YOU R GU I D E TO BUYI N G A H O M E I N
Modern Real Estate for a Modern San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO
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IN THE SAN FRANCISCO REAL ESTATE MARKET, YOU NEED SOMEONE ON YOUR SIDE. Our clients expect nothing less than the best, and we’ve built our career on delivering stellar results, and making the process an enjoyable one. The market is always shifting, always changing, and being excellent in this profession involves diving in. Knowing the market, talking to other agents, building relationships. It requires a deep interest in San Francisco, and a love of architecture and homes. You’re less likely to find us sitting behind a desk, and more likely to see us zipping by, off to check out a new property that just came on the market, or to meet clients to walk through a home and talk possibilities. We love houses, we love working with smart, savvy clients, and we love helping people make things happen.
We look forward to working with you!
Kira Mead
YO U R WAY A R O U N D T H I S G U I D E WORKING WITH US . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 • Your Team GETTING STARTED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 • Questions to Consider When Buying a Home • Questions to Ask When Buying a Condo • Initial Meeting • Financing Your Home OVERVIEW OF THE REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION . . . . . . . . . 14 THE HOME SEARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 • Seeing Properties and Understanding the Market • Crafting a Winning Offer • Your Offer is Accepted! Now What? • The Escrow Process • Inspections • Contingencies • Closing Costs • Signing & Keys
MODERN REAL ESTATE FOR A MODERN SAN FRANCISCO
Your success is our success.
WORKING WITH US
We’ve learned what works and what doesn’t. PUT OUR EXPERTISE TO WORK FOR YOU.
WE RESPECT OUR CLIENTS AS SMART, CAPABLE AND MOST OF ALL, PEOPLE. • We’re not here to “sell” you a house. Our
• We set the highest standards of excellence
role is to help you discover what is important
for our own work and for the professionals
to you, collaborate with you on your home
we refer our clients to.
search and help you buy a home you love at a price that works for you. • We take pride in being negotiators, problem solvers and advisors for our clients.
• We use technology, feet on the street market knowledge and our stellar reputation to help you succeed in the San Francisco real estate market.
A SUCCESSFUL TRANSACTION INVOLVES A WIDE VARIETY OF PROFESSIONALS.
From the best mortgage brokers to design consultants, we’ve assembled a top notch team to make your home purchase as smooth as possible.
INTERIOR DESIGNER
ARCHITECT
TRANSACTION COORDINATOR
PLUMBER
BUILDING CONTRACTOR HANDYMAN
ATTORNEY
MORTGAGE BROKER
FINANCIAL PLANNER
HOME INSPECTOR
ESCROW/TITLE OFFICER
INSURANCE AGENT
PROPERTY MANAGER
MOVER
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THE GOAL IS SIMPLE: Find out what is important to you, and
tailor a strategy for success geared towards your needs
QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER WHEN BUYING A HOME • Why have you decided to move? • When would you like to move?
• Approximately how big of a home would you like ( square footage )?
• What neighborhoods do you like?
• Is a separate dining room important?
• What do you like and what don’t you like about where you live now?
• Which room do you spend the most time in?
• What’s important to you in your lifestyle? Do you want to be able to walk, be close to public transportation, etc?
• Do you need outdoor space or a play area? Can it be a patio/deck or do you need a yard? • How important is a view? • Do you have pets? What kind?
• What are your goals for this home and how long do you think you’ll be there?
• Do you need parking?
• What style of property would you like? ( e.g. Victorian, mid-century, contemporary )
• How often do you use public transportation?
• Property condition ( e.g. fixer upper, new construction ) • Do you want a single family home, a condo, or multiple units? Is this flexible? • What features are you looking for? • How many bedrooms do you need?
• How important is weather to you? • Do you commute? How do you get to work? • Is it important to you to be near a commercial area? What does ‘near’ mean to you? • What are your hobbies and special interests? Do they require dedicated space? • Other needs or features that are important?
