Properties, Houses and Condos for Sale in St Petersburg Treasure Island Florida

Buying property, Step 6

Buying a house or condo in St. Petersburg. In some cases you make an offer on a property and it gets accepted, but this is very very rare, Most of the time it is a long way between an offer and a signed contract. It can go back and forth a few times and the negotiations can be difficult and tricky, but with the assistance of your Realtor you will be fine. He or she is trained and experienced and will be a tremendous help for you. Negotiating the price of the home or condo is just one part of all this, you also have to think about time frames and closing costs, and who picks the title company and who pays for title insurance, who is responsible for repairs, is there a dollar limit?

When do you deliver your commitment letter, it is conditional or unconditional. When do you do the home inspection?  Does it make sense to offer a higher escrow deposit right from the start or do you want to leave yourself room to adjust this later? Are you going to ask for a home warranty plan?  If so what should it cover? Do you want to make your offer contingent upon an estimate of property taxes and insurance quotes? How many contingencies can you or should you put in your offer without offending the seller or killing the deal befor it even starts?

I could go on and on but, it sounds worst than it is, your realtor will guide you through the process and once you sign your offer you will understand all this and feel comfortable with it.                                                                                                                                              

Step # 1   Buying property here in St. Petersburg Florida

Step # 2   What you need to know about buying real estate in St. Petersburg

Step # 3   How does a buyer find a Realtor?

Step # 4   Going shopping for a hone or condo in Saint Petersburg Florida

Step # 5   Buying property in Saint Petersburg, making an offer.

If you think about buying or selling a house or condo in the Saint Petersburg Florida area, please give me a call. Ask me about waterfront homes or condos in St. Pete beach, Treasure Island, Madeira beach, Seminole and other Clearwater Tampabay neighborhoods. Find out what we can do to sell your home or condo and what the value of your property is. Check out great real estate deals or visit condo associations like Seminole Isle.

We also work with short sale bank owned and foreclosures. Find a property or go to my website for more real estate information or simply contact us.   727 409 8706

 

 

 

Buying a home or condo in Tampabay Saint Petersburg, making an offer.

Step 5 in the buying process

You are going to buy a home or condo here in St. Pete soon. Let's assume, you have done enough shopping, you found a house or condo that you really like, all your NEEDS are taken care of an hopefully some of your wants. You are ready to make an offer.  But how much are you going to offer?

Remember when I said it is important to you understand if your Realtor is a Transaction broker or single agent?  If you choose a single agent to represent you, you will have an easy time to determine the sales price you will offer. Take a very close look at the comparable properties that have sold in the last few months, also, try to find out how motivated the seller is and last but not least, how bad do you want the property???

Talk to your real estate agent about all this and put it in writing. Do not make a verbal offer, if it is not in writing, it is not enforceable (statue of fraud) A verbal OK. from the seller means nothing, but a signed and delivered contract is legally binding. Make sure you understand your offer, the paperwork can be very tricky and you need to read it carefully and talk to your realtor about all the "blanks" you have to fill in. If you still have any unanswered questions about the real estate purchase contract, contact a lawyer and get answers. This is not the time to take chances, you are about to make one if not the one most expensive purchase of your life                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 Step # 1   Buying property here in St. Petersburg Florida

Step # 2   What you need to know about buying real estate in St. Petersburg

Step # 3   How does a buyer find a Realtor?

Step # 4   Going shopping for a hone or condo in Saint Petersburg Florida

If you think about buying or selling a house or condo in the Saint Petersburg Florida area, please give me a call. Ask me about waterfront homes or condos in St. Pete beach, Treasure Island, Madeira beach, Seminole and other Clearwater Tampabay neighborhoods. Find out what we can do to sell your home or condo and what the value of your property is. Check out great real estate deals or visit condo associations like Seminole Isle.

We also work with short sale bank owned and foreclosures. Find a property or go to my website for more real estate information or simply contact us.   727 409 8706

 

How does a buyer find a Realtor here in St. Pete Tampabay?

Buying property, Step 3

Getting closer, in the process of buying a home or condo. By now you know what you WANT and what you NEED and what you CAN. You next step is finding the right Realtor to assist you in the purchase of your new home. How do you do this?  Ask a few friends if they can recommend someone (do not fall of the "My sister is a Realtor"), check the internet for local experts, Google their name see what you can find. Meet with a few of them and ask questions. Do they work as a single agent or a transaction broker (and you need to understand the difference, important) What is their education?  What designations do they have?  How will they communicate with you (it is the 21st  century and some Realtors are stuck in the 20 century)

How will they find homes for you? (If they just say "the ‘MLS" system, you better run)

Last but not least, even if a Realtor sounds good and qualified on paper, you need to feel comfortable with this person and you need to have the feeling that this Realtor understands what you want and need. OK. You are all set, you have done your homework, found a Realtor and you are preapproved by the bank, you can go shopping now. Houses here I come. 

