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 your agent 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 I 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 an agent like me to take much of the stress off your shoulders? Not only will I help identify properties you might be interested in, arrange showings, and ultimately handle the offer process, but I also have a knowledge of the market that you don’t possess. Finding the perfect home can be a daunting task, this is where my expertise and wealth of knowledge come into play. Let me show you around some homes that meet your dream home criteria so you can find the one that's right for you.

My 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!). I 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. I 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. I 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 MY CLIENTS SAY

Thanks for helping my family to go through lots of homes before I found the perfect one.

— Buyer

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

We were new in the US and new to buying a house. Nubia did an awesome job in explaining to us the whole process of buying a house, in what areas to look for a house, and what's important when buying, and sent us many interesting options. From the beginning I always had this feeling, which is very important to me, that her priority was to find the best home at the best deal for us, she is definitely not t...

— Manuel K.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

She is better than other realtors.

— Aracely M.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

The best agent, very patient with us who were first buyers, always looking for the best for us the best!

— Maria A.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

I will recommend her to my friends and family she did a great job helping us in the process of buying the house. We appreciate all you did, thank you so much. God bless you.

— Glayds L.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Nubia was a great agent; She was helpful from the beginning to the end of the transaction. I rate it. 110%.

— Jesse P.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Nubia is a fantastic agent with a wealth of knowledge. She was able to list my home and get considerably more than I thought possible! I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for an agent in this market!

— David P.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

A lot of experience good jot.

— Juana Y.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Nubia was fantastic from start to finish! From the beginning, she articulated the entire process which alleviated much of the stress of simultaneously selling and purchasing. I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone looking for a quality agent!

— David P.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Nubia is super responsible, very knowledgeable, and super easy to work with. She really helped us all along the way, with everything: the loan, insurance, everything, she explained everything and was very flexible, we changed several times between buying, selling, and renting and she always helped us with everything.

— Jesus N.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Nubia has been a great person to work with right from the start. I had to go through a lot of houses to finally make a purchase and Nubia helped my wife and me all along the way.

— Abhisek P.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Nubia is definitely an exemplar when it comes to real estate Agents. We were new in the US and new to buying a house. Nubia did an awesome job in explaining to us the whole process of buying a house, in what areas to look for a house, and what’s important when buying, and sent us many interesting options. From the beginning I always had this feeling, which is very important to me, that her priority was t...

— Manuel K.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Thank you very much for all your help and for your patience with all the houses you showed me the best.

— Sindy P.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Good.

— Pablo S.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Nubia knows very well what she does, she has all the knowledge and is very professional and a good negotiator, she is also kind, positive, and very patient when looking for a home, with it, the process becomes lighter. Thanks for everything, Nubia!

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WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Phenomenal! Nubia has a keen ability to find you the house you are looking for! She will take all your concerns and interests and truly work on getting you what you want. She showed extreme patience with my family and always gave us the time to help. I highly recommend Nubia for your home search.

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WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Nubia is the best. Nubia has been a great agent, always willing to help and answer any question, I recommend Nubia to your next sell/buy.

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WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

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WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

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— Lucrecia C.

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Nubia Cirelli is dedicated to helping you find your dream home and assisting with any selling needs you may have. Please contact her if you are looking to buy or sell a property and she, in return, promises to provide you with the utmost dedication to satisfying all your real estate needs.

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