• How many baths?
TESTIMONIAL
Della 6
Kira is fantastic! She was instrumental in helping me find my first San Francisco home and feeling confident in my purchase. Being a first time buyer, I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and Kira always made sure to point out potential ‘gotchas’ and ask insightful questions when we looked at properties. She also has an amazing sense of style and had tons of helpful tips and suggestions for laying out rooms with furniture and even paint colors. Her unique concept of combining real estate with design services is genius. She is a joy to work with. I recommend her wholeheartedly!
QUESTIONS TO ASK WHEN BUYING A CONDO Buying a condo comes with its own set of questions. With a single family home, you are responsible for the entire property. You can choose what you do to a home, and when you will do it ( barring the city getting involved, of course ). When buying a condo, it’s important to ask certain questions, to understand the health of not just your unit, but the entire building. It’s also important to get a sense, as much as you can, of how maintenance, repairs and issues are dealt with. Here are some important questions you should ask about any condo you are interested in: • What are the restrictions? Some common restrictions include number ( and kind ) of pets, restrictions on renting your condo out, and guidelines for making changes to your unit. This section of the CC and R’s ( Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions ) will spell out a lot of answers to questions about day to day living. • Is there any litigation in the building? Most lenders will not loan on a building in litigation, and those that will usually charge more points/ have a higher rate. • Are there any special assessments coming up in the future? A special assessment is usually a large project that requires more money than an HOA has in it’s reserves. When this
happens, generally the units will split the cost between them. • Read the minutes: the minutes of HOA meetings will tell you a lot about how an HOA is run. Do people tend to lean towards keeping the building in good shape? Do they want to table issues rather than deal with them? Do people work towards consensus? ( this is the juicy part ) • Does any one owner own more than one unit or 10% of a project with more than 20 units? Banks frequently will require exceptions for lending in this situation. • Are more than 15% of the HOA dues delinquent? • Was the building recently condo converted?
continued • What is the percentage of owner occupancy in the building? Frequently, a lender will require that at least 50% of a building be owner occupied, sometimes more, depending on the loan. It’s a good idea to let the lender do a bit of research on a building you are putting an offer on. • Is the project a live/work, with any deed restrictions? • Is the HOA more hands on or off? In a smaller building, it’s mostly the owners sitting in someone’s unit, making decisions together. In a larger HOA, there is often private property management handling most of the details. Generally, you can be involved in meetings, or not. Which better suits your preferences and lifestyle?
TESTIMONIAL
John & Garrett
We just bought our first home with the help of Kira and loved working with her. After sitting down with her for the first time we felt so comfortable that we didn’t interview anyone else, and being first time homebuyers trying to navigate SF’s crazy real estate market, we relied on her for everything. Kira got our style immediately. We were looking for something unique with vintage details and charm that we could put our own stamp on. Her listing recommendations were always worthwhile and we trusted her opinion completely. Kira was there every step of the way from sending us listings to navigating the offer process to scheduling our inspections. For our first offer she sat down with us for two and a half hours and talked us through the offer process making sure we were completely comfortable with everything and explaining the details of the disclosures. She was always accessible by email or phone and timely when answering questions. We felt 100% comfortable with her recommendations and always felt like she had our best interest at heart. We would absolutely recommend her to anyone interested in buying property in the city.
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INITIAL MEETING Looking at realtor websites is kind of like online dating — a helpful place to start, but you can’t really tell if you’re the right fit until meeting in person. There is never any obligation for a free consultation — after all, we are going to be spending a lot of time together in the upcoming months, and having the right fit is vital. There are many great agents in San Francisco, and it’s important to work with someone you can trust, and share your thoughts and opinions openly with. At a first meeting, we will talk about the following:
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WHERE ARE YOU AT?
We’ll talk about where you’re at in the process and what you’re looking for in a home. We will ask lots of questions to make sure we understand your preferences and what’s important to you, from architecture to lifestyle. We’ll discuss what your price range looks like in different areas of the city, and we can recommend neighborhoods that could fit your criteria.
