Communities
A
Home Buying Process
Research Early
As soon as you can, start reading Web sites, newspapers, and magazines that have real estate listings. Make a note of particular homes you are interested in and see how long they stay on the market. Also, note any changes in asking prices. This will give you a sense of the housing trends in specific areas.
What Can You Afford
Lenders generally recommend that people look for homes that cost no more than three to five times their annual household income if the home buyers plan to make a 20% down payment and have a moderate amount of other debt.
Get Prequalified
A pre-approved mortgage will lock in your interest rate for a set time period while you house hunt. ... It's essential in today's seller's market. It guarantees the seller you are ready and willing to purchase a home. It assures the seller you have the funds and ability to close. This lessens the risk to the seller and makes your offer much stronger.
Erica was an absolute professional and a delightful person to work with, from start to finish! We found her by an incredibly fortunate accident and we wouldn’t want to use anyone else. I recommend her without any reservations! She is responsive, incredibly patient, has a great stable of important and helpful contacts, and she knows her stuff. And besides all that, she is as kind and helpful as you could want. Hire her!! [...]
Who You Work With Matters
The Right Agent
Real estate agents are important partners when you’re buying or selling a home. Real estate agents can provide you with helpful information on homes and neighborhoods that isn’t easily accessible to the public. Their knowledge of the home buying process, negotiating skills, and familiarity with the area you want to live in can be extremely valuable. And best of all, it doesn’t cost you anything to use an agent – they’re compensated from the commission paid by the seller of the house.
Shop for Your Home
Start touring homes in your price range. It might be helpful to take notes on all the homes you visit. You will see a lot of houses! It can be hard to remember everything about them, so you might want to take pictures or video to help you remember each home.
Get a Home Inspection
Typically, purchase offers are contingent on a home inspection of the property to check for signs of structural damage or things that may need fixing. Your real estate agent usually will help you arrange to have this inspection conducted within a few days of your offer being accepted by the seller. This contingency protects you by giving you a chance to renegotiate your offer or withdraw it without penalty if the inspection reveals significant material damage.
Both you and the seller will receive a report on the home inspector’s findings. You can then decide if you want to ask the seller to fix anything on the property before closing the sale. Before the sale closes, you will have a walk-through of the house, which gives you the chance to confirm that any agreed-upon repairs have been made.
It was a joy to work with Erica in the purchase of our home. We were on a tight schedule and she amazingly dropped everything and showed us every house that we were interested in! Throughout the process, she was cheerful, patient, encouraging, kind, and professional-especially in pushing through the paperwork for a 30 day closing. We love Erica![...]
B
C
Success Is In The Closing
Have the Home Appraised
Lenders will arrange for an appraiser to provide an independent estimate of the value of the house you are buying. The appraiser is a member of a third party company and is not directly associated with the lender. The appraisal will let all the parties involved know that you are paying a fair price for the home.
Coordinate the Paperwork
As you can imagine, there is a lot of paperwork involved in buying a house. Your lender will arrange for a title company to handle all of the paperwork and make sure that the seller is the rightful owner of the house you are buying.
Close the Sale
At closing, you will sign all of the paperwork required to complete the purchase, including your loan documents. It typically takes a couple of days for your loan to be funded after the paperwork is returned to the lender. Once the check is delivered to the seller, you are ready to move into your new home!
Erica is very professional as well as being very personable at the same time. She was attuned to our concerns, and she worked with us in every possible way. Her suggestions were quite helpful in getting our house sold. Her positive attitude was contagious. We had a positive experience with Erica in selling our home, and we would highly recommend her as your agent.[...]
COMMUNITIES
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Explore some of the most sought after destinations for real estate in all of Lake County. Our large network provides unrivaled access to distinctive properties in the finest locations, offering you a wide selection of architecture and lifestyle choices. Whether it's a waterfront vacation home, a vineyard farm, a home that backs to the golf course, new housing or country property The choice is yours. Let us lead you on a journey to discover your next destination.
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Every home has a story, and they are as vast and varied as the world is wide. But they all start with inspiration, and inspiration starts with our surroundings. That's what home is. Family. Friends. A sense of place. An amazing view. It is all part of what makes a space a home because your home is where you truly live. As a leading real estate group, we understand that your best life begins with a home that inspires you.
-Erica Bergstrom
Reviews
Erica is not only professional and knowledgable in all she does, but she is also very direct and candid. Ask a straight question and you get a straight answer. She has helped me with a number of real-estate issues over the past 12 years. Attention to details and thorough communications are always given. Erica is also very generous with her time, even with questions that are not directly related to a real-estate sale
-B. Homsy