Step #1   Buying property here in St. Petersburg Florida

Step #2   What you need to know about buying real estate in St. Petersburg

If you think about buying or selling a house or condo in the Saint Petersburg Florida area, please give me a call. Ask me about waterfront homes or condos in St. Pete beach, Treasure Island, Madeira beach, Seminole and other Clearwater Tampabay neighborhoods. Find out what we can do to sell your home or condo and what the value of your property is. Check out great real estate deals or visit condo associations like Seminole Isle.

We also work with short sale bank owned and foreclosures. Find a property or go to my website for more real estate information or simply contact us.   727 409 8706

 

What you need to know about buying real estate in St. Petersburg Tampabay

Buying property, Step 2

Now that you have thought about your NEEDS and WANTS we have to find out what you can actually afford. (Let's all them CANS)

I know, nobody likes to talk or deal with this, but it is a big part of the process.

Call you mortgage broker or your bank and set up an appointment.

Sit down with them (do not do this on the phone) and get the NUMBER. By that I mean the amount of money you can spend on your new home.

Make sure you can afford the payment, and do not forget that you need a cushion for repairs or increases in maintenance fees or taxes etc. for your home or condo. Do not stretch yourself to thin.

Just because your mortgage broker says  "Based on your loan to income ratio you will have no problems making the payment." Doesn't mean that he is right, only you can make this determination, because in the end only you know your lifestyle and how much it costs. It always amazes me when people right now pay $1000 in rent and have no money left over at the end of the month, that these people and their mortgage broker think they can easily afford to make $2000 mortgage payment per month. So, make a responsible decision, and be safe rather than sorry.

Step #1 Buying property here in Tampabay St. Petersburg Florida

If you think about buying or selling a house or condo in the Saint Petersburg Florida area, please give me a call. Ask me about waterfront homes or condos in St. Pete beach, Treasure Island, Madeira beach, Seminole and other Clearwater Tampabay neighborhoods. Find out what we can do to sell your home or condo and what the value of your property is. Check out great real estate deals or visit condo associations like Seminole Isle.

We also work with short sale bank owned and foreclosures. Find a property or go to my website for more real estate information or simply contact us.   727 409 8706

This is the first post about the real estate buying process.

I will walk you step by step to a successful real estate closing,

without head aches and dramas and regrets, and experience you can enjoy.

As a buyer you have to do a lot of homework before you can look at house or condos.

First of all, start with you dream, answer the questions  "What do I want"

think about it, dream about it and write it down on a list.

Now, you take this same list and out of all the "Wants" highlight or adjust the "Needs"

It might look like this

5 bedroom house

Ok, I am a single person, so a 2 bedroom 2 baths is enough to clean.           

Huge back yard

Nice size back yard

Huge front yard

Don't really need one at all, how wants to cut the lawn?

5 car garage

Well, I only have one car so a 2 car garage will do

Circular drive way

It doesn't really matter as long as I can get to the house

Tropical landscaping

Worst case scenario, I can always plan a few Palm trees myself

Wide open water view

That would be great, but if the rest of the property is perfect,

I could do with a regular view

Boat dock with 2 lifts

Ok, Ok, Boat dock alone is fine, till I have the money to buy my first boat.

Heated lap size pool

I am not training for the next Olympics, so I really do not need "the lap size"

Swim Jacuzzi

How am I going to swim with a cocktail glass in my hand? So, so normal Jacuzzi will do.

Detached guest quarters

My mother in law will come to visit and never leave if she has her own guest quarters.

You get the picture, what we WANT and what we NEED are to different things and you need to make sure you take a moment and think about this.

This was step #1 in the process of buying real estate

If you think about buying or selling a house or condo in the Saint Petersburg Florida area, please give me a call. Ask me about waterfront homes or condos in St. Pete beach, Treasure Island, Madeira beach, Seminole and other Clearwater Tampabay neighborhoods. Find out what we can do to sell your home or condo and what the value of your property is. Check out great real estate deals or visit condo associations like Seminole Isle.

We also work with short sales, bank owned and foreclosures. Find a property or go to my website for more real estate information or simply contact us.   727 409 8706