Offer Process on HomePath Homes

I have been fairly patient with everything involving the purchasing process of my first home, partially by choice, and partially by circumstance. I wouldn't have had it any other way as I feel the wait was worth it, the deal on the property was very fair for my market. 

I went and got my real estate license at the beginning of last year because I knew I was going to buy for myself, and figured at worst the commission I would make on the sale would pay for the license fees. In this process of this first home offer I have learned a lot, I will try to describe the process of purchasing a homepath property some of the advantages and the disadvantages. 

I was constantly checking homepath.com as I saw it was slightly ahead on the mls I had access to, this is possibly the only site that has an exception in how you can see them on their website before agents mls, and typically a day or two from what I can tell. However, do not get too excited because the offer process is not allowed until the property is active for 3 days on the homepath site and by this time it is in mls so any agent will be able to see it. I learned this from a lengthy process of making 3 offers only to have them rejected (slightly showing my cards a little early). 

When my initial offer was rejected below asking I actually made two more offers after the 2nd was rejected, I went over asking on my thrid before the listing agent personally contacted me and made me aware it must sit for 72 hours. 

When all was said and done, I accepted their first counter of full asking price and a 3% closing cost allowance.  They have a course through a site named framework that takes about an hour if you are somewhat real estate and finance savvy, and probably closer to 2 if you are not. I would recommend the course to first time home buyers, or someone who in general has questions as it helps you understand the home buying process as well as the expectations of being a home owner. 

There are addendum's and owner occupancy forms to be filled out, nothing that takes long but a necessity to the offer process with fannie mae. I can't speak of how much room there is to negotiate with them as I was fine with a full price offer. We settled on a purchase price of $54,900 my closing allowance is close to $1,600, with earnest money down of $1,000.  

It is a 2,400 sq ft duplex, I must owner occupy it within 60 days, and live there for a year before I can sell. These are terms of purchasing a fannie mae property with out being an investor. They give the public an option to first time buyers for 20 days to make offers before opening it up to investors. The property needs a significant amount of work, and I close in 30 days. There likely won't be much more writing from this point until I get the property, but want to track things to look back on. 

Until next time.