Buying a home
How I Help You Buy a Home: Ready Before You Tour
Four steps get you pre-approved, informed, focused and ready to write a strong offer, so you can act the day the right home appears in Western New York.
The short version
Most agents start by showing you houses. I start by getting you ready to win one, because the buyer who gets the good home is rarely the one who saw it first. The home a buyer loses is usually the one they were not ready to write an offer on.
Four steps make up the process. Ready gets you pre-approved by a lender and clear on how you and I work together. Educated shows you what your money actually buys here. Aligned builds the search around your real criteria. Locked covers the offer, the financing and the closing.
By the time you write an offer, you have five things in hand:
- A pre-approval a lender has verified.
- A budget built on the monthly cost, not only the price.
- A written list of what you want and what you can live without.
- A comparison of the parts of the area that fit your life.
- A ceiling and a set of terms you decided before the pressure of a competing offer.
The process is the same whether you are moving to Buffalo from out of state, moving up to your next home or buying your first home in the area. If you are also selling, how I sell a home runs alongside this one on a single set of deadlines.
Map out your next move before you need to make it.
Ready: pre-approved before you tour
Ready starts with a pre-approval, meaning a lender has verified your income, assets and credit. A pre-qualification is an estimate based on what you tell a computer, and it verifies nothing. Sellers weigh the difference, and an offer backed by a verified pre-approval is a stronger offer.
Closings in Western New York run through attorneys, and many national lenders do not work this way day to day. A lender who does not know the local process can miss deadlines and ask you for things you were not prepared to provide. I connect you with a local lender before any offer goes out.
The pre-approval also tells you what you can comfortably spend, and comfortable is a different number than the maximum. I work through the full monthly cost with you first: the payment, taxes, insurance and what you want to change in the first year.
In the first conversation, I ask where you are trying to go, when you need to be in the home, what you want to spend each month, whether you are selling a home of your own and what you are most worried about. The answers decide the order of everything else.
A pre-approval reflects what you showed a lender at that moment. A new debt, a job change or a large purchase before closing can change it, so I ask you to talk to your lender before any major financial move.
Before you tour, I also explain how I work with you and what gets put in writing, and I answer every question about it. Being ready means no surprise shows up in the middle of an offer.
Educated: what your money actually buys here
Educated is the reality check, and it saves people months. Before you fall for a home, you should know what your budget buys in the town you are looking at, and what it buys one town over. I compare homes to recent comparable sales so you know whether a price is fair before you decide what to offer.
Commute, lot size, the age of the home and the monthly cost all change from one town to the next. I put the tradeoffs side by side so you can see what each place gives you and what it asks in return.
Higher rates do not remove buyers from the market. They make buyers more careful about value, and you should be one of them. Paying over asking only makes sense when the condition, the location and the terms support the number, and I will tell you when they do not, even if you love the house.
The area I work in comes down to three markets: the city of Buffalo, the Northtowns and the Southtowns. How to choose among them is on the page about moving to Buffalo, and the areas I work in is a good place to start.
I also help you separate what a home needs now from what can wait. An inspection tells you about the condition of the house, and my job is to help you read it: which findings are routine, which are worth negotiating and which are reasons to walk away.
A strong market can still punish a buyer who rushes, and low inventory does not mean you should settle. Knowing the market is what lets you move quickly on the right home and slowly on the wrong one.
Aligned: fewer homes, and better ones
Aligned builds the search on your real criteria. In the first conversation, I ask what you want within reach each day, what you will not compromise on and what you can live without. "I don't want to settle" is something I hear from nearly every buyer, and a written list is how you avoid it.
With the list in hand, I send you fewer homes and better ones. For each home worth your time, I tell you plainly what I think: the condition, the layout, what surrounds it and the flaws. When a home does not earn a tour, I say so, and you save the afternoon.
I send homes as they come on the market, and after each tour I ask what you liked and what you did not. Your answers refine the list, so each round of homes fits you better than the last.
If you are not in town, I tour homes with you by live video. The page on moving to Buffalo from out of state shows how that works.
If your search depends on selling your current home, I tell you which homes are realistic and which would put your sale on hold, so you do not fall for a home you are not yet positioned to buy.
A move date or a pending sale creates pressure, and pressure is how people end up making offers on homes they do not like. Aligned is the step that ties your search to what you actually want and when you actually need it.
Locked: the offer, the financing and the closing
Locked covers everything between a home you want and a home you own. A strong offer is not always just about the highest number. Terms, timing, risk and certainty matter too. A seller choosing between offers looks at which one is most likely to close, on what date and with how many conditions attached.
Before a competitive situation comes up, I help you set a ceiling you are comfortable with, line up the verified pre-approval and decide which terms cost you little and matter to the seller. You cannot always avoid a bidding situation, and preparation is what keeps you from being pulled into one on someone else's terms.
After the inspection, you may want to ask the seller for repairs or credits. I lead with the fact, lay out your options and the tradeoff of each, recommend one, and you decide.
Closings in Western New York run through attorneys, and you have your own. Contract to closing often runs about 60 days. Inspections, financing and the closing each carry a deadline, and I track every one and tell you the day anything moves.
Before closing, I help you confirm the home is in the condition you agreed to buy. On closing day, your attorney guides the signing, and I make sure nothing is waiting on you.
If you are selling your current home too, the sale and the purchase run as one plan with one set of deadlines, and I plan it around two strategies: selling first or buying first. Moving up shows how I plan that.
This page describes my general process for buying a home. It is not legal, tax or lending advice, and your attorney, your lender and your tax professional advise you on those. If you are ready to start, talk with me about your move.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between pre-qualified and pre-approved?
Pre-qualified is an estimate based on what you tell a lender or a computer, and it verifies nothing. Pre-approved means a lender has verified your income, assets and credit. A verified pre-approval makes your offer stronger.
Do I need a local lender?
It is not required, but I connect you with a local lender before any offer goes out. Closings here run through attorneys, and a lender who knows the process is less likely to miss a deadline or ask for something you were not prepared to provide.
Should I pay over asking?
Only when the condition, the location and the terms support the number. I compare the home to recent comparable sales before you decide what to offer, and I tell you when the price is wrong.
Can I buy a home without touring it in person?
Some buyers do. I tour homes with you by live video and tell you what I would want to see in person before you commit. Whether it makes sense depends on the home and on your comfort.
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Ready to make your move with Merritt Kreutzer Real Estate?