Buyer's Guide

Buying a home is one of the most exciting milestones of your life.

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: 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.

Step 4: 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.

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!). 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.

Our Testimonials

Kristen S.

Prior to meeting Lana, I was struggling to sell my townhome. On my behalf, Lana talked to other agents who had successfully sold properties in the same neighborhood and used that information to make a 'game plan' for the townho...

Mark B.

5-Stars is an understatement. As a Real Estate investor, I have purchased and sold many, many properties both with Brokers and on my own. Having this team providing "guru" level strategies to coordinate and negotiate for our in...

Regan

We have worked with this team for 4 residential Real Estate transactions and could not be happier with our experiences. Some transactions were more complex and very time-sensitive and they worked incredibly efficiently and quic...

Joe Y.

Lana and her collective are an invaluable asset to our team and integral to our business’s success. We’ve worked with this team since 2016 and the synergy we’ve created over the last few years has been tremendous. Each of them ...

Teresa

My husband and I worked with Matthew to both sell and purchase a home and both experiences were phenomenal. We have worked with other agents in years past and had been disappointed with what we found in the Charlotte market, bu...

Dennis W.

I have worked with Lana and The Laws Collective for the last couple of years on investment properties in the Charlotte area. Their knowledge of the market and their quick response time to my texts and calls are very important t...

Alex H.

If you're looking for expert buying and selling agents, Lana and Pat are the very best. We decided to sell our home in the middle of a pandemic and not only were they able to help us move quickly to get our house on the market,...

Hayes P.

I recently sold my Myers Park house with Patrick and while this can be a very stressful process, I felt 110% confident by partnering with Patrick and the company. He was candid, provided great feedback, helped explain clearly a...

Tim Mc.

Pat and Lana have sold 38 properties for me on two projects. They're excellent at what they do and understand Real Estate from beginning to end. They are consummate area experts to the highest degree and have a comprehensive un...

Allison D.

I can't even put into words how easy Lana and her team made this process for me. I bought my first home which at first I thought was going to be extremely stressful but she held my hand every step of the way as well as educated...

Nick

This was my first time buying a home and Matthew was great. He educated me on all the various home buying steps and what to expect, what to look for when evaluating a home, the various ups and downs of putting in an offer, and ...

Buyer | Seller

Patrick is a professional and knowledgeable agent who always has his client's best interests in mind. He spent the time and energy to truly understand what we were looking for in a house and sharply focused his efforts in that ...

Andrew S.

Deely and Laws were simply amazing. Flexible with scheduling viewing times and all-around awesome people to work with. I had a special case and had to switch lenders halfway through while being under contract and they were fant...

Jared & Ashley

Thank you so much for helping us find the perfect first home. Thank you for your patience and understanding throughout our search. We all know it’s tough to deal with Jared sometimes J. We are very excited to start this next ch...

Holt B.

This is purchase number 2 for me through the talented duo of Deely and Laws. The team is patient, available, and willing to provide advice and recommendations. Lana and Pat are an asset to anyone looking to purchase Real Estate...

Rachel & Brandon J.

Pat and Lana are a great team and have supported our Real Estate purchases and sales for many years. They play off of each other’s strengths to ensure the desired outcome. They have made a name for themselves in Charlotte, whic...

Mildred & John

Excellent professional and always looked out for our best interest. Pat worked long and tirelessly to find us the place we wanted. He never gave up and continued to provide his services to us when others may have abandoned us. ...

Buyer

Lana has been great to work with. Our specific needs and schedules were easily accommodated. We never felt under pressure to comprise and she was patient with us until we found the perfect fit. Lana and Pat work so well togethe...

Ed & Lynn

It has been such a pleasure working with you. You are truly great at what you do. You are thorough, responsive, patient, and professional. Not to mention just a nice person to be around. We truly appreciate all the time you’ve ...

Buyer & Seller

Lana is a conscientious buyer and seller's agent. She has an amazing working knowledge of her area and comes highly recommended by many Charlotteans.

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Whether you’re searching for your new home in Dilworth, downsizing from the suburbs to a condo on the light rail, looking to sell your bungalow in Plaza Midwood, or preparing to develop Center City’s next high rise, we’re here to help.