their access to resources and their specialized knowledge will help you find the home you’re looking for and make an offer to the seller. They will be by your side from day one, through closing and beyond. When searching for a real estate agent, ask questions to gain an understanding of their professional expertise as well as their personality. You’ll be working closely together throughout the process, so it’s important to identify someone who is compatible.

2. Mortgage Lender

You need financing to buy a home. Mortgage lenders offer different home loans to match what buyers can afford and what homes they’re looking to purchase. After identifying which lender you’d like to work with, a helpful first step is to get pre-approved for a mortgage by submitting financial information for their review. This helps to speed up the home buying process and solidifies your offer by demonstrating that you’re ready to buy.

3. Mortgage Broker

Your mortgage broker will work with you to find favorable mortgage terms for your home loan. Whereas your real estate agent works with you to find a home and communicates with the seller on your behalf, your mortgage broker works on the financial side of the transaction. Once you’ve chosen the right loan product, they’ll hand things off to the lender.

4. Underwriter

Another key player in the mortgage process is the underwriter. Underwriters review mortgage applications, looking at credit history to assess your ability to pay your loan. A mortgage loan doesn’t get the green light without an underwriter’s approval; if they find any issues, they’ll either deny the loan or require the applicant to provide more information before deciding.

5. Home Inspector

The home inspection is key to the home buying process. It gives you a chance to get a thorough examination of the home to discover which repairs need addressing, if any. The findings of the home inspector’s report will set the table for continued negotiations with the seller and their agent. Buyers will often include a home inspection contingency in their offer to allow for renegotiation or canceling the contract entirely.

6. Home Appraiser

A professional appraiser will determine a home’s appraised value, which ensures that the lender is loaning the correct amount of money. Home appraisers are third parties to real estate transactions; they have no vested interest in either side of the deal. The home’s square footage, features, and condition all factor into their assessment. If there’s a discrepancy between a home’s appraised value and the loan amount, you and the seller will go back into negotiations.

7. Seller

It takes two to tango. The seller is your counterpart in the home buying process, and they want to sell their home for the best price to the right buyer. Accordingly, you’ll work with your agent on how to make an offer that’s most appealing to the seller. This looks different for each real estate transaction. For example, if you find yourself in a bidding war, the seller may value offers that show flexibility toward the inspection and contingencies. Talk to your agent for more information.

8. Listing Agent

The listing agent represents the seller. Your agent will work with them to iron out the details of your offer and move the deal along toward completion. After the home inspection, the listing agent will also be the main point of contact for any repair requests.

9. Title Company

Before the home is officially yours, a title company will conduct a search of the property’s history and public records to make sure its title is in good legal standing. Titles and deeds have very specific language that makes the transfer of ownership official. Title companies will make sure that everything in these documents is properly recorded during the closing process.

10. Homeowners Insurance Company

Once you’ve purchased a home, you need to protect it. Homeowners insurance policies cover your home, your belongings, injury, or property damage to others, and living expenses if you are temporarily displaced from your home due to an insured disaster. The coverage you’ll need will depend on your home’s location and condition, but what’s most important is that you’re fully protected as a homeowner.

For more information on the home buying process, connect with a local Windermere agent:

­­­­­­Featured Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: grandriver

Mansion vs Estate

If there’s one thing that’s clear about a mansion or an estate, it’s that they’re not your average houses. But what differentiates the two? Are the two terms interchangeable? Mansions and estates actually each have separate characteristics that give them their special classification. Understanding a bit more about what makes them special can help inform your discussions with your real estate agent when looking for a luxury property of this class.

What defines a house as a mansion?

Mansions typically have a larger footprint than regular houses. Added square footage is a hallmark of mansions where the land allows, but a lesser-square-footage property may also qualify as a mansion in areas where space is limited based on its luxuriousness. Which properties qualify as mansions varies by location.

Mansions deal in excess by nature. Accordingly, these properties will have a greater number of bedrooms and bathrooms than what you’d see in a typical single-family home.

They’ll have rooms designed and built for a specific activity or function. For example, it’s common for mansions to have a game room, an indoor sauna or pool room, a home theater, or even a small bowling alley. These properties are the ideal living situation for homeowners who love to entertain. Elsewhere on the property, a mansion may boast any combination of sport courts, pools, gardens, and multiple-car garages.

