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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.

A white house with black windows and a tree in the front yard.

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.

A room with a chair, a wooden coffee table, and a large mirror mounted on the wall beside the balcony.

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.

A white house with a lot of windows.

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.

A kitchen with white cabinets, a stainless steel sink, and a window.

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 a 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

A stainless steel stovetop oven with four burners and red knobs.

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.

A kitchen with a sink and faucet on the left side and a stove with a vent hood on the right side.

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.

A hallway with a staircase with a wooden banister and black spindles.

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.

A modern staircase with light-colored wooden steps and a thin black metal railing.

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.

A double bathroom vanity with two sinks and a mirror above each sink.

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.

A long hallway with a large mirror on one wall and a long rectangular rug on the floor.

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.

Let Our Experienced Staff Help You Buy Your Dream Home

A white staircase with a black metal railing.
William S.
Stephanie T.
Justine L.
Gain Clarity. Make a Plan. Live Your Dream.

As a first-time home buyer, I was extremely nervous going into this. From the very first meeting, sequoia made me feel instantly at ease. The amount of personal care, attention to detail, help through every part of the process (including helping me find a mortgage broker) and work to make sure that any questions and worries were quickly answered was absolutely instrumental in making this possible for me....

— William S.

Gain Clarity. Make a Plan. Live Your Dream.

Cari Ann Carter and her team were awesome!!! During a period of time when stress levels were extremely high for me personally, Cari Ann and her team always took the time to make sure l had all the resources (painting, staging. cleaning, decluttering, closing services) and support (via calls, emails. texts) | needed to quickly and efficiently navigate the sale of my home. The team's attention to detail, k...

— Stephanie T.

Gain Clarity. Make a Plan. Live Your Dream.

Cari Ann, Pamala, and her team were fantastic with the sale of our house in the MacGrove neighborhood. They obviously knew the market very well and the staging was INCREDIBLE and instrumental in the quick sale of our house. Happy with the counsel/advice we received and the fantastic service. While Cari Ann Carter Group is at a slightly higher % for Realtor® fees, worth it just for the staging and high-to...

— Justine L.

Work With Us

Cari Ann and her team deliver a stress-free and seamless process to help you through your next life transition. Whatever that might be.