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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Start Your Property Search
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Michelle stepped up big time to coordinate the sale, prep the property, take pictures, and list — she went way above and beyond. Five stars all the way.
Our agent, Michelle Hovey, took the ball and ran to the finish line with communication skills second to none. We would definitely work with her again and recommend this agency to anyone.
She went way above and beyond. Five stars all the way for Michelle and The Alexander Realty Group.
Our experience with The Alexander Realty Group was absolutely incredible. Our agent, Michelle Hovey, took the ball and ran to the finish line with communication skills second to none. We would definitely work with her again, an...
Five Stars all the way for Michelle and The Alexander Realty Group! We live out of state; Michelle stepped up big time to help coordinate the sale, prep the property, take pictures, and list. She went way above and beyond. I’ll...
Absolutely the best! Smart, energetic, and thorough. Cannot recommend highly enough. We had a unique property that required a very detailed analysis and market approach. Michelle led the process from start to finish. Immediatel...
Michelle and her team are very knowledgeable, experienced, and professional, which they bring to every facet of the process. They conduct business at the highest ethical level. Michelle brings her competitive edge and tempers i...
I was very pleased with the service I received from Michelle and Kelly with the Alexander Realty Group. Michelle was the ultimate professional throughout the process of selling my home. I had lived in my home for 25 years, so t...
Michelle is impeccable. Professional, efficient, effective, and knowledgeable, she used a data-driven approach and her keen pulse on market conditions to ensure the successful sale of our home. Michelle’s group saw us through t...
My experience with Michelle was fantastic. Michelle came to the table with a plethora of strategic ideas to sell a large home in a tough market, and quickly. Michelle is professional, resilient, creative, flexible, and frankly,...
Michelle and Kelly were very professional and completely in the know in the market analysis, preparation, and marketing of our home. We have worked with Michelle several times throughout the years. She has always been spot on, ...
Very pleased with the experience working with Michelle and her team to sell a house we had lived in for over twenty years. Provided very objective, cost-effective advice on what to update in our house and developed a pricing st...
Michelle was awesome to work with from the start, all the way through getting the keys to our new home in Huntersville! She was extremely thorough in her planning efforts when we were looking for houses and was able to quickly ...
Exceptional experience all around. Michelle is a top professional with the highest standards of excellence. Extremely knowledgeable, quick to respond, and focused on her client’s best interests at all times.
Michelle knows how to handle the buying and selling process very well. I’m hard to please as an ex-realtor, and she has exceeded my expectations.
She’s not only knowledgeable, but she also helps you make the best financial decisions for your situation. We bought our first home, and the experience went smoothly, all due to Michelle’s professionalism and expertise!
Kelly was a fantastic buyer’s agent, helping me with every issue needing my attention. The process from building to closing went as smoothly as could be. She is definitely a real estate agent I would highly recommend to anyone ...
My husband and I have purchased two homes and sold one (in 2 days) with Kelly’s help. She is everything you need in an agent. She is prompt, confident, available, honest, knowledgeable, and considerate, among other qualities. S...
Kelly is an outstanding realtor and recently helped us through the process of purchasing our first home. We were from out of state, which made it hard, but she handled everything meticulously and in a time-efficient manner, whi...
Kelly is a true professional! We were an unusual "client" since we were 3 couples purchasing an LKN vacation condo. She helped us find the perfect place. Then she walked us through the process, keeping us informed every step of...