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2 DISCUSS FINANCE
We’ll talk about the role this will play in the strength of your offer. If you’re not preapproved, we can recommend some great local mortgage brokers, who can answer your loan and financing questions. We’ll talk about how much you have for a down payment, and discuss creative solutions to make your offer stronger.
We’ll discuss how we work with clients, and we’ll talk about your timeframe, your schedule and how you like to communicate. We’ll work on a strategy that makes the home buying process as smooth and stress free as possible.
4 TAILOR STRATEGY
We’ll talk about what the market is like and what you can expect during your search for a home. It’s important to work with someone who is straightforward about the challenges and opportunities of the market, and who can set you up to make successful decisions. We’ll look at real statistics and numbers for what has sold in different neighborhoods, giving you a concrete sense of what is going on in areas you’re interested in.
3 DISCUSS MARKET
5 DISCUSS SF REAL ESTATE
San Francisco has to do everything differently, and real estate is no exception. We’ll talk about showing times, offer dates, agent relationships and the other details that make San Francisco unique.
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NEXT STEPS
If we decide we’re a good fit, we’ll create a plan for working together, and you’ll leave with action steps for getting the ball rolling.
THE IMPORTANCE OF WORKING WITH A LOCAL LENDER In a competitive market, working with a great local lender is hugely important to getting your offer accepted as one major factor that a listing agent and seller will look at is the strength of the lender. In order to be as competitive as possible, you need to work with a lender that can remove the financing contingency in 7–10 days ( if you’re going to have one ) and close in 15. Typically, when we encounter problems in the middle of an escrow, it’s because there is a problem with the loan for different reasons. It’s critical to have someone that knows their stuff, knows what San Francisco is about, and can be counted on to take care of any issues that come up. We can usually tell within the first 5–10 minutes of a phone conversation with a lender if they’re going to be rock solid or a complete nightmare. In San Francisco, any good listing agent will call the lender to ask them questions and make sure they’re on top of things.
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QUICK TIP: THE RULE OF TWO’ S Your lender will need
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YEARS OF Tax Returns Paystubs / W2’s Most Recent Financial Statements
F I N A N C I N G YO U R H O M E
PRE-APPROVAL FOR A LOAN
DETERMINING THE RIGHT PRICE RANGE
When making an offer on a property, your offer must be accompanied by a pre-approval letter from a reputable lender or local mortgage broker. This gives assurance to the seller that
The first step in the buying process is to determine the price range that is right for you. You will need to consider how much cash you are prepared to invest in your home and how much money you will need to borrow. DETERMINING CASH YOU WILL NEED You will need enough cash to cover both your down payment and any closing costs associated with the purchase. Closing costs vary based on the terms of any loan you may obtain, and are generally 1% to 2% of the purchase price. Also keep in mind inspections and any immediate post closing costs, such as moving, cleaning, etc. You should also take into consideration how much your property taxes and insurance will add to a monthly mortgage payment in determining the right price range.
you will be able to get the proposed financing and will not tie up the property needlessly. Potential lenders will inquire about six critical factors:
1 • Income
2 • Savings/Capital/Investments
3 • Credit history
4 • Debt level/Ratio
5 • Employment history
6 • The value of the property you wish to purchase
We can recommend several top notch mortgage brokers who not only make the transaction as smooth and stress free as possible, and are also committed to explaining the process, step by step.
