How Do I Get Started?

  • The First Step

    If this is your first home purchase, ask us for our First Time Buyer Guide that will walk you through the process from start to finish. The initial step is knowing what your buying power is. You’ll fill out a loan application with a lender who will run your credit, examine your information, and determine what your buying power will be!

  • The Fun Part

    With your pre-approval in hand, the home shopping can begin! Create a list of what you want in your new home. Include must haves as well as what you would like to have, but aren't deal breakers. Drive around neighborhoods that interest you to get a feel of the area, how the homes are cared for, what traffic is like, etc.

  • The Finish Line

    Once you and the seller have agreed on terms, a sales agreement is signed and the house is officially under contract and in escrow. Next steps will include finalizing your loan application, scheduling a home inspection, ordering an appraisal, a final walkthrough, and then the closing table!

House Hunting Tips:

Talk to family, friends, and co-workers to see if anyone might know of a house for sale in an area you're interested in. One of them may even know of someone that's thinking about selling but hasn't put the house on the market yet.

When you visit multiple houses it gets difficult to remember specific details about each one. Take photos and notes while touring houses so that you can reference them later when comparing the properties that you've seen. Take inspiration from your Pinterest boards, homes you’ve lived in, and HGTV to help you narrow down a style of home that you’re looking for!

Make a List.

Create a list of what you want in your new home. Include must haves as well as what you would like to have but aren't deal breakers. We have a checklist we can give you with spaces to write notes about specific properties!

Single family? Townhouse? Condo?

Move-in ready? Fixer Upper? Little bit of both?

How many bedrooms? Bathrooms? Big yard or small yard?

Ideal square footage? Location preference? School zone?

 FAQs

  • Once your offer is accepted and we are under contract, it is about 30-45 days until closing/getting your keys!

    For house hunting, this depends on the market and your timeline. We could find the perfect home in one day, one week, or a month!

  • A Buyer's Agency Agreement is a legal document that formalizes the working relationship between you and your REALTOR ®. This outlines what services you are entitled to and what your REALTOR ® expects from you in return. While this serves a purpose legally, it is also beneficial in clarifying expectations, developing mutual loyalty, and most importantly, elevating the services you will receive.

    If you sign a buyer's agency agreement with a REALTOR ® and later discover you aren't the best fit, the relationship can be terminated with a mutual release agreement signed between all parties! 👯‍♀️

  • Earnest Money is a sum of money that a buyer deposits as a sign of their intention to purchase a property. It is also known as a "good faith deposit." The amount of earnest money varies depending on the price of the property and local customs, but it is usually a small percentage of the purchase price, typically between 1% and 5%. However, we have seen as little as $50 before!

    The purpose of earnest money is to show the seller that the buyer is serious about purchasing the property and to provide some compensation to the seller if the buyer fails to follow through with the purchase. While it does make the offer stronger, it is not required. If the sale goes through, the earnest money is applied toward the down payment or closing costs, or refunded to the buyer. If the sale falls through for reasons outlined in the contract, such as a failed inspection or inability to secure financing, the earnest money may be returned to the buyer. However, if the buyer breaches the contract, the seller may be entitled to keep the earnest money as damages.

  • HOA - Home Owners Association! 👯‍♀️

    The HOA makes and enforces developer assigned restrictions for a subdivision, planned community, or condominium building. The board members are residents within the neighborhood.

    The reason that HOA’s are so common is because of budget/employment cuts with USPS and common spaces. It is faster for a postal service employee to deliver mail to cluster mailboxes than to physically go house to house. As of 2017, cluster boxes are required in all new subdivisions. Because the cluster mailboxes need maintained, there needed to be an entity to overlook them. That’s where the HOA comes in.

    Your HOA dues go towards association operations like insurance, landscaping, maintenance, and towards the funding of an HOA reserve. Depending on the HOA, utilities such as internet, water, or trash pickup could be included in your dues. Sometimes, the HOA will vote on a special project with the funds or put on a neighborhood wide event.

  • The VA loan is a $0 down mortgage option available to Veterans, Service Members and select military spouses. The $0 down is not to be confused with closing costs, which are separate from a down payment. Your loan officer can provide an estimate for closing costs - typically, they are roughly 2-3% of the purchase price.

    VA loans are issued by private lenders, like a mortgage company or bank, and backed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The VA loan has no PMI (private mortgage insurance), competitively low interest rates, and can be used MORE THAN ONCE!

  • A seller's disclosure is a disclosure by the seller of information about the property, or which could affect a buyer's decision to purchase the property, all of which to the best of the seller's knowledge. A seller must also indicate items which are not specific to the property itself but related to a person's enjoyment of the property, such as pest problems, property line disputes, knowledge of major construction projects in the area, association related assessments or legal issues, unusual odors caused by a nearby factory, or even recent deaths on the property as permitted by law.

  • Clear to close means you've checked all of the boxes to close on your home.

    To be clear to close (CTC), you must have met all of your mortgage lender's requirements and satisfied all of the underwriters conditions. (Such as verification of funds for closing costs, down payment, updated bank statements, etc.)

  • Radon is a radioactive gas that has been found in homes all over the United States. It comes from the natural breakdown of uranium in soil, rock, and water and gets into the air you breathe. Radon typically moves up through the ground to the air above and into your home through cracks and other holes in the foundation. Radon tests measure radon levels in picocuries per liter of air. While there is no safe level of radon, the Environmental Protection Agency set an action level of 4 picocuries per liter, or pCi/L. This means that once radon levels reach or exceed 4 pCi/L, you must take action to fix the problem.

    No matter where you live in Tennessee, there is the potential for radon to enter your home. Regardless of your zone designation or geographic location, all homes should be tested for radon.

  • Assessed value: The value assigned to a real estate property that is used to determine its property tax rate.

    Market value: The actual value of a property when placed at sale on the open market

  • An appraisal gap is the difference between the market value determined by the licensed appraiser and the amount that you agreed to pay for the home in your contract. An appraisal gap means that you pay the price difference for the home out of pocket as agreed upon in your contract.