Searching For Your New Home

Your loan is underwritten and approved (subject only to an appraisal of your new home), your existing home (if any) is in escrow - the hunt begins!

If new construction fits your profile we will register you at all the new home sites that fit your categories even before your loan is approved. That way when the you have the urge to go "Look At Houses" you can go day dream in the model homes. We register you with the builders even though your agreement with us covers how we are paid because some of the old-line builders aren't always up to speed on Buyer's Brokerage and this helps smooth the way in negotiations if you choose a newly built home.

Buyers generally fall into two categories:

The "Independent" types who prefer to travel alone, armed with detailed information and maps, and explore on their own.

The "You're the professional. We want you to go with us to answer our questions" types who prefer to travel together with their agent who is armed with detailed information and maps.

Whichever way works best for you works for us!

Let's get to the "armed with lots of detailed information and maps". A book is created for each of the areas or neighborhoods you want to evaluate. These books contain a map page where each house has been noted on the map along with a detailed printout of the active listings in the neighborhood. If pictures of the listed houses can be obtained those are also included in the book.

From these initial books, the lists of houses are trimmed down. You can rip out pages for homes that have been dropped from the list, you can keep all the information or you can do something in between. The books are tools, like a pencil. They are yours to use in the manner that works best for you. We can create duplicates of everything we have given you. Don't be concerned if you rip something out and later change your mind. We can replicate it for you.

This part of the search is generally done without appointments, as a drive-by. The goal at this point is to identify a neighborhood or lifestyle for a more intense inspection. For the independent types we are not there to facilitate their entry into the home. For those who prefer to travel with an agent, we can call from our cell phone to gain access to the unit. Not having a set of appointments allows maximum flexibility. This part of the search can be accomplished after work, on weekends, anytime that works for you. Whatever area you want to look at, as long as it is in the State of California, we have access to that information and can develop a book for it. And if it isn't inside California, we can still probably get it for you. It just will take a little longer.

Finding a new home is an evolving process. You may begin with one set of criteria and wind up buying something completely different from your original intentions. When you began your search you had a perception of what you thought would suit your family's needs. As your level of information increases and you are made aware of the different potentials that are available to you, you can reassess what you know now in light of what your family may benefit from with the new information.

Don't be afraid to tell us that you do want to see that two-story instead of the split-level. Perhaps you do want a yard that could take a pool later. As you are presented with information, you are entitled to modify your desires to suit that new factor. We like to think that our clients invest at least as much time in determining what they want in their new home as they would in buying a new car. After all, you're going to have the house a lot longer than you are going to have that new car!

After the search process has narrowed down a bit, we get into what we call "The Tour."