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OVERVIEW OF THE REAL ESTATE TRANSACTION • Initial Contact • Commitment to Agent • Financial Qualifications • Market Education • View Properties • Write Offer with Agent Purchase Offer Presented to Seller • Negotiation of Terms Seller
Agent
Agent
Buyer
• Review Disclosures with Agent Accepted Sales Contract
Loan Process
Escrow / Title
Appraisal Ordered
• Open Escrow • Deposit Earnest Money
Removal of Remaining Loan Conditions
Remove Financing Contingency
• Title Search • Preliminary Title Report
Sign Loan Documents at Escrow Company
Closing Procedures
• Loan Funding • Title Records at City Hall • Close of Escrow • Utilities off/on
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Home Inspection Pest Inspection
Final Approval for Loan
Lender Orders Loan Documents
Inspections
Get Keys
Review Additional Disclosures Additional Negotiations Seller
Agent
Agent
Buyer
Remove Inspection Contingency
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Every block is a short story, every hill a novel.
THE HOME SEARCH Gone are the days when being a good agent was about ‘selling your clients a home,’ and pushing people into something. We feel lucky to work with clients who are smart, savvy people, and we collaborate with you during the home buying process, using the latest in technology to share ideas and thoughts, as well as to save you time and energy. We’re here to help you understand the market, so you can feel confident stepping up when the time comes to bid on the right place. Searching for a home is a process, and there is no one-size-fits-all-approach. Some clients fall in love with the first home they see, while others need to see thirty homes. The one guarantee is that searching for a home will clarify your priorities, sometimes in ways that may surprise you.
VIEWING HOMES If we decide to work together, we’ll set up a tour to go see homes. We’ll discuss your likes and dislikes, and red flags to watch out for. We encourage clients to give lots of feedback on what you like and don’t like about a neighborhood, layout, finishes, etc. This will form the foundation of giving us an idea of what you’re looking for. • Every Tuesday, on broker’s tour, we will see properties that seem like they could be a good fit, and give you feedback. • Every Wednesday is Climb’s office meeting, where properties are frequently announced that are not on MLS. This can be a great way to preemptively find out about properties that aren’t exposed to everyone else searching for a home. • Your home search will be a mix of open houses, private showings and photos and videos we take of homes. • It’s important to be ready to see a home on short notice, if we find a property that seems like a great fit for you. HOW TO LOOK AT A HOUSE Each time you look at a property, compare that property to your search parameters. If a specific home falls short of your desires, consider whether you can alter the home to make it
acceptable. Some features are impossible to change, such as location, while others can be changed or modified by painting, remodeling, or making structural alterations. BEING ACTIVE IN THE MARKET It may sound obvious, but the market moves quickly, and it’s vital to be out seeing homes, and following what they sold for. There is just no substitute for seeing a home in person. • We’ll set up a search for you for homes that meet your criteria. • You can save and favorite homes you’re interested in, and we’ll share feedback with each other. This is a great way to begin to understand the present real estate market. • You’ll receive emails when properties go pending or sell. Knowing what a property that you saw sold for, and understanding why, is a great way to educate yourself. • Whenever we find a property that’s a match, it’s time for us to investigate further as a team. We have a network of professionals to work on your transaction, collaborating to get questions answered and figure out if this is the right property for you. It’s your job to be responsive as time is of the essence in many cases and reviewing any direction, market information or questions we’ll provide expeditiously is important.
CRAFTING A WINNING OFFER FINANCIAL & EMOTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS Once you’ve found a property you love, and are prepared to make an offer, there are financial, psychological and emotional considerations in structuring your offer. Is this property extremely desirable – one that could invite multiple offers? If the seller counters your offer and asks for a higher price, what is your top dollar? Does the property need improvement? How motivated is the seller? How motivated are you? What contingencies have you placed on the offer? WHEN WE WRITE AN OFFER, WE WILL •H elp you determine an appropriate price to offer. This is where strong market knowledge of specific neighborhoods is vital. Block by block, property by property, a good agent should know why a comparable property sold for what it did. Knowing the market inside and out will help you determine a price that is competitive while avoiding overpaying. • Make sure you have a thorough understanding of the purchase contract, going over it line by line.
