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.

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 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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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Patty S.

Highly professional and well respected. Bill and Ann are known for their integrity, they have a wealth of knowledge about the market, excellent relationships within their profession and the community, and they are incredibly ni...

Nancy D.

Bill helped us sell our home, and buy a new home. Bill is extremely knowledgeable and caring. Bill is a leader in his industry, and anyone would benefit from his knowledge and experience. When it comes to a realtor, there is on...

Karen T.

Bill and his team secured a full price offer before the home was officially listed. I credit this to his knowledge of and involvement in the community where the home was listed. Selling a home is usually a very stressful situat...

Jonathon H.

Bill was our selling agent on two homes and buying agent for one home. So three transactions in total. Bill seems to know - literally - everyone in the area, and has been in the Southern Marin Real Estate market for many years,...

Patrick M.

Bill and Ann were excellent from our initial drive around to closing. We were first time home buyers purchasing a house in the very competitive Marin market. Their responsiveness, connections, and market knowledge ultimately he...

Jason F.

I am a licensed real estate broker working as a mortgage banker, and I have known Bill Smith for about 15 years. I have used him to list and sell many properties, and I am here to say that you will not find a better and more de...

Cecilia A.

We bought a condominium with Bill and Ann, who previewed properties for us and sent exceptional detailed evaluations highlighting relevant items. They cared about our individual preferences and did a great job matching those to...

Lisa L.

Bill & Ann are two terrific professionals and a pleasure to work with. We relocated to Belvedere from the East Coast and looked at numerous properties. Bill & Ann have an in depth knowledge of the area, the community and the ma...

Lowell S.

Bill is a pro. He has long established relationships in the real estate community, and the respect of his peers for good reason. Bill is a tough negotiator, he's thoughtful, and has excellent instincts. I have worked with him f...

Jim A.

We bought a property with Bill and Ann, who previewed properties for us and sent exceptional detailed evaluations highlighting relevant items. They cared about our individual preferences and did a great job matching those to pr...

Gina G.

We appreciate all you did for us, your understanding of our needs, and your good humor throughout the process. We were lucky to have found you.

Peter S.

Bill knew the market inside and out. He was hard working on our behalf, negotiated a good deal, and was on top of all the details necessary to close. I highly recommend Bill.

Linda M.

Bill and Ann are incredibly knowledgeable and a great resource for the Marin market. We worked with them last fall to purchase a home and, throughout the process, they educated us on the different Marin neighborhoods, patiently...

S. Miller

We recently sold our Tiburon property using Bill Smith as our agent. The home sold for over the asking price before listing. The purchaser was another client in Bill's real-estate office Compass. The process was stress free tha...

Sam W.

From our first conversation with Bill and Ann, it was clear they were professional, knowledgeable and empathetic. They listened to our goals and concerns and advised us with those top of mind. Their knowledge of Marin can't be ...

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Ann & Bill are a pleasure to work with. They are patient and well informed about the local market. They always had our best interests in mind and negotiated well on our behalf. They are extremely responsive and showed us numero...

Ashley J.

My husband and I worked with Bill Smith and Ann Aylwin last summer when we purchased a home in Marin. On both a personal and professional level, they are a pleasure to work with. They have incredible expertise on the local mark...

Brenda B.

When I was looking into moving to the Belvedere/Tiburon area, Bill came highly recommended to me as THE realtor to use to help find my future home. I found he more than lived up to this recommendation. Bill worked hard on my be...

Victoria S.

Ann Aylwin and Bill Smith are exemplary real estate professionals. They listen to their clients, respect their opinions and focus on their needs during the entire process. They offer excellent advice to the home buyer or seller...

Donna W.

It was time to sell my family home on the Belvedere lagoon. I was lucky enough to be introduced to the Smith & Aylwin Real Estate Team (Bill, Ann and Joe). After my initial meeting with them I knew they were listening and respe...

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