First Steps To Buying a Home For The First Time

You’re finally buying your first home, but you don’t know what you need to do. 😁🤔

Buying your first house is an exciting decision. You want to make sure that you get the home that you want. But for those doing this the first time, it can be a daunting process. Actually, a lot of my listeners often ask me about what they need to do when buying their first property.

So to make sure that the process goes smoothly for you, I’m going to cover the steps you need to take before buying a home.

Step 1: Contact a Great Real Estate Agent

I know it’s easy to just look at listings on sites like Zillow and Redfin. But unless you’re willing to spend hours looking through thousands of listings, I would recommend getting into contact with a real estate agent.

Ask your family and friends for referrals. Depending on their experience, a great agent would be very knowledgeable about the home buying process. If you want, you can even book a call with me.

Your real estate will be asking you some questions to find out your true needs. By answering questions about your desired location, the type of home you want, and what it is you’re looking for, your agent would be able to zero in on the properties that meet your buying criteria.

Be wary about going for those discount agents who promise to give 1% of the purchase price back to you. They most likely won’t make much effort negotiating on the property to get you a good price in the first place.

Step 2: Find a Lender

Once you have an agent that you know and trust, ask for a referral to a lender. A great agent would be able to refer you to a great lender.

You need a lender so you and your agent know what you can and cannot afford, and what price range for a home you could make offers to.

Your lender would probably ask you some questions such as your income from your job, bank statements, your W-2, tax returns, etc. After that, they’ll give you a pre-approval letter. A pre-approval letter has been underwritten so most likely your loan will go through.

When you finally know your limit, it’s time to start looking for your dream home.

Step 3: Start Making Offers

Now that you have a great agent and a pre-approval letter for a loan, your agent should show you properties that match your criteria. Then you can start making aggressive offers.

Just so you know, in the San Francisco Bay Area, it’s common to give an offer that’s 3-6% over the asking price with no contingencies such as no inspection contingency, no appraisal contingency, etc.

If you want to find out more about contingencies, go check out this article about the common contingencies when making a home offer.

Going back, the Bay Area is a very competitive market that putting in a contingency with your offer might result in the seller accepting a different buyer’s offer instead. This is something you need to be aware of when you’re buying in the Bay Area.

But anyway, once one of your offers comes through, talk with your agent about whether you need to counter or not, and what else you need to do to make sure you are able to close on the deal.

Conclusion

That’s it. Just remember, get in touch with a great real estate agent, find a lender, and start making offers. Buying your first home is a fun process. By following what I laid out above, you’ll surely be on your way to finally buy your dream home.