STEP 1

Connect & Discuss Options

During our initial call or meeting (we are virtual as well), we'll get to know you and your goals and determine if we want to work together. We'll also take this time to explain how we plan to represent and guide you at every step of the process.

Next, we'll uncover what you're truly looking for and create your ultimate wishlist. This wishlist should include things like your likes, dislikes, and must-haves so we can begin narrowing down the homes on the market that fit your criteria.

STEP 2

Get Pre-Approved With My Preferred Lender

The last thing you want to do is fall in love with a home that's simply outside of your price range. Getting pre-qualified for a loan will prevent this from happening and allow you to focus on looking at homes that not only meet your criteria but more importantly, fit within your price range.

STEP 3

Find the One

Not only will we send you listings that meet your criteria, but we'll also set you up on MLS alerts so new listings are sent straight to your inbox. After browsing homes online and visiting the ones you really love in person, we'll get together and decide which home is the one!

STEP 4

Write an Offer

We'll offer our professional opinion of value and help you write a competitive offer, which is important in such a competitive market. Lucky for you, we're experts in this market and you can count on us to always do what's in your best interest.

Once you have an accepted offer, we'll arrange for inspections, appraisal, and mortgage approval. Not only is there negotiation needed on price, but also after inspections and appraisal. This may sound overwhelming but we're here to make this process as easy as possible for you.

STEP 5

Congratulations!

It's time to close on your dream home!

On settlement day, the final paperwork is signed and the home is officially handed over to you. You'll receive the keys and that's it, you're officially a new homeowner!

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THE STEP BY STEP HOME BUYING PROCESS

Step #1 GETTING QUALIFIED

Step one generally begins with collecting your paperwork in order to determine how much you qualify for or how much house you can buy we have to start by collecting the required paperwork. First thing that the lender will need is your driver's license and social security number. To get you your credit score, other documents like your W-2s, taxes and paycheck stubs will need to be gathered and uploaded to our secure portal to determine how much we qualify for it will generally take five days or less for us to get back your credit and qualification from the lender which we will then send over right to you.

Step #2 GOING OVER THE NUMBERS

Step two begins with going over the numbers. Here you will connect with me or one of our agents to go over how much you qualify for. We will cover what your down payment is, total money out of pocket and a monthly mortgage payment that will be based on the amount you qualify for. This is one of the most important parts of the process and probably my favorite part. It is important to feel comfortable with these numbers before you go shopping, which is one of the most exciting parts of the process.

Step #3 STARTING OUR HOME SEARCH!

Step three is applying our numbers. Once we are working with a number that we are comfortable with, we begin applying that to the cities, neighborhoods and communities that you love. We will sit down together in person or via zoom and really decide what you have to have in your home or what you can live without. Once we make sure that the criteria is dialed in, we will begin sending you all the homes that come to the market that fit your search.

Step #4 SCHEDULING HOMES TO SEE

At this point in the process you are getting homes that fit your criteria emailed to you as they hit the MLS. Depending on the neighborhood and market conditions, that should normally mean a few houses every day. As you see homes that you like, all you will have to do is select it on our website and we will get notified you are interested in it. Once we get alerted, we will reach out to the listing agent and find out whether the home is available, whether they have any offers or anything else that the agent is willing to share. If the home is available, we will ask you to drive by the neighborhood to make sure you are comfortable with it. Streets, blocks and neighborhoods can look very different than google maps, and with health and safety in mind we have found that it is important to drive by the house before scheduling a showing. Once you drive by and give us the green light, we will schedule a private showing.

Step #5 SHOPPING FOR A HOME

The fun part, SHOPPING. You will be meeting me to look at homes. Together we will do our best to give you the pros and cons of each home, as well as what to look out for. We always suggest bringing a phone to take pictures or paper to take some notes, because when we are looking at a lot of homes, it can sometimes become a real blur. Generally speaking, showings will last about 15 minutes, plus or minus depending on the size of the house.

