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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

My Testimonials

See why my clients love working with me.

Margaret V.

Joanie is a fantastic realtor; she helped us find the perfect subdivision, and was always there when we needed help dealing with the builder. I’m disabled and she came to my apartment to photograph and measure accommodations I ...

Loretta V.

Joanie Rish is one of the most outstanding persons I know and the best realtor I have ever worked with. She not only helped me sell my house in San Antonio quickly at a great price. Before we put my house on the market in SA, s...

Stephanie

Joanie helped us find our first home. We knew little about the home buying experience and she guided us throughout the whole process. She was honest and stated her opinions on each house we saw; we knew what would be good for r...

Patricia V.

Joanie, goes the extra mile in locating properties for her clients. She is thorough when complex situtations come up in the selling process. You can rely on her!

Brett H.

Joanie put in the time and effort required to find us our new to us home in Kerrville (relocated from Houston). This happened in November 2023 it was a very difficult market inventory was really low. She was knowledgeable and p...

Kyle S.

Joanie Rish is very detailed oriented. Stays on top of everything. Good communication. Honest, friendly, and determined to help with your sale.

Bradley B.

Joanie is an awesomely organized real estate agent with a sound knowledge of San Antonio (and surrounding areas) real estate market! Our entire home purchase flew through without a hitch from the day we decided on it until we r...

Debra M.

It is a pleasure doing business with Joanie. She was a great help to us before and after closing-by giving us choices for an inspection and to get appliances removed and installed. And they were good people to work with, too. W...

Kristi D.

Joanie has gone above and beyond for us to make sure that our home buying experience has been a positive and smooth process. She always makes herself available when we need her and keeps in constant communication with the build...

John K.

Joanie was wonderful to work with. She went beyond the call of duty to assist in the process of selling my house of twenty six years and to purchase a new town house. Friends had recommended Joanie because of their good experie...

James C.

