How to buy a home in the US

Buying real estate in America is a complex and sometimes confusing process. Here's just one caveat: even if you are willing to pay the amount that the seller wants to receive, this does not mean that you will be able to buy a home. The “Forum” talks about all the pitfalls of buying real estate in America and tells you how to get around them.

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1. Choosing a broker

The very first question that a potential real estate buyer faces is: do you really need a broker or can you do everything yourself?

If you can look for an apartment to rent on your own, saving a little on the services of a real estate specialist, then you still shouldn’t buy a home without a broker. A good broker accompanies the client at all stages of the process - from deciding which area to live in to concluding the transaction. The broker will tell you about the features of the real estate market in the city of your choice, advise the area, look into school ratings, help you get a loan from a bank, competently negotiate with the seller, help you find a lawyer, and much more. A lot depends on how good your broker is, so make your choice responsibly - ask friends and acquaintances, look at reviews of the broker’s work on the Internet, feel how comfortable you are with this person.

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And most importantly, the seller pays a commission to your broker, just like his own. In this case, each agent represents the interests of his client. Situations where a broker simultaneously represents both the buyer and the seller should be avoided to avoid a conflict of interest.

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Igor (he asked not to give his last name) bought an apartment in New York in 2014. I did not use the services of a broker. I found suitable housing myself. I hired the cheapest lawyer to complete the paperwork without a recommendation. The seller's agent did nothing to help him. “In the end, the deal was completed, I was very pleased that I did everything myself and saved on the broker. But six months later it turned out that the house had problems with the elevator; repairs required a lot of money, which the house did not have. They began to collect an additional payment from all residents, which would solve this problem. I had to pay an additional $2300 every month for six months. Of course, such payments happen in many houses and it is difficult to insure against them, but usually it is $100-200 per month, and not $2300,” says Igor. He is confident that a professional broker could help him identify this problem before purchasing an apartment.

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2. ПредвР° рительное РѕРґРѕР ± рение Р ± Р ° РЅРєРѕРј СЃСѓРјРјС‹ кредитР°

The next step is not looking for an apartment, as it might seem, but visiting the bank. If you are going to buy an apartment with your own money, make sure in advance that it is in a bank account. It would be a good idea to get a statement of your account status - it will be useful in the future. But most people buy apartments on credit.

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For our heroine Anastasia, receiving a letter granting a loan was as easy as shelling pears. Since the couple took out a loan to buy a house from the bank that served the employer, they did not require any additional documents - the bank already had all the information about the family’s salary and credit history.

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Alexander, a Russian citizen, recently bought an apartment in New York. He explains: “An income verification certificate is a special form from the bank you are trying to get a loan from. This form must be completed by the accountant or financial director of the business you work for and then submitted directly to the bank. A certificate about the source of funds is needed only if money appeared in your account recently. Documents on the sale of property or receipt of an inheritance can confirm the legality of money. But if the money has been in your account for more than three months, then the legality of its origin does not need to be confirmed.”

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3. РџРѕРёСЃРє жилья РґР» СЏ РїРѕРєСѓРїРєРё

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The best place to start is by choosing the area where you want to live. Don’t rush to make a decision, take into account all the little things - will it be convenient for you to get to work from there, are you satisfied with the level of local schools, will the shops, cafes, restaurants and other establishments available in the new location be enough for you, do you know the crime level in this area . Take your time at this stage - visit the area that interests you, and preferably more than once. Walk along the streets and imagine that you already live here. Think about whether it’s pleasant for you to walk here, where you’ll go for groceries, whether there’s a gym or a park nearby for jogging.

Alena Zektser and her family bought a town house on Staten Island, one of the areas of New York. She admits: they chose a remote part of the metropolis because they were tired of the bustle and constant rush. “We are very tired of the overpopulated city. We wanted the children to be able to play on the green grass outside the house. A good school and proximity to Brooklyn, where we work, were also very important to us. We fell in love with our future home at first sight thanks to its location - a lot of greenery, water nearby, quiet and peaceful surroundings. At the same time, we are close to civilization, just 15 minutes from Brooklyn,” she says.

For Anastasia from Texas, the only requirement for the location of their future home was proximity to work. Therefore, she and her husband were looking for housing within a 15-20 minute drive from work. Within this limited range, they chose the area with the best schools—real estate in a good school area is always more liquid.

Once you have selected a district, it's time to start browsing the ads. Your broker will compile a list of suitable options for you, which he will find in closed realtor bases. But you can view ads on your own to better navigate the market. Here you can use the sites streeteasy, Zillow, trulia.

4. Lawyer search

Already at the stage of choosing an apartment, you should start looking for another very important person for you - a lawyer who will represent your interests during the transaction. If you do not have your own lawyer, your broker will help you find one. A good lawyer is just as important as a good broker. It is on him that the legal correctness of all documents, and, accordingly, all your rights and obligations as a buyer depends.

Lawyer services can cost the buyer from several hundred to several thousand dollars, depending on the complexity of the situation and the rates of the lawyer.

If you work in a large company, find out, perhaps, some support in the process of purchasing housing is provided by your contract.

