A recent borrower of James Erminger says “We worked with Jimmy on a refinance of our primary home and purchase of a second home. Our second home purchase was in a highly competitive market and Jimmy did an excellent job throughout the entire process, going above-and-beyond working closely with key stakeholders ensuring critical milestones were met.
Overall, Jimmy was efficient, timely, reliable, available and always answered any questions we had. I will highly recommend him to all of my family and friends that may need a loan officer in the future. Thank you, Jimmy and Bank of England Mortgage, for helping us with our loans.”
When buying a home it can be easy to fall into the thinking that you have to take whatever offer the seller presents. But know that you can include a lot more than just money into the closing agreement.
The first thing that you can negotiate is the closing timeline. The seller might want to get out of their house as fast as possible or might need an extra month, if you do not have a time constraint use the timeline as a leverage point. You can ask for something extra in exchange for their chosen date. Some things that you can include into the closing statement is a home cleaning, existing decor or repairs.
No matter how well the previous owner cleaned or you clean it is always a good idea to have a professional clean the home to freshen it up. You will definitely want this to be done in high traffic areas with carpet. Carpets can hold on to a lot of dust and dander that can cause issues for people with allergies. When adding this in you can negotiate the value of these extras in a contract can be anywhere from $500 up to $1500.
Existing decor are things that the seller might not want to move or it doesn’t fit into the new home's style. These items you can try to include in the purchase of the home. Items that could be bought would be furniture, appliances and light fixtures. The one thing to remember when doing this is that it complicates your loan and the furniture may be staged. The important thing is don’t be afraid to ask.
The final and most common thing that people negotiate is home repairs. Repairs include anything structurally wrong with the home or something that has to be updated. Typically the items you would need to get fixed are found in the inspection. As a courtesy you should leave all the cosmetic changes till when you move into the home to make sure you don’t abuse your leverage.
All of these areas are negotiable in a home closing. Yes, no matter what kind of market you are buying in. This is one of the biggest purchases that you are going to make in your lifetime. It is ok to spend some extra time making sure you get the best outcome.
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Bank of England Mortgage is a division of Bank of England. NMLS# 418481. Bank of England Mortgage is an Equal Housing Lender. Member FDIC. For informational purposes only. Results may vary.
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