August 24th, 2009 by Michael Oliver

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Share on Facebook Since there are a high percentage of first time buyers entering the Tucson real estate market right no, it seems appropriate to write a “Buyer Guide” for those first time buyers to figure out how things work when buying a home in Tucson Arizona. The simple steps to buying a first home in Tucson are:

#1) Contact me

#2) I will assist in getting you pre-qualified with a reputable lender

#3) We will discuss your wants/ needs with a home and see what may work best for you whether its buying a foreclosure, new home, or resale property.

#4) We will discover what areas and types of home work best and then identify the best homes in the market for you.

#5) We will then look at homes and go through the escrow process and finish with you obtaining keys to your home and becoming a home owner.

Now if you are looking for how the entire process works here is what happens.

First you as a buyer will need to meet with a mortgage lender and get pre-qualified for a mortgage. Once pre-qualified that is when you should start actively looking for a home. The reason for this is that different mortgages have different requirements as to what properties will qualify for them. As an obvious point until you know what amount you qualify for and the payments it’s very difficult to do anything else. Another word about the different types of mortgages; FHA, VA, and Conventional have different allowances for the minimum condition of a property they will lend upon. A home might be able to be bought with a conventional loan but not able to be purchased with a VA, or FHA loan. (This is a very common occurrence actually.)

The next step is (in my opinion and I believe the stat is 86% of all homebuyers use a Realtor) to hire a Realtor who knows what they are talking about. You want a Realtor who has experience, skill, and tact. Think of hiring your Realtor as if you were hiring a lawyer to represent you in a lawsuit. So many homebuyers pick an agent that does not align with their needs and wants. You as a buyer should interview a couple agents. See who is getting their buyers the best discounts off of list price and who has experience in the areas and home type you want to buy. Personally I have a ton of experience with new home sales, resales, and foreclosure transactions on single family homes. Honestly though I don’t know a tremendous amount about representing buyers on townhomes, or condo’s since I just don’t sell a lot of them. It’s the same with other Realtors; even the best Realtors in the business still have specific skills and experience for certain types of sales and properties.

Find the agents that align with what you are buying. It will make a world of difference believe me. As a last note about Realtors buyers get apprehensive they will “Have to pay their Realtor a commission if they hire one to help them find a home” so many try to find their own home and jump around for weeks and weeks looking at For Sale By Owners etc.. However that is not how it works this is; Realtors are paid from proceeds of the sale from the seller of a property. Sellers’ want their homes to sell and a portion of the listing fee (commission) paid to the listing broker is set aside for the marketing of buyer’s agents. (Your agent when you are the buyer) So when you have your own Realtor he/she gets paid from the seller to represent YOUR interests and all sellers that list their property for sale in MLS (And new home builders as well) have monies set aside to pay your agent. So hire an agent early in the process and save yourself the worry, and hassles of getting started down the wrong road.

First Time Buyers Buying Guide, Homebuying Guide, Tucson Real Estate