Buyer's Guide

A Step-by-Step First Time Buyer's Guide

Buying a home is one of the most exciting milestones of your life. To prepare yourself for this moment, you need to know what to expect during the process. This step-by-step first time buyer’s guide created by our team will help reduce the stress of buying a home and help you enjoy the journey as much as possible.

Step 1: Research

Do you already know where you want to buy? If you want a condo, townhome, or single-family home? Which features do you like and dislike? What’s available on the market now? If you answered no to any of these questions, now is the time to start researching. In addition to looking for homes that interest you, also take note of any changes in asking prices. This could give you valuable insight into housing trends in specific neighborhoods and help you when the time comes to make an offer.

Step 2: Decide on Your Budget

Notice we said to decide on your budget—not determine how much the mortgage company will give you. In many cases, a mortgage company will pre-approve you for more than you’re comfortable spending, which is why you need to determine the monthly payment you feel comfortable with before talking to a lender. This likely includes doing a full household budget and taking into consideration what changes other than a mortgage payment will occur once you move into your new home. If you’ve lived in an apartment or with roommates, you may overlook new expenses like garbage, water, or HOA fees that could easily blow your budget.

Step 3: Get Prequalified

Just because you think you can afford a certain payment every month doesn’t mean the mortgage company will agree. Just as they may approve you for too large of an amount, they may also approve you for a lesser amount or deny you a mortgage altogether. Lack of time at a job, insufficient credit, past bankruptcies, or other financial issues can cause major problems when trying to secure a mortgage. Before you get your heart set on a home, talk to a mortgage professional to find out what amount you can qualify for. This will also be an advantage when you make an offer on a home, as some sellers won’t entertain offers from those who aren’t already prequalified for a loan.

Step 4: Choose a Real Estate Agent

Can you shop for, look at, and ultimately make an offer on a home without a Real Estate Agent? Technically yes, but why would you when it costs you nothing for agents like us to take much of the stress off your shoulders? Not only will we help identify properties you might be interested in, arrange showings, and ultimately handle the offer process, but we also have knowledge of the market that you don’t possess. Finding the perfect home can be a daunting task, this is where our expertise and wealth of knowledge come into play. Let us show you around some homes that meet your dream home criteria so you can find the one that's right for you.

Our goal is to provide you with the most personalized service that is designed to help you buy your dream home

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Step 5: Find the Right Home

This should be the most enjoyable step of the entire process (other than moving in!). We will arrange showings of homes you’re interested in that are within your price range. Take notes about what you like and don’t like, and make sure to pay attention to details. Turn light switches on and off, open and close doors, and run the faucets in various rooms. Don’t limit your inspection to the home itself. Make sure to take time to explore the neighborhood and keep an eye on traffic at certain times of the day, the parking situation, and how close it is to necessities like schools and grocery stores.

Step 6: Make an Offer

Once you have selected the perfect home, work with your agent to craft a fair offer based on the value of comparable homes on the market. Depending on what the home is listed at and whether the current environment is a buyer’s or seller’s market, your offer may be below, at, or even above the asking price. We will be able to help you negotiate if you receive a counteroffer and reach an agreement. At this point, the house will go into escrow.

Step 7: Have the Home Inspected

In most cases, your offer will be contingent on having the home inspected to ensure there is no major structural damage or large repairs needed. We can help you arrange this, and you can schedule it within days of making an offer. If there are no major issues, the process goes to step eight. If there is, you can renegotiate your offer based on what needs to be fixed, or you can withdraw it.

Step 8: Select Your Loan

Now is the time to go back to the mortgage lender who pre-approved or pre-qualified you and choose your mortgage. You will be presented with various options based on your unique financial situation, including fixed-rate, variable-rate, 15-year, 30-year, or special programs such as VA loans or FHA loans. Work with your mortgage lender to select the option you feel the most comfortable with.

Step 9: Get a Home Appraisal

Your lender will have your new home appraised so they have their independent value of it. The appraisal is to ensure that all parties involved are paying a fair price for the house.

