Working With Buyers Start to Finish
Step 1 - Setting the Appointment
Once someone has mentioned they are interested in buying a home, whether now or in the future, this is a great time to offer them value. Let them know you offer free, no obligation home buying consultation. I let them know that they are not making any decisions, signing anything, or committing to anything. My consultations are for informational and educational purposes only. The goal of the meeting is to make sure all their questions are answered and they have a clear and accurate goal of what they need to do to be able to buy a home.
To view a template of my email to set an appointment CLICK HERE **Please note, this is my personal template. You will need to edit the email to your review page*
Step 2 - Preparing for the Buyer Appointment
Once the client has sent me some days and times that they are available, I reach out to my preferred lender and make sure their schedule also allows for them to be present at the meeting. I then send the buyer a confirmation email with everything they will need for the meeting
To view my Meeting Confirmation Email Template CLICK HERE
To view the PDF version of my Buyer Needs Analysis Google Form CLICK HERE
To learn how to make google forms, CLICK HERE for this tutorial for beginners
To view a 1 hour class on setting appointments with buyers and prepping for a consultation, Click HERE
Step 3 - Completing the Buyer Appointment
Please click HERE to view my mock home buying consultation
Step 4 - Follow up after the Buyer Appointment
As soon as my buyer appointment has been completed, I then send out my Follow up for Buyer Consultation and Client Portal email. Click HERE to view it. If you would like to learn how to set up a search for your clients in KV Core or the MLS, please view this recorded class by clicking HERE.
Step 5 - Once your Buyer is Approved for a Loan
Once your buyer is approved for a loan, you can begin showing them homes. The reason I do not take buyers out before they are approved for a loan is because:
1) They may qualify for less than they think and you don’t want them falling in love with a price point they can’t afford
2) Home move quickly in this market and you want to be able to put an offer on a home and not be held up by paperwork
3) If a buyer does not qualify at all for a loan, you will have wasted your time showing homes to someone that is not able to purchase a home.
Click HERE to view my email template on next steps to my buyers to begin showings
To watch a video on the entire loan process, see the video below
Step 5 - Making an offer for your Buyer
Congrats on finding your buyer a great home to make an offer on!
1) Make sure you fully read the MLS notes and look up the documents listed. Many times, a lot of your questions will be answered in these notes and you do not want to bother the listing agent with questions that they took the time to already answer. See the video below on how to review the listing for instructions:
2) Once you have fully reviewed the MLS notes, CALL THE LISTING AGENT. Separate yourself from the pack by being proactive and communicative. If the agent wants to work with you, they might fight for your offer harder than others or give you the inside scoop on how to make your offer stronger for the seller. Questions you should be asking the listing agent (if they are not already clarified in the MLS)
- When are you reviewing offers?
- Do you have any offers in hand? If so, how many.
- What is your top offer currently
- What escrow company does your seller prefer
- Will your seller need any rentback?
- What is most important to your seller (timing, money, etc)
- Are there any appliances or other items that are staying with the sale (Fridge, washer/dryer, Spa, etc)
- What else is important to your seller in the sale of their home?
- What else can I do in my offer to make it as clean and strong as possible?
3) If you need a full walk through of the RPA,
- Click HERE for the legal law group resource video (1 hour long).
- Click HERE to view the RPA training by Carla Morgan - 2 hours long (Our Auditor) Click HERE to access the Resources from the Class.
4) Putting together the offer
- I highly recommend putting an offer template together so you are not rewriting your offer every time. Click HERE to view how to create your offer template
To see how to use zip forms to put your offer together, Click HERE for a video tutorial.
5) Once you have put your offer together and your buyer's signatures are on the contract. Put your offer email to the agent together.
Click HERE to see a template of my offer email letter to the listing agent. Always CC the lender on your offer email as well. I like to send a separate email specifically to the lender so they can contact the listing agent directly once the offer is submitted. Click HERE for my lender email template.
6) Once your offer is sent, text the agent or make sure you get confirmation of receipt as offers will often go into spam or junk mail and you would hate for your buyer to miss out on a home because of a technical glitch. Continue to follow up with the listing agent to make sure you are receiving an answer to your offer.
Step 6 - Your Buyer’s offer is Accepted
Congrats on getting your buyer's offer accepted! You want to move quickly so that you can stick to your timelines you wrote into your contract. Below is a list of steps and helpful videos for you to follow!
Step 1- Make a contact group for your listing agent, their TC, and your TC. This will make it super easy to send correspondence during the process. See the video below on how to do this
Step 2 - Send an email to the listing agent and loop in your TC and the buyer's lender. Make sure the full contract is attached including any counters, addendums, etc. This will allow your TC to create your skyslope file and the lender can order their appraisal asap. Click HERE to view the email I use.
