HOMEBUYER PROCESS

Whether you are a first time Tampa Bay homebuyer or a seasoned investor, we hope you will find this page helpful to your home buying process. When time permits, you may want to read our buyer tips, check our references, or read our profiles. Below is a quick guide of the journey to home ownership:

IMPORTANT FIRST STEP: PRE-APPROVAL

Before you even start making your list, you should call a mortgage professional and find out your buying power. Everyone should have an estimated monthly payment that they qualify for and are comfortable with. It makes no sense to begin looking at homes until you do this.

DECIDE ON YOUR PREFERRED LOCATION(S)

We live in a large tri-county area and within each county, there are multiple cities and subdivisions. Visit our area info pages where we provide you with maps and general information. Try to determine your first, second, and third choice locations.

SEARCH FOR HOMES ONLINE OR SEND US YOUR LIST

Call us at 1-888-423-5775, email us, or utilize our online MLS search facility yourself. Don’t forgot to check out our listings too. Searching for homes can be fun and you can count on all of the listings you see on our website as being up-to-date. That’s a big issue today with Internet home search; many websites are outdated. Plus, we have ALL the Tampa Bay listings not just our firm’s listings. We also offer an automated home search option that will email you directly when new homes that meet your criteria come on the market. You can be the first to see the home! Whether you want to search yourself or you would rather turn that over to us, either way, it’s fine with us.

READY TO START LOOKING AT HOMES

Make a list of your favorites and request a showing from us. Remember to give us a much notice as you can. Not only are some homes occupied and appointments are necessary but since we are one of the top real estate teams in the area, we need to get you scheduled properly on our calendars. We have a team of full time, full service buyer’s agents who are never too busy to speak with you, or to work with you, and we never turn anyone away – no matter what size home you are wanting to buy.

DECISION TIME

The ultimate decision is yours, we will never sway your thought process one way or another. You can certainly ask us for advice though. Once you decide you want to make an offer on a home, we will investigate the market to determine, based on comparables, what a fair bid should be. We will act as your intermediary during this process, never speaking for you, but with you, in the negotiation process. Once both parties come to an agreement, a sales contract will be drawn up and you will be asked to write a check for an earnest money deposit, typically $1,000 to $5,000.

STEPS TO THE CLOSING TABLE

As soon as the contracts are signed, there is quite a bit of work to do in a short period of time. We will need to get the mortgage process going, have the property inspected and any repairs completed, get the insurance policies started, have the home appraised and surveys completed. We will work closely with you, the title company, the lender, the inspectors, etc. to keep everything on track.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR NEW HOME

Buying a home is a rewarding experience, you will learn a lot going through this for the first time and if this is not your first home, you will be impressed with how easy and stress free we make the home buying process. We look forward to working with you on your next Tampa Bay home purchase!