Home buyer questions, answered

A conversation with a lender. Preapproval — documents actually reviewed, not a prequalification estimate — establishes your real budget, exposes anything fixable while there is still time, and makes your offer credible when you find the right house.

The honest answer is that it depends on your situation, not the market. If your income is stable, you have the cash, and you intend to stay several years, waiting for a perfect market usually costs more than it saves — nobody times it. If any of those three are shaky, waiting is the right call and Karen will tell you so.

Fewer than you expect, if the search is set up properly. Buyers who tour twenty houses usually have not defined what they want. Buyers who see six and buy the fifth usually did the thinking first.

To have a conversation, no. To tour homes with her as your representative, yes — a written buyer agreement setting out the scope of representation and how compensation works. That requirement protects you: it means nothing about who works for you is left vague.

Down payment plus closing costs, minus your deposit already paid. New Jersey buyer closing costs commonly run somewhere around 2 to 5 percent of the price. Your lender’s Loan Estimate has your actual numbers, and you should insist on seeing it early.

Prequalified is an estimate based on what you told the lender. Preapproved means they verified it — income, assets, credit, employment. In a competitive situation, a prequalification is close to worthless and a preapproval is what makes your offer real.

Yes. The New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency runs mortgage and down payment assistance programmes, and terms change, so check the current details at the source rather than relying on any website’s summary. Some towns and counties also run their own programmes.

NJHMFA →

They vary substantially by municipality and change annually, so any figure published on a website is out of date the moment it is written. Look up the current rate for the specific town at the Ocean County Board of Taxation or the New Jersey Division of Taxation, and always confirm the actual assessed taxes on the specific property before you make an offer.

In a designated flood zone, a lender will require it, and near the bay in Ocean County it can change the monthly cost of ownership substantially. Look the address up on the FEMA flood map and get a quote before you are emotionally committed. Ask whether an elevation certificate exists — it can materially change the premium.

Recent comparable closed sales, the condition of this house against them, how long it has been listed, whether there is competition, and what the seller appears to need. Karen shows you the comparables and the reasoning; you make the decision.

After both parties sign a contract prepared by a real estate licensee, a three-business-day window opens in which either side’s attorney may disapprove or modify the contract, and either party can walk away. When it ends, the contract is binding. Attorney review is a New Jersey feature that genuinely protects buyers.

A clause giving you a defined period to obtain a written mortgage commitment, and the right to cancel and recover your deposit if you cannot. Waiving it to win a bidding war puts your deposit at real risk. Do not waive it casually, and never without your attorney’s advice.

Yes, if you default outside the protection of a contingency. Used properly, contingencies for financing and inspection are what stand between a change of circumstances and losing your money. This is precisely what your attorney is for.

Beyond the general inspection: radon, termite, and depending on the property, an oil tank sweep, well water testing and septic evaluation. Buried oil tanks and older wells and septic systems are genuinely common in parts of the county, and an undisclosed buried tank is an expensive discovery. Near the water, add flood zone, elevation certificate and bulkhead condition.

Yes. Inspection findings are a normal negotiation. In practice you are usually choosing between repairs completed before closing, a credit, or a price reduction — a credit is often cleaner, because you control who does the work.

Confirming the house is in the condition you agreed, that anything negotiated was done, and that included appliances and fixtures are still there and functioning. It is not a second inspection or a renegotiation. Do not skip it.

In New Jersey, generally at closing, once documents are signed and funds are disbursed. Occupancy before closing is unusual and creates real risk on both sides — if anyone proposes it, talk to your attorney first.