Whether you are buying a home for the first time or the fifteenth, there are critical things you need to know and hundreds of details to keep in mind. When you work with The Condo Advisory, you’ll have a trusted real estate advisor on your side. We’ll help you understand the entire process, end to end, and ensure a flawless execution. Our goal is to make sure that your home buying experience is as smooth and stress-free as possible.
Following are the steps to buying a home, and where The Condo Advisory team steps in:
01 Initial Consultation
Having realistic expectations about the current real estate market, what you can afford, and your timeline to close are critical to your success. We’ll start with an initial consultation, where we will learn all about you and what you are looking for. We’ll review the entire home buying process and what we will do for you every step along the way. We’ll look at your timeframe and anything that may alter your ability to move on a property, such as whether you have another property to sell. We’ll also talk about our communication styles and preferences, key to ensuring a smooth and mutually satisfying outcome. At the end of our initial consultation, we’ll have a realistic plan for moving forward.
02 Determining Your Wants and Needs
We’ll discuss and get clear about your needs and wants. Your needs are the things you absolutely cannot live without – you won’t even look at a property unless it has every single one of them. Your wants are the things you’d really like, but can live without. Once we fully understand what you are looking for, we’ll talk about the right San Francisco neighborhoods for you to consider and the average home prices. We are San Francisco residents and understand the city’s micro-lifestyles.
03 Financing and Budget
We can help you understand the lending landscape. If you’ll need a loan to help purchase your home, we can help you connect with a trusted lender – we have partnered with many excellent lenders in the past, and we can find the right one for your needs. We can also introduce you to tax and financial professionals who can help you understand the benefits and ramifications of your prospective purchase.
04 Finding the home of your dreams
We always keep current with the San Francisco real estate market, so we often know about new properties before they are announced on the MLS. We understand that your time is valuable, so we will do all of the legwork for you. We will only tour properties that match your needs, whenever you are available. We will also correct course, if needed, based on what we learn about market conditions.
05 Making an Offer
We can help you understand the lending landscape. If you’ll need a loan to help purchase your home, we can help you connect with a trusted lender – we have partnered with many excellent lenders in the past, and we can find the right one for your needs. We can also introduce you to tax and financial professionals who can help you understand the benefits and ramifications of your prospective purchase.
06 Managing the purchase process and timeline
We will manage all of the details necessary for escrow, to meet your lender’s requirements and for the listing agent, including: setting up an escrow account to pay your property taxes and insurance premiums, ordering the preliminary title report from the title company, submitting the purchase contract to the lender for processing, and ensuring the lender has scheduled an appraisal so that we can receive financing approval.
07 Inspections to ensure the property’s condition
We will work with you to set up all of the necessary home inspections: property, pest, chimney, roof, etc. We will review the seller’s disclosures and the homeowner’s association documents, if any. If new critical issues are discovered during the inspections, we will help you negotiate the necessary repairs, or else renegotiate the sales price.
After we have completed the property inspections and have confirmation of the loan document approval, contingencies will be removed.
08 Closing - almost there
We will do a final walkthrough of the home together to confirm its condition and the completion of any requested repairs. We will review your closing and transaction costs. You will need to sign the loan documents, and provide a cashier’s check or send a wire for the down payment and closing costs. The lender will send the balance of the funding to the title company. We will ensure that the title company representative records the deed at the county recorder’s office.
You will receive a copy of the HUD/Settlement statement – you’ll need it next year when you prepare your taxes.
09 Congratulations! You’ll receive the keys to your new home!
10 Moving In
We can help you with any of the details of your move and settling in. We have a large network of trusted experts we can bring in, including: movers, home designers, remodelers, electricians, etc.
You will want to set up all of the necessary utilities: electricity, water, garbage, phone, Internet, alarm, etc. You may need to contact the HOA office as well. You’ll need to change all the locks on your doors and update the security system. We can provide phone numbers and contact information, wherever needed.