Resources & Links

Thank you so much for visiting my website and I hope you are finding what you came for. I do my best to provide relevant content that will help buyers and sellers make an informed decision. Below I have provided links and resources to additional services that I hope will be of value to you. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further help.

If you use my team to buy and sell your loft/condo/home in the Columbus market, we will discount our listing fee by 1%, while still providing our full suite of services. Follow the link to opt into the savings.

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Home Purchasing Steps

Below I have tried to provide an outline on the steps you will need to take when purchasing a home. I have also included some of the companies I have either personally use or have had clients use with success in the past.

I should mention that some of the links below are affiliate links, where I’m compensated if you purchase something by using my link. Using these links does not cost anything extra and oftentimes actually provides savings. I certainly appreciate it if you decide to use one of my links, as that goes a long way to help me provide more of this type of content. If not, that’s ok too. Either way, I hope this guide helps get you started with the home buying process 🙂

1. Credit Check & Repair Services

This should be step number one if you are looking to purchase a home, as this can take time to repair if your credit is in bad shape. I would definitely recommend focusing on paying down any debts that you have, making your payments on time, and keeping low balances. I have a website where I talk a lot more about credit repair services that may be of interest if you need help with this topic. I have also provided some resources below if you feel that you need professional help.

Check your scores with myFICO

Before anything else, you should obtain your actual credit scores and set up a system to monitor those scores. At myFICO you can keep a close eye on your Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax scores.

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Free Credit Repair with ZO

Before anything else, you should obtain your actual credit scores and set up a system to monitor those scores. At myFICO you can keep a close eye on your Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax scores.

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Repair your credit with CreditFirm.net

If you checked your credit scores and didn’t like what you see, you may want to reach out to a firm like Credit Firm. I like them because you can cancel anytime and they provide a free consultation.

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Get debt consolidation with CCCR

If there are no errors on your account and you just have a lot of open accounts with debt, it may be best to consider consolidating your debt with a company like this. It will likely be a much lower rate than you are paying now.

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Build your credit with Rent Reporters

What if you don’t have any credit??!! Well, that can be a problem for younger people if you don’t have much credit history and it can really hurt your score. This service allows your landlord to report your tenancy to the credit bureaus. They advertise 40 points in 10 days!

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Protect Yourself with Reliashield Identity Theft Solutions

This may also be a good time to consider identity theft protection or insurance. You are going to interact with a lot of people about sensitive information. For the cost, it is worth the protection in my opinion.

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2. Establish Savings

There are a lot of myths that you need to save 20% down in order to purchase a home. Fortunately that is just completely untrue these days. Many lenders have programs available where you can still obtain competitive rates with 0% to 3.5% down. I would still highly recommend that you save as much as possible before purchasing your home. There are still a lot of costs associated with the home such as home inspections, appraisals, application fees, and other unexpected expenses. Not to mention the fact that you will probably want to make some changes to your new digs.

Acorns

I like Acorns for those in the planning phases of how to save for a home. Acorns allows you to make small deposits from the change leftover on your common transactions, or you can make small deposits.

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Robinhood Investments

Robinhood is a great platform for those that are new to investing. They have a lot of tools that make it very easy and there are no fees for common trades. This is a great way to begin saving for a future home.

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Cit Bank High Yield Savings Account

If you don’t want to invest your money, you may want to consider a high yield savings account like the different offerings at CiT Bank. They have some great rates for an FDIC account. Sometimes a guarantee is better.

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3. Shop for Financing

Choosing the right lender is also a very important part of the real estate process and should be something you look into before you even begin to look at homes. This will help you to better understand how much you can afford and will make any offers you place more competitive. Most real estate agents will ask that you have a preapproval before going out to showings or shortly after.

Get a No Obligation, Personal Referral

If you fill out this form I will be happy to connect you with a few of our “go to” lenders in the area. There are a lot of good options out there, so be sure to talk to 3-4 different lenders.

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4. Interview Real Estate Agents

We would be happy to speak with you about your home purchase needs or find an agent that matches what you are looking for. If you can quickly fill out this form we will do our best to guide you in the right direction.

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5. Obtain Multible Insurance Quotes

Getting insurance is required for most real estate purchases and the lender will definitely ask you for it once you are in-contract. Finding the right insurance company can make a big difference in your monthly payments. Below we have provided links a to few insurance companies that we have worked with in the past with good results. Get as many quotes as you can so that you can find the best policy for you, as it can vary greatly from company to company based on the individual.

Allstate

Everyone has heard of Allstate, so I probably don’t need to get into too many details. Definitely a good company to obtain a quote from. With this link you can include auto or remove it after you enter your zip code.

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Liberty Mutual

Another large company, it doesn’t hurt to get a quote from as many agents as you can. This is another site that makes it easy to do it online with no commitment or need to talk to anyone.

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6. Get a Home Warranty

Home Warranties are a bit of a gamble, but I would still recommend having one for at least your first year at the property. Many times you are able to negotiate for the seller to pay for the warranty at closing (this is very common in Columbus, OH). They are not as foolproof as many people think, and dealing with the companies can be a challenge. However, I have had clients save $2500+ in the first year multiple times. You can also buy one for yourself with one of these hand-picked companies:

American Residential Warranty

Choice Home Warranty

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7. Utility Services

It will be up to the buyer to switch all of the utilities into their name before closing. I’ve provided a link to a service that will do a lot of this for you. I’ve also provided a few links to companies where you can shop for cheaper electric or gas.

Direct Energy

Direct Energy allows you to buy electric or gas directly through them rather than your provider. Often times the rate is a bit better and is worth the change. Nothing else really changes other than your bill.

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Utility Concierge Service

They will set up as many of your utilities as they can. Yes, they will try to sell you cable and home security, but it isn’t a hard sell. That is the only way they make money, so the rest of the service is completely free.

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ATT Phone, Internet, & TV

They will set up as many of your utilities as they can. Yes, they will try to sell you cable and home security, but it isn’t a hard sell. That is the only way they make money, so the rest of the service is completely free.

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8. Home Security Services

There are a lot of options in the home security industry, including some new offerings that are a bit cheaper. I personally have used both of the companies below for rental properties and my own property. I have been pleased with both, while SimpliSafe is easier to use, Deep Sentinel is a far more encompassing service and the technology is incredible.

DIY with SimpliSafe Home Security

We use simply safe at most of our vacant rental properties or homes that are having construction done. It really is very easy to install and its a bit cheaper than regular services. Outdoor/indoor video is available.

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Deep Sentinel Home Security

Deep Sentinel is what I use at home and the technology is truly amazing. I would highly recommend giving it a try if you are serious about your home security. Also definitely go watch the videos of them catching people in the act, hilarious.

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