The property purchasing process is very different here in Texas compared to the UK. The buyer submits a full contract, which is prepared by their 'realtor' (estate agent), detailing the offer price and completion date to the seller. The seller then peruses the contract and decides whether it is acceptable or not, signing it if it is. At this point the buyer has to make a deposit of 1% of the home value to the seller as a guarantee of the sale. There is then an 'option' period of 10-14 days in which the buyer can have an inspection (survey) of the house and any renegotiation or changes to the contract can be made, or the buyer can be released from the contract and get their deposit money back if they wish. After the option period expires the buyer will lose their deposit if they pull out of the contract or their financing falls through, making it very important to have a mortgage offer already pre-approved by the lender before submitting a contract on a property. The whole process can take as little as 30 days to complete.
The property market here in Southlake is so hot that within a day or two of a property being listed it has several contracts submitted to it and one of them is usually accepted within a few days, so you've got to move fast. In fact many properties are sold before they even hit the market through realtors knowing which properties will be coming up. You would think that such a strong property market would make prices spiral rapidly upwards, but mortgage lenders keep a lid on the prices by cautiously appraising the value of property and refusing to lend on homes they believe to be overvalued.
We bank with Wells Fargo and getting our mortgage pre-approved through this huge paperwork machine was not without it's challenges. Rob spent hours finding and sending them documents and information. Most Americans I have spoken to have also found this difficult as they scrutinise your finances down to every nitty gritty detail, requiring a paper trail for anything financial and of course our international move made this much more complicated. Our application languished for some time in the 'wrong department' ie one that couldn't handle tax information from the UK inland revenue. Suffice to say there were a couple of houses we didn't stand a chance of getting as the pre-approval didn't come through on time, frustrating when you have already sold your previous property.
In the end we were very lucky as we escaped the usual bun-fight that is the Southlake property market. One of our friends is a realtor and she knew of a potential property fitting our criteria. For a previous client she had done a neighbourhood leaflet-drop asking if anyone was looking to sell their home. Our seller responded, but the house wasn't suitable for that client at that time but fortunately for us he was still willing to sell. We viewed it, liked it and decided to go for it. After a little negotiation we submitted a contract on the 18th of April, just over a month ago. Since then we have had more paperwork and endless phone calls by Rob and our realtor to various departments at Wells Fargo to push them along with the mortgage underwriting. We also had to arrange homeowners insurance and have an inspection completed on the house.
The inspection was incredibly thorough, the inspector checking the structure and all the systems in the house from the heating/air con, plumbing, electrics down to the odd light not working and door latches not closing properly. I had to go the house to meet the inspector so he could go through his report with me and our realtor. Although nothing major came up on the inspection report, our seller agreed to fix all the minor issues in the house. He gave us a tour last Monday, not only showing us the remediations but also how to manage the pool, air con, sprinkler system etc. He also gave us a printout of how to use everything, when to service, and who to call if anything goes wrong, he couldn't have been more helpful, especially as much of it is new to us. On top of this the seller pays for a year warranty on the home and appliances should anything go wrong, so at least we know there will be no major expenses for the first year.
So now we just have to actually move house, again. As excited as we are to get in to the new house, the thought of packing everything up again, driving it two miles down the road - which has got to be easier than shipping it over the Atlantic, right? - and unpacking it does not fill me with glee.
In the end we were very lucky as we escaped the usual bun-fight that is the Southlake property market. One of our friends is a realtor and she knew of a potential property fitting our criteria. For a previous client she had done a neighbourhood leaflet-drop asking if anyone was looking to sell their home. Our seller responded, but the house wasn't suitable for that client at that time but fortunately for us he was still willing to sell. We viewed it, liked it and decided to go for it. After a little negotiation we submitted a contract on the 18th of April, just over a month ago. Since then we have had more paperwork and endless phone calls by Rob and our realtor to various departments at Wells Fargo to push them along with the mortgage underwriting. We also had to arrange homeowners insurance and have an inspection completed on the house.
The inspection was incredibly thorough, the inspector checking the structure and all the systems in the house from the heating/air con, plumbing, electrics down to the odd light not working and door latches not closing properly. I had to go the house to meet the inspector so he could go through his report with me and our realtor. Although nothing major came up on the inspection report, our seller agreed to fix all the minor issues in the house. He gave us a tour last Monday, not only showing us the remediations but also how to manage the pool, air con, sprinkler system etc. He also gave us a printout of how to use everything, when to service, and who to call if anything goes wrong, he couldn't have been more helpful, especially as much of it is new to us. On top of this the seller pays for a year warranty on the home and appliances should anything go wrong, so at least we know there will be no major expenses for the first year.
So now we just have to actually move house, again. As excited as we are to get in to the new house, the thought of packing everything up again, driving it two miles down the road - which has got to be easier than shipping it over the Atlantic, right? - and unpacking it does not fill me with glee.
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| No house photos until we move in, but here's one of the grapes growing well in our new 'yard' | . |
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