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 our team 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.

A white kitchen with a stove and a sink. The kitchen has stainless steel appliances and granite countertops.

Step 2: Decide on Your Budget

Notice we 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.

A modern, floating staircase with a glass railing winds up to a second floor.

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 agents like us to take much of the stress off your shoulders? Not only will we help identify properties you might be interested in, arrange showings, and ultimately handle the offer process, but we also have a knowledge of the market that you don’t possess. Finding the perfect home can be a daunting task, this is where our expertise and wealth of knowledge come into play. Let us show you around some homes that meet your dream home criteria so you can find the one that's right for you.

Our 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!). We 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. We 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. We 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.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Olga was extremely helpful in every aspect of the estate sale of my mother's house, she was very knowledgeable and guided us through the whole process.

— Christina C.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Olga helped us through a complicated estate sale. The house would have never sold if she had not been willing to be involved in every step needed. She pursued all the convoluted issues that evolved and kept us up-to-date and on track. We enjoyed working with her positive attitude and her amazing expertise.

— E.F.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Olga and Roman helped me and my family numerous times in my Real Estate transactions. When I listed my COOP apartment with their team, they used their knowledge and skills to find me a most qualified buyer within a short period of time (about 1 week). I did not expect to be in a contract that quick at a price I wanted to get. This allowed me to buy 2 family investment properties, where Olga helped me aga...

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Olga is the only person you should consider dealing with. My wife and I have worked with her for both buying and selling an apartment in Queens. She knows the areas she works in amazingly well, both big picture and down to the details of every building. She is an expert on the entire process and will help guide you through everything and make it all as easy as possible (everything from co-op board interv...

— Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Olga Zakinova is the best real estate broker I have ever dealt with. She was the broker when I bought my house five years ago and I was so impressed by her skills that I asked her to be my broker when I sold the house five years later. She knows how to assess a house's advantages and disadvantages and is very knowledgeable about the area and what kind of buyers would be interested. She gave great advice ...

— Ralph

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
I retained Olga's services due to her expertise and strong knowledge of the coop market, especially in Queens. She assisted me with the entire process from beginning to end including recommending cosmetic improvements to enhance the "curb appeal" of the unit and list price. She kept me informed of potential buyers and provided her opinion of their seriousness and readiness to buy. Unfortunately, due to t...

— Dy W.

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
It was a pleasure working with Olga Zakinaova. She is by far one of the best real estate agents I have ever worked with! She is extremely professional and knowledgeable, and our home purchase under her guidance was seamless! From the day we submitted our offer to closing, Olga was there for us, every step of the way, from start to finish. She helped expedite our board package and got us a board meeting i...

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
My experience with Olga goes back approx. 9 years ago she sold me and my wife our apartment and everything I remember about her then holds true today. She is the consummate professional who is accountable and holds herself to a high standard. She is tenacious in the way she works but never forgets the human element of home buying and selling. Her knowledge of every aspect of the sale process is tremendou...

— Seller

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
Buying a home is a very stressful process, and selling one at the same time just adds to it. Olga was the agent of the apartment I was buying, and I was so impressed by her professionalism and knowledge that I decided to hire her to sell my apartment as well. Olga made the process extremely smooth. She offered her mortgage bank loan officer, who turned out to be fantastic. She offered an attorney, who tu...

— Buyer

WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
I have been working with Olga and Roman and their team for a couple of years now. We have been wanting to get an apartment for a couple of years but COVID hit and that plan was put on hold. I was still very apprehensive and nervous to get anything but because Olga was working with me, I knew I was in good hands. Finally, when the time came Olga knew we were searching and found us a few amazing apartments...

— Liliya K.

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