Home Buying Process in New Jersey
Summary
TLDRIn this video, realtor Jackie Baker walks viewers through the home buying process in New Jersey, from offer acceptance to closing. She explains the standard real estate contract, attorney review, contingencies like inspections and mortgage commitments, and the importance of a clean title. Jackie also covers the final walk-through and potential issues that may arise, emphasizing the collaborative efforts between buyers and sellers to resolve them. The video is a comprehensive guide for those considering purchasing a home in New Jersey.
Takeaways
- π‘ The home buying process in New Jersey involves several steps from offer acceptance to closing.
- π In New Jersey, a standard real estate contract is used which includes details like offer price, deposit, and inspection contingencies.
- β Once an offer is accepted, the contract goes to the buyer's and seller's attorneys for review, which typically takes about three days.
- π During attorney review, the contract may be disapproved and modified through an addendum before both parties agree.
- πΈ Sellers can still accept higher offers during the attorney review period, potentially causing the initial offer to fall through.
- π Being 'under contract' means the property is no longer actively for sale and the seller cannot entertain other offers.
- π Home inspections, including standard checks and tests like radon, must be completed within a specified period, typically around 14 days.
- π If issues are found during inspection, negotiations between buyer and seller take place to resolve them, which could lead to deal termination.
- πΌ After the inspection contingency, the buyer works on securing a mortgage commitment, which assures the seller of the buyer's financial capability.
- π A title search and survey are conducted to ensure there are no liens, encroachments, or zoning issues with the property.
- π Closing involves signing numerous documents, paying closing costs, and a final walk-through to ensure all is in order before the property transfer.
Q & A
What is the first step after an offer on a house in New Jersey is accepted?
-The first step after an offer is accepted is attorney review, where both the buyer's and seller's attorneys review the contract and make any necessary modifications.
Can a seller accept a higher offer during the attorney review period in New Jersey?
-Yes, during the attorney review period, a seller can still accept a higher offer if it is submitted. If the seller accepts a higher offer, the original buyer may be asked to match the offer or risk losing the property.
What is the typical timeframe for the attorney review process in New Jersey real estate?
-The attorney review process typically lasts about three days, but it can sometimes extend longer, depending on factors such as holidays or the attorneys' availability.
What happens if the seller does not agree to make repairs suggested by the buyer's inspection?
-If the seller does not agree to make repairs or issue a credit for issues found during the buyer's inspection, the deal can fall apart. The buyer may choose to walk away if they are not satisfied with the seller's response to the inspection findings.
How long does it usually take to get a mortgage commitment after going under contract?
-It typically takes about 30 days to get a mortgage commitment after going under contract. This is a crucial part of the process as it assures the seller that the buyer is approved for a loan.
What is the purpose of a title search in the home buying process?
-A title search is conducted to ensure there are no liens, unpaid taxes, or other mortgages tied to the property. It verifies that the title is clean before proceeding with the sale.
Why is a survey ordered during the home buying process in New Jersey?
-A survey is ordered to confirm that the property does not have encroachments, easements, or zoning issues, and to ensure the boundaries and property lines are accurate.
What is involved in the final walk-through before closing on a house?
-During the final walk-through, the buyer checks that all is in good working order, including lights, appliances, faucets, and that any agreed-upon repairs from the inspection have been made.
What happens if an issue is discovered during the final walk-through in New Jersey?
-If an issue is discovered during the final walk-through, it can be brought up at the closing table. The attorneys may hold money in escrow until the issue is resolved, or the seller may provide a check to cover the repair costs.
Where do closings typically take place in New Jersey, and what is the process like?
-Closings in New Jersey typically take place at the buyer's attorney's office. It involves signing numerous documents, and while it can be lengthy, it is the final step in the home buying process.
Outlines
π Home Buying Process in New Jersey
The paragraph introduces the home buying process in New Jersey, emphasizing its uniqueness compared to other states like New York. Jackie Baker, a realtor from Bergen County, outlines the steps from offer acceptance to closing. She discusses the standard New Jersey real estate contract, which includes legal terms and conditions, offer price, deposit, down payment, mortgage details, and inspection contingencies. Once the offer is accepted, the contract goes to the buyer's and seller's attorneys for review, which can take up to three days or longer. During this attorney review, other offers can still be submitted, and the seller can accept a higher offer, potentially causing the deal to fall through. The paragraph also mentions the possibility of the deal falling apart during this phase and advises patience and understanding of the process.
