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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, and 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.

Passion & Expertise

My goal is to provide you with the most personalized service possible, meticulously designed to help you navigate the process of buying your dream home. I am dedicated to understanding your unique needs and preferences, ensuring that every step of the journey is tailored to achieve your ultimate home-buying aspirations.

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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. 

Testimonials

"Evan was absolutely amazing to work with throughout the entire home-buying process. He was knowledgeable, diligent, and always there to answer any questions I had. He is also an intrinsically kind individual, and genuinely cared about finding me my perfect home, and my wants and wishes. I cannot recommend him enough to anyone looking to find a home."
"Evan was absolutely amazing to work with throughout the entire home-buying process. He was knowledgeable, diligent, and always there to answer any questions I had. He is also an intrinsically kind individual, and genuinely cared about finding me my perfect home, and my wants and wishes. I cannot recommend him enough to anyone looking to find a home."
Katherine K.
"We recently worked with Evan, he was knowledgable, efficient, and motivated to help meet our specific needs. Highly recommend him for prospective buyers and sellers."
"We recently worked with Evan, he was knowledgable, efficient, and motivated to help meet our specific needs. Highly recommend him for prospective buyers and sellers."
Ofer P.
"Evan is amazing! We discovered him on Zillow, and after a few interactions, we chose to collaborate with him. Working with Evan has been a fantastic experience, and we're incredibly grateful for the opportunity. He's trustworthy, proactive, responsive, and played a pivotal role in helping us emerge victorious in a competitive bidding war. Evan excels in communication, ensuring every detail is addressed promptly. He guided us seamlessly through the closing process, even amidst a tight timeline requested by the seller. Highly recommend!"
"Evan is amazing! We discovered him on Zillow, and after a few interactions, we chose to collaborate with him. Working with Evan has been a fantastic experience, and we're incredibly grateful for the opportunity. He's trustworthy, proactive, responsive, and played a pivotal role in helping us emerge victorious in a competitive bidding war. Evan excels in communication, ensuring every detail is addressed promptly. He guided us seamlessly through the closing process, even amidst a tight timeline requested by the seller. Highly recommend!"
Diana
"Evan did an outstanding job representing us. From arranging for showings to accurately assessing value with comps he was an amazing resource. What set Evan apart is his thoroughness and orientation to detail. They way he “kicked the tires and looked under the hood” of every house gave us confidence in the accuracy of the assessments we made of the value of the houses we looked at."
"Evan did an outstanding job representing us. From arranging for showings to accurately assessing value with comps he was an amazing resource. What set Evan apart is his thoroughness and orientation to detail. They way he “kicked the tires and looked under the hood” of every house gave us confidence in the accuracy of the assessments we made of the value of the houses we looked at."
Eric G.
"Evan was so helpful and professional. Extremely knowledgeable and took the time to view tons of properties while helping keep our 1 year old entertained! Never applied any pressure and fought for us hard at the negotiating table. Couldn’t recommend more!"
"Evan was so helpful and professional. Extremely knowledgeable and took the time to view tons of properties while helping keep our 1 year old entertained! Never applied any pressure and fought for us hard at the negotiating table. Couldn’t recommend more!"
Buyer
"Evan did an outstanding job helping me in my first home buying experience. By the end of our process, we had developed a great relationship and I felt very comfortable with Evan. Regardless of the time of day, Evan always made sure he got back to me. We had many late night phone calls and I appreciated his commitment to helping me find my home. For me, it was an enduring process that ended up taking about six months. He stuck with me the entire time and did not waver. I highly recommend Evan to any and all home buyers in the greater Boston area."
"Evan did an outstanding job helping me in my first home buying experience. By the end of our process, we had developed a great relationship and I felt very comfortable with Evan. Regardless of the time of day, Evan always made sure he got back to me. We had many late night phone calls and I appreciated his commitment to helping me find my home. For me, it was an enduring process that ended up taking about six months. He stuck with me the entire time and did not waver. I highly recommend Evan to any and all home buyers in the greater Boston area."
Droney M.
"During the Spring of 2022, we began to search for a downsized home in the Newton and Needham housing market and were fortunate to have Evan Blaustein navigate us through a very difficult buyer's market. He always helped us respond promptly to leads and he gave us excellent judgments on the quality and price of each house. He always looked after our needs and helped us to shape our buying strategy. Throughout he was knowledgeable, ethical, and patient. He wanted the best for us rather than a quick commission for himself. When we found a house to meet our needs, he negotiated a lower price which we had never expected. Anyone purchasing a house would be lucky to have Evan by their side."
"During the Spring of 2022, we began to search for a downsized home in the Newton and Needham housing market and were fortunate to have Evan Blaustein navigate us through a very difficult buyer's market. He always helped us respond promptly to leads and he gave us excellent judgments on the quality and price of each house. He always looked after our needs and helped us to shape our buying strategy. Throughout he was knowledgeable, ethical, and patient. He wanted the best for us rather than a quick commission for himself. When we found a house to meet our needs, he negotiated a lower price which we had never expected. Anyone purchasing a house would be lucky to have Evan by their side."
