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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 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.

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.

Testimonials

Barbara & Leonard

We just bought a condo in Santa Barbara and Alyssa was our agent. She is a dream to work with. She is young, full of energy, has great interpersonal/people skills, and has poise and intelligence. Alyssa made herself easily avai...

Julie G.

I would recommend Alyssa Jones for both buying or selling your home. I was under a time crunch for an estate that I was an administrator for. She went above and beyond what I would expect my realtor to do. She is amazing! She i...

Noah L.

John and Alyssa have continually gone above and beyond to be a trusted advisor in this process. Both were not at all afraid to get their hands dirty in helping through the entire process, from loan to escrow/title, to even gett...

Mark M.

I highly recommend Alyssa for your property listing and sale requirements. I live in Australia and Alyssa did a fantastic job of marketing and negotiating the sale (my Santa Barbara, CA property) and the nuances of managing the...

Bob & Tina H.

Wow! John and Alyssa have been outstanding in every sense. In a demanding market, they helped us gain a top price for our home, with minimal effort for us and helped us quickly find and acquire a wonderful new home. They are hi...

Morgan G.

Honestly had the best experience! They are so knowledgeable and personable and easy to work with, but are also great advocates for their clients! They go above and beyond to serve their clients. They got us in early to see a ho...

Bronwen B.

A delightful team to work with! We appreciate the attention to what we were looking for in a property and the great communication in a rapidly changing market. We would choose Sener and Jones for future real estate needs.

Gary & Patricia G.

My wife and I had a wonderful experience with John Sener and Alyssa Jones of Sener Jones Associates during our recent Santa Barbara home purchase experience. We were living out of the area before coming here and were so pleased...

Barbara P. & Leonard J.

We are repeat customers and are so pleased to have had the pleasure of working with the Sener Jones team again. Alyssa always goes the extra mile with her beautiful smile and a very diligent work ethic. They know their business...

Cynthia W.

I can’t say enough about how wonderful both John and Alyssa are to work with. Their professionalism, attention to detail, wide knowledge of the market, and always excellent advice were key to the success of our recent real esta...

Richard N.

Sener Jones Associates did an excellent job marketing and selling our house and provided valuable insights to make the process go as smoothly as possible. Their knowledge of the housing market in Santa Barbara and our specific ...

Larry & Stephanie

John and Alyssa combine detailed knowledge of Santa Barbara with an unparalleled level of friendly efficient support. They made fast and trouble-free work of our condo purchase. We don’t see how we would have made it without them.

Sharon L.

John and Alyssa are the best! They are caring, knowledgeable, available, generous with their time, understanding, efficient, and a joy to work with. I feel and felt very well taken care of in purchasing a new home and selling m...

Andrea L.

Amazing! I cannot say enough wonderful things! They went above and beyond!

Charlotte C. & Matt R.

We had the best experience with John and Alyssa. So much so that we will never use other agents again. We were expertly guided through several showings and many tricky negotiations with the seller before closing on our home. Th...

Buyer

Alyssa is currently helping me look for a home in the Santa Barbara area. You can tell she has a great deal of knowledge and love for the town she is working in. She has been very reliable and motivated and always one step ahea...

Chris & Christine J.

Professional, dedicated, and attentive personalized service. I highly recommend their services.

Megan G.

10/10! Would use Alyssa again in a heartbeat. She used her extended knowledge and expertise to help me negotiate a deal on an office space for my business. I am now running my business comfortably thanks to her!

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