Florida 30A Home Buyer Checklist

Funding

To put it as simply as possible, if you don't have or cannot obtain the money for a purchase, the rest of this list is irrelevant. There are going to be two main sources of funding for a home purchase.  The first one is going to be a good ole bucket of cash (figuratively speaking).  If a home buyer has immediately available liquid assets that can be used to purchase a home, that solidifies your funding position.  The second source for home purchases is going to be borrowing money from a lender.  If you will be using this route for your home purchase, talking with your lender NOW is without question the first step because if the funds are not available the purchase isn't going to happen.

Proof of Funding

Continuing from the above step, once it's determined that you have funding available for your purchase, you will need proof of that.  While in an ideal world, it would be great that a home seller would take a buyer's word for it, but that's not reality.  Here is what you will need for each of the funding options:

• CASH - If you are using cash to make your purchase, you will need a document proving that.  While there are a variety of options for this depending on what your liquid asset is, the most common document used will simply be a "proof of funds" letter from your financial institution.  This letter states very simply that you have a specific amount of cash on hand and that it's immediately available to you. 
• LENDING - If you are using borrowed funds for the purchase, then a seller wants to know those funds will be available to you at closing.  What you are seeking from your lender is a "pre-approval" letter.  NOT a "pre-qualification" letter.  The difference is that the pre-qual letter is a brief glance at your details and correlates that to a funds level you're hoping to obtain.  A pre-approval letter is more detailed and the lender has gone through greater steps to help ensure you qualify for the funds your requesting.  To repeat, a pre-approval letter is what you need.

Transition Plan

It's easy to get excited about moving.  Stressed too, but excited.  The best way to remove stress is to have a plan, and where that becomes key is when it comes to how you'll transition from a current home to the new home.  This plan may also affect the funding/financing plan as well depending if a home buyer can afford to have multiple homes simultaneously.  In some cases, the current home is being sold, and a new one is being purchased.  Seldom, does the closing of the current home and the closing of the new home line up exactly.  That disrupted timeline is what you have to plan for.  Will furnishings go into storage?  Where will you stay during the gap in timing?  Another aspect to this plan is the funding.  It could be that a home buyer requires the equity from their current home to purchase the next one.  In strong markets, home sellers often don't accept home-sale contingencies, so closing on the current one to purchase the next home may be the way to go, but it does introduce the previously mentioned aspects to the plan - where to stay and storage of furnishings.  Short-term rentals are options for the gap, and storage facilities are readily available.  Whatever your timeline looks like, plan ahead for the transition which will remove the "oh no, what are we going to do now?" feeling later.

Market Research

It's easy to dream and say "we're moving to {enter city name here}", but in reality you need to ensure you're able to move there.  Home pricing and what you get for the dollar varies a LOT from region to region.  Do yourself a favor and do some market research on the destination area.  With information being so readily available, a low-level review of the area will quickly let you know if you can obtain your desired property type for the amount you want to spend.  Trusted professionals can also be a great asset to you in learning more about options in the destination area, and you want someone who will be up-front with you and tell you if you're dreaming, or if what you're seeking really is possible.

In-Person Home Showings

Once you've confirmed and documented that funding is available, and you've confirmed your destination area is a reality, it's time to get down to business and start seeing homes in person.  Homes that you're ready to move on by submitting an offer if it checks your boxes.  In our fast-paced world, time is valuable to everyone, so qualifying homes to see in person can efficiently be done so that a focused approach is taken and time is used most wisely.

From this point forward, it's less about a pre-purchase checklist and it becomes more about managing the actual purchase process which Shaun manages with skill and care while keeping you informed at every step of the way.