π Inspections and Negotiations in the Home Buying Process
This paragraph delves into the inspection phase of the home buying process, which must be completed within 14 days of the contract going under review. It includes standard home inspections, oil tank sweeps, septic inspections, radon testing, and mold testing. If inspections are not completed within the specified time, the buyer must accept the house 'as is'. After inspections, any issues are reported to the attorney, who negotiates with the seller's attorney for repairs or credits. The paragraph highlights the potential for deals to fall apart over inspection issues if the seller refuses to make repairs or issue credits, and the buyer decides to walk away. It also discusses the mortgage commitment process, which should start immediately after the contract is under review, and the typical 30-day wait for approval. The importance of a clean title search and survey to ensure there are no liens, encroachments, or zoning issues is also mentioned, with the possibility of the deal falling apart if these conditions are not met.
π Closing the Deal: Final Walkthrough and Closing Table
The final paragraph discusses the closing phase of the home buying process. It explains that a few days before closing, the buyer receives updated figures for closing costs, including attorney and bank fees. The final walkthrough is conducted to ensure the property's condition is as expected, and any repairs agreed upon are completed. If issues are found, they can be addressed at the closing table, where attorneys may hold money in escrow until the issue is resolved, or the seller may provide a check for the repair costs. The paragraph assures that despite potential disagreements, most closings are successfully completed. Jackie Baker concludes by inviting viewers to watch another video for further insights and thanks them for watching.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Home Buying Process
π‘Attorney Review
π‘Under Contract
π‘Home Inspection
π‘Mortgage Commitment
π‘Title Search
π‘Survey
π‘Closing Costs
π‘Final Walk-Through
π‘Closing Table
Highlights
Understanding the home buying process in New Jersey is crucial for prospective buyers.
Jackie Baker, a realtor in Bergen County, provides an overview of the home buying process in New Jersey.
New Jersey uses a standard real estate contract filled out by real estate agents.
Once an offer is accepted, the contract goes to both the buyer's and seller's attorneys for review.
Attorney review can last from one day to over a week, depending on various factors.
During attorney review, the contract may be disapproved and modified through an addendum.
Offers can still be submitted to the seller during attorney review, potentially leading to a higher offer being accepted.
Once under contract, the property is no longer active on MLS and cannot receive new offers.
Home inspections, including standard checks and optional tests, must be completed within a specific timeframe after going under contract.
Inspection reports lead to negotiations between the buyer and seller regarding repairs or credits.
The deal can fall apart over inspection issues if an agreement cannot be reached.
Mortgage commitment is a critical step, ensuring the seller that the buyer is approved for a loan.
Title search and survey are conducted to ensure there are no liens or encroachments on the property.
Closing costs, including attorney and bank fees, are detailed by the attorney a few days before closing.
The final walk-through is conducted to ensure the property's condition matches the agreed-upon state.
Issues found during the final walk-through can be resolved at the closing table.
Closings usually take place at the buyer's attorney's office, where numerous documents are signed.
Despite potential issues, most closings are successfully completed after negotiations.
