The Home Buying Process From Strat to Finish…. 

Should you use a Realtor?

I don’t know why a buyer would not use a realtor.  Buyer’s agents are real estate professionals who work exclusively for the buyer.  The buyer’s agent is there to protect your interests, and insure that you get the best home possible, at the best price.  The greatest thing about this relationship is that it costs you nothing.  Sellers pay real estate commissions, buyers do not.   A home buyer using an experienced realtor is receiving free market knowledge, expertise in executing a real estate transaction, and exposure to the widest possible number of homes on the market.  Sellers pay the cost because they want buyers to be qualified by an agent; and because they want the buyer to have experienced representation that will result in a sale.

When you retain a realtor to represent you, that realtor is legally obligated to serve your best interests.  Beyond legal obligations, realtors must work in the community, and rely on satisfied clients to promote their business.   Real Estate agents with dissatisfied customers don’t typically do well or last long in this business.

Finding the right Realtor; what to look for:

 Read Phil’s Olympian article    Your Realtor Should Have Baggage 

About Financing:

It is imperative that you get pre-qualified for a home loan.   Most sellers will not consider an offer if you can’t back up your ability to close the deal.

Qualifying for a home loan is not much different than obtaining financing for a new car.   I would be happy to refer you to the local mortgage lender that I use, or you may wish to use a lender that you have banked or borrowed with before.

If you are relocating to the area and want to use a local lender who will be around at closing time, pre-qualification can be accomplished via email and the web.  For help getting this part of the process started, please contact me.

About what mortgage lenders do:

Most mortgage lenders are actually brokers; some also have “in house” underwriting, meaning that they are making the loan themselves.  A lender who can fund a loan in house can be a lifesaver should the third party lender fail to come thru (a very rare occurrence).

Your lender will perform the following functions:

• Collect your financial information to include a copy of your credit report
• Verify your debts and income
• Approve you for a home loan based on your current financial situation
• Provide you with a Good Faith Estimate for your loan.  If you are looking at different types of loans ie: VA vs. Non-Va, you should get a GFE for both.  The GFE will also list all closing costs associated with your purchase.
• Once you have a home under contract, the lender will order an appraisal, process your loan, and provide loan documents to the title company for the closing.

Be prepared for a possible last minute request for a bank statement, or to pull your credit again before closing….the lending industry has gotten more cautious recently.  

Starting the home loan process:

Initially, your lender will ask you to provide some specific information, and for authorization to check your credit.  The lender will ascertain that you meet “conforming” loan standards, standards that apply to the entire industry.   A borrower who meets conforming standards will qualify for a loan from most mortgage underwriters, or lenders; your loan officer will then find the best deal for your specific needs.

There are numerous loan programs and guarantees.  The VA, FHA and HUD offer loan guarantees, these guarantees offer the lender protection and reduce their risk, which in turn makes them more inclined to lend to you. 

Your lender can better explain which, if any, program may benefit you.  Make sure that you get comparisons, as different loan packages have differing costs.

If you are applying for a VA guaranteed loan, you will need your VA certificate of eligibility.  If you are on active duty, you can get this from your PAC or PSB, if you are prior service the local VA, or the Retirement Services Officer (RSO) at a nearby installation can help.

What does pre-qualification mean:

The pre-qualification letter will mean that your offer will be seriously considered by the seller.

To the lender, pre-qualification means that you are qualified for a home loan based on your financial situation at the time that you applied, with the assumption that you have been truthful with the lender.  If you go out a  buy a new car, or run up a credit card, you may not qualify for as much, and if you were already close to the limit with debt, you may not qualify at all.

Finding the right home:

When searching for a home, it is critical that you establish some upfront criteria, but don’t go overboard.  Your criteria should include the obvious such as bedrooms and bathrooms, but don’t put a home out of the running because you would like a double oven or skylights.  You may miss your dream home, and double ovens are fairly cheap.

I have a checklist that I can provide you, or you can come up with your own.  Using a checklist or some other tool to keep track of the homes that you look at is a must.   Your checklist should have a way to track positives and negatives, kind of like a ledger sheet.  Having a system that will enable you to quickly compare many homes against each other is the best way to disqualify all but the best, and shorten the list to only the homes that you really like. 

Your agent is going to show you the best deals on the market, and you will probably see all of the really good deals in your price range within the first day or two of looking.  From there you have to decide weather to make an offer, or to wait for new listings to come on the market…..the supply of homes that fit your wants and abilities are limited.

If you are having difficulty finding the right home, your agent should explore with you weather or not there is a need to increase the price or change requirements (do you really need the 3^rd bath or spare bedroom?).  Some agents may be uncomfortable doing this, since the customer is always right; but reality may dictate an adjustment in expectations, and your realtor needs to be straight with you.

Making the right offer:

The philosophy, science, and sometimes guesswork of making an offer that will result in the best possible terms for you is dependent on the situation, the following is a list of things to consider when making an offer.