Step #6 WRITING AN OFFER

Once we find the home we love, the next step is making an offer. This is one of the most important steps of the process because we don't always get a second chance to make a strong offer. Start with determining the right price. We get this number by comparing the property to other homes in the neighborhood and communicating with the listing agent about what the seller is looking for. We come to this number based on what is selling in the neighborhood and not just personal feeling. Outside the price, we will talk about the terms. In a competitive market, buyers are doing things like, removing appraisal contingency or covering a certain amount in the event appraisal comes low. But in a slower market, these are things we might not need to even worry about. We will discuss things like getting an inspection, asking for a home warranty, and what items will remain with the house. Once the details of the offer are fine-tuned and you sign it, we will send it over to the listing agent and don't stop following up no matter what, from calling, text messaging, finding them on social media, we will do our best to stay in front of the listing agent and get your offer accepted.

Step #7 YOUR OFFER IS ACCEPTED

Our offer is accepted! This is one of the most exciting parts of the process. Once we open escrow, the clock starts running. While escrow is generally 30 to 45 days in length, it can be longer or shorter depending on the circumstances. Typically we only have the first 7-10 days to complete all our due diligence. The first step in opening escrow is wiring your earnest money deposit. Normally, the deposit is 1-2% of the purchase price and can be wired or delivered in person within 2-3 days of getting your offer accepted. If you do wire, it takes the bank time to process it so the transfer generally needs to be done before 2:00 PM in order for the bank to receive it the same day. Any wire after 2:00 PM is processed the following business day. Because of bank fraud, escrow will always be the one reaching out to provide the wire information. They will only share this information with you.

Step #8 STARTING THE LOAN PROCESS

At this point in the transaction, the lender that is guiding us through the mortgage process will begin by reaching out to finish the mortgage application. Updated paycheck stubs and other paperwork is often needed, so don't get frustrated when it feels like you're constantly uploading documents.

Step #9 THE HOME INSPECTION

Typically, just a few days after we open escrow we try to get the home inspection done. The home inspection is our opportunity to learn everything that we can about the house that we're buying. The four main components that inspectors are looking out for are health and safety related, the plumbing, the roof, electrical and foundation. The inspector is looking at everything, but the main concerns are always health and safety related inspections. Generally, it will last one and a half to two hours, depending on the size and the condition of the home, and vary on price depending on the square footage. If we at the home inspection or at any time before determine that any other professionals like plumbers or electricians are required, we will arrange those to get scheduled asap. I always recommend getting a sewer scope and a radon test as well as those can both create expensive repairs that you can’t see.

Step #10 THE APPRAISAL

Normally, sometime soon after the home inspection, the appraisal takes place. The buyer does not go to the appraisal and it generally takes about 30 minutes depending on the size of your home. The appraisal is where a representative from your bank goes to the home and takes measurements and pictures to compare to other homes in order to determine the value of your home. In most circumstances, the appraisal comes in at the value the offer was made. In the event appraisal comes in above the offer, we are walking away with equity and that's great news. In the event that the appraisal comes in lower than the offer price, we will look at the contract and specific details of our offer and negotiate the best way to resolve the matter.

Step #11 REQUEST FOR REPAIRS

Within 24 hours after the home inspection, we will receive a report from the home inspector. That report will detail the findings that were found at the inspection. We will go through the report together to answer all of your questions and more importantly, put together our request for repairs. A request for repairs is our opportunity to ask the seller to address health and safety-related issues or things that were not apparent at the showing. In our request, we generally have three options. We can ask the seller to make the repair but depending on the circumstances, it might be easier to go with option 2, which is asking the seller for a credit that applies towards your closing cost. The last option is not asking for anything at all. The seller has the discretion to accept what we offered, request something else or say no all together.

Step #12 ESCROW INSTRUCTIONS

At this point escrow will be sending escrow instructions directly to you. In these documents, things like who we are using for insurance and how we would like title to be held will be filled out and submitted. It is really important to get these documents sent immediately back to escrow in order to avoid any delays in the loan.

Step #13 GETTING DISCLOSURES

At this point, we generally heard back from the appraiser requested repairs and also received all the disclosures from the seller. A disclosure is anything that the seller knows about the home that they are required to share with us. At this point, we're probably halfway through the process and it is normal for the lender to ask for updated documents.

