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Buyer's Guide

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 our team will help reduce the stress of buying a home and help you enjoy the journey as much as possible.

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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.

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Step 2: Decide on Your Budget

Notice we 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.

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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.

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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 agents like us to take much of the stress off your shoulders? Not only will we help identify properties you might be interested in, arrange showings, and ultimately handle the offer process, but we also have knowledge of the market that you don’t possess. Finding the perfect home can be a daunting task, this is where our expertise and wealth of knowledge come into play. Let us show you around some homes that meet your dream home criteria so you can find the one that's right for you.

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!). We 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.

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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. We 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.

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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. We 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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

See Why Our Clients Love Us

Success Stories

"Working with Robert was a great experience. My wife and I could not have asked for a better agent. After looking for a place that had everything we wanted for 12 years, we spent the last few with Robert. Being picky about where and what we ended up with, we found the perfect place for us. Robert was instrumental in keeping the process rolling with excellent communication about anything pertaining to the property. What everyone should know about Robert is that he has the patience of job and through great obstacles was always there for us. Robert will be our agent if we ever make another move."
"Working with Robert was a great experience. My wife and I could not have asked for a better agent. After looking for a place that had everything we wanted for 12 years, we spent the last few with Robert. Being picky about where and what we ended up with, we found the perfect place for us. Robert was instrumental in keeping the process rolling with excellent communication about anything pertaining to the property. What everyone should know about Robert is that he has the patience of job and through great obstacles was always there for us. Robert will be our agent if we ever make another move."
Allen B.
"From Open House to contract signed to closing all in 16 days! Wow! Thank you Coastal Luxury Homes Real Estate for your professionalism, tireless work ethic, and friendship. Amazing experience from start to finish, we would highly recommend you to anyone buying or selling! See you at the next DI event under the Coastal Luxury Homes Real Estate tent."
"From Open House to contract signed to closing all in 16 days! Wow! Thank you Coastal Luxury Homes Real Estate for your professionalism, tireless work ethic, and friendship. Amazing experience from start to finish, we would highly recommend you to anyone buying or selling! See you at the next DI event under the Coastal Luxury Homes Real Estate tent."
Beth F.
"Coastal Luxury Homes Real Estate provided an outstanding, personal selling experience. This motivated team fully understands the market and applies their knowledge to get us the highest price for our home. Their communication skills are unmatched, keeping us informed every step of the way. Additionally, they used every aspect of social media to advertise our home and it obviously paid off as they sold our home in 16 days from open house to closing. We took their recommendations for staging, marketing, etc. and it paid off better than we had hoped. Finally, the closing was organized, quick, and easy. They did all the hard work and left us to reap the benefits."
"Coastal Luxury Homes Real Estate provided an outstanding, personal selling experience. This motivated team fully understands the market and applies their knowledge to get us the highest price for our home. Their communication skills are unmatched, keeping us informed every step of the way. Additionally, they used every aspect of social media to advertise our home and it obviously paid off as they sold our home in 16 days from open house to closing. We took their recommendations for staging, marketing, etc. and it paid off better than we had hoped. Finally, the closing was organized, quick, and easy. They did all the hard work and left us to reap the benefits."
Chuck B.
"Robert was outstanding. It was my daughter’s first home purchase and he helped us every step of the way. She is working out of the country, so he dealt with me a lot of the time. He went above and beyond with group texts, emails, information, resources, contacts, and every kind of question that we had in the process of my daughter’s first Real Estate Purchase. Coastal Luxury Homes Real Estate is a gem to work with and we look forward to working with them again in the future."
"Robert was outstanding. It was my daughter’s first home purchase and he helped us every step of the way. She is working out of the country, so he dealt with me a lot of the time. He went above and beyond with group texts, emails, information, resources, contacts, and every kind of question that we had in the process of my daughter’s first Real Estate Purchase. Coastal Luxury Homes Real Estate is a gem to work with and we look forward to working with them again in the future."
Janet D.
"Coastal Luxury Homes Real Estate is the best in the business. Living out of state and being new to the SC buyers' market, we greatly appreciated the time they took to educate us with their vast knowledge. They listened and asked the right questions so that they could work efficiently on our behalf. They provided video walk-throughs of homes with detailed commentary when we could not be present. They consistently provided timely and informed answers to our endless questions. We felt very well represented from the early stages through negotiation, to the final purchase of our dream home. They have their own unique brand of professionalism, energy, and integrity. The passion and commitment they demonstrated in helping us find our retirement home was exemplary. We would recommend them to family and friends without reservation."
"Coastal Luxury Homes Real Estate is the best in the business. Living out of state and being new to the SC buyers' market, we greatly appreciated the time they took to educate us with their vast knowledge. They listened and asked the right questions so that they could work efficiently on our behalf. They provided video walk-throughs of homes with detailed commentary when we could not be present. They consistently provided timely and informed answers to our endless questions. We felt very well represented from the early stages through negotiation, to the final purchase of our dream home. They have their own unique brand of professionalism, energy, and integrity. The passion and commitment they demonstrated in helping us find our retirement home was exemplary. We would recommend them to family and friends without reservation."
Marie O.
"Very highly recommended team. Responsive, friendly, proactive. Smooth transaction. Great knowledge of area, comparables, and market. Willing to go the extra mile to facilitate transactions."
"Very highly recommended team. Responsive, friendly, proactive. Smooth transaction. Great knowledge of area, comparables, and market. Willing to go the extra mile to facilitate transactions."
Buyer