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.

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. 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 personalized service 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.

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.

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Anthony T.

Molly did a fantastic job selling my home in Solana Beach. Her depth of local knowledge about the Solana Beach market was incredibly helpful in procuring a buyer and completing our sale. She helped us in navigating and negotiat...

Holly L.

My brother and I recently sold some property in Solana Beach and Molly Fleming was our real estate agent. I felt very lucky that Molly was the consummate professional from beginning to end. It has been my experience that real e...

Andrew R.

We randomly met Molly as she was showing one of the units in the complex we were renting in at the time and made an immediate connection with her outgoing personality and bright smile. My fiance and I were in no way at all in a...

The Wymers

We can not say enough positive things about Molly and the energy and professionalism that she brings to the table. You will find her tireless and resilient in support of you. Having previously sold with Molly, we used her servi...

Katie P.

As new residents to the State of California from Maryland - Molly made the seemingly daunting task of purchasing a home from across the country super easy! Molly took three whole days out of her schedule to drive us around to a...

Jeff & Nicolle D.

We had the pleasure of working with Molly Fleming for the sale of our previous home and the purchase of our existing one. She is so personable and wonderful to work with. Her expertise in the field is outstanding and her patien...

Mary O.

Molly was an exceptional realtor in every way. She guided us through the process from the time we first thought about selling through the closing. She responded to all of our questions and concerns in a timely manner. She under...

The Delgados

It is our great pleasure to highly recommend Molly Fleming. Over the years we have had many real estate transactions, but we have never encountered anyone quite like Molly! Because our beach condo was 2 hours from home, Molly t...

Steve F.

Molly Fleming is an excellent realtor. She is extremely knowledgeable and has great negotiating skills. We told her our criteria for investment property and she found exactly what we asked for in record time. She is very inform...

Tracy B.

Molly was an excellent guide throughout the whole process. It was a very emotional and personal event (my mom's house) so I especially appreciated her being so trustworthy, both professionally and personally, she spared me so m...

Lauren D.

Molly was a joy to work with. Very professional and also very personable. She provided excellent advice and the sale of our property was almost exactly as she predicted. We had a full-price offer within 5 days and the entire es...

Laura D.

My husband and I have worked with Molly on four separate transactions (buying and selling). She is professional, hard-working, and incredibly knowledgeable. She helped us find the perfect home, identify the best offer for our c...

Dena M.

Molly and I connected immediately. We had an enjoyable time doing a process that is not always fun. Once I decided on a realtor, Molly had pictures taken and we were on the market within 2 days. On day one on the market we had ...

Davidson

Molly was a pleasure to work with in searching for a new home. She was attentive to our needs at every point and showed us numerous properties within our price range and location concerns. Her genial demeanor and professionalis...

Cindy H.

Molly exceeded all my expectations. She was responsive, a careful listener, professional and friendly. Despite a hot market, she didn’t take shortcuts. She put in a lot of work on my behalf and paid attention to all the details...

Katie B.

Molly is a knowledgeable, experienced Realtor who I would recommend highly to anyone! She is a great communicator, organized, efficient, and a great negotiator. She also helped us with finding schools and resources since we wer...

Stefanie M.

My husband and I highly recommend Molly. She is very professional, personal, and a pleasure to work with. Her communication skills are top notch and she always provided quick answers to any questions we had during the process. ...

Suzanne G.

Molly was an amazing Realtor. She was very professional and prompt. Molly was flexible, and a great negotiator. As our agent, she explained the process and contract well. I would highly recommend Molly when buying or selling yo...

Elsbeth R.

Molly Fleming is perceptive and was quick to ascertain our needs in the recent sale of my mother's property. We got the price we wanted and a speedy closing. Her honesty and due diligence worked wonders for us. Very, very satis...

Genevieve P.

Molly was wonderful to work with! She was incredibly knowledgeable about the area and the current market. Our home sold quickly and easily thanks to Molly’s expertise, professionalism, and overall ease to work. Highly recommend!

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