Anastasia Zaitseva said that her husband’s employer had its own brokers and lawyers, whose services the company’s employees could use for free or on preferential terms, depending on their contracts. So, when buying their house, they used the services of a company lawyer, but they preferred another, proven broker.

5. Negotiations with the seller

So, you chose several interesting objects, went to view the apartments, carefully studied everything and are ready to dwell on one or a couple of options. The negotiation stage begins, during which you and your broker can negotiate not only a discount, but also all details of the transaction.

In the US real estate market you can bargain. You have the right to offer the seller a smaller amount and, if there are no other offers, he may agree. But another situation is possible when the seller receives several offers in which buyers can increase the proposed amount if they really want to buy this particular apartment or house. Then the seller does not interfere with getting the amount for his property even higher than he originally wanted.

Dmitry Stasyuk, a New York broker, author of the popular New York Property Blog, says: “Bargaining is a very important stage. You need to know the market situation well, understand how popular the property you have chosen is and whether the other party is ready to bargain. Sometimes the question is not how much you can save, but whether you can even buy the option you like. If you offer too low a price, and there are many people willing, then you may simply be excluded from the further bargaining process, and you will miss out on the apartment or house that you spent a lot of time searching for. The opposite situation may also be true: the seller has set a very high price, and your task is to reduce it to a minimum without discouraging him from wanting to sell.”

Broker Dmitry Stasyuk advises to prepare well for bargaining for real estate. Photos from the personal archive.

It should be noted that when choosing a buyer, the seller pays attention not only to the proposed amount. Andrei, who recently sold his apartment in one of the cooperatives in New York, chose a client whose resume seemed to him more financially stable, and not the one who offered a large amount: “I carefully studied the buyers’ summary, since it’s very important that a person matches requirements of the cooperative. In addition, the buyer, offering more money, was still to engage in obtaining a loan. I decided that the risk with the loan and with the advice of the cooperative (and therefore the loss of time) is not worth the extra money. ”

Anastasia Zaitseva from Texas recalls: “Our broker did an excellent job - she managed to collect as much information as possible about the house we were interested in. This is how she found out that the seller was “in a hurry” to sell the house - he had recently bought another property and, obviously, it was difficult for him to pay on two loans. In addition, this house has been on the market for quite some time and has not sold. We made an offer much lower than the stated price. The negotiations did not last long, but were very intense. As a result, our broker was able to negotiate a price that was more than 10 thousand lower than the original price.”

It is at the negotiation stage that, in addition to the price, you must discuss with the seller all the issues that concern you - will the furniture remain, will anything that doesn’t work be fixed, what are the conditions for terminating and closing the transaction.

6. Entry into the transaction

As soon as you have agreed on all these issues, you need to pay an insurance deposit in the amount of 10% of the cost of housing and sign a contract with the seller, according to which you agree to buy, and the seller undertakes to sell the property within a specified period of time (usually 30-60 days after signing) .

During this time, the seller vacates the apartment, brings it into a proper and predetermined form. And the buyer is engaged in obtaining a loan from the bank.

Please note that even when buying an apartment on credit, banks most often require a minimum of 20% as a down payment. This figure varies depending on the market, for example, five years ago the bank allowed to deposit the entire 10% of the cost of housing.

If you want to buy an apartment (and not a private house), then most likely at this time you will also have to go through an interview with the council of residents of the building and get its approval. Depending on the home, this interview can be either a pure formality or a very serious event, for which you have to prepare no less than for entering a university. Without the approval of the council, it is simply impossible to buy an apartment in a building - neither money nor connections will help.

It is especially difficult to get board approval in co-operative homes, and their share in the Manhattan market, for example, is about 75%. In cooperative houses, real estate belongs not to tenants, but to the company that owns the house. Accordingly, the buyer will not buy the apartment, but part of the shares of the company that owns the house. And, of course, the remaining shareholders, represented by the council by the tenant, will decide whether to “let in” you into the house. For example, precisely because of the refusal of the board of tenants, Madonna could not buy an apartment at the elite 1 West 72nd Street address in New York in a house that is known to everyone as “Dakota” and in which John Lennon once lived.

The council of residents decides who they want to see in their home and who they don’t. Therefore, the demands, questions and behavior of the board in general can often seem irrational. Wednesday Martin, the author of the acclaimed book about the elite New York neighborhood “Primates of Park Avenue,” recalls in her memoirs that she could not attend an interview with the residents’ council due to a difficult pregnancy and bed rest prescribed by the doctor. And then the council came to her home to conduct an interview in her bedroom.

7. Closing a deal

After receiving approval from the council of residents of the house and confirmed financing from the bank, you are no longer in danger. On a predetermined day, the transaction is closed - the lawyers of the seller, the buyer and the bank (and sometimes the house's lawyers), the seller and the buyer themselves (optional), the realtors of the seller and the buyer sign a lot of documents, according to which the transfer of ownership takes place. Typically the day before closing, there is a final viewing of the property, during which you check that everything is in order and that your agreements with the seller have been followed.

Be prepared for the fact that all the costs associated with the purchase of real estate, that is, all the necessary payments and taxes, can amount to two to five percent of the cost of housing.

If you are not planning to buy a home yet, but are looking for rental options, the Forum will tell you what to pay attention to and how not to be deceived.