Maryland Real Estate for Buyers

STEP 1: SELF-RESEARCH. We designed this site to allow you to research information as your own pace, including the following options.

STEP 2: PROFESSIONALLY-ASSISTED RESEARCH. As good as self-research is, it is limited to generic information only. To give specific advice that applies to your situation you need to consult a professional. But fear of being "sold" causes many buyers to delay contacting a professional, and harm themselves by not getting specific advice early on.

We created Real-Estate-Tech-Support^TM to help you get the specific advice you need while you are still in the research stage, before you are ready to make any commitments or final decisions. Some types of Real-Estate-Tech-Support^TM currently available for buyers are:

Loan Consultation & Pre-approval
Cyclops^TM Home Search
"Ask John" Phone-In Questions (Tuesdays & Thursdays, Noon - 3:00 PM)
Home Buyer Consultation^TM

STEP 3: ACTION! Finally, when you are ready to buy we are ready to help you every step of the way. And, you will buy with a high level of trust and confidence, knowing that you are in the best possible position to make the best possible purchase.

Your NEW Loan Choices

Since there are literally dozens of different loan programs to choose from, and we can't possibly keep up with all of them here, our best advice is to consult reliable loan officer. However, we would like to mention one new "hybrid" loan that may be extremely helpful to you if you will be both buying and selling a home.

Typically if you were both selling your current home and buying a new one, common wisdom said sell first, then buy. One major reason was that you probably needed the cash equity in your home for a down payment on the next, and if you have to pay both mortgages at the same time, you may not qualify with the bank.

In a slow market, this approach is fine. However, in a fast market like we've had the last few years (where homes are snapped up almost the day they come to the market) many people would prefer to buy first. They feel that their greatest "risk" is that their home may sell too fast, that they won't have enough time to locate the next one, and they may be forced to move twice - once into a temporary apartment and later again when they finally find a home.

A few area lenders now offer a unique Equity Advance Mortgage. As long as you have sufficient equity in your home, and have very good credit scores, you can get a mortgage for your next home that requires no down payment!

Suppose your current home is worth $380,000, has a $200,000 mortgage, and you'll net about $150,000 cash proceeds after expenses. Now suppose you are buying a $600,000 home and would like to use your cash equity for a 25% down payment.

With an Equity Advance Mortgage you can borrow the entire $600,000. The bank takes a first-position mortgage on your new home, and also records a 'wrap around' lien on your current home as well. In essence, they are "using" the equity in your current home as partial security for repayment of your new loan. The bank is assured that you have "equity in the deal" - even if it hasn't been liquidated yet from your current home.

Also, at least one lender will allow you to qualify for your loan based on your new mortgage payment only. In other words, when looking at your qualifying ratios, they act as if your current mortgage is already paid for! In fact, if your credit is good enough, they will even allow you to continue paying at the level of your old mortgage only, until such time as your home finally does sell.

Of course there are limitations, and not everyone will qualify. But an amazing number of people do qualify.

For more information about Equity Advance Mortgages or any other loan questions, call us or go to our Info Request Page and be sure to check the box indicating you wish to get more information about your loan choices.

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The Competitive Edge: How To Win In A Multiple Bid Situation

As a home buyer you may find yourself competing directly with other buyers over the same home -- sometimes called a "bidding war." This is especially true in a "hot" or "seller's" market, but it can occur in any type of market. Here are our best tips to give you the competitive edge.

Act Quickly. The proverb about the early bird getting the worm definitely applies in real estate. Suppose you see a home on Tuesday that you really like, but decide to wait and "think it over" a few days. By Saturday you decide you want to write an offer but by now three other buyers are also writing offers.

Sometimes if you act quickly, you will "cut off" competing buyers before they have a chance to write an offer.

Get The Seller To Act Quickly. At Providence^Ž Real Estate we put a "deadline clause" in every purchase contract we write. (For a list of protective contract clauses see Chapter 11 of our Consumers Guide).

A "deadline clause" tells the seller that he must accept or reject your offer within a limited amount of time, usually 72 hours or less. This can help deter the seller from "shopping" your offer to stalling until another buyer shows up.

Show The Seller You Have Strong Financing. When a real estate purchase fails, the number one cause is that the buyer's loan fell through. This makes every seller "nervous" about every buyer's ability to secure their loan and actually close the transaction. Help yourself by showing the seller you are that one buyer whose loan will not fail. You can do this by supplying the seller with: a strongly worded letter from your lender that you are pre-approved for your loan; a financial disclosure statement from you showing your financial ability to buy; a significant earnest-money deposit; and anything else that tends to remove the risk of you failing to get your loan.

Use An "Escalation Clause." An escalation clause is similar to bidding for a product on EBay. You have a "starting" price, a "maximum" price, and a "we'll beat other offers by" margin.

Suppose a home's asking price is $400,000, there are multiple buyers, and the top price you would be willing to pay is $425,000. You can write your "starting" price at $390,000, and say you will "escalate" or increase your price to beat other competing offers by, say, $2,500, up to a maximum purchase price of $425,000.

If there are no other offers, you may get the home for $390,000 (if the seller agrees). If there are other offers and the highest one is $410,000 then you may get the home for $412,500 -- more than the asking price, but still less than the top price you were willing to pay.

Write The Seller A Personal Note. Sometimes writing the seller a personal note is enough to tip the scale in your favor. If, for example, the owners lived in the home for 30 years and raised a family there and you, too, have kids and plan to raise them there, write a note and tell the seller this! Even if another offer is $5,000 or $10,000 higher, they may favor yours because of the sentimental factor.

Obviously this won't work every time -- but if you see any meaningful emotional connection (family status, you are both veterans, both have Greek last names, etc.) don't hesitate to write a personal note and play it up a bit.

Negotiate. A seller is not "required" to take the highest bid out there, but may take into account various intangibles. The strength of your financing is probably the biggest intangible, but there are others.

At Providence^Ž Real Estate we try to find as any intangible benefits to your offer as we can, and we use these to persuade the seller that your offer overall is the best one, even if it doesn't offer the highest price. More than once we've sellers accept a lower offer because they felt the overall benefit to them was better.

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