Mapping the Real Estate Buyer Journey

dotloop

August 27, 2024 | comments

Downloadable eBook:
Mapping the Real Estate Buyer Journey

Along the homebuyer journey, critical decision points, opportunities and interactions can significantly influence the outcome of the buyer and agent’s experience.

Download this ebook, designed to streamline the steps in a real estate transaction process and help your buyers navigate the complexities at each touchpoint.

Streamline the homebuyer journey like a pro with these tips to help navigate the complexities of the real estate transaction process.

Master the buyer journey by following these tips at each stage in the real estate transaction:

Step 1: Search Properties

Zillow Consumer Housing Trends Report 2023 research shows that more buyers are increasingly going online to search for properties. Before scheduling an in-person showing, buyers may want to filter their search with the homes they feel hold the most promise.

Today’s listing media technology helps inform the digital search by letting you view scrolling imagery, see the orientation of the house to nearby streets, and click into virtual tours where you can “self-navigate” the house and get a good feel for the space.

To enhance your buyer search, look for Zillow Showcase listings offering AI-powered media like video, virtual tours, drone photography, and interactive floor plans that connect the photography to the location in the home.

Step 2: Start Touring Houses

While some homes sell sight unseen, most buyers today want to tour properties that they’ve viewed online and in-person. Ask your agent about ShowingTime, a tour management tool that can help streamline the home tour experience. Your agent can see home tour availability in real-time to expedite the booking process and schedule multiple showings at the same time. 

Step 3: Initiate the Real Estate Transaction

eSignatures have not only revolutionized the real estate transaction management process with a streamlined, time-saving convenience; they also help reduce errors and inconsistencies that come with wet signatures. Dotloop’s real estate app makes it easy to collect buyers’ and sellers’ eSignatures on real estate transaction documents through secure texting features. This technology saves you the hassle of signing stacks of paper and provides the convenience of signing on a mobile device. 

Step 4: Open Escrow & Pay Earnest Deposit

Once the seller accepts your offer, you will be required to make an earnest deposit toward the down payment as a demonstration of your commitment to buy the property. The earnest deposit is transferred to the escrow officer at the title company, where it is securely held in an escrow account until the real estate transaction closing. 

By collecting earnest money digitally, buyers can mitigate potential security risks associated with handling paper checks and wire transfers. These conventional methods of paying earnest money carry the risk of exposing you to fraud risks when sharing sensitive information like bank account details and social security numbers via email. Dotloop offers a digital earnest money process that uses bank-level encryption for a secure transfer of the deposit directly to the escrow holder for a safer, faster deposit. 

Step 5: Get a Home Appraisal

Required by most lenders before financing can be approved, the appraisal provides a better valuation of the estimated market value and condition of a home. 

During this appointment, the appraiser will typically take photographs of the property and note any irregularities. In addition to the in-person inspection, they may use a comparison of similar properties that recently sold, current market trends and the home’s amenities to help determine value. As the buyer, you will be responsible for paying the appraisal fee.

Step 6: Schedule Home Inspections & Appraisal 

During the home inspection, a licensed home inspector spends hours performing a comprehensive review of the home, testing the home systems, including HVAC, electric, and structural components. The inspector may then recommend needed repairs or credits. 

There may also be a need for a pest inspection, such as for potential wood-destroying termites, which can necessitate further repairs.

During Covid, real estate opened the door to remote inspections using geo- and time-stamped user-generated videos and remote visual assistance tools. While we see less of this today, virtual property inspections and appraisals are still used in some locations where these remote processes are permitted. In the case of a virtual inspection, for instance, video of the property can be shared with a remotely based inspector on a livestream video call platform, such as Zoom or FaceTime.    

Step 7: Digitizing the Title Search

During the legal title search process, an attorney, title or escrow officer reviews public records to investigate any existing claims on the property, verifying the existence of a “clean” title for the transfer of the home to the new buyer. This procedure confirms the seller’s legal ownership and authorization to convey the title. The title company can then provide title insurance as a form of protection against title defects and proof of a clear title.  

While the title search can take two to four weeks, agents and title companies can expedite this process by placing a title order digitally through a digital title order service and have it sent directly to their software. Dotloop, for instance, integrates with ShortTrack, software that enables data and documents to move efficiently and securely, saving time and effort in ordering the title.

Step 8: Secure Insurance and a Loan

At this stage, you’ll likely want to have a pre-authorization, or pre-qualification letter from a lender to show that you’re financially in good shape to move forward with the deal. A pre-qualification letter also helps inform the seller and their agent of the maximum price you might qualify for in a purchase. 

Once the purchase offer is approved by the seller, the lender will then work directly with the buyer to complete the paperwork to ultimately secure approval of a mortgage. Homeowner’s insurance will likely need to be secured before the sale can be finalized. Dotloop can help here as well by connecting buyers and their agents with insurance and lending agents. 

Step 9: Notarize Documents

Under the traditional notarization process, agents and transaction coordinators need to schedule a notary for their customers and courier closing documents. Fortunately, the pandemic ushered in an easier way with an online notarization service that continues to offer agents and clients great convenience. By notarizing documents digitally, you can save time by reviewing, signing and notarizing documents from your mobile device.

Read more about how dotloop and Notarize can help you digitally notarize your home transaction to make the experience more streamlined and time-saving. 

Step 10: Close

Once the mortgage company issues a “clear to close,” the funds will be set in motion to transfer to the seller, and the title company can proceed to record the transaction. 

During this phase, a final walk-through is conducted to confirm that the seller has fulfilled all agreed-upon repairs and that the property is in satisfactory condition, ready for your move-in.