• Although there are many homes on the market, the ones that are appealing to you are also appealing to your competition.  The appeal may be in the home itself, the price, the location, or any number of other things.
• Even in a buyers market, the seller with a desirable property or good price is enjoying a sellers market.
• An offer that is too low will always bring a counter offer, often times for more than what the seller would have accepted.
• Remember that a used home is a used home.  Don’t expect the seller to make it new.
• If you are looking at a property, it is probably priced pretty well.  You would have disqualified it without going for a look if it wasn’t.

In writing your offer, do everything possible to understand the seller’s motivation.  Understanding how motivated they are, and why, can go a long way to making the right offer.  Some sellers have short time frames, while some have mortgages that they can’t afford.  Any insight you can get into these things can be like money in your pocket.

To read more…   Please click here  

Q:  I do not want to be too close to base so I have been looking at houses around Bonney Lake, Roy, and Pullayup. Places a little off the beaten path but not too far that I have to drive an hour to get to Fort Lewis. Plus schools and crime rate are a factor.

 A:  While I work the entire perimeter of the bases, I sell many more homes in Thurston County than in Pierce.

When I PCS’s to Lewis (with teenagers), everyone I spoke with recommended Yelm/Roy, Lacey/Olympia.  Less crime, better schools, and lower prices.  I ended up in Lacey and was happy with my decision.

Aside from the demographic issues, commuting to the Thurston county communities is vastly better than Pierce.  I-5 south to Lacey (or out the back gate to Yelm), is 15-30 minutes at worst.  Rush hour traffic to the Puyallup areas can exceed an hour, and you are limited to I-5/Hwy 512 (which is bumper to bumper every morning and afternoon), or surface streets which can be just as bad.

Yes, the recent stimulus bill did include a provision to help militaryfamilies who are forced to sell.  Here is some information:

Military families are often required to relocate to a new assignment.  As housing prices have fallen, many military families have been forced to either sell at a tremendous loss, attempt to rent their home, split up their family, or face foreclosure.  The recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) included a provision to help these families.  By expanding the existing authority under the Department of Defense’s Homeowner Assistance Program, the government will now cover 95% of a loss if a servicemember is forced to sell.  The new law only applies to servicemembers with mortgages entered into before July 1, 2006.  To find out if your client is eligible for the program, visit the DoD’s website at  http://hap.usace.army.mil/>my.mil/<http://hap.usace.army.mil/ .

Megan

Megan H. Booth

Senior Policy Representative

National Association of REALTORS(r)

Q: There is a home I am interested in, but the home is being sold “as is” and from the pictures it doesn’t seem to have the interior finished.  Is it a good idea to buy an unfinished home from a builder that is being foreclosed on?

 A:  I would not recommend finishing out for a builder.  There are plenty of finished homes that are distressed, and finishes are the most expensive part of building….typically, you can buy it for less than your total cost would be if you finish it.  Also, if you finish it yourself you will void any warranty.  Builders, even if they go under, are still required to warranty what they built under Washington law.  In a situation where the builder is in trouble they have a bond to cover the warranty.

In a nutshell, unless your work will return $2 for every dollar spent, you are probably going to be better off buying something that is finished and has a certificate of occupancy.  You would not even be able to live in an unfinished new home, until it is finished and then inspected by the city.  Also, a lender is not going to lend on an incomplete home, you won’t be able to get insurance unless you are a contractor etc. etc.

 About Fort Lewis

Fort Lewis, named after Meriwether Lewis of the famed Lewis and Clark expedition, is one of the largest and most modern military reservations in the United States. Consisting of 87,000 acres of prairie land cut from the glacier-flattened Nisqually Plain, it is the premier military installation in the Northwest.Fort Lewis began as Camp Lewis in 1917 when the citizens of Pierce County voted by an eight to one margin to bond themselves for $2 million to buy 68,721 acres of land. They donated the land to the federal government for military use. The only stipulation was that the tract be used as a permanent Army post. Captain David L. Stone and his staff arrived at the camp site May 26,1917, and a few days later the initial construction began. The entire camp was ready for occupancy a month ahead of schedule. In 90 days, Stone had supervised the construction of a “city” of 757 buildings and 422 other structures all lighted and heated for 60,000 men. The first recruits moved into their new barracks on Sept. 5, 1917, exactly two months after the post building plan had been handed to the contractors. When they implemented auction of the new cantonment, workmen subscribed $4,000 to build the Main Gate - which is still standing. The arch was built of field stone and squared logs resembling the old block houses which stood in the Northwest as forts. Some 60,000 men,including the 91st Division, moved into the hastily constructed cantonment to train for World War I. Recruited largely from the Northwest, the 91st was considered “Washington’s Own.”

