Buying Your Next Home

Buying a home seems complicated, but I can help you through every step of the process. I know the market incredibly well and think you’ll love my no pressure approach.

The home buying process can take as little as 1 month or as long as 6 months. It generally takes most buyers 2-4 months to find and close on their new home.

1. Loan Pre-Approval (1-2 Days) It’s not required to have a pre-approval letter before looking at homes, but it’s a good practice. You will need a pre-approval letter in order to make an offer & it takes 10-15 minutes to fill out the application, followed by a few emails to provide supporting documents.

2. Home Search (1-3 Months) Everyone searches at their own pace, so it’s difficult to know exactly how long it will take for you to find your new home. You want to move forward on a property when you’re comfortable that you understand the market. This can take a weekend or a few months. Most people search for 1-3 months before making an offer. We love helping people find the perfect home!

Make an Offer (1-3 Days) When it’s time to make an offer, we will send a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) to you, which helps us understand if the property is priced correctly and what to offer. Depending on how much we need to negotiate the purchase, it usually takes 1-3 days to put a property under contract.

3. Contract to Close (30-45 Days) Once you’re under contract, it will take 30-45 days to close. The most important steps are:

Executed Date: The date that all parties agree and sign the contract is the executed date. You will have 3 days to deposit your earnest money (usually 1% of the purchase price).

Inspection Period (10-15 Days): You will have a 5-10 day inspection period, during which you will have your property inspected (inspections are usually ~$500). It’s normal for your inspector to find some deficiencies in the property and we will usually negotiate repairs during this time. If there are too many repairs necessary to move forward, you can cancel the contract and you’ll get your earnest money back.

Appraisal(2-3Weeks): Your lender will order the appraisal, which is ~$500. We’ll get the results of the appraisal roughly 2 weeks after it’s ordered. The appraisal verifies to the lender that the property is worth what you’re paying. If the property doesn’t meet that value, you can walk away from the contract and get your earnest money back.

Review Settlement Statement (2-3 Days Before Closing): Your lender will provide you with a required disclosure 3 days before closing & the title company will provide you the settlement statement 2-3 days before closing. This is arguably the most important closing document because it tells you how much money you need to bring & an itemization of what you’re paying for. If you would like to see any other closing documents prior to closing, you can request them.

Closing Day (30-45 Days After Contract): This is the most exciting day of the process! Make sure you’ve wired in your proceeds prior to closing and bring a government issued ID with you. If you can’t be in town for closing, we can arrange a remote closing where a mobile notary will come to you.

4. After Closing It’s natural for you to have questions about the home & homeownership after closing. We’re always available to answer questions and to provide you with referrals to any vendors you may need. Our relationship doesn't end at closing and we’re always happy to help in any way we can!

WE ARE READY TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR HOME PURCHASE!