In terms of their architectural style, many mansions borrow from older design styles to incorporate a sense of grandeur and prestige. The Victorian architectural style lends itself well to mansions while capturing that classic old-world charm. You may recognize Spanish Revival style homes sold by celebrities on the West Coast, and Colonial style mansions on the East Coast. Modern home designs will often incorporate cutting-edge smart home technology, smart home upgrades, and sustainable home design features such as solar power.

A mansion with an outdoor pool. Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: TerryJ

What is the difference between a mansion and an estate?

Estate properties share many of the aforementioned qualities with mansions. They are both luxury properties that feature several bedrooms and bathrooms with impressive amenities such as pools, saunas, sport courts, etc.

But estates differ from mansions in regard to the land they occupy and the historical context of the property. Estates sit on large, several-acre parcels of land. These extensive grounds are primarily where the mansion-vs-estate distinction can be made.

In England, the usage of “estate” usually means there was some form of income-producing activity present on property supporting the house. American estates typically do not have this same relationship between the property and the house. In the U.S. today, estates are differentiated by their size, grounds, and luxury amenities, but typically don’t yield enough agricultural goods to support the property.

The Biltmont Estate in Asheville, North Carolina – Image Source: Shutterstock – Image Credit: ZakZeinert

To learn more about the mansions and estates available in your area, contact a local Windermere agent:

­­­­­­Featured Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: hikesterson

You’ve got several options to choose from when buying your next home. With existing homes, it’s in sellers’ best interest to spruce up their properties, so they’ll usually complete some kind of upgrades, curb appeal projects, and remodeling before hitting the market. A new construction home, however, has no previous owner; it comes brand new. Learning about the new construction buying process will help you understand how it differs from other types of housing, such as existing single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums, etc.

What is a new construction home?

New construction homes are kick-started from two primary sources: the homeowners themselves and developers. When a homeowner is having a home custom built, they work with contractors to build it to their desired specifications on a lot they’ve purchased. This tailored approach comes at a price; building a custom home generally costs more than purchasing a new build from a developer.

When going the developer route, buyers have options to choose from, namely tract homes and spec homes.

Tract homes make up new neighborhoods on land bought by the builder. They bear a strong resemblance to each other but may offer customizable floor plan and design options to tailor the home to the buyer’s liking.

Spec homes are finished, move-in-ready new builds. Though they offer little to no customization, they may be the right option for you if you’re looking to move right away.

There are four component parts of building a new construction home: land, labor, materials, and regulation. Builders combine those costs to determine what price they need to sell the home to make a profit, accounting for local real estate market trends. However, if the market is driving up those costs, builders are less likely to continue building. As a buyer, keeping tabs on the housing market will help you understand the landscape of available new construction homes.

Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: jhorrocks

Pros of a New Construction Home

• New materials, appliances, and fixtures
• Customization without having to remodel
• Less maintenance than an older home

Cons of a New Construction Home

• Custom home costs can be high
• Move-in date dictated by builder’s timeline
• Market conditions can drive up prices/halt production

Buying a New Construction Home

The financial preparations you’d take for purchasing an existing home apply to buying a new construction home. You’ll get pre-approved for a mortgage early on and form a saving strategy for how to make a down payment.

There’s less room for negotiation in new construction home transactions, so you and your agent should thoroughly discuss what kind of offer you’re able to make. Your agent is your greatest asset during this part of the process; lean on them to understand how to make an offer. You’ll also want to know whether a home warranty comes with the purchase of the new construction home and its cost structure.

Even though these homes are brand new, it’s still worth it to get a home inspection to discover any outstanding repairs that need to be made and begin a dialogue with the builder about fixing them before you move in.

Going into the buying process, it helps to know which new construction homes you’re able to afford. This allows you and your agent to work together to find the best candidate properties. To get an idea of what’s affordable, use our free Home Monthly Payment Calculator by clicking the button below. With current rates based on national averages and customizable mortgage terms, you can experiment with different down payment amounts to get estimates of your monthly payment for any listing price.

­­­­­­Featured Image Source: Getty Images – Image Credit: Kirk Fisher