Transcripts
if you're planning on buying a house in
new jersey you need to understand the
whole home buying process here so this
week i'm going to talk to you about what
takes place from the time your offer
gets accepted all the way to the closing
table and they're going to talk about
everything in between so if you're
thinking about buying a home this is for
you so let's get started i get asked
this question all the time what is
involved when you're purchasing a home
in new jersey what are all the steps
that are necessary so it is different
from other states look we border new
york and new york state has a slightly
different process than how we do things
here in new jersey so if you're going to
be buying a house you need to understand
what takes place so i'm going to go over
that with you right now but before we
get started i just want to tell you my
name is jackie baker and i'm a realtor
here in bergen county new jersey i so
appreciate you being here on my channel
thanks for joining me today if you like
what you see today can you do me a big
favor and hit that like button and if
you really like what you see today can
you hit the subscribe button as well
thank you okay so
congratulations you got your offer
accepted
yay in this crazy market it is such a
challenge and i get so excited when my
clients get their offers accepted so
what happens once the offer is accepted
so let's just step back a little bit
just want to explain to you how do we
get that offer accepted so in new jersey
there is a standard new jersey real
estate contract that the real estate
agents fill out and everything is pretty
much in this contract all the legal
stuff that's in the contract and there
are spaces for the realtor to fill out
like such as the offer price the deposit
the down payment terms of the mortgage
details about the inspection
contingencies things of that nature so
once all that is filled out the buyer
signs it we then present that to the
listing agent and then when the seller
accepts it the seller then turns around
and signs that contract as well and then
we have an executed contract from there
that executed contract will go to the
buyer's attorney and to the seller's
attorney and then we begin the first
step of the process which is attorney
review typically attorney review lasts
about three days sometimes it goes
longer it all depends say if it falls
over a holiday or if the attorneys are
really busy and they can't get to their
clients in time it does happen so just
be patient with this it can go a little
longer i've been in situations where
attorney review lasted a week or even
longer i've also seen alternative view
get concluded in one day so it all
depends so typically what happens when
you're in attorney review the attorneys
are going to disapprove the contract
that was signed now don't panic this is
normal then what happens is they make
modifications to the contract and they
make an addendum so there's a going back
and forth period here over those three
days where the buyers attorney and
seller's attorney are going to make
those modifications to the contract and
then once both parties agree to the
modifications everybody will sign off on
it and then we go into the next step
which will be then under contract before
i get into the under contract step i
wanted to just mention this to you
during the attorney review process
offers could still be submitted to the
seller yeah and the seller could accept
another offer if it's higher than yours
typically if the seller does receive an
offer that is higher than yours they
will come back to you and ask you if you
can match that offer if you can match it
awesome if you can't go any higher then
you're kind of out of luck the seller
may opt to go with that higher offer
that came in during attorney review
listen i get it it's frustrating i had
this happen to a client this past year
we were in attorney review and we got
blown out of the water because a higher
offer came in it was so upsetting but
look it happens so just keep that in
mind like even though you're an attorney
review don't get too excited because at
that point it could still fall apart now
we're under contract so once we're under
contract you're pretty much guaranteed
you're safe because you now have a
binding contract so that means the
listing will then not go active anymore
on mls it'll be listed as under contract
and you'll see like on zillow
realtor.com the property will be listed
pending so the house can't be shown
anymore and there's no more offers can
be submitted at that point nor can the
seller even like look at any other offer
so once you're under contract it's
binding it's between you and the seller
now what happens when you're in the
under contract phase well this is where
all the work gets done now let's get
into the inspections the home inspection
needs to take place 14 days from when
you go under contract sometimes it's 10
days sometimes it's seven days it
depends on if the buyer wanted to
tighten that deadline to make their
offer more attractive so but typically
it's about 14 days that you have to get
your inspections done and i'm talking
about your standard home inspection oil
tank sweep septic inspection radon
testing if you want to test for any mold
all of that stuff needs to get done in
that 14 day period if you don't get that
done then you're buying a house as is
you can't go back to the seller after
the 14 day period and say hey you know
what i decided i wanted to do inspection
because there may be something wrong
with the house look you can probably do
an inspection but at that point there's
no negotiating any issues that you may
find with the house so once you have
your inspections done you go back to
your attorney and you say the inspection
report shows a b and c is wrong we need
to have that repaired so at that point
both attorneys will get together and
talk about that what the buyer would
like to have repaired or have a credit
issued and they go back and forth and
negotiate that with the seller now can
the deal fall apart at this point
absolutely i've seen it happen several
