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

My 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!). I 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. I 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. I 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.

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Stellie
Carrie is a powerhouse of knowledge, ability, and energy. From beginning to end she is working to achieve the best result for her client. I called Carrie following my sister's passing, she stepped right up connecting me with solid advice and direction. What could have been a very complicated Probate Sale turned out to be a painless, quick, and very successful process.

— Seller

Carrie is the best! My husband and I just bought our first home and Carrie went above and beyond to help us! She was always available, took her time explaining everything to us, and was incredibly knowledgeable about the housing market. She knows the “good” parts of each neighborhood, which neighborhoods are “up and coming” and she ultimately found the perfect street for us. She is honest and truly wants...

— Buyer

We could not have been more pleased with Carrie's responsiveness to all of our concerns and with the spectacular result in the sale of our home. From the time we signed the listing to the date we opened escrow was a mere 15 days. The marketing of our home was next to perfect. Carrie gave very useful advice on preparing our home to be shown. The open house process was flawless and was completed with a min...

— Seller

Carrie was fantastic! The time came to sell my mother's home and Carrie was recommended to us, it couldn't have been a better referral. She was easy to work with, great and frequent communications and we go almost 20% more than our asking price! Selling a home is not something I do on daily basis, like hardly ever, and so I followed most of Carrie’s recommendations with regards to updating the interior/e...

— Seller

As empty nesters, we finally decided the time was right to downsize. Carrie was our agent and we are so happy we chose her. She helped us through the stressful negotiation process of both buying and selling. Her advice, communication skills, and experience in the market helped us sell our house for a figure I hoped for but was doubtful we could achieve. We highly recommend Carrie!

— Susan B.

Real Estate Agent Extraordinaire! We were out-of-town buyers and needed someone with inside expertise. My husband recalled her column in the local San Marino newspaper and said let's try her! Responsive, personal, tireless, determined but mostly, wise. We endured a couple of disappointments and due to her intuitive and honest opinions of our circumstances, we now have the perfect home for us! Carrie, we ...

— Buyer

Carrie helped our family look for and find the perfect home! She took the time to share with us specific homes in specific neighborhoods that she knew we would find attractive because she took the time to listen to exactly what we we were looking for. She was patient when we had troubles with our lender and actually even gave us a few other options (although it ultimately became unnecessary) to procure o...

— Sean D.

Carrie did a fantastic job for us in buying a loft downtown. She found exactly what we wanted and helped us get the right price! She worked with us closely throughout the process. She is a joy to work with. We highly recommend her.

— Buyer

Carrie has represented my wife and me for over 8 years on three separate transactions and each was carried out flawlessly to our satisfaction. Carrie is very responsive, and innovative, and always has our best interest in mind. She was professional and used her experience in negotiations as we purchased and sold properties in down and up markets - all of which were done on time and closed without any iss...

— Buyer

Carrie helped me and my husband find our first home in Los Angeles. We had just moved back from New York and were looking to buy a home. We looked all over the LA area. West LA, Miracle Mile, and then Downtown LA. She was very helpful and knowledgeable about all the areas. She ended up finding us a beautiful brand-new loft in Downtown LA that we fell in love with. Carrie is very responsive, and helpful, ...

— Stellie

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CARRIE LEINEN

(512) 599-2388

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1801 S Mopac Expy Ste 310
Austin TX 78746