Step 10: Finish Paperwork

No one looks forward to all the paperwork involved in buying a home, but it’s a necessary part of the process. Fortunately, everything will be arranged by your lender and title company and, when you’re finished, you’ll know you are the legal owner of your new home.

Congratulations!

After signing the final paperwork to complete the purchase, you are now the owner of a new house. It may take a few days for your loan to be funded once the paperwork has been returned to the lender, but once that check is delivered to the seller, you’ll be all set to move into the home of your dreams.

Testimonials

Kamella K.

Christa was wonderful! She walked us through the sale of our home professionally. All the advice she gave us saw us through selling the property in less than a week. Her communication with the other agent was focused and she e...

MICHAEL AND ANNE P.

Denise is a true professional who also became a trusted advisor and friend. She is knowledgeable about everything in realty and also gives the personal touch and directs her skills where needed to get the best house and deal ...

MARY LOU & CHUCK

Excellent in every way! Anticipated our every need. We had no worries about anything.

GLENN T.

Best realtor I’ve ever dealt with, excellent job! I cannot say enough how pleased we were with Denise.

Zizo A.

We recently had the pleasure of working with Christa Dinallo as our real estate agent and we cannot express enough how impressed we are with her professionalism, expertise and dedication throughout the entire process. From th...

Ricky and Cecilia S

We are so thankful to have you as our realtor. You have done an outstanding job keeping us informed, sending documents to us, and taking care of our tenant. We always knew everything would work out perfectly. Thanks for making...

Dan

Thank you so much for being with us through this entire process. I know we were super annoying with the bidding wars, going out to 50 different houses, and feeling hopeless. This home we now have is a place we will be for a lon...

Brittany

We cannot say thank you enough for helping us find our first home!! Thank you for guiding us and helping us through the entire process and so much more! You're a part of the family and we can't say it enough. Thank you, Thank y...

Buyer - Clermont

As an investor, I was looking for a realtor that would respond right away, whether it be by phone, text, or email. Communication is very important to me. Things are changing all of the time and I want to be kept in the loop as ...

Dr. Joel G.

I cannot speak highly enough about my experience working with Heidi Nunes as my real estate agent. From the very beginning, she demonstrated an exceptional level of professionalism, industry knowledge, and dedication that truly...

Lori M.

Ruthanne Martin’s work ethic is so far superior to most!!! She is so knowledgeable about the real estate market, prices and staging. Ruthanne knows what it takes to get your house sold!!! Her dedication to us was amazing. I wou...

Charles W.

We have worked with Ruthanne a few times and she has always gone above and beyond with us buying and selling properties. She is very knowledgeable about home values and the new trends in the market. She really listens to our ne...

PAM L.

Denise was very experienced and handled any issues or tasks quickly. A real professional. I enjoyed working with her very much! Denise worked long days looking at new homes with me while collecting and creating the paperwork ...

Dave C.

Christa did an outstanding job keeping me in the loop with the entire process for selling my home. I would recommend her to all my friends.

Edwina D.

Christa gives of herself while maintaining a professional working relationship with her clients. She is 1 in a 100,000,000!

TRACEY G.

I’ve worked with 8-9 realtors in my lifetime and Denise is by far the best realtor that I’ve ever had. Top notch!

Merlin O.

Over the past five decades, I have bought and sold eight houses in five different States, and the most recent two have been in Central Florida. In the sale of my home in Windermere, FL, Christa Dinallo was the most impressive a...

August F. C.

Christa's strong work ethic was evident from my first encounter with her at the Suzi Karr Real estate office. She literally attacked the market for offers that exceeded my expectations as the seller, and worked diligently with ...

Michael G.

Oren was exceptional in every way. He provided us with amazing results and I would recommend Oren to anyone in the real estate market buying or selling.

Andy M.

We had a very positive experience with Oren Adar. He did an excellent job marketing our residence, was always extremely responsive, and showed professionalism in all aspects of the listing and sale process.

Work With Us

Years of full-time experience have given us a clear understanding of the mindset of home buyers and sellers and a thorough understanding of the regional marketplace. Contact us today to find out how we can be of assistance to you!