• We’ll thoroughly review disclosures together, to help you understand the strengths and drawbacks of a property and get as many questions about the property condition answered beforehand as we can. • We’ll discuss the big factors that make up the substance of your offer:
1 • price
2 • down payment
3 • financing terms and contingencies
4 • inspection contingencies
5 • closing date
6 • special conditions ( rentback, etc. )
• We’ll write a letter to the seller, detailing your strengths as a buyer. • You’ll write a letter to the sellers ( we can provide you with a sample ), telling them why you love the home, and why you’d be the perfect buyer. • We’ll have your mortgage professional call the listing agent to talk about your strengths as a borrower.
TESTIMONIAL
Carson
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I highly recommend Kira to anyone looking for a place to buy in San Francisco: she’s just fantastic! I couldn’t have had a better experience than working with her. She is so responsive, so professional, so nice and passionate about her job. I felt comfortable with her from the very beginning. She understood perfectly what I was looking for and everything I required. I love the place I bought. Everyone was telling me how stressful it is to buy a place, but Kira made it so easy for me that the whole experience was just happy and exciting. I felt confident that she was looking for the best fit for me. She’s very strategic and things moved quickly and smoothly. After the closure, Kira followed up and gave me the advice I needed.
YO U R O F F E R I S A C C E P T E D ! N OW W H AT ? Once your offer is accepted ( and after you’ve celebrated with a cocktail ), the behind the scenes work starts to move your transaction as smoothly as possible through the escrow process. The clock starts ticking, and this is when it’s essential to have an agent who can project manage the various elements that are happening at once. There are frequently hurdles during the escrow process, and pulling together these details, being proactive and finding solutions to any problem that may arise is just as much a part of our job as helping you find the right home. DURING THE ESCROW PROCESS, WE WILL • Closely monitor the contract to ensure the seller performs on the contingencies in a timely manner
• Follow up on your loan process to ensure a timely close
• Attend inspections in person and review reports as soon as they are received to make sure any issues that arise are resolved
• Send an estimated closing statement prior to closing
• Meet the appraiser at the property to be aware of any problems with the appraisal
• Deliver keys and documents to you
• Negotiate any repair items that you are requesting
• Attend the walk-through
• Attend the signing at the title office
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The road to success in real estate has many faces, from the starter condo that gets you in the market to the single family home with a view that you’ve worked hard to achieve. WE’RE HERE TO HELP, WHEREVER YOU ARE IN YOUR REAL ESTATE JOURNEY.
THE ESCROW PROCESS What is the escrow process? Realtors are always referring to the murky river of escrow and what happens during this time.
Escrow refers to multiple things: The escrow process is the time after your contract is accepted, before you close, during which time remaining information is gathered, especially relating to your loan and taking title to the home. Your lender is working on your loan, inspections are happening, and the title company is working on title insurance. During this time, it’s essential that you deliver anything that we ask for or that your lender requires expeditiously, and that we remain within contingency timelines.
clear and to check for any exceptions to this. When we get initial disclosures, one of these is the preliminary title report, that the listing agent has already requested. This preliminary title report lists any liens on the property or clouds on the title. When you are in contract, we receive an updated title report, with any changes. The other function of the title company is to issue title insurance. After issuing the title report, the escrow company will issue both you and your lender a ‘title policy’ ensuring the property can indeed be sold and delivered free of liens or encumbrances. This title policy lasts for your life. Paying for title insurance is one of your closing costs.
