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 a 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.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Great service, always on top of deadlines and paperwork, easy to work with, and came to me. Thanks again, Donovan.

— Buyer | Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Donovan was amazing. he made this whole process seem a lot easier than it could have been. this is a huge decision and with the housing market the way it is, you have to have a very proactive realtor. Donovan was that man. I would recommend him 100 times over.

— Justin W.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

We contacted Donavan after a friend told us about him. We weren't sure we were ready to buy but wanted to see what was out there. He listened carefully to our likes and dislikes, the floor plan we wanted, the style of the home, and what area we wanted. After all, we were just browsing. He found a home in the area we wanted, and the price range we were interested in. He set up a time for us to look at it,...

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Donavan helped me and my wife find and purchase the best home for us. He made the process fast and smooth it was not stressful at all. He was very familiar with the area and helped us find the best house for our needs. He was great at communicating with us and answered any questions that we had. He negotiated excellently and gave us the best deal we could have got. I highly recommend Donavan Allen to any...

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

He helped me sell my home quickly and then helped me through the process of buying a new one. He is very good at communicating and is very personable. You can tell he enjoys his job and is knowledgeable.

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Amazing to work with made the whole process of selling and buying my new home easy and answered all my questions. Thank you Donavan for finding my family’s dream home.

— Michael K.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

We were so grateful to have Donavan help us find the perfect first home. He walked through each house pointing out the flaws and the great qualities of each home. He was always willing to meet with us at any house we were interested in and be so positive no matter how they were. He was helpful to us being first-time home buyers walking us through all the details and helping us put in the best bid for us.

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

The best there is! He always goes the extra mile to make sure your experience purchasing or selling is no less than amazing!

— Breanna M.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Donavan is the realtor you want on your side! He is knowledgeable, quick to respond, helpful, and has his client's best interests in mind. He never tires of answering my thousands of questions. We have loved working with him and look forward to working with him in the future!

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY

Over the past few years, I have bought and sold multiple homes in multiple states. I have worked with many realtors and have always felt they cared more about the sale than about my needs. Then I met Donavan. From the start, he was knowledgeable, kind, and patient. We were trying to find the right home in the Richfield area and spent months looking at many houses and not once did I feel pushed into a hom...

— Jake D.

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We pride ourselves in providing personalized solutions that bring our clients closer to their dream properties and enhance their long-term wealth. Contact us today to find out how we can be of assistance to you!

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Donavan Allen

(435) 893-1289

[email protected]

 

Tyson Hansen

(435) 287-9223

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108 N Main St Ste 206
Richfield UT 84701