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 your agent will help reduce the stress of buying a home and help you enjoy the journey as much as possible.

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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 I 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

Step 5: Find the Right Home

This should be the most enjoyable step of the entire process (other than moving in!). I 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. I 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

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

See what our happy clients have to say about their successful real estate journeys with us

Lucy embodies everything you could ask for in a REALTOR®. She helped us with so many aspects of selling our home that seemed overwhelming, such as: figuring out the best time to list our home for sale in a challenging market, finding reasonably-priced contractors for repairs and upgrades, scheduling inspections and home staging, and determining a strategy for our listing price. She assisted us with all of this (and more) on a very tight timeline. Throughout the entire process, she was very communicative and easy to work with. All of our interactions with her were positive, personal, and professional. She was always accessible, answered our numerous questions, and helped us through a stressful time with selling our primary residence.
Ted M.

We bought a home in a very difficult seller's market and I strongly believe we couldn't have done it without the advice and dedication of Lucy Armentrout. I would recommend her services in a heartbeat. Lucy is very knowledgeable about the structural characteristics of homes and where the market is going. She also has a great reputation in the real estate community and every time we were in contact with a seller's agent, they would always smile and nod when we told them we worked with Lucy. Finally, when the stressful escrow period came, she was with us 120%, responding to our questions at all hours, always very quickly and with abundant research/detail to allow us to not miss a beat in this fast-paced process.
Ariane Z.

I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Lucy! We shared a year-long journey involving many open houses, multiple offers, and my eventual purchase of a home that was an amazing find and a rare gem in a competitive market. Lucy was extremely knowledgeable and provided a great experience for me as a first-time home buyer. She explained everything from sewer lateral replacement to some of the effects of purchasing properties with tenants. She was always willing to schedule time for me to see homes that didn't have open houses available, and when it came time for offers she explained some of the decisions I'd need to make with regards to contingency dates. Lucy was never pushy and didn't ever complain about my slow pace.
Jhon F.

We are so happy we found Lucy. We interviewed several agents and we went with Lucy due to a personal referral and her experience in the East Bay, along with her preparedness for our initial meeting. Along the way, Lucy was on top of every little detail which led to an extremely positive outcome and sales price for our home well above expectations. On top of that, she got the deal done as the covid 19 outbreak escalated. She got us great stagers and vendors and managed them effortlessly. She understood also the big macro picture and suggested open house timing that ended up being favorable. Lucy also was a skilled negotiator and closed the deal. Call Lucy she's the closer!
Tina U.

Work With Lucy

I support my clients with regular and detailed communications for the time we work together (and beyond). I provide clear explanations of the process and options available to you at every step of your real estate journey, and offer recommendations you can trust and rely on.