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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, 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.

My 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!). 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.

Rick D.
Mark W.
Blake B.
Peter S.
Richard W.
Ruth Y.
Wilson R.
Peter B.
Dustin S.
Sue & Tom
Cindy A.
Carol Louise K.
Mike M.
Ann & Nick M.
Chuck F.
WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

We didn't even know where to begin, Julie helped us with paperwork, communicating with the seller, suggested lenders, inspectors, etc, and asked the questions we didn't know to ask!

— Rick D.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Julie is a true professional with deep expertise in the local real estate market. She's a hard worker who did her best to help us successfully find a home. I highly recommend working with her!

— Mark W.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Julie is a truly amazing relator who treated us like family. She helped us through every step of the home buying process with patience. Julie will go out of her way to ensure you get the best service possible.

— Blake B.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Julie works tirelessly to make sure that she does her very best for her clients. She also is very friendly and nice to work with. I would definitely recommend. She is a true professional and is a couple notches above what you would expect in such a small town real estate market.

— Peter S.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Since moving to Buena Vista, CO in August, 2020, Julie has helped us purchase two additional times, so we've done three transactions with her since meeting her. My wife and I both agree that she has served us with great skill and local knowledge, so I can only give her five stars and highly recommend her.

— Richard W.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Buying a house can certainly be stressful, but not with Julie on your side. She brings local knowledge, vendor connections, everything needed to make the sale you want. She is very professional and will make sure you get the property for the right fair price. She was a pleasure to work with. I highly recommend her.

— Ruth Y.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Julie always responded to us in a timely, professional manner. She moved the transaction forward to the satisfaction of both buyer and seller to the closing date. We listed the house in February and closed 8weeks later. Her friendly and integrous manner put both buyer and seller at ease. We would highly recommend her.

— Wilson R.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

I worked with Julie to locate and purchase a lot in downtown Buena Vista. From the first moment we connected to closing on the property Julie was helpful, supportive of my needs and quick to get back to me with my emails and calls. In todays World I often find that is generally not always the case with many people you are working with to get something done.

— Peter B.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

We were looking for land by ourselves for a while in CO trying to narrow down where exactly we wanted to end up. I first spoke with Julie once we landed on Buena Vista and she helped make the process easier. She knew of a lot that wasn't listed yet that allowed us to get a better lot for a better deal than what we would've found otherwise. We are happy with the experience overall.

— Dustin S.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Our sale involved real estate and a business. It was a complicated sale involving real estate, equipment, goodwill and stock. Julie was knowledgeable, professional and ultra-timely with responses. Her knowledge and experience are invaluable. We then dealt with Julie for a few purchases with a 1031 exchange. Again, her connections and knowledge were most appreciated. She is a class act and we would highly...

— Sue & Tom

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

We have used Julie and her office for several real estate transactions, including the recent sale of our house, all have been smooth and professionally executed. Julie and her team were great about taking the time to understand our priorities during the negotiation period. While there are plenty of real estate agent options in the area, few have the combination of business acumen and integrity that Julie...

— Cindy A.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Julie helped me through an extremely stressful personal period in my life, which included selling my home of 20+ years and finding a new place where I could start over. She was knowledgeable, professional, super responsive, and walked me through this first time seller/buyer experience with expertise but and, more importantly, compassion and kindness. She looked out for my best interests on all levels! I ...

— Carol Louise K.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

Julie has great knowledge of the local real estate market. She and her staff are always responsive. They return phone calls timely. She is good to work with and makes the process easy. Julie is from the area and that is helpful in providing insight into local real estate conditions. For example, she was very accurate in assessing the market value of our home. The home sold within 2 weeks of the listing d...

— Mike M.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

We enlisted Julie Kersting’s help after several phone conversations confident that she was a seasoned, full time real estate agent. As out of state buyers we were more than pleased to find Julie to be a true professional who went beyond the expected. She didn’t blink at showing us close to 30 homes [some more than once] during our 3 day stay in Buena Vista. And she closed our deal after we left with an e...

— Ann & Nick M.

WHAT MY CLIENTS SAY

I have been trying to buy the perfect property and home in Twin Lakes for years. I was usually too late or had other issues which caused the deals to fall through. Someone forwarded Julie's contact details to me in 2017. She found a number of properties, did the leg work, vetted the details, and provided prompt feedback. She was always fair and honest when communicating her findings even if it meant she ...

— Chuck F.

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Ready to take the plunge into a mountain property? Maybe a house right in town is up your alley? Contact Julie today, she is passionate about making sure you find just the home of your dreams.

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Contact Details

JULIE KERSTING

[email protected]
(719) 395-7840

306 E Main St Buena Vista CO 81211