Once we have met and these documents have been signed (or e-signed), we will officially have agency! From this point on, when we find a property that you like we can set up appointments to go check it out.

How i'm paid

When someone decides to sell their a property, they agree with a listing contract how much they will pay for the services provided by agents and brokers. Industry standard is 6% of the value of the property that gets split between everyone with half going to the listing brokerage and the other half going to the brokerage that brings a buyer. 

This means the majority of commission payout for a transaction is paid by the seller, not buyer. Of the 3% that comes to my brokerage only a part of that comes to me the agent. How much exactly depends on a few variables. Then of the part that comes to me, some goes to licensing fees, marketing, and supplies. With what stays at the brokerage pays for our full time support staff, their rent, utilities and their own licensing fees. 

All commission pay to me goes through the LLC and 60% stays with Urban Evolution. For the long term goals of the company, please read through the "About" section but feel free to ask me questions. I'm very excited for what Urban Evolution will be doing and would love to talk about it. 

Scheduling a walk-through

This is generally my favorite part and thankfully doesn't require paperwork. It does, however, require coordination with the listing agent and current owner. These are all things I take care of, but this usually means it is difficult to set up a viewing day-of. 

Once we have identified a property you want to visit, all you need to do is let me know! Give me some days and times that work best with your schedule and I will get in touch with everyone else involved to put together an appointment. If you have a day off and are interested in a few properties, we can chain them together and just go from one place to the next over a few hours.

Sunday is the industry's standard day for open houses. If a property you are interested in is being hosted, we can go visit in the open hours without an appointment. Most Sundays I also host an open house around lunch for a few hours, but this makes a great day to schedule a walk-through since I will have everything with me already and will be on the road instead of in the office. 

Securing Financing

This is an important step to have done as early as you can. Having a mortgage pre-approval gives you the power you need when you are ready to submit an offer on a property. Remember, you might not be the only one submitting an offer, so having the pre-approval ready is just another tool in the toolbox. 

When the current owner reviews offers, they also check to see how the potential buyers will be coming up with the funds. Having a letter from the bank saying they will approve you for a loan up to or over the value of the property you are looking at will give you an advantage over those that are submitting offers without proof of funds. 

Getting pre-approved simply requires you to go to your bank and talk to a loan officer. You can get loans backed from the government, like FHA or VA, or a conventional loan, directly from someplace like PNC. Loan officers at a bank will be able to write a loan using either source of backing depending on your credit and situation. 

Urban Evolution works with a couple loan officers directly so if you would like to see what they can offer, just ask and you will be emailed a list. 

Submitting an offer

When you find a property that you are ready to move forward on, we will submit an offer and send it to the listing agent. The following is a list of things we will need.

Proof of funds: For most this will be the pre-approval letter from your bank. A commitment letter from a bank is even stronger, or if you're a cash buyer, a bank statement will do.  

Signed sellers disclosure: The sellers disclosure is a checklist put together by the seller that has general information about the property. I will give you a copy of it to review and sign.

If the building is older than 1978: We will go over a lead based paint disclosure and you will receive a copy of a lead paint hazard booklet that must be signed. 

Finally, the agreement of sale: This is the form where you outline the details of your offer. How much you'll pay, if there is anything you want done to the property, and what inspections you will want to do before closing. 

REMEMBER: The listing price is what the owner wants to receive, but part of my job is to help you negotiate. Bartering is still an active part of buying and selling property, just everything is put into contracts. This does not mean we low-ball every listing price but there are strategic approaches to submitting an offer that are dependent on the individual property. 

Inspections and CONTINGENCIES

This step is after your offer has been accepted by the seller, but before closing, and has a time limit that we identify in the offer before submitting. This is usually around two to three weeks. 

If you are getting financing, odds are they will order an appraisal of the property to confirm its value. I will put together a comparative market analysis (CMA) and was trained by an appraiser when I completed my Pricing Strategy Advisor (PSA) course through the Realtors Association, however, I am not a licensed appraiser. Even if I were, I wouldn't be able to appraise the same property I am working as an agent on for conflict of interest reasons. 

Other inspections you can elect to do (but not limited to) include a home inspection, wood infestation, restrictions and zoning, water service, radon, sewage, flood insurance, property boundaries, and a lead-based paint hazard inspection. We will look into all of these in more detail before putting together the offer as not all of them may be necessary or applicable. 

title and closing

Except for rare occasions, buyers get to choose the closing company they want to use. I have recommendations of people I have used before, but you are more than welcome to choose your own if you have a company in mind or have worked with someone in the past. 

For more information on what a title company does, click HERE. 

Once inspections, improvements, and in general all agreements have been met, we finally sit down for closing. Here is where the buyers and sellers may meet for the first time and keys and money will be exchanged. This process usually takes about an hour and can be at the listing or buyer agents office or the title company's office. Bring a snack and be ready to do some paperwork. After this, that's it! The property is yours and the transaction is complete. You can now feel free to call the place home.