Some people would rather not have to deal with that stuff... Houses can sometimes take up to a year or more to sell, having to be around for all that stuff could be a major pain in the ass. Also you don't get all the advantages of the agents experience knowing what works and what doesn't, nor access to the MLS which is a great tool for getting people to come and look at the property. I wouldn't want to deal with the flakes on craigslist until my house sold. Having an agent bring them lets them weed out the crap buyers for me.

 

Hey Fear,
I am a mortgage loan officer and you are getting alot of good advice here. SpeedJunkie is right that you should talk to a lender first to make sure that you are focusing your efforts on looking at a house that you can/want to pay the mortgage payment on... and in the same light, almost any good realtor will want you to have a preapproval from a reputable source before they will even use their time/energy to show you any properties. Since the mortgage market "is what it is" right now, most reputable sources are actual lenders and not so much the brokers. Not knocking brokers, because I did the broker thing before the market issues that we have now, but First Horizon is a big lender and has an excellent reputation, and is days from becoming Metropolitan Life (Met Life bought out First Horizon). I also know a great agent up there in Newport News, and will be happy to refer you to him. Give me a call and we can get some of this stuff rolling for you. That's my personal cell at the bottom of this message, and I am pretty much available anytime. A home purchase really can be an easy deal, despite what you might hear from most people, it just kind of depends on who you are dealing with. I'd like to see you being one of the people that can walk into YOUR house after the closing and think "That wasn't difficult! Why didn't I do that sooner? I can't wait to have people over for a housewarming party!!"
See ya,
Sonny
(757) 478-5365

 

Thanks everyone for your advice. Im going to set up an appointment with Wachovia next week to see what steps I need to take in getting pre approved. Ive pretty much come to the conclusion it would be best to know what I can offer before I start talking directly with the realtor. Like I said this is a completely new experince for me and appreciate all the help!

 

Wachovia is who I got my mortgage from. Speak to more than one though, it doesn't hurt your credit any to have multiple lending institutions run your credit in a short span for the same kind of inquiry. Get a feel for the person you are working with and make sure they can do the job well.

 

Getting the loan was the easy part for me (Thanks Sonny). Finding a house that I wanted to drop 350-400k on was the pain in the ass. I am too damn picky. New construction FTW (atleast for me).

 

I highly recommend Doug Gebo with Prudential. He was a HUGE help with the purchase of our new house, very professional/helpful and just a super nice person.


http://prudentialdeckerrealty.com/dgebo

Tell him Jay and Jackie referred you!

 

QFT.

talk to a lender, not a broker. there are several lenders who although the market is what it is, are going to stay in business and are less likely to sell off your loan. talk to 2 or 3 and see. this is one of those things where you'll learn alot during your first experience, making it much easier your next time around.

 

pre approval rates are at 6.5 percent right now for ave just to let you know .

alot of bank right now are at 6.75.-7.00 percent . so just shop around and you can get one around 6.5 percent. i went through a lender to get mines at 6.5. wachovia ,bank of america ,bank of commonwealth navy federal was all higher and my wife works for bank of commonwealth.

 

i'm at 5.875, fixed.

 

Actually they are around 6.25-6.35 right now. With good credit or a FHA/VA loan he shouldn't have a problem getting those rates. I have a float lock on my loan since my house wont be finished until December so I am watching rates like a hawk. Hopefully rates will tank even more so I can float down to a lower rate.