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.
Before embarking on the home-buying journey, it is crucial to lay a solid foundation. Start by organizing your finances, ensuring that you have a clear picture of your income, expenses, and savings. Additionally, check your credit to address any discrepancies or improve your credit score, as a favorable credit history plays a pivotal role in securing a mortgage. Getting yourself organized in these aspects sets the stage for a smoother and more confident entrance into the home-buying process.
Get in touch and put your trust into professionals. We will hold your hand and guide you through the entire process, from the start and pre-approval process to after closing on your home. Not only will we help identify possible properties of interest, arrange showings, and ultimately handle the offer process, but we also have the necessary knowledge pertaining to our market, contracts in order to negotiate you the best possible price and terms.
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 most sellers won’t entertain offers from those who aren’t already pre-approved for a loan.
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 in which you feel comfortable. 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 are important to consider.
This should be the most enjoyable step of the entire process (other than moving in!). We will arrange showings of homes you’re interested in that are within your price range. We will take close note of your likes and dislikes, needs and desires to narrow down your search.
It is common practice that sellers have property inspections done upfront in our market. If you find a home particularly interesting and are considering making an offer, we will gain access, share, and review the respective property inspections and disclosures packet with you. This way we understand the property condition prior to making any offer. You are also entitled to having your own inspections.
Once you have selected the perfect home and reviewed the disclosure packet, we will work 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, our offer may be below, at, or even above the asking price. We will be able to help guide and negotiate for you in order to reach an agreement. At this point, the house will go into escrow.
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.
Paperwork is a lesser exciting, yet necessary step in buying a home. Fortunately, it's almost all done electronically and everything will be arranged by us, your lender, and the title company. Our dedicated transaction coordinator will ensure all paperwork is executed throughout the process. Signing day is typically in person at the title company.
Once the necessary key closing activities have taken place, you will go on record with the county recorder's office as the new owner. You will want to move all utilities into your name at the new residence. At this point you will receive the keys to your new home and the moving and celebrations can commence!
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.
I would like to share my experience with Team Bondanza. I originally met Allie, a very intelligent and kind young woman. My work is based in Marin County and I know some realtors. After having the loan to purchase the house, I ...
The father-daughter team of Joe and Allie Bondanza went above and beyond what is expected of a team. They worked aggressively to market our home. They led us through the process, listening to our concerns and giving us sound ad...
We are very pleased to have Joe & Allie Bondanza as our agents to sell our house. We were ready to move out and sell our home as is. Joe politely suggested we do some cleanup and updating. We were very comfortable with the amou...
Joe and Allie helped us buy our new home and sold our mother’s home all without a hitch within a month. We couldn’t be happier with them.
I would like to recommend Allie and Joe to anyone that needs a competent, professional and caring realtor. They took over the selling of my mother's home for me. It was stress free in a time that I was experiencing sadness and ...
Joe and Allie helped my wife and I purchase our first home. We were a little intimidated since this was our first time. Especially because we had some unique financing with using the VA Loan. Joe and Allie were very knowledgeab...
Joe has been our agent for many years and he and Allie have recently helped us sell our family home. Their service is always personal, professional and attentive and I highly recommend Joe and Allie for anyone looking for an ou...
I had a very positive experience with Team Bondanza! Joe and Allie are 1st rate agents, in my eyes. They kept me on the right path and I did find my perfect home in the perfect neighborhood. They were knowledgeable about the ma...
What an amazingly efficient, knowledgeable and talented team! Allie and Joe have complimentary skills that give clients a clear advantage in all phases of a transaction. Allie's eye for decorating and 'thinking outside the bo...
Joe and Allie handled our recent sale. They gave good advice on where to spend money ahead of the listing and maximize the outcome. Very pleased!
Joe and Allie are great! A professional and fantastic team. Highly recommended!
They are professional, dedicated, hard working, reliable, and experienced team that you can relying on them till the end. Although I have to mention that after few months of our closing still they are checking on us and making ...
Our family has owned five homes prior to the home we sold and then purchased with the assistance of Team Bondanza. The professionalism and attention to detail that Team Bondanza provided far exceeded our experience with prior ...
Joe & Allie provided tremendous insights and guidance for a first-time home buyer. Their experience and timeliness were unmatched, helping me find my first home! They made the transition to my new home seamless and continue to ...
As a Trust and Estates Paralegal, now a Trust Officer, I regularly need realtors with decedent Trust and Estate sales experience. I couldn't be happier with Team Bondanza! Joe and Allie are professional and efficient, their cus...
We can't say enough amazing things about Team Bondanza! Joe and Allie have always made us feel like family, and their dedication throughout our entire home journey was absolutely incredible. They responded to late-night texts w...
My husband and I had the great pleasure of working with Allie and Joe Bondanza during our home buying process. They bring generational knowledge when it comes to Marin County real estate and it shows throughout every step of th...
Team Bondanza's philosophy is that their clients always come first. We pride ourselves on building our business on relationships. Thus, we work to provide our clients with outstanding service and care both during and long after every sale. Referrals are the foundation of our business, so we aim to exceed your expectations every step of the way!