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. 

Our Testimonials

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Ryan B.

Allison and Heather’s guidance led to getting our full asking price and a 21 day escrow!
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Lu & David A.

Todd was very responsive. He almost always personally answered our phone calls. We were able to close escrow for our new home on schedule. When it comes to Costa Mesa, Todd really knows and understands the market. Thanks Todd!
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Bob & Norma T.

Allison Panetta and Heather Proud did a fantastic job selling our Newport Beach home. They were easy to work with, attentive to all our needs and work tirelessly to find a buyer and close the deal. We would highly recommend Pan...
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Kate & JP C.

Todd was the best agent. He saw our vision, knew exactly what we wanted and helped us to attain it. He was patient when we were being picky and helped us do everything it took to the secure the house of our dreams when we found...
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Chris & Whitney S.

Todd knows his stuff. He helped us buy a house through a small home builder. The price was set so we did not get to see his negotiation skills, but everything we did see was great. And he patiently worked with our lender, and w...
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Tami & Mark S.

Todd was fantastic in helping us to buy our house. He is very knowledgeable about the area and really puts forth an extra effort for his clients. He not only was willing to show us many houses, but he smoothly negotiated our tr...
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Izzy H.

Heather and Allison handled the sale of my investment property from beginning to end, including improvement recommendations, obtaining bids for work, hiring the contractors, overseeing the work, and more. They kept me informed ...
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Sean & Denise M.

After Allison and Heather helped us purchase a home, we were so pleased with their professionalism, expertise, and tireless efforts on our behalf that we used their services again, three times. They served as our real estate ag...
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Matt W. & Zabeth S.

Todd Bousman, President of bouHAUS was our Broker for our Midtown (www.midtown10.com) project of 10 new homes located in Westside Costa Mesa. Todd possesses an assorted wealth of both professional experience and personal passio...
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Jen & Mike A.

Todd came through for us and we are now in our dream home. We couldn’t be happier with the end result. He thought outside of the box and was able to negotiate a very unique contract with the listing agent. We got a great deal o...
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Mark S.

I’ve known Todd for many years and know him to be a great guy and a determined, passionate broker. He is a savvy marketer which recently helped net us a great result on the sale of a investment property. On the buy side, Todd a...
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Marjanovic Family

We are truly blessed to find Todd as our real estate agent in helping us purchase our new home. He was patient, good humored,responsive, professional, and accommodating to our schedule, needs and interests. We simply loved his ...
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Alyssa & Todd C.

Todd was a true professional to work with. My wife and I sold our home as a pocket listing, and to our surprise, it sold quickly. This meant that the two of us, along with our one year old daughter, had to act fast. Todd helped...
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Margaret & Irwin M.

Margaret and I are so impressed with the experience we had selling our home. Allison gave us professional representation like we never imagined possible! Your marketing of every sort was unparalleled in our opinion, week after ...
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Steve & Stephanie L.

We are extremely fortunate to have recently worked with Todd Bousman on not only selling a home in 2009, but also in purchasing a home in 2010. Todd and the entire Tim Carr Group treated us with the upmost respect and care. We ...
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Chris & Jennifer C.

Todd was a part of my first purchase experience which started back in Feb. of this year. The Condo complex was a new construction and it was the builders first project. Todd was very professional and quick to respond to our eve...
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Erik A.

The usual descriptives do not adequately address the outstanding service Heather Proud provided. She immersed herself in the all aspects of our home sale process. From preparation of the home, to securing contractors, to market...
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Steve T.

I’ve known Todd and we have been great friends for many years. We also worked together in the real estate industry several years back. Todd was the obvious choice to represent us to sell our income property in Newport Beach. Ev...
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Kim Z.

I want to share my distinctively unique experience with Todd Bousman as a realtor, and a professional. I have known Todd since he was a young boy, and he was just as delightful then as he is now. Many years went by without seei...
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Sarah

My husband and I recently decided to buy our first home together in the rapidly escalating, highly competitive Eastside Costa Mesa real estate market. With a budget well below a million dollars, finding an affordable home that ...
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Are you planning on buying or selling a home in the area? bouHAUS properties is here to help you navigate coastal Orange County's exciting real estate market. Specializing in mid-century modern and modern eclectic homes, the team's success in built on their passion for rare,one-of-a-kind properties that exemplify the best that the OC has to offer.

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