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Buying a Home

We love working with buyers! Maybe you are a first time buyer who is looking for guidance through a sometimes intimidating and confusing process. Or maybe you are someone who has previously purchased a home or two, or an investor looking for a great investment property.

Our agents take time to really listen to our clients to understand their "must haves" and "really would love to have" home features. We work tirelessly to achieve our client’s real estate goals. We leverage the latest technologies to provide up to the minute real-time email updates of homes that match your search criteria, including the newest property listings and price reductions.

We can provide you proven-outstanding lenders, attorneys, home and radon inspectors, movers and contractors to assist you with the buying process.

We encourage you to visit multiple homes for sale to better understand your buying options and to explore multiple communities and neighborhoods. And we are with you every step of the way!

Online Property Search Tools

The vast majority of buyers begin searching for homes online. The internet is a valuable resource to start your home search. It will help you understand the market and to narrow your search, and learn which home features are available in your price range. And it’s fun to look at houses online!

Our Advanced Search feature provides you direct access to the same MLS (Multiple Listing Service) listing database used by Realtors. Create your own custom property searches and receive up to the minute real-time email updates of homes that match your search criteria, including the newest listings, price and status changes, foreclosures and short sales.

Our Market Report feature allows you to stay on top of the market. This report provides you market activity by community, including homes recently sold, under contract and currently for sale. Very useful information to better understand home selling prices, length of time on market and number of homes currently for sale.

Check out our Featured Communities and Schools section which provides local community profiles, quick housing facts, community events, train schedules and school ratings, reviews and test scores to assist you with your home search. 

Our featured communities include Batavia, Carol Stream, Geneva, Glen Ellyn, Glendale Heights, Lisle, Lombard, Naperville, St. Charles, Warrenville, Wayne, West Chicago, Wheaton and Winfield.

Mortgage Pre-Approval

If you're like most home buyers, you will be financing some portion of your home purchase. A mortgage pre-approval is an important step early in the home buying process. The pre-approval letter is provided by a mortgage loan professional. The loan officer will verify your income, financial obligations, and check your credit history.

Going through the pre-approval process will help you better understand your estimated monthly mortgage payment amount and provide you a purchase price range that meets your budget.  The lender will also provide you a closing cost estimate so you can budget the necessary funds for your down payment and closing costs.

You will need a pre-approval letter to submit an offer. The letter provides the seller verification you have the financial ability to purchase their home.

We would be happy to connect you with an experienced lender who can help you better understand the financing process and answer any questions you may have, and assist you with obtaining your pre-approval, when you are ready.

Scheduling Showings to Find Your Perfect Home

Once you've set a budget, obtained your pre-approval and are ready to get serious, it's time to start looking at homes! Our agents can help you fine tune your home search and identify homes that match your needs. We live and work in these communities so we can suggest neighborhoods and communities that work best you. 

Online listings are a great starting point, but pictures can be deceiving. Seeing homes in person is a completely different experience. We recommend viewing multiple homes to better understand home values, neighborhoods and potential neighbors, the landscaping and physical land, surrounding homes, school locations, shopping and more. We are committed to helping you find the right home. Your goals are our number one priority!

Submitting and Negotiating Your Offer

Once you've found the right property, the next step is to submit your offer. Prior to submitting your offer, we will provide you a Market Analysis of similar properties in the area, either sold, under contract or currently for sale. Based on this information, we will provide you our pricing recommendation and suggest negotiation strategies prior to submitting your offer.

There are many key elements of an offer. The highest priced offer is not always considered the "strongest" offer by a seller. Other important offer elements the seller will consider include the type of financing, the amount of the down payment, the closing time frame and whether or not the buyer has a property to sell in order to close.

We have years of experience writing and evaluating offers. This expertise enables you to present a strong offer while not paying "too much" for the home. In a particularly hot market you may not have a lot of time to decide on a home, so it's important to have an agent who is very knowledgeable and responsive. We use the latest technology for creating documents and signing electronically to streamline the process. However, we realize not everyone is comfortable with technology and will adapt to whatever is best for you.

After your offer is submitted, our agents will work with the seller's agent and guide you through the negotiation process. We will be with you every step of the way working to obtain the very best purchase price and terms for you.

Attorney Review and Home Inspection

Once your offer is accepted, the next step in the process is the attorney review and home inspection. Both the buyer and seller have 5 business days from the contract acceptance date to review the contract with their attorney. The home inspection, which is the buyers responsibility, will need to be completed within the same 5 business day time frame.

The cost for an inspection is typically in the $300 to $500 range depending on the size of the home. We recommend the home also be tested for radon gas. Radon is a natural gas that comes up thorough the ground and has been identified as a potential cause of cancer.

Radon gas is very common in homes. The typical cost for a radon test is $200. The radon test is 48 hour test so we recommend the test be scheduled early in the inspection time frame. The installation of a mitigation system will be required in the event the home has high levels of radon gas. The cost of the mitigation system and retest to ensure the system is working properly after installation, is typically a sellers cost.

Most inspections will last anywhere from 2-4 hours depending upon the size and age of the home. The inspector will go through each area of the house and perform a non-invasive inspection to identify significant defects and safety issues that may not have been obvious when you viewed the property.

We recommend the buyer attend the inspection, if possible. You will gain first hand valuable information from the inspector in regards to the condition of the home, any recommended repairs and and get useful tips for suggested regular maintenance. The inspector will provide you a detailed written report with photos for review no later than the following day after the completion of the inspection.

Your agent and attorney will guide you through the inspection review process and assist you in understanding your options. In many cases, especially with newer homes, there are no significant issues identified in the report. However, sometimes there are items identified that require repairs.

In these cases, we will work with you to determine how to best proceed, whether to negotiate the seller repair the defect prior to closing, provide a credit so that you can have the item repaired after closing or a combination of both. Occasionally the issues are significant enough that the negotiations fail and either the buyer or seller decide they are no longer interested in moving forward with the transaction.

We have worked with many licensed home inspectors over the years. We are happy to provide you contact information for inspectors our past clients have highly recommend.

Closing Process

Choosing an experienced real estate attorney is very important. Your attorney is responsible for communicating with both you and the seller’s attorney throughout the closing process. The attorney will help you negotiate any inspection requests you may have, research the property to ensure clear title with no liens, review all mortgage and property documents and review HOA (Home Owners Association) rules, regulations and budgets, if applicable, and be present at the closing to represent you.

You will receive a settlement statement a few days prior to closing. The settlement statement itemizes your closing costs and credits, and will let you know how much money to bring to closing.

On the day of closing, your attorney will review and explain each document, and answer any questions you may have prior to your signing closing documents. Once you and the seller have signed everything, ownership and the keys are then officially provided to you for your new home!   

Let’s Get Started!

The home buying process can be both a challenging and exciting adventure. There are plenty of things to learn. We are ready to help you every step of the way. Take a deep breath, jump in, and most importantly Have Fun!

Please contact us to get started!

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