ESCROW/TITLE COMPANY Escrow also refers to the escrow or title company, a neutral third party that oversees money and documents related to the transaction. The escrow or title company has two functions: The first is to be the neutral third party. All money, including the buyer’s initial deposit, any credits or deposits from the seller, the buyer’s remaining down payment and the buyer’s loan funds come through escrow. They will also issue a check to the seller at the end of the transaction. Because they are a neutral third party, they must always have the permission of both parties, in writing, before they can release funds. The second function of the escrow company is to be sure that title can be delivered free and
INSPECTIONS W H AT D O T H E Y C O S T ? General Home Inspection • $600–800 Pest Inspection • $400–600 Chimney Inspection • $200–300 Sewer Lateral Inspection • $125–200 Roof Inspection • $0–100 Structural/Engineering • $100–400 Condo Document Review • $300–500 note: all costs are estimates only
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INSPECTIONS Most buyers will have a general home and pest inspection ( if the seller has not provided a pest ), as well as a sewer lateral inspection on older buildings. Then, if circumstances dictate, go on and order specialist inspections before the end of their inspection period. Your inspection contingency gives you the right to have the property thoroughly inspected and if you discover something that is too big of a problem, you can cancel the purchase and have your deposit returned. The clause actually gives the buyer cancellation rights for any or no reason – the escape parachute. The general home inspection serves the basic purpose of educating buyers about the overall condition of the building. While the inspector will go into the crawlspace and attic, nothing invasive is usually done. In some cases, the sellers will have already paid for and will provide the inspection report as part of their disclosure materials. Other times, the buyer will pay for an inspection and get a report for their use only. In either case, an objective licensed home inspector will walk the property noting and examining various defects he or she sees. The general contractor inspection report may call for additional inspections by tradespeople such as roofers or chimneys for specific areas that require work. By law, home inspectors do not give bids for repairs but may give estimates. The pest inspector is looking specifically for pest and dry rot issues, or conditions that may cause them. The report is broken up into Section 1 items ( items that require repair ) and Section 2 items ( conditions that could lead to damage if uncorrected ). For section 1 items, the inspector will give a bid to repair the damage.
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Inspection reports can also serve as the basis of negotiation ( this varies depending on what the market is like ). Repairs can always be performed after escrow closes as it’s rare that a seller will do the work for you. If either the general or specialist investigations are not ordered during this time, then buyers will assume the risk that there are certain unreported deficiencies. If these types of deficiencies are discovered after the inspection contingency is removed, or after escrow closes, there’s little recourse against the sellers unless there was active concealment or fraud.
In a competitive bidding situation or if the property is a fixer many people will waive their inspection rights to give sellers the certainty that the buyers are committed fully to the property. While this assumes a lot of risks, many times sellers will prepare inspection reports from an inspection company to disclose the property’s condition to would-be buyers. While objective, some may still want to conduct their own investigation. As brokers, we will always advise you to investigate and inspect to your satisfaction. While inspections aren’t cheap ( $600+ ) one way to be competitive and yet still diligent is to conduct a pre-offer inspection. This will also give the sellers a clear signal that you really want the place and won’t have any second thoughts, limiting their liability as well.
We deliver results and bring sanity, a smile and a calm demeanor to the process. WHATEVER COMES UP, REST ASSURED WE HAVE IT HANDLED FOR YOU.
CONTINGENCIES Once your offer is accepted, there are several contingencies in the contract that give you the opportunity to review information or take specific actions within given time frames. Note that contingencies are always removed in writing, and it is essential to meet the deadlines specified for each contingency in the purchase agreement.
A contract contains many contingencies, and the big three are: INSPECTION CONTINGENCY Discussed above, this is the most ‘powerful’ contingency, that essentially lets you out of the contract for any reason during this time. This is when you will conduct your inspections and perform any other due diligence to ensure this is the property for you. FINANCING CONTINGENCY Once your offer is accepted, your lender will order the appraisal and begin working on obtaining final loan approval. This is the process of satisfying the underwriting requirements of the bank you’ll be obtaining your loan from. Once your lender has final loan approval from the underwriter, your financing contingency is removed in writing.
APPRAISAL CONTINGENCY This can fall under the general umbrella of the financing contingency, and this contingency is there to ensure the home appraises for the purchase price you have agreed upon with the seller. If the house doesn’t appraise, you can cancel the contract. Some other remedies include making up the difference in cash, or negotiating the price with the seller. Once contingencies are removed, you are effectively obligated to purchase the property. You understand that you are purchasing the property in it’s current condition ( subject to any agreed repairs by the seller ) and are going to move forward. At that point, your good faith deposit is at risk. Any failure to perform could result in losing your deposit.
