Home Buying: Step 1 - Initial Contact / Commitment to Agent / Financial Qualifications

Technically, your visit to our website and blog could be considered an initial contact! Of course we hope that after you read more about us through our blog that you will contact us personally to set-up a meeting in person!

During our first or initial meeting with people who are thinking about buying, we discuss the entire market from credit scores, interest rates to writing strong offers and how escrow works. We will answer a lot of questions you will already have, and we will answer all the rest for you. You will be able to challenge what we say and come away with the best understanding of the entire market and process possible (Read Scott Pierce's Bio and other information here).

Ye Gong (Guarantee Mortgage) will also ask you some basic questions regarding the financial side of things. After getting the basic information, she will analyze your credit score and credit history to see where it can be improved. Everyone always thinks they have the one situation that is beyond help. And, probably because of her background, she always gets things fixed, resolved and repaired! She will also set you on a plan so that you increase your credit score during your home hunting process so that you are always working to lower the interest rate later.

Ye has produced this phenomenal excel worksheet that everyone from our software engineer to our finance/accounting clients love. You can see it here as either a webpage or as an excel file.

Ye's philosophy is that every dollar you spend should be accounted for in this worksheet. The goal of this worksheet is to show you the price range that you can afford while keeping your life. It runs all your expenses through factoring in tax deductions, taxes, etc. to give you a real and honest look at your finances when owning your first home.

It is amazing how at ease this worksheet and process makes buyers. From first time buyers to millionaires buying multiple properties, everyone says that this is the best tool they ever had to analyze how it actually affects them financially.

Ye will prepare the worksheet for you and then email it and explain it while walking you through it. Once you understand how the formulas and cells work. After that you will have the ability to change various numbers to see how they affect other numbers. How does more down payment affect the interest rate which affects your monthly payment? There are countless number of scenarios that our clients tell us that they run through with the worksheet.