When buying or selling a house in Roseburg, you’ll work with several interesting, talented, and important people. You’ll find some to be very hands-on and extremely helpful, while others simply do their job and move on.
Buying or selling a house is a big job with a lot of moving parts so it’s important to have a clear understanding of who is responsible for what along this journey and what their roles are in the real estate transaction. In this post, I cover a few of the important people you will work with when buying or selling a house in Roseburg.
Your Real Estate Agent
For most people, hiring an agent is one of the most important parts of the buying or selling process. A great agent will help you understand the market trends, price, market, show, and even staging of the home. If you’re working with an exceptional agent, they will offer guidance and negotiation services to help you get the best price possible.
89% of the homebuyers and 91% of home sellers used a real estate agent to buy or sell their property in 2023.
Your real estate agent will be a constant source of support, and a source to answer any questions you may have. He/she should be able to demonstrate how they will be able to help you through the hard parts and challenges that may arise.
Real Estate Broker and Investor
A great agent will build a relationship with you, helping you with all of your real estate needs today and in the future. When you decide to work with an agent to buy or sell a house, do your due diligence… ask the hard questions, nail down their responsibilities, and understand their commitments so you know exactly what to expect.
Questions You Should Ask Your Real Estate Agent…
- What are the market trends in my area?
- What repairs or maintenance should I do?
- What is the average selling price per sq. foot and average time on the market?
- How will property showings be handled?
- How will you market the property?
- Do you offer professional photography or drone shots?
- Do you have references and may I reach out to them?
- How long have you been in business?
- When will I be able to view properties?
- What title company do you use?
- Do you have any lender recommendations?
- What are your ties to the local community?
- Do you provide options other than a traditional listing?
Now keep in mind, although most people use a real estate agent when buying and selling a house, not every real estate transaction “requires” hiring an agent. Buying and selling directly is another route people take, particularly investors who will see it as an opportunity to save money.
If you are hiring a real estate agent in Roseburg, make sure you have a good one! Feel free to browse my real estate website and read my client testimonials.
Your Title And Escrow Rep.
A title and escrow company is a neutral third party that doesn’t represent the parties involved in the real estate agreement. Their main duties are to research the title to the property, check for judgments, etc. on the parties to the contract, hold money, and follow instructions as instructed by the buyer and seller.
Title Side: We refer to our title & escrow companies as “title company,” even though the same company does both in Roseburg Oregon. Title companies play an instrumental role in all real estate transactions. They do a serious amount of research on the ownership history (also called a chain of title), and ensure the title is free of liens.
Basically, home sellers in Oregon need to be able to transfer a clean title to the buyer at close. Basically, they want to ensure the buyer that nobody else has a claim to the home. A title agent will also confirm the accuracy of the boundary lines, and usage rights, and find recorded easements and CCR’s if there are any. Handling all legalities and paperwork is a big part of your title rep’s role.
A big part of their job is to ensure everything is in order when you reach the closing table. They’ll issue a title insurance policy to protect the buyer against any issues that arise once the sale is finalized. The title company also makes sure that everything is transferred correctly from the seller to the new buyer.
The title insurance policy is a normal seller’s charge at closing. (When we buy properties, we pick up the title insurance cost)
Escrow Side: The escrow side of the company works to protect the security of home buyers and sellers of real estate as well as collecting and holding client funds, generating necessary documents, ensuring clear title, conveying title to the new buyer, distributing money to the seller and ensuring that everything is prepared as instructed by the buyer and seller in the transaction.
Escrow in Oreogon…
- Prepares the necessary instructions from the buyer and seller and receives the necessary documents and funds.
- Pro-rates interest on liens to be assumed, pro-rates rent, taxes, and existing fire insurance policies when requested by a lender or a party to escrow.
- Gets payoff demand for any existing liens.
- Clears checks deposited by purchasers through banking channels.
- Obtains title insurance for the protection of buyer and lender.
- Closes the transaction when instructions of buyer and seller can be satisfied.
- Records final documents at the county recorder’s office.
- Disbursing funds.
- Pays liens and costs authorized by parties.
- Furnishes each party to the contract with a closing statement that shows how the funds are dispersed in the transaction.
The Home Inspector
Although some people opt not to have a home inspection done when buying a house in Roseburg OR, it can be a risky move. As a licensed real estate professional, I always highly recommend that buyers have a home inspection done so they know what they are buying…
I view this a little differently if Sky RE Investments buys your house directly. We might do a walk-through with our contractor, then make a cash offer AS-IS, with no professional home inspection.
Let’s talk about it… 541-643-1131
So what should you expect when you have a whole house inspection done? A home inspector will check out the property from top to bottom, from the attic to the crawl space, noting any problems or defects. A home inspection can be ordered after an offer is made or even beforehand.
Many of my home-selling clients choose to have a pre-inspection done prior to listing. That way they know what might need to be done before marketing. Buyers can be emotional and flip from hot to cold quickly, so having a punch list of repairs and maintenance items to tackle before finding a buyer can be a plus.
A few areas of particular interest to a home inspector include the roof, plumbing, electrical systems, foundation, insulation, condition of wood elements used in construction and/or the presence of wood-destroying insects or fungi, as well as the HVAC systems.
If you decide to hire a real estate broker to list your property, you might want to have a home inspection done before listing your home so you can take care of any problems and avoid surprises after the property hits the market. A licensed home inspector is an integral part of any real estate transaction.
The Mortgage Lender
Most of today’s homebuyers don’t have enough cash to pay their own down payment plus closing costs, let alone enough cash upfront to buy a house outright. In fact, most buyers ask the seller to “contribute” a certain percentage of the purchase price to pay the buyer’s closing costs… usually 3-4% of the PP.
Buyers can and should reach out to at least 2 or 3 different mortgage lenders to compare. It is a process but the mortgage lender is where most buyers go when they need money to buy a house in Roseburg OR.
Investors, on the other hand, don’t always use traditional funding and instead will use cash or a private lender to secure the money they need to close the deal. No matter how you choose to finance, make sure you’re working with a highly-rated lender, who can also offer you a good rate.
And as a word of caution, be careful when working with wholesalers. There are some good ones, but some are masters of making deals but when they are unable to “flip” the house to a buyer, they back out of the sale. Questions on this, shoot me a DM.
Mortgage Servicer
After closing… and after a mortgage is opened with a lender, it is almost always transferred to a mortgage servicer. A Mortgage servicer is a company that manages or services the loan. If you have a mortgage, you are most likely making payments to the mortgage servicer every month. This is also who you would contact if you have questions about your loan, payoff, fees, impounds, etc.
Working With Sky Real Estate Investments
Working with Sky Real Estate Investments allows buyers and sellers a unique experience when buying or selling real estate. What makes us so different is our ability to offer multiple options to the clients we work with. As a licensed real estate broker, we can help you find properties that are both listed and off-market.
And, when selling a house, we can present you with a variety of options so that you can choose the one that will best help you reach your goals. Whether you list it or sell it direct, you’ll have all the information to make an informed decision.
Are you thinking about buying or selling a house in Roseburg? Let us provide you with all of the resources and information you need. We’ll help you explore all of your options, making it easy for you to reach your real estate goals.
Give us a call or text today to learn more about our company and what we are offering to real estate buyers and sellers in the Roseburg area. 541-643-1131