Live 30A Real Estate Co. | 30A Home Buyer's Guide
At Live 30A Real Estate, one of our goals is to educate and equip our buyers to understand the home buying process, and make quality decisions along the way to home ownership here in the 30A area.
Getting On Board
Number One, you'll want to get on board with your significant other on the decision. And pray about it too. 30A is one of the most beautiful and exciting places in the world to own a home, private second home, or vacation rental property. And with all big decisions of life, you'll want to make sure the person you'll be enjoying it with is excited about it too.
Pro-tip: If you're excited, but they aren't - book a stay down here and put together a little "30A tour" to explore how amazing it really is. Reaching out to a Live 30A Agent to make it come to life is a great move, we can help with restaurant recommendations, places to stay, itineraries, etc.
Discover the Neighborhoods of 30A by clicking Here
Clear Understanding
Second, you'll want to make sure you clearly understand what you can reasonably afford. There are many creative ways to finance a property, use equity from other assets, or even use rental income from subject property to help fund ownership of your 30A home. This step involves getting connected with a trusted lender, preferably a local lender to this area. *This is a relatively important recommendation because lenders who are not very familiar with this area often do not have contacts in this area to make quality appraisals.
Let's Go!
Now you're ready to start your search! Go to Live30A.com and begin searching for your property or discovering your favorite 30A neighborhood. You'll find that creating a quick profile (or linking your email/social profile) will allow quick access to saving properties, and connection to an agent who can fast-track your search and get the high-quality information that you need for your family and finances. Our agents have local recommendations for lenders, market reports, comparable sales, and more.
Discovering "The Best" Fit
After you've began your search, finding a home that's a great fit for the family is on the agenda. We'll help you find the best fit for your personality, family needs, financial picture, and other goals you've expressed. Along the way, you'll be able to trust your agent to take care of negotiations on your behalf, scheduling all types of home inspections, checking in with lenders, helping you reach deadlines (ahead of time), connecting you with home insurance options, and much more all the way to closing and beyond.
Formulating The Offer
Once we've identified the home you want to pursue it's time to put in an offer and negotiations begin! In formulating the offer, we will explain the contract, contingencies, the several areas of negotiation, comparable sales and market value, negotiation strategies, and more.
Negotiations
After negotiations have reached an agreement (usually 1-3 days), we are officially under contract! It's now that the time clock starts ticking and we will make you keenly aware of all contingency deadlines and buyer expectations under the contract. This is the time that we will also connect with your lender (we'll want to send a copy of the signed contract) and the title company (they will hold your earnest money deposit) that was chosen in the contract.
Title, Inspections & Repairs
As you're now under contract, your lender is aware, and the title company is working on the file - it's time to deposit your earnest money (usually around 1-5% of the agreed contract price) with the title company, and begin ordering the inspections to make sure the home you're buying is in the shape you expect. We will send you recommendations, and can schedule all inspections such as: a typical homeowners inspection, 4-point inspection, roof inspection, pool inspection, WDO/Termite inspection, Mold inspection and more as needed or required. The results of these inspections typically take a few days to report. We will review the results together and depending on the contract details, send over to the seller to make the necessary contractual repairs (if any).
Home Services
At this point in the process, given we make it past inspection, it's time to begin thinking about home service providers that you'll be working with. These are companies like: homeowners insurance, power, water, internet, cable, lawn maintenance, pool maintenance, and others. This could also be contractors, painters, handymen, home cleaners and others, depending on the work you'd like to do once taking ownership. This is also a great time to begin researching and interviewing vacation rental management companies if your home will be on a vacation rental program.
Appraisal & Clear to Close
If financing, which most people do, you'll have a required appraisal valuation for the home for financing to move forward. From time to time we see discrepancies in appraisal and contract value, necessitating negotiations or deliberation, but most times this is a wonderful sigh of relief, knowing that you are buying your home at it's market value. This is also about the time that your lender will be given final approval on the loan and a clear to close. Yay! we're almost there!
Final Walk Through
One of our last steps in the home buying process is the final walk-though. If there were repairs made by the seller due to the findings on the inspections we ordered, we'll want to make sure they've contractually made these updates. We will also be checking that the home has been maintained since the day we offered to buy it, and that if we are buying furnished or with any inclusions, that those inclusions are also present. (and otherwise that the house is still there :) )
Closing Day
Finally, it's time to wire the rest of the money from downpayment + financing, and sign to close! This is a time to have some patience and enjoy the process, whether you're closing here on 30A in person, or elected to do a remote closing and will be signing somewhere back at home or on the road (yes, this is totally possible and happens all the time) - you'll have lots of places to sign, questions about items, etc. Just know this is part of the process (and it will all be over soon) - and stepping through the front doors as a 30A homeowner is moments away! (The keys, secret codes, and openers will be given to you.)
Congratulations! At This Point, You're Now a 30A Homeowner!
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Post closing
As a part of closing, we have a special closing gift for you! If you're in town - we'll have it at the closing table, or available for you next time you're at the beach if you closed remotely.