Step 3 - Verify with the listing agent if there are any unavailable times for home inspections. Verify with your clients when they will be available to do their home inspection walk through. There are usually morning or afternoon appointments so your client would be showing up at the home around 11/11:30am or 3:30pm. Please double check this info with the inspection companies you plan on using. Get a few different days and times that work for them as sometimes appointments are booked out. Also confirm which inspections they would like you to book. At minimum, I recommend a home and pest inspection. I usually always also have a roof and sewer scope. They can add pool inspections and chimney inspections and any other additional inspections they feel they want. Ask if they have any vendors that they prefer as you can always recommend them companies as well. You never want to steer a client if they have someone they prefer to use. Click HERE to see the email I send to the buyers for their next steps once their offer is accepted
Step 4 - Schedule the buyer's inspections. Below are my go-to companies
Home Inspections:
Westward Inspection Group - https://www.westwardinspect.com/
Pest Inspection:
2) Pinnacle Pest Control- https://pinnaclepest.com/
Sewer Scope:
Affordable Trenchless & Pipelining - https://www.ydig.com/
Roof:
RoofChecks - http://www.roofchecks.com/
Chimney:
His n' Hers Chimney Sweep - https://hisnherschimneysweep.com/
Pool:
Deja Blue Pool Service - https://dejabluepoolservice.com/
Step 5 - Send your buyer the confirmation of all their inspections being scheduled. Make sure you have these dates in your calendar as you will need to make sure the vendors have access to the property. click HERE for that email
Step 6 - Email the listing agent the list of inspections. click HERE for the email template
Step 7 - Create a google folder for your clients so that you can keep all your reports organized as they come in. to see an example of this, click HERE.
Step 8 - input your transaction into the Escrow Tracker. Click HERE
Make sure to stay on your timelines. Most reports you get within 24-48 hours so account for the extra days you will need.
Step 7 - Completing your Inspections
You will want to be at the home to let the inspectors access the property. While at the property, you will need to complete your AVID (Agent Visual Inspection Disclosure). Make sure to only note items that are damaged or have issues. This includes smells, stains, noises, anything that can be sensed by any of the 5 senses. Do not put “Stain due to dog” or “Stain from mold”. You NEVER want to say where things come from. Instead of saying “Large water stain on ceiling” You would just say “stain on ceiling”. Do not guess what it is from and do not note size as that can be subjective. Only objective findings. Below is a video on how to use the free GLIDE service to complete your AVID.
Step 8 - Inspection Reports and Negotiations
To view the class on reviewing reports, discussing negotiations and setting expectations with sellers and buyers for negotiations, CLICK HERE.
You will be using CAR form RR (Request for repairs). If you are getting credits for your buyer in lieu of repairs, you will also want a separate addendum stating “Seller to credit buyer $XXXX in recurring and non-recurring closing costs”.
For an example of one of my negotiation emails, please click HERE.
Once the buyers and sellers have come to an agreement, the buyers can then remove their inspection contingency. Use form CR (Contingency Removal).
Step 9 - Appraisal Contingency
When your offer was accepted and your lender received the fully executed contract, they should have ordered the appraisal to stay within the timeframe promised in the contract. It is good to follow up with the lender to make sure they are on track with this throughout the escrow period. The appraiser should be reaching out to the listing agent to schedule a time for them to go and complete the appraisal. If the home appraises at value or above, there are no issues and the buyer can remove the appraisal contingency. Confirm in writing from the lender that your clients are ready to remove this contingency.
Should the home appraise for less than your purchase price, you will need to negotiate with the sellers. Reach out to your coach for more information.
Step 10 - Loan Contingency
Once the lender has submitted the loan to underwriting, they will then be sending closing disclosures to the buyer. Once those are completed, the lender will issue a clear to close. Confirm with your lender when they feel confident to release your loan contingency.
Step 11 - Closing Signing
Once escrow has received the loan docs, they will be reaching out to schedule signing with your buyers. They can only schedule this on the day or the day after so prepare you buyer to have a flexible schedule. Once the buyer’s closing documents are signed, the escrow officer is going to give them wiring instructions on sending their final down payment and closing costs. Once those are received, the lender will fund the loan. Once those items are completed, title releases to record with the county. Once escrow informs you that they are on record, your buyers are officially the owners of their new home!
Step 12 - Your Buyers are now Homeowners
Now that the buyers own the home, you can meet them at the house and give them their keys out of the lock box. Often, the sellers will leave any additional keys for the home in a kitchen drawer. This is also the time when I send out my closing email and ask for reviews. Click HERE to see my closing email template. Make sure you are moving your buyers to the closed section of your escrow tracker. This will remind you to update your client’s info in kvCore, post on social media, etc.