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 My Clients Say

Bought and sold my house with Serge. Awesome experience! Serge is very knowledgeable and made both sides of the process super easy. Highly recommend A+.

— Anton M. | Seller

What My Clients Say

Sergey was a Godsend when I seriously started looking to purchase a place. I dealt with a lot of real estate agents in my day and Sergey was one who was non-pushy, professional, and had immediate and excellent follow through. He helped me find the place of my dreams in just a few weeks. I highly recommend Sergey and his real estate team, simply because of the thoroughness and excellent servitude he provi...

— Theresa S.

What My Clients Say

Sergey helped me buy a 1 br in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. He is very professional and made the whole experience great and easy. Sergey was always available to answer my questions or concerns. I’m very thankful for his assistance and highly recommend him.

— Gradjola H.

What My Clients Say

Sergey was very helpful in aggregating the necessary documents and meeting due dates. It was a pleasure working with him, as he always made himself available to address questions.

— Beck

What My Clients Say

Selling a home is very stressful, but it was a pleasure with Sergey and Larissa. Their helpfulness and genuine "no problem is too big" attitude made us feel comfortable from the first day we spoke, and through the entire selling process. They are both energetic and their knowledge of our zip code was impressive. They had other "local" realtors beat hands down. Sergey and Larissa knew the exact amount we ...

— Seller

What My Clients Say

I had an excellent experience working with my real estate agent, Serge, who helped my family and I find the perfect home. We were impressed with their patience, knowledge, and professionalism throughout the entire process. Our agent took the time to understand our needs and preferences and provided us with valuable advice that helped us make the right decisions. Their expertise and attention to detail we...

— Buyer

What My Clients Say

Outstanding service from the entire Atlas Team. Their marketing strategies, negotiation skills, communications skills and attention to detail throughout the entire process was exceptional. They worked very closely with my family to overcome some challenges and partnered with us in all decision-making. Sergey is honest, hardworking and took the time to fully understand the needs of my family. Sergey and h...

— Seller

What My Clients Say

Serge and Larissa were amazing to work with. Patient, accommodate, punctual, and super professional. From start to finish, Serge was always attentive to details and on top of all the worries I had as a first time home buyer. He was able to find our dream home in a matter of one week and helped negotiate it to a price we were all comfortable with. I never felt pushed to commit to anything and always felt ...

— David D.

What My Clients Say

Sergey did an outstanding job helping us in selling our coop apartment on Sheep, Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. His professionalism and dedication helped the buyer to get the approval of the board, which is very difficult since the building is 100% coop. He was always reachable and responsible, and I highly recommend Sergey and his partner Larissa!

— Lana P.

What My Clients Say

Sergey is a great agent who is accommodating and responsive to all our questions. Definitely recommend him for anyone who is looking to buy a house. He is always making sure our first home buying experience goes smoothly.

— Buyer

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