Guide for California Buyers | Ardery Dunlevie Associates

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Christian B.

I am writing to you on behalf of Geoff Dunlevie who was not only instrumental but also an absolute pleasure to work with in finding our Lovely Laguna Home. My wife and I had been looking to purchase a home in Laguna and we had ...

Josh

Great Realtor to work with. A true legend in Laguna Beach!

Kaytee E.

My husband and I were lucky enough to stumble upon Geoff while we were out one day looking at homes in Laguna Beach on our own. He was the listing agent on the house we were looking at and we were not currently working with an ...

Buyer & Seller

Jim has helped me time and time again throughout the years. Expert. Professional. Consistent. No doubt about it. He has helped my family move, sell and acquire property over the years on various occasions - from Laguna Beach to...

Kathy O.

I had known Geoff as a wonderful neighbor and person before signing a person walk-through with him that was set to expire in about one month. Before doing so, he helped me look at comparison square footage pricing for 3 other h...

Mary Y.

We are so pleased that we chose Geoff to market our home in Laguna Beach. At all times during our process, he demonstrated great professionalism and knowledge of the market. Even more importantly, his calm demeanor and approach...

Kellie

From the moment I met Geoff, I have always felt like he was a close friend. I had been looking for a home for about 3.5 years and Geoff consistently and routinely reached out to me for updates and status on moving forward with ...

Fabienne

Geoff brings a lot of knowledge to the South County Coastal Real Estate market. He was very helpful, patient, and understanding of our needs and went out of his way to accommodate us during our process. He was always there to f...

Bob W.

We were just handed the keys to our dream home on Sunday. Geoff made this happen for us, and we're forever grateful. There are no perfect words for Geoff's professionalism, expertise, knowledge, passion, and calm demeanor that ...

Therese F.

If honesty, kindness, and knowledge of the area are what you are looking for, Geoff is the right agent for you. Geoff Dunlevie worked with us for almost a whole year while we were looking for our first own house. On June 21 we ...

John H.

Geoff was excellent to work with. I met him at an open house. That house wasn't a fit for me so I explained what I was looking for. A couple of days later he reached out to inform me of a property that had just fallen out of es...

David A.

First and foremost Geoff is a great guy. On top of that, he went above and beyond for us during our recent purchase in Laguna Beach. He is diligent, insightful, hard-working, he always returns calls, and he follows through on h...

Russ P.

Geoff was our agent when we purchased this home, and he recently listed and assisted us with renting our rental unit. Geoff is an extremely personable, knowledgeable, and hard-working Real Estate agent whom we would highly reco...

Ray C.

Geoff Dunlevie is without a doubt the poster child of 'impressive, masterful, and excellent. His responsiveness is commendable. He is possibly the most trustworthy agent we have ever dealt with which is why we sought him out. G...

Greg G.

Geoff was very professional during the sale of our home in Dana Point. We had several choices of Realtors® to choose from but Goeff was the easy choice for us because of his reputation. Any issues that cropped up were handled q...

Scott & Denice

We used Geoff to help us find a long-term rental. We ended up locking in the rental as Geoff visited sites and did a Facetime video with us when we could not travel to see properties. He was super at listening to what we wanted...

Andrew B.

Geoff made the entire home buying process a breeze, particularly so in the difficult buyer’s market of today. He had answers to all of my questions, was not afraid to lay out hard truths for me, and was patient with me. Most im...

Nick W.

This was our second transaction with Geoff, this time as a seller, and his knowledge and expertise helped to sell our home quickly and efficiently. We would highly recommend Geoff for all of your home buying or selling needs.

Karen P.

We just purchased a condo in Laguna Niguel and Geoff was informative and professional and helped us through the process. This was our first experience with Geoff and I would highly recommend him. Thanks, Geoff.

Todd B.

Extremely professional and timely with the whole process. Knows Laguna Beach, Dana Point, and surrounding communities inside and out. Also quickly located and secured a tenant for new investment property.

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Their professionalism, experience, combined with their hard work ethic, interpersonal skills, and professionalism make them valuable assets to buyers, sellers, and investors in the ever-changing real estate markets.

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Buyer's Guide