Buying · First-time buyers
Your first purchase, explained without the shorthand.
Real estate runs on jargon and compressed timelines. Neither is your fault. Here is what the process actually consists of, in order.
Work out what you can carry
Not what you qualify for on paper. What you can pay every month without resenting the house. Those are different numbers and the second one matters more.
Get pre-approved
A lender reviews your income, assets and credit and issues a letter. This is what makes your offer real to a seller. It also surfaces problems while they are still fixable.
Search and tour
Expect your criteria to change once you have walked through a dozen homes. That is normal and it is information, not indecision.
Write an offer
Price is one term among many. Deposit, contingency periods, closing timeline and how you handle repairs all move the needle, sometimes more than money does.
Escrow and contingencies
Inspections, disclosures, appraisal and loan approval all happen on deadlines. Miss one and you can weaken your position or risk your deposit. This is the part Alex watches closely.
Close
Final walkthrough, signing, funding, recording, keys. The gap between signing and getting keys surprises almost every first-time buyer, so plan your move around recording rather than signing.
Worth knowing early
Four things that catch first-time buyers
Closing costs are separate
Your down payment is not the whole cash requirement. Budget for closing costs on top of it.
Do not move money around
Large unexplained deposits, new credit cards or a car loan mid-escrow can undo a loan approval.
Read the disclosures
California sellers disclose a great deal. It is dense, and it is where the real information lives.
Associations have rules
If there is an association, its documents govern what you can do with the property. Read them during your contingency period.
Ask the questions you think are obvious
They almost never are, and Alex would rather answer them now than in escrow.