Welcome
How Our Firm Works with Buyers:
After the initial interview with your agent, should you or your agent decide to work together, you both enter a short, steep learning curve. Your agent learns from you what your dream house looks and feels like, and you learn from him or her what it takes to be a successful buyer in today's competitive market. Your agent will help you get pre-approved for financing, as well as resolve any other obstacles standing between you and your new home. Through the miracles of modern technology, your agent will then design a customized Multiple Listings search which will automatically e-mail new listings to you as they come on the market (If you are viewing this internet site we assume you use e-mail, but if not, we work around it). You then send your agent back messages such as: "The apartment on Long Avenue looks interesting…how big is the kitchen?" Often your agent will then preview that house for you, and/or obtain additional information from the listing agent, and/or meet you at the apartment for a showing. In general, after a few weeks of working together, you will have developed a good intuitive sense for recognizing homes that will excite you, and you will have become prepared for what happens once you do find that house. Most of our clients become home owners within 2 to 3 months of starting this process with their agent. Once you and your agent find a house you would like to purchase, you will devise a strategy based on the convergence of many factors. It may be appropriate to overbid, or to underbid. It may be smart to ask for a loan contingency, or to be contingency free. Your agent may suggest you bring in an inspector before you make your offer, or he or she may warn you against doing that. Some of the things that will influence your agent's suggested strategy include: the temperature of the market that week, the type of property, the condition of the property, the location of the property, the asking price, the listing agent, the number of other bidders and the agents representing them, the seller's situation, the length of time the property's been on the market, local real estate customs, how much you love the property, how long you plan to own it, and what you plan to do with it. All things are relative. The plan: Your agent suggests a plan of action, which you both follow if you concur, and you both modify if you don't. Usually a top agent's clients are in full agreement with his or her suggestions, and these top agents have a very high rate of offer acceptance in competitive bids. However, his or her suggested bid (a "bid" consists of an approximate 8-page contract or binder, prepared by the agent (sometimes with your attorney's oversight), comprised of the offer price as well as numerous other terms) is not necessarily always designed for acceptance. Frequently, buyers need to warm up gradually to the multiple-offer frenzies which have unfortunately become so common in high value markets in great demand like Manhattan, Boston, and many Connecticut counties. You may choose to start with more conservative offers, and take small steps further and further out on that limb, until you finally reach your prize - and your agent will be supporting you every step of the way. Once your offer has been accepted, you now enter the escrow period. "Escrow" is the period of time between offer acceptance and transfer of title to you, the new owner. Escrow is also a place: an actual office where an escrow officer (your attorney) acts as a neutral 3rd party to hold funds and documents during the escrow period. A typical escrow lasts 30 days, and it is during this time that you act on any contingencies you may have (a contingency is a safety net that allows you to terminate the purchase without liability), such as inspecting the home or obtaining final loan approval. During the escrow period your agent will tell you exactly what you need to do, when to do it, and what it all means. Closing the escrow involves signing mountains of paperwork at the escrow office, and forking over a lot of money. Your agent will accompany you, interpret for you, fetch coffee for you, play with your kids, and generally strive to ease what most people find to be an emotionally stressful time. Your agent does not stop being your agent when escrow closes. Your agent considers his/herself to be your agent in perpetuity, and in particular during the first few months of your ownership when you will need to know where to buy a stacking washer/dryer, who will repair your fence, and what that notice from the assessor's office is about. Throughout the process of helping you buy your home, your agent is always there as your sounding board - as well as counselor, crystal ball gazer, baby sitter, dog scratcher, commiserator, and hand holder. 6 Way Road, Middlefield, CT 06455 / T. (860) 349-7084
NORTHEAST
 BOSTON
NEW YORK
  GREENWICH
 BUYING A HOME
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