Step #14 REMOVING CONTINGENCIES

Here, we begin to cross the point of no going back. Once you’ve agreed upon the inspection response with the seller and the appraisal is all done, it is really hard to back out of the contract at this point. In other words you can lose your deposit if we back out after all of those contingencies are removed. So we want to make sure everything is taken care of before doing so. Don't worry, we will be in active communication during the process and once you get past the inspection period, you are pretty much locked in for the rest of the contract.

Step #15 THE CLOSING DISCLOSURES

We are near the finish line when we get to the closing disclosure (CD). When you get the CD from the lender, it will give you your monthly payment, your total down payment and your closing costs, as well as the interest rate. These documents are extremely time sensitive and after careful review must be signed immediately in order for the final loan documents to be issued.

Step #16 THE FINAL WALKTHROUGH

The keys are almost yours! It is time for the final walkthrough. At the final walkthrough, you will be joined by your agent at the house where you'll check to make sure that the house is in the same condition you saw it the first time or in the event that the repairs were negotiated we checked to make sure those repairs were made. This is always done at the end of the transaction and it is as close to closing as possible.

Step #17 SIGNING YOUR LOAN DOCS

At this point, we are signing a lot of papers. You’ll have a few options for signing, either in person at the closing office, with a mobile notary at your home or work, or by electronic notary where you just need a laptop with a webcam. Whichever is most convenient, but make sure to let us know as soon as possible. When meeting with a notary, all you will need to bring is a valid driver's license. Notaries can generally not answer any questions about what you are signing, so if something comes up, it is really important to call us and your lender immediately. At the end of the signing, the notary is going to provide you wire instructions and the final balance amount to head over to the bank and wire to escrow. You will also have the option to bring a check with you if you are signing in person. Just let the escrow officer know.

Step #18 WIRING THE FINAL BALANCE

A final wire amount should have been provided by the notary or escrow officer when you sign the final loan documents. With that figure, head to the bank, wire the balance and in a few days those keys are yours.

Step #19 GETTING YOUR KEYS

The day we all have been waiting for, THE KEYS! All we hope for after this point is that you don't forget us. Just kidding. Aside from handing over the keys, we will make sure you know who all your utility companies are, when trash day is, and all of the details of making the transition smooth. It is normal to receive a lot of suspicious letters and postcards after you move in, so always reach out if you have any questions. We appreciate you more than words can describe for allowing us to be a guide in your journey. We wish you many happy years in your beautiful home.



GOOGLE VERIFIED REVIEWS

marlene spalding

Hayden and his team are amazing. They just helped us close on a house and made the process so easy. They’re always easy to reach and answer any questions and they make the home buying process so easy. Thank you Hayden and your wonderful team for everything.

Gabriel wilson

Selling a home in a challenging market is never easy, but working with Haydn made all the difference. His dedication, creativity, and genuine commitment went far beyond what I ever expected from a realtor. He didn’t just list my home — he promoted it with real enthusiasm. He sold ice cream at open houses to draw in more visitors and create a fun, welcoming atmosphere. He even spent Thursdays at the local farmers market passing out flyers and personally connecting with people to spread the word. On top of that, he made sure my home was showcased beautifully on Zillow and every major platform, maximizing visibility at a time when the market wasn’t doing sellers any favors. What stood out most was how much he cared. He treated my home as if it were his own, and his persistence and creativity made a real impact. I always felt informed, supported, and confident that he was doing everything possible to get the best outcome. If you want a realtor who will go the extra mile — and then a few more — Haydn is the one you want in your corner. I couldn’t recommend him more highly.

cherie proctor33

Selling a home in a challenging market is never easy, but working with Haydn made all the difference. His dedication, creativity, and genuine commitment went far beyond what I ever expected from a realtor.He didn’t just list my home — he promoted it with real enthusiasm. He sold ice cream at open houses to draw in more visitors and create a fun, welcoming atmosphere. He even spent Thursdays at the local farmers market passing out flyers and personally connecting with people to spread the word. On top of that, he made sure my home was showcased beautifully on Zillow and every major platform, maximizing visibility at a time when the market wasn’t doing sellers any favors.What stood out most was how much he cared. He treated my home as if it were his own, and his persistence and creativity made a real impact. I always felt informed, supported, and confident that he was doing everything possible to get the best outcome.If you want a realtor who will go the extra mile — and then a few more — Haydn is the one you want in your corner. I couldn’t recommend him more highly.

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