Small Steps in Purchasing Property in Destin FL

Are you looking to purchase property in the Destin area and you just don't know where to start? Good thing you clicked on this video because I'm going to give you all the information that you need to know from start to finish and how to have a successful purchase in the Destin area.

Alright!

Small steps in purchasing property here in Destin

CONNECT WITH A REAL ESTATE AGENT

Well, first, you should definitely connect with a real estate agent. That's the best thing you can do to make everything a little bit more stress free for you because, of course, if you're one of those ones that's running around thinking that you might know what you're doing, but you end up spending a lot of time asking other people that's not even in the business, maybe googling a lot of information. Don't do that. It's just best to connect with one real estate professional. That way, they can give you all the information that you need and make sure that they narrow down what is that you're looking for, talk about the certain areas that might be right for you, and definitely talk about the properties that match what you're looking for. Really, just really sit down with them and just explain your situation, what you're looking for and then the agent will definitely be able to point you in the right direction and get you started in the entire process. It's also great to just pick one agent too. It can get a little crazy, a little bit messy if you're trying to connect with multiple agents. You'll end up having to explain your story over and over again to different agents on, you know, what your situation is, what you're looking for. And also, it's not really fair for the agents either to work with a buyer who's also working with other agents. So, we just try to make sure that you're exclusively working with one agent just for everybody's sake and there's no confusion involved and there's just that one person, your one go to person throughout the whole process and make it a whole lot easier for you and everyone else.

GET PRE-APPROVAL LETTER

Next, you need to make sure you get a preapproval letter from your lender if you are financing your purchase. So, if you don't really have a lender in mind that you would like to use, the real estate professional definitely be able to connect you with the appropriate lender for you. It's best to really find out what is it that you need to do to be able to get your mortgage preapproval without any hiccups. You just want to make sure you know what you need to provide for them, what not to do during the process, such as making a big purchase during your transaction. You know, buy another car or open up a couple more credit cards, none of that. So, you just want to make sure you speak with a lender to make sure they keep you on track and give you all the do's and don'ts when it comes to filling out your mortgage application and going throughout the process of financing a home and make sure that they get you the right numbers and they know exactly what your budget is and that way you'll know what your shopping for. You don't want to out looking for homes that the price point is up here and later on you end up getting your preapproval down here and that's just going to be a disappointment for you. Always just make sure you connect with the lender first, get your mortgage preapproval, and that mortgage preapproval letter is definitely going to back up your offer whenever you are ready to send one out for a property of interest. It shows the homeowner that you are qualified to make that purchase. If you don't have that preapproval letter with your offer, then you could be at a disadvantage, especially if you're competing with other buyers that do have their preapproval letter. You just want to make sure you have it all lined up before you start the actual process so you're ready to pull the trigger as soon as you find property that you're interested in.

Now, if you're not financing and you're actually paying cash, just make sure you have a proof of funds letter available that shows that you do have the money that it takes to make that specific purchase. That also needs to be submitted along with your offer when you're getting ready to put in a bid for a house. Just make sure you have your pre, so we call it a POF, a proof of funds letter and then, again, there's the mortgage preapproval letter from your lender if you're financing.

NARROW DOWN YOUR CHOICES

Alright. Now, after you get your mortgage preapproval letter ready to go or you have your funds letter ready, you'll be able to narrow down your search. Of course, at this point, your real estate agent would already know exactly what you're looking for, your time frame, your price point of course. So, that's where the fun stuff really starts to come into play where you get to schedule showings and start looking at some properties and figure out what you like and what you don't like about the properties or maybe the surrounding areas. If you're investing, you'll just look at the numbers, check out the rental histories, maybe look at rental projections, and just make sure the numbers line up the way you want them to and make sure the numbers do make sense before you, of course, make that big investment purchase. So, yes, you'll definitely, narrow everything down. You try not to pick more than five properties at once to look at because it can get a little confusing and overwhelming if you just have like a list of 10 to 15 or even 20 properties to look at. That takes a lot of time to coordinate and it can just be exhausting by the end of the day trying to figure out, you know, what's right for you. So first, just try to sit down and set aside a list of five properties to look at with your real estate agent and just go from there and hopefully you'll find the right one out of those first few properties that you take a look at.

