The Buying Process
Our goal as buyer’s agents is to help you find the home that you love, for a price that fits your budget while staying in the area that you want to live. Many buyers know what they want in a house, but don’t know exactly how much they are qualified to spend. The first thing every buyer must do is meet with a mortgage banker or loan officer. By meeting with a mortgage specialist and providing them with your income and debt information, they will determine how much money you can spend on a home. Some buyers know where to go to get a mortgage. If you don’t, we can certainly give you a few mortgage specialists to choose from.
After this initial step, we guide you through the entire purchasing process. We will take you to the homes that you want to see, we do the research that will give you information on how much houses are selling for in the area you are looking, and we help you write an offer that will allow you to get the house that you want. After the contract is accepted; we make sure that all the people involved are doing what they are supposed to be doing… Title company, inspectors, loan officer, the other Realtor, the seller and you, the buyer. Our goal is to keep the stress to a minimum and make your home-buying experience a great one. We are there EVERY STEP OF THE WAY!
After your mortgage specialist tells you how much you can spend on a home, you should go through these questions. These will help you figure out what you want and/or need in a home:
1. When do you want to move into your new home?
2. Will you look at single story only, 2-story only, or both? How many square feet?
3. How many bedrooms and bathrooms would be ideal? How many car garage?
4. Do you need a formal living room and dining room or is one family room and kitchen enough? Do you like the great room set-up?
5. Do you prefer grass in the back yard or is desert landscaping okay?
6. Are you looking for newer or older homes? Do you mind fixing up a bit?
7. What is the perimeter of the area you would like to live? (I need N, S, E, W streets that will give me a grid to work within). Pool, no pool, or either one okay?
8. The one thing that you will not compromise on is… (for example, I have had clients tell me to not even show them a house that doesn’t have a fireplace).
9. Please write down anything else that you feel is important for your first house. (ex: “I’ve always pictured tile flooring throughout the house” or “I like stainless steel appliances” or “It would be great to have a washer and dryer included with the home.”)
