Buyer's Guide

A Step-by-Step

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.

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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.

Embracing Your Next Adventure

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. 

Client Reviews

Ellen G.

Ellen G.

We are so grateful to Lauren and Steven for helping us navigate the process of selling our first home with ease and success! They guided and counseled us regarding the state of the market over the course of several months, and ...
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Sabra B.

Sabra B.

The Warnekes made our home dreams come true in a tough buyers' market. Steven and Lauren's advice and guidance led to our offer being accepted when many others were on the table. They helped us navigate difficult situations by ...
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Patricia W.

Patricia W.

Steven went above and beyond to make the sale as easy as possible. He was prepared and well-informed when we were ready to list the property. He did all showings and visits to the property in person. He was always very responsi...
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Bethany W.

Bethany W.

It was a pleasure working with Lauren and Steven! Lauren was there every step of the way for us! We had many unique challenges thrown at us, but she kept the process moving forward. She was always available to answer questions ...
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Aubrey C.

Aubrey C.

We can't say enough good things about Steven and Lauren! In this crazy market, Steven worked hard to find our family an off-market listing that checked off everything we were looking for in a new home in Tampa! Steven and Laure...
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Melissa W.

Melissa W.

Steven and Lauren were fantastic to work with! They were incredibly responsive and able to make our sale happen on an impressively quick timeline. They provided great recommendations for showing our home and we were very satisf...
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Jenna S.

Jenna S.

The Warneke team helped us navigate the very volatile housing market of 2022 and we could not have successfully completed our real estate transactions without them. With the Warneke team, we were able to go under contract on th...
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Cecilia W.

Cecilia W.

Steven and Lauren Warneke recently listed and sold our childhood home after our father's passing. They were so informative about the current market, worked with us on setting an asking price and worked tirelessly to bring an of...
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John C.

John C.

My wife and I cannot say enough about the quality, professionalism, and kindness of Steven and Lauren. They not only cared about our home-buying experience, but us as people, and were more concerned about how a property fit wit...
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Alyssa V.

Alyssa V.

Steven was a pleasure to work with. From his knowledge of the region, to current market trends and all relevant details in between- he offered a reassuring, knowledgeable, resourceful and professional experience for near-first-...
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Jingli G.

Jingli G.

The process of buying a home is very stressful. We are not a first-time home buyer. We thought we knew about every step of the process, but we have to say, even when it looks like a very straightforward process you may still en...
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Gordon H.

Gordon H.

Steven went above and beyond for us and was a real pleasure to work with and the whole team was very professional and responsive.
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Anthony D.

Anthony D.

Steven and Lauren were wonderful, and we were lucky to have them helping us to sell our home. We will continue to recommend them to anyone we know in need of a realtor.
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