Buying or selling a home involves a lot of things, it also raises questions. In this column ‘Ask Bob’, real estate expert/broker Bob Bartikoski of RE/MAX Paradise Homes Bonaire answers a real estate question from a reader. This time:
Question: I made an offer on a property and I got accepted! I’m so excited to finally buy a house, what do I have to do now?
This is the exciting part, so here’s what you do.
If your offer is accepted then you and the seller with need to sign a purchase agreement that documents your agreement on the purchase price, and other conditions of the sale. This will need to be signed by both you and the seller. If you are working with a real estate broker (makelaar) they will have a standard contract that they normally use for a sale.
If your offer was contingent on being approved for a mortgage you want to get started right away. Your bank will provide you a list of approved appraisers who can perform an appraisal of your property that the bank will accept. Before you hire the appraiser you should make sure that his/her appraisal will be accepted by the bank. The cost of an appraisal can be different with each appraiser, so make sure you ask for the price ahead of time. The appraiser will make an appointment to come take a look at the house, and then write an appraisal report (taxatie rapport) that you can submit to the bank along with any other paperwork they might need like your salary slip or financial reports of your business. Local banks often take 4 to 6 weeks to fully process a loan application, so it is important to start this process as soon as possible.
At the same time you will want to arrange for that technical inspection to make sure that the property you are buying is in good condition and that everything is in working order. Your real estate broker can suggest a number of local inspectors who can check your property and make a written report for you. I recommend that you go to the house with the inspector so you can see what he/she writes up in their inspection report.
Once you receive the inspection report you will want to review it carefully and review the inspectors estimates of any costs that you may incur to fix any issues that are found by the inspector. More about the inspection, next time.
Do you want to buy or sell a house in Bonaire, or do have a real estate question for Bob? email him at: [email protected]. Call for free from the US: 1-866-611-7362 or Bonaire: +599-717-7362. See all our listings here.