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. I may be able to steer you away from certain homes or neighborhoods, suggest hidden gems, or give you pointers that will help you find your dream home for the right price.

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.

George Biastre
John Weitzel
KRISTIN L.
RYAN VAN O.
BUYER
COLBERT
CHAS
SUE
BUYER
BUYER
KC
BUYER
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
"Thomas is a real estate rock star! We worked with Thomas Love at Belle Epoque on two sales. He was committed to our needs, he listened to our concerns, and he performed a masterful execution of our transaction. Thank you, Thomas!"

— George Biastre

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
"Thomas Love /Belle Epoque did a phenomenal job selling our home. His professionalism is just above and beyond. He has the tools, equipment, materials, and resources to ensure our home got the best exposure in the market. He was able to market our home in different websites so many home buyers could see it and it sure did pay off as the day our home selling went live, we already had multiple requests for...

— John Weitzel

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Buying a house is both magical and overwhelming. From the moment I reached out to Thomas, he was responsive, understanding, and really listened to what I was envisioning. He was an advocate, as well as provided me with the education and information I needed to feel empowered and good about my home purchase. Plus, he is just fun to work with! I highly recommend it.

— KRISTIN L.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Thomas Love is a Realtor® with a passion for his clients and his work, and it shows! Thomas was extremely engaged throughout our home-buying process. His knowledge, expertise, and advice are unparalleled. We would recommend Thomas to anyone that wants a take-charge Realtor® when it matters. Very responsive, helped us to negotiate in a way that kept the seller interested, and closed the deal - what more c...

— RYAN VAN O.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Thomas is the best and prioritizes his job like no other. He responded quickly to every aspect of the process and was pleased to work with.

— BUYER

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Thomas was able to navigate a tricky situation with selling my investment property in Jacksonville His persistence and communication skills resolved the impasse in a timely manner. I highly recommend him.

— COLBERT

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Thomas was a consummate professional. He was always available. He made recommendations on preparing for showings that helped us get the property into top shape, thus getting top dollar! He also was spot on in his selling price recommendation. His work was outstanding in all respects.

— CHAS

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Thomas has been fantastic - he is very thorough and great with staying on top of getting everything done and coordinated. He is wonderfully responsive whenever we have had questions, wanted to see a property, etc. We would highly recommend him for your real estate needs! Our experience was great!

— SUE

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
In this market, you must be quick if you buy property. Good houses sell fast. Thomas was excellent. He handled everything very professionally and was very quick to respond to any question we asked. I would definitely recommend him. If we buy another house he will be our only choice for Realtor®! Don't be concerned if you see him zooming by on his skateboard. He is on it!

— BUYER

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
I was purchasing a property while being out of state. Thomas made in-depth videos of the property so it could feel like I was there in person. Anytime I had a question, he would respond within a timely manner with an answer or in search of the answer. We had a unique and painful escrow process with the lender and title company and Thomas went beyond on finding answers when we needed them. Overall I would...

— BUYER

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Thomas assisted in the sale of our home and the purchase of another, always going above and beyond to make sure every detail was covered. Selling or purchasing a home can be a trying experience at times and he always found a way to calm the waters when necessary. We reached out to him originally because of his number of closings and found out very quickly why he is so successful. Thomas' work ethic and c...

— KC

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Thomas was excellent to work with all around! He always answered our phone calls, made himself available, and helped us through the entire process of buying our first piece of land. He made everything simple and smooth, kept us notified of everything going on, and literally handled every single detail for us! Also just kind and professional the whole way through- a pleasure to work with. We just closed t...

— BUYER

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Belle Epoque Realty offers the very best service possible in terms of communication with clients and overall results. To empower real estate customers with education and choice while elevating the respectability of the profession with high-quality, consistent, and innovative service delivery.

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