Jody & Bobby B.
"Evan helped us find and buy our needle-in-a-haystack perfect home. He rigorously represented our interests during offer, P and S, punch list and closing negotiations. With the seller he was detail oriented, persistent and professional. He was responsive and reliable patient when we were ambivalent and fast when we needed to act."
"Evan helped us find and buy our needle-in-a-haystack perfect home. He rigorously represented our interests during offer, P and S, punch list and closing negotiations. With the seller he was detail oriented, persistent and professional. He was responsive and reliable patient when we were ambivalent and fast when we needed to act."
Alex W.
"Evan was an incredible resource, guide and leader throughout our process. This was an incredibly difficult market to navigate as a buyer and We could not have done it without Evan. He brought strategic problem solving skills to each issue and situation that we faced. He also kept us calm and grounded. We are so grateful for his support and expertise."
"Evan was an incredible resource, guide and leader throughout our process. This was an incredibly difficult market to navigate as a buyer and We could not have done it without Evan. He brought strategic problem solving skills to each issue and situation that we faced. He also kept us calm and grounded. We are so grateful for his support and expertise."
Conway H.
"We don’t know how we got so lucky with Evan, but we truly cannot imagine going through the grueling process of finding our dream house in the pandemic market without him. Having worked with him to find our rental in Brookline and knowing his work ethic, we trusted Evan completely. He is responsive, timely, organized, and knowledgeable. He has an extensive knowledge of the Boston market and his finger is on the pulse of the rapidly-shifting, redhot pandemic market. After getting some idea of what we were looking for, we hit the road without wasting any time. He was there with us, week after week, always trying his best to be available to view houses with us. He did not let any opportunity go to waste. If the house next to an open house was on the market, he would immediately make some phone calls to get us in for viewing. COVID restrictions did not stop him, busy schedules, distances, even the snow did not stop him. In this extremely competitive market, Evan knew the persistence it took, and persistence he had. In fact, he knew when we were getting antsy and wanting to making panic offers, and he would convincingly talk us off the ledge and prevent us from making hasty decisions. What was most impressive to me was that not making an offer meant more work and effort on Evan’s part - more days spent on the road looking at other houses, more research and communications on our behalf, more time spent on us instead of a new client. But Evan’s goal was not to make the most money in the shortest time possible, he cared more about helping us make the right decisions; his clients’ satisfaction mattered most to him. Evan’s also a master negotiator. We knew people were waiving inspections, paying in cash, making offers way above ask. We were worried that we wouldn’t even get close to negotiating a deal. But with Evan’s smart-negotiating, people skills, persistence and his wealth of experience, we were able to get our inspection and draw up a very competitive offer, and buy a house that we not only loved but also knew was a valuable, worthwhile investment. Throughout the months of searching and waiting, Evan was always reachable by call or by email. No question was too insignificant and no concern was below him. He was our guy. At his recommendation, we also had awesome experiences with services such as top-notch lender, attorney, home inspector and movers. We cannot recommend Evan highly enough. He was our indispensable team member, coach and guide. We are deeply grateful to him and would recommend him as the best realtor we’ve ever worked with!"
"We don’t know how we got so lucky with Evan, but we truly cannot imagine going through the grueling process of finding our dream house in the pandemic market without him. Having worked with him to find our rental in Brookline and knowing his work ethic, we trusted Evan completely. He is responsive, timely, organized, and knowledgeable. He has an extensive knowledge of the Boston market and his finger is on the pulse of the rapidly-shifting, redhot pandemic market. After getting some idea of what we were looking for, we hit the road without wasting any time. He was there with us, week after week, always trying his best to be available to view houses with us. He did not let any opportunity go to waste. If the house next to an open house was on the market, he would immediately make some phone calls to get us in for viewing. COVID restrictions did not stop him, busy schedules, distances, even the snow did not stop him. In this extremely competitive market, Evan knew the persistence it took, and persistence he had. In fact, he knew when we were getting antsy and wanting to making panic offers, and he would convincingly talk us off the ledge and prevent us from making hasty decisions. What was most impressive to me was that not making an offer meant more work and effort on Evan’s part - more days spent on the road looking at other houses, more research and communications on our behalf, more time spent on us instead of a new client. But Evan’s goal was not to make the most money in the shortest time possible, he cared more about helping us make the right decisions; his clients’ satisfaction mattered most to him. Evan’s also a master negotiator. We knew people were waiving inspections, paying in cash, making offers way above ask. We were worried that we wouldn’t even get close to negotiating a deal. But with Evan’s smart-negotiating, people skills, persistence and his wealth of experience, we were able to get our inspection and draw up a very competitive offer, and buy a house that we not only loved but also knew was a valuable, worthwhile investment. Throughout the months of searching and waiting, Evan was always reachable by call or by email. No question was too insignificant and no concern was below him. He was our guy. At his recommendation, we also had awesome experiences with services such as top-notch lender, attorney, home inspector and movers. We cannot recommend Evan highly enough. He was our indispensable team member, coach and guide. We are deeply grateful to him and would recommend him as the best realtor we’ve ever worked with!"
Maggie Q.