times where deals fall apart over
inspection issues look the seller can
opt not to make any repairs or not issue
any credit look that's their prerogative
that's their choice and the buyer can
then choose to walk away at that point
so if both parties can't come to an
agreement regarding the home inspection
issues it can fall apart a lot of times
it doesn't for the most part buyers and
sellers do you want to work with each
other to find a common ground and make
everybody happy and proceed with the
sale now once the inspection contingency
is done the next thing we're waiting for
is your mortgage commitment your
mortgage application should begin
immediately once you're under contract
you need to get with your lender to get
the ball rolling and get that loan
approved so you got to gather all of
your financial information such as your
tax returns your pay stub they're going
to do a credit check all that fun stuff
so get on it immediately as soon as
you're under contract because typically
it takes about 30 days to get a mortgage
commitment now getting that commitment
is important it's a huge part of the
deal because it's assuring the seller
that you not only qualified for a loan
you are actually approved it gone
through underwriting and you are getting
you're guaranteed you're going to be
getting that loan so plan on that about
30 days to get your mortgage commitment
now the next part is the title and
survey once the mortgage commitment is
obtained your attorney is then going to
contact the title company to begin a
title search the purpose of the title
search is to go back and research the
property to make sure there are no liens
against a house i mean we're talking any
unpaid taxes if there's any other
mortgages tied to the home things like
that so basically we're looking for a
clean title we don't want to have any
liens or any mortgages tied to this
property now can it fall apart at this
point oh absolutely i had a situation
like five years ago where this is really
odd this seller had a line of credit on
the home but they paid it off but the
bank who had the line of credit went out
of business and was taken over by
another bank and they never got the
payoff letter from the original bank we
literally had to wait two weeks for that
seller to obtain the payoff letter from
the new bank another time i did have a
situation where the house never closed
because it never got a clean title oh i
will not go into that story right now i
just i cringe every time i think about
it
yeah not good now a survey will also be
ordered the purpose of the survey is we
want to make sure that that parcel of
land does not have any encroachments
there's no easements and there's no
zoning issues now a lot of times the
sellers will already have a survey and
which is great but if this survey is
pretty old like if it was done on an
hour 20 30 years ago your attorney will
more than likely obtain a new one just
to be on the safe side and make sure
everything is still good okay now we're
getting close to closing this is
exciting
so a couple of days before you're
closing you're gonna get from your
attorney the updated figures that'll be
due at the closing table so at closing
you're gonna need to be paying for those
closing costs such as your attorney fees
any bank fees recording fees things like
that so you're going to be going over
that with your attorney in detail to
know exactly how much you need to bring
to the closing table now the day of
closing is when we do the final walk
through during the final walk through
you're going to walk through the home
with your real estate agent and you're
going to be checking to make sure
everything is in good working order you
want to make sure that the lights are
working you're going to check all the
appliances you're also going to be
looking you know checking the faucets
turn the water on make sure that there's
hot water running you know checking the
heat the ac all of that stuff make sure
everything is in good working order and
if there were any items that came up
during the inspection that the seller
was supposed to repair you're going to
be checking to make sure that that
repair was made now what happens if
something is found during the final walk
through what do we do like something
wasn't fixed or if there's some new
damage that we discover i'll get into
that in a minute okay so now the day has
finally arrived we are at the closing
table closings usually take place at the
buyer's attorney's office
and what's going to happen here is
you're going to be signing your life
away i literally get writer's cramps
watching my clients sign these documents
we're talking like it's that thick it's
it's a lot of paperwork but it's so
worth it in the end so now what happens
let's go back so say at the walkthrough
you found that there was an issue with
the house what happens then so it can be
brought up at the closing table and a
couple of things can happen the
attorneys will work it out either they
will hold money in escrow from the
seller they'll hold some of the proceeds
in escrow until that item is corrected
or depending if it's a small one if it's
a small issue sometimes the seller will
just write a check right there to the
buyer to cover the cost whatever the
repair needs to be so those things do
get resolved at the closing table i have
yet to see a closing not happen while
we're sitting at the closing table over
issues you know i've seen some heated
arguments go back and forth where
they're threatened you know i've seen a
lawyer threaten to like walk away from a
deal at the last minute over some issues
that were with the house but in the end
buyer and sellers usually just work it
out and it turns out to be just fine so
there you have it there's the whole
process from accepted offer to the
closing table and if you really like
this video today i really think you're
going to like this one over here i think
you're going to learn a lot from it so
feel free go check it out thank you so
much for watching today i am jackie
baker with cola banker realty and i will
see you next time
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