Timeline to Home Ownership - Six Months

Properties listed as short sales make up a large share of the Metro Atlanta housing market, but they often require several months to close. As a result, buyers with limited time often miss the opportunity to purchase the most highly desirable properties at discounted prices. If previously recommended steps have been executed successfully or the determination has otherwise been made that the time is right, leverage more of the benefits offered by this market and tour a few short sale properties over next few months. Here are a few ideas to consider.

Attend a Home Buying Class – Credit and income eligible borrowers must present the certificate of completion from an acceptable home buying class (of up to 12 hours) in order to obtain some forms of down payment assistance. Affordable, HUD-certified pre-purchase counseling classes are offered online and at venues throughout Metropolitan Atlanta, both on weeknights and weekends. Topics covered in these classes include budgeting, credit, mortgage applications, searching for a property and more.

Get an Initial Approval – Lenders are asking for more documentation before providing pre-approval letters and time will be needed to gather those documents. Submit a more competitive offer and reduce the time required for approvals by including an endorsement letter from a direct lender. Then work with an agent to take greater advantage of the vast inventory of properties on the Metro Atlanta real estate market.

Get Property Alerts by Email – Highly desirable properties will sell quickly, sometimes the same day of entry in MLS. Beat the competition to these listings by asking an agent to set up automatic email alerts with the two local MLS services that will send a notice when the ideal property hits the market.

Meet with Program Administrators – Gwinnett County and other down payment assistance program administrators require that those who use their programs meet in person with them to confirm all documents are in order.

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Solomon Greene
REALTOR® / HUD-certified Affordable Housing Counselor - Keller Williams Realty Atlanta Partners
(678) 775-2677 (Contact Me)
AtlantaDownPaymentAssistance.com