Buying a Home

Buying a home is an exciting and complex adventure. It can also be a very time-consuming and costly one if you're not familiar with all aspects of the process, and don't have all the best information and resources at hand.

One of my specialties is representing the best interests of Western Pennsylvania area buyers throughout the home buying process. My comprehensive, high-quality services can save you time and money, as well as make the experience more enjoyable and less stressful.

If you're like most people, buying a home is the biggest investment you will ever make. So whether you're buying a starter home, your dream home, or an investment property, why not take advantage of my experience as a local market expert to make the most informed decisions you can, every step of the way.

Getting your financial house in order:

1. Determine how you intend to pay for the home purchase.  Will you require financing or will you be paying cash?


2.  If you need financing, you will need to get pre-approved.  You can check with your lender, or I can refer several lenders to you.  The lenders will assist you in determining what loan program best suits your individual situation. I recommend you have the lender give you what your maximum qualification amount is.  


3.  Once you have your financial house in order, then we can begin the home search with you. 

Determining where you want to live:

1. Many factors go into deciding what area you want to live in such as affordability, taxes, employment, real estate values, crime rates and other demographics, proximity to family and friends, climate, education system, healthcare, and entertainment to name a few.

Buying an existing home or new construction:

1. Existing Home - Buying an existing home is more often than not, less expensive than building a new home.  There are many styles and types to chose from, but you will also be constrained to what the existing home offers.  Updating an existing home can be accomplished through renovations.  


2. New Construction - Buying a new construction home is quite a bit more complicated.  You must decide on the lot or acreage, what style of home, exterior and interior finishes, cabinets, counters, paint colors etc.  Part of my service includes attending all selection meetings and builder meetings with you.

Search Criteria:

1. When deciding what amenities are important to you, it helps to prioritize the list into a list of must haves, and would like to haves.  


2. It is also important to know, that the more amenities we enter in the search criteria, the less homes that the search will return as results.  


3. The most important amenities would be the style(s) of homes, total number of rooms, number of bedrooms and baths.  This should be your primary focus in criteria.  

Submitting an Offer:

1. Once we find a property, the next step is submitting an offer to the seller for consideration.  


2. When we submit an offer, it must be in writing and it will outline the terms of the offer.


3. Things we will determine for the offer will be the purchase price, hand money, close date, what type of inspections, how many days for inspections, inclusions of personal property etc.  


4. Once the offer has been submitted, negotiations will begin.  It is my job to assist and advise you through the negotiations with the object of getting your offer accepted.  

Once you are in contract:

1. Once you are in contract, we have a series of timelines to adhere to for the various contingencies of the contract.


2. If there is a lender involved, we need to immediately get the contact to them for processing.


3. The next item is to get your inspections ordered and completed within the contracted timeline.  Once we negotiate our way through the inspections, we then move towards closing and owning your new home!