A Step-by-Step Guide to Buying a Home

Buyer's Guide

A Step-by-Step 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.

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Step 1: 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.

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Step 2: 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.

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Step 3: 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.

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Step 4: 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.

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Step 5: 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.

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Step 6: 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.

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Step 7: 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.

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Step 8: 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.

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Step 9: 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.

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Step 10: 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.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Evan is a unique agent, his common sense approach to finding the right home. Evan works well with people and enjoys his work. He always goes above and beyond the rest!

— Dianna H.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
We would highly recommend Evan to any of our friends looking for their first home! He was extremely responsive, always able to answer any of our questions, and always gave us his honest opinion. We chose a difficult area to purchase a home and Evan made it easier, even getting the deal done in a pandemic!

— Andrea R.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
After having met with a handful of agents prior, we went with Evan as he had a good knowledge of the areas we were shopping in. As a first-time buyer, Evan was very knowledgeable and helpful during the entire transaction. This was especially appreciated as a pandemic hit right as we were getting started. He was proactive, very responsive, and patient. Highly recommended!

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
It had been more than 35 years since I had last purchased a home. Needless to say, things have changed. Evan was with me every step of the way. Never pressuring me and always willing and available to answer my questions. He made me feel I was the only client he had. I would recommend Evan to anyone looking for a knowledgeable, considerate, compassionate real estate agent. Thank you, Evan!

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
We only gave Evan 5 stars because we couldn't give him more. As first-time home buyers, Evan's knowledge and advice were greatly appreciated. We always felt that Evan had our best interests in mind. We toured almost 50 homes and Evan was available for evenings and weekends since that is what our schedule permitted. I would absolutely recommend Evan to all those looking to buy or sell a home.

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Evan was very professional. He assisted us in many ways in selling our mother's home. He communicated with us often. Whenever a problem arose, Evan promptly took care of remediating and mitigating the situation. He was knowledgeable in all aspects of selling the house and was a pleasure to work with. He took all the stress out of selling a home. We highly recommend him to anyone who is looking to sell th...

— Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
As a first-time home buyer, I was overwhelmed with realtor choices. Selecting Evan was absolutely the best decision I could have made. He showed me countless homes to help me focus on what I wanted. Within 30 days of starting, he helped me find exactly what I was looking for. Evan also took the time to walk me through each step and assured me that I never felt overwhelmed with the process. A+ service, wi...

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
We used Evan to both buy and sell a home and had a fantastic experience both times. He was always available, represented our best interests, and had the experience to quickly offer recommendations to help us make decisions. When buying, he helped us angle our offer on a popular house that got the seller's attention (it was not the highest) and when listing our former house he had a solid plan that genera...

— Chris T.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
We met Evan via Zillow at a home we were interested in. Evan was a pleasure to work with as both our seller's agent and our buyer's agent. He is extremely knowledgeable and super responsive to texts, calls, and emails. Our home sold quickly but then Covid hit. Despite the lack of inventory and new protocols, he went beyond to help us find our perfect home. His strong interpersonal skills, knowledge, and ...

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Evan was fantastic to work with. We started looking for a house over 2 years ago, and Evan hung with us through the ups and downs. We had to stop looking because of having a baby, then COVID-19, then a house we loved that got pulled off the market, and then busy season with our business. It didn't matter. Whenever we were ready to start again, Evan was ready to go. Through the process, he was patient, fl...

— Matthew R.

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Evan is utilizing his skills, knowledge and expertise in residential real estate to help others find their dream home on the Suncoast. Get assistance in determining current property value, crafting a competitive offer, writing and negotiating a contract, and much more. Contact him today.

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EVAN WEBER

(941) 287-9700

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ADDRESS

1605 Main St

Sarasota FL 34236