Generally closing costs are 1–2% of purchase price and are paid at closing, through the escrow company.
design: Candymuse.com
C LO S I N G C O S T S : W H O PAYS W H AT ? Everyone has questions about the vague term ‘closing costs’. Closing costs are the various charges made by the lender, the title company and other service providers necessary to complete a transaction. The following sets forth the customary division in San Francisco. THE BUYER CUSTOMARILY PAYS
THE SELLER CUSTOMARILY PAYS
• Title insurance premium for lender and buyer
• Real estate commission
• Escrow fee
• Documentary transfer tax ( amount is dependent upon sales price )
• Notary fee • Contractor’s and pest inspection fees and other inspection fees • New loan charges ( points, appraisal, document processing fees, etc. ) • Interest on new loan from date of funding to 30 days prior to the 1st payment date • Home warranty ( if specified in contract ) • Homeowner’s insurance for 1st year • Property tax proration • Property tax impound account if required by lender ( generally if putting less than 20% down ) • Move-in fee ( for condominiums ) • HOA account transfer fee • For Condo/HOA Pro-Rates • Miscellaneous charges
• Document preparation for deed
• Payoff of loans against property • Interest accrued on loans being paid off, reconveyance fees, repayment penalties •A ny judgment or tax liens against seller • Property tax proration • Unpaid homeowner’s dues ( for condominiums ) • Bonds or assessments • Delinquent taxes • Move-out fees ( for condominiums ) • Notary fees and recordation fees • Third party Natural Hazard Disclosure Statement & California Tax Disclosure Report • Pre-sale inspection fees • Underground storage tank report • Energy/Water Conservation inspection/repairs • New Construction ( buyer often pays ) • Miscellaneous charges
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It’s not just about buying a home, it’s about building a life.
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SIGNING & KEYS During the escrow process, your lender has been working to get conditions met and get final approval from the underwriter to prepare loan documents. This is the paperwork related to your loan, for the bank. Once loan documents are ready, these go to the escrow company, who get them ready for you to sign. The escrow company will also prorate property taxes and any other fees ( such as HOA dues ) to give you the amount of money you will need to close your loan ( remaining down payment plus closing costs ). When this is ready, we’ll go together to the escrow company, and you’ll sign loan documents, and deliver a cashier’s check to the escrow company. Loan documents will then go back to the bank, who will look them over for completeness and accuracy, and will then give the signal to fund the loan. Once the loan has funded, it then records the next day with the county, and the property is yours. To answer everyone’s question: that is when you get keys. And, go out to have a drink with your realtors and celebrate!
AFTER CLOSING We consider closing the start of a long relationship. We’ll send you our list of resources, and are available to answer any questions you might have, or point you towards a contractor, a handyman, or a great design store or restaurant in your neighborhood. If you want to consider real estate as a long term investment, outside of your primary residence, we love discussing long term strategies for building wealth through real estate investment and helping people create timelines to make this happen.
WE’RE HERE FOR THE LONG GAME.
We want to be your resource for all things house and home and we definitely want to come to your housewarming party!
TESTIMONIAL
Jonathan & Priyanka
We absolutely loved working with Kira! She quickly picked up on our style and what we were looking for. It can be tough finding the place you want to call home and to actually get a winning offer. Kira encouraged us along the way and helped us through the entire offer and close process with candid advice. After we closed on our amazing home last month, she helped us find a contractor for a bathroom remodel and gave us tons of great design ideas. We absolutely recommend Kira for helping you find your new home!
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KIRA MEAD REAL ESTATE AGENT
(415) 305 -8737
kira@modernrealestatesf.com CalBRE#: 01905944 Modern Real Estate SF.com
CLIMB SF.COM 251 Rhode Island #105 San Francisco CA 94103 Equal Housing Opportunity • If your property is now listed for sale this is not intended as a solicitation of the listing.