The following two years saw tremendous activity at Camp Lewis as men mobilized and trained for war service. Thousands of the nation’s youth learned to know Camp Lewis and the state of Washington. With the conclusion of the war, activities at Lewis ground to a standstill. Camp Lewis passed from the hands of Pierce County and became the property of the Federal Government when the deed for 62,432 acres was recorded in the county auditor’s office in Tacoma.

Brigadier General David L. Stone, who had supervised the original construction of Fort Lewis as a Captain, returned as its Commanding General in 1936, serving until 1937. The project of constructing an Army airfield, which later became McChord Air Force Base, directly north of the Fort Lewis installation, received approval as a WPA project in January 1938, and $61,730 was allocated for construction. The allocation provided for clearing, grading, and leveling a runway 6,000-feet long by 600-feet wide.

At the conclusion of World War II, the northwest staging area of Fort Lewis became a separation center and discharged its first soldiers in November of 1945. With the departure of the 4th Infantry Division for Vietnam in 1966, Fort Lewis once again became a personnel transfer and training center. In 1972, the 9th Infantry was reactivated.

Part of Forces Command, Fort Lewis is the home of I Corps and has been since 1981. It is one of 15 US power projection platforms. The Corps’ primary focus is Pacific Rim. As a result, I Corps has a close, ongoing relationship with Pacific Command.

The principal Fort Lewis maneuver units are the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division and the 3d Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. It is also home to the 593d Corps Support Group, the 555th Engineer Group, the 1st MP Brigade (Provisional), the I Corps NCO Academy, Headquarters, Fourth ROTC Region, the 1st Personnel Support Group, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), 2d Battalion (Ranger), 75th Infantry, and Headquarters, 5th Army (West).

Soldiers receive first-rate medical care through Madigan Army Medical Center. Located in the beautiful Pacific Northwest on Puget Sound, Fort Lewis is adjacent to McChord Air Force Base, scheduled to be the home of the new C-17 transport fleet. Fort Lewis has abundant high-quality, close-in training areas, including 115 live fire ranges. Additional training space is available at the Yakima Training Center in eastern Washington, including maneuver areas and additional live fire ranges.

Fort Lewis has more than 25,000 soldiers and civilian workers. The post supports 120,000(+) retirees and more than 29,000 family members living both on and off post. Fort Lewis proper contains 86,000 acres; the Yakima Training Center covers 324,000 acres.

The Fort Lewis terrain is densely wooded and open, with Scotch Broom and undulating rocky terrain common. Poison oak, ivy, and sumac are found in the training areas. All personnel should be able to visually identify them. Nettles are present but uncommon. Canadian Thistle grows thickly in some areas. All trees are to be left standing; post policy prohibits cutting or trimming them.

The temperatures during summer vary from the mid 40’s at night to the high 80’s during the day, occasionally peaking over 100F. Humidity varies from day to day and frequent precipitation occurs overnight. Although July and August are usually “dry” months, it is not unusual for moderate rainfall to occur.

Commuting in and Around Fort Lewis WA

When PCS’ing to a new installation, my first concern was always the commute.  Arriving at work before first light, multiple trips back and forth to post, and being close to the unit for recalls and trips to the barracks is a big consideration and has a huge impact on quality time versus travel time.

Fort Lewis straddles Interstate 5 just south of Tacoma and North of Olympia Washington.  The portion of the installation that is south and east of the freeway is considered as main post, to the north and west of the freeway is north fort.  The installation headquarters, main PX, Madigan AMC and numerous other troop units occupy main post.  North fort is well known by ROTC Cadets; the barracks used for ROTC until recently were wooden “WW II” barracks located on north Fort Lewis.  In the past five years, many new barracks and unit area construction projects have been completed, and others are underway.

When I moved to Fort Lewis, friends and associates who had been stationed here before recommended that I look for housing to the south, in the Lacey or Olympia area.  The biggest quantifiable reason I was given was the commute.  Traffic from Thurston County is significantly less than that from Pierce county and Tacoma.  Additionally, many people feel that crime is less of an issue in Thurston County, which is much more rural that Pierce.

Another area that has become very popular, especially for those who will be working on main post, is Yelm and Roy.  Located several miles from the back or “East” gate, Roy (in Pierce County) and Yelm (just south of the Thurston County line) are very convenient commutes.  Although both are small agricultural communities, Yelm is the fastest growing small town in the state; primarily because prices are somewhat lower than those in the larger towns on the freeway.  If you think you will be working on north fort, Yelm and Roy may not be very good choices; the only route is across main post, and under the freeway at one of two points…always a traffic jam.

To the north are the Pierce County communities.  Lakewood is almost right outside of the gate, just a short distance north on the freeway.  Not a bad commute, with traffic concerns only during rush hour.  Further north is Tacoma, Graham, Puyallup and other small communities and neighborhoods.  If you are into being in or near a large city you will most likely want to go north. 

For more information about the Fort Lewis area and outlying communities, please visit my website; Fort Lewis Homes for Sale.com.