Realtors' Guide To Leading A Buyer Through The Home Buying Process

Receiving a new lead

1. Collect Client Information
   • Essential Information
     • Contact Information – First and Last Name, Email Address, Phone Number
     • What are they looking for in a home
     • Timeline to purchase
     • do they need to sell anything before they buy a new home
     • Are they working with another agent?  If so, what are the terms of their agency relationship?
     • Financing: are they using cash or a loan to buy the new property?
       • Do they have financing preapproval already?
       • Could they use a referral to a good lender?
   • Client Intake Form
2. Tracking the lead in a CRM or other system
   • CRM options
     •  On the low-tech side, a notebook will more than suffice
     • Medium tech – Google Contacts
     • Higher Tech – a CRM like kv Core, Follow-Up Boss, Go High Level
3. Setting Up a Tailored Home Search
4. Financing Preapproval
5. Buyer’s Agent Representation Form
6. Keeping in touch
   • Actively – weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, quarterly calls from how you tagged them in your CRM
   • Passively – Weekly email, automated contacts through a CRM
7. Touring Homes
   • Need proof of funds
   • Identifying homes to tour
     • Clients identifies
   • Submitting showing requests
     • smart route for multiple showings
   • Showing etiquette
   • Client FAQs
   • Feedback
8. Making An Offer
   • Calling the listing agent
   • Filling Out The Offer Paperwork
     • Proof of funds
     • Purchase agreement
     • Brokerage forms – Wiring Fraud, Affiliated Business, Agency Policies
     • Disclosures – Property Disclosure, Lead Based Paint Disclosure, Radon Disclosure
   • How to present your offer
9. Negotiations
   •  IN  – Counter offer forms
   • IL – marking up the original contract
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10. Send the buyer-seller signed purchase contract to: lender, the listing agent, title company (IN), attorney (IL), 
11. (IL Only) Attorney review letters
    1. both the buyers’ attorney and the sellers’ attorneys will review the contract documents and general a letter making any proposed modifications to the documents.   
12.  Inspection
    • Managing Client Expectations
    • FHA, VA, USDA (and other) financing types require an “appriasal inspection” also
    • Decide on scope of inspection – general home inspection, radon inspection, sewer scope/televising, 
    • Scheduling the inspection
    • Buyers’ Inspection Response
      • Indiana – Buyers’ Inspection Response Form
      • Illinois – Provide inspection response comments to attorney
      • Provide all or part of the inspection report
    • Additional time for a specialist  needed as identified in the general inspection
    • Inspection Negotiations
13. (IL only) Local town pre-home sale inspection (if applicable)
    •  Some Illinois towns have a “pre sale home inspection” process.  This process differs from town to town.
14. Financing
    • Buyer to complete full mortgage application within timeline listed in the purchase contract
    • Lender’s underwriting department reviews the application and will provide a list of conditions to clear
    • Buyer provides information to lender to clear the conditions
    • Once loan is approved, the lender issues the “clear to close”
    • Lender will send the buyer the “closing disclosure” that lists all the lending fees
    • Lender will coordinate with the buyer to select a homeowner insurance company (invoice gets paid at closing)
15. Appraisal
    • Appraisal is scheduled by the lender
    • Provide comparable sale information to the appraiser to influence the appraisal
    • Appraiser will send the appraisal report to the lender.  
16. Title work & closing documents
    • (IL) attorneys work with the lender and title company, (IN) agents work with the title company, for the title company to prepare the closing documents. 
    • provide commission statement to the (IL) attorney, (IN) title company
    • Once title company receives the Clear-to-close from the title company, then the title company will coorrdinate with buying and selling agent to set a closing date/time
    • Once closing is set, title company will email out the “closing confirmation”
    • Title company sends out the “settlement statement” (previosuly called the HUD-1) listing all the debits and credits and final figures
17. Pre Closing
    • Buyer to call utility companies to setup accounts and transfer the utilities into their name
    • Buyer to wire closing funds to the title company’s escrow account
    • Ensure all town required pre-sale requirements are completed (Illinois only)
18. At Closing
    •  Buyer to bring identification (driver’s license or state ID)
    • Buyer will sign lending documents
    • Closing agent scans signed lending documents to the lender for the lender to review and authorize dispersement of funds to the seller.
    • Seller signs the deed that transfers ownership of the property from the seller to the buyer
19.  Post closing
    •  Title company has the deed recorded at the county recorder’s office
    • Buyer to have mail forwarded at the United States Postal Service from the old address to the new address
    • Buyer to change their address with all their accounts (banking, credit cards, investment accounts, employer)
    • Buyer to confirm automatic payments are setup for the mortgage
    • Buyer get new license with their new address
    • Buyer to file tax exemptions at the county recorder’s office online or in person before the end of the year