TALK ABOUT THE OFFER

Alright. Now, once you do find that piece of property that you want to make a move on, whether if it's a home that you're going to move your family into or if it's an investment property. That's what you get with your agent and talk about the offer. You're going to talk about how much you want to offer, the terms of your offer and, you know, you want to think about what the closing date you would want to have, especially if you're in the middle of relocating. You just want to make sure everything aligns up and, you know, according to your plans. And also, if you're paying cash, the process wouldn't take as long, but you still need to make sure you just set a closing date, make sure you have your funds ready to go. And, if you're not going to be present for closing, make sure that the title company has time to mail out your documents to you and you'll have time to mail them back because everything can happen so quickly. So, just make sure you're ready, make sure your offer is nice and strong. If you know that you're competing with other buyers, we all know how crazy this market has been lately. So, just make sure you are prepared and you also just want to make sure you put on your offer, which you're comfortable with. You don't want to go overboard and end up shooting yourself in the foot later on, and you have items or terms on your offer that you can't even hold yourself up to. So, just make sure everything makes sense to you and everything is doable for you in the terms of the contract and you just stay within your budget, of course. Don't think that, just because you're approved for a certain amount doesn't necessarily mean that you have to purchase a home up you know, at that amount. You have to be comfortable with your monthly mortgage payments as well. So, yeah, just to make sure that you're really comfortable with what you have on offer before you submit it over. And, once you send that over, the owners either going to accept your offer or they're going to reject your offer or maybe they'll even do a counter offer. When they counter, that just means that they're not exactly saying no. There's parts of your offer, I mean, it could be one part or it could be two or three items on your on your offer that they don't agree with. So they'll just make a little change and say, you know, they're going to change the purchase price to this amount or maybe they don't want to pay the title fees. Whatever is that you have on there that they might not agree with, it's going to be on that counter offer. So, you're going to look at the terms of that and if you do agree with everything that they're wanting to change, you sign that counter offer and boom, you're under contract. However, if you don't agree with what they put on there, that doesn't mean it's a, you know, it's a wrap. You need to move on to the next property. You can just counter again and just put what you want to change or what you're willing to agree to and just go from there. You just go back and forth as many times as you need to until you and the seller come to a meeting of the minds, and come to an agreement and get yourself under contract. But, if you do end up getting your offer ends up getting rejected, just don't be sad, don't be too sad. I mean, I know it might it hurts a little bit just, you know, especially if it's a property that you're super super excited about. You might feel a certain way, but don't worry about it. It probably just wasn't meant to be and just come up with a list of a few more properties to take a look at and try again.

Alright. But once you do have an offer that's accepted, you are officially under contract. That's when the whole process begins. If you're financing, you can expect the process, the transaction to take anywhere from 30 to 45 days or, you know, whatever it is that you said as your closing date. Just allow time for everyone to do what they need to do. Allows time for the lender to do everything on their end, the title agent. You as a buyer, you want to make sure you get your inspections done and just have time to ask for repairs and give the seller time to make some repairs. We would need to make sure there's time for an appraiser go out and appraise the properties. There might be a survey that's needed. So, there's just a whole lot of items involved, lots of turning wheels throughout the transaction. So, you just want to make sure that you stay on track, make sure you stay in contact with the real estate agent. Hopefully, they are a great enough agent to where they stay in contact with you and make sure that yours keeping on track everything that you need to do on your end as the buyer. It's just, as long as everything runs smoothly, the process should be just easy peasy. But, of course, it's not always the case. There could be little hiccups here and there. But, again, your real estate agent is there to help you throughout those little bumps in the road that you might come across. But again, that's another reason why it's great to have a real estate agent to help you throughout the process.

Alright. Now, once you get towards the end of the transaction, everything's done. You got your mortgage approved, everything set of with your home, the sellers moved out, cleared out the house, all cleaned up, ready to go. You're going to do your final walk through and make sure everything is the way that it's supposed to be. And then you get to go to the title office and sign a stack of papers. It won't be as much if you're paying cash, but you still have to sign some documents. And, once all that's said and done, you get the keys to your new property and whaala, that's it. I know it's not seems like it may be a lot. But again, as long as you know what you're doing, you connect with a real estate agent in the beginning, and your mortgage lender stays in great contact with you and tells you everything that you need and what you need to do about the process. It really shouldn't be too hard an experience to purchase property here in Destin, Florida. Just also make sure that you know the differences with, you know, what's involved with purchasing a condo or, you know, any HOA community, you're going to have to make sure you look into you know, the entire picture, not just the property, and make sure that you don't have any surprises after closing, like, maybe you weren't aware of certain rules and regulations, restrictions in the neighborhood that you don't exactly agree to. But, yeah, just make sure you have everything, all the information that you need prior to closing. Just so, you don't end up regretting it after the fact. But hopefully, that won't be the case and you're just live happily ever after with your new home or your new investment property. If it's investment property, I really do hope that it brings you lots and lots of money. This is a great area to purchase investment property and because of all the vacation rentals that are available. It's the Emerald Coast. Everybody wants to come visit here. So, vacation rentals are a really great piece of an investment for you to just make sure you, maybe have it on your plans later if you're just purchasing a home for now. Or, if you're really just looking for a second home, you can do that as well and just look into purchasing a, you know, a vacation home for you and your family to visit and not even use it as an investment. Just keep it all to yourself if you choose. 

Alright! Well, that's all I have for you today as far as the small steps into purchasing property in Destin, Florida. If you want to know more or you need more details or maybe you're ready to make that move, feel free to call/text us at 850.320.7757 or email us at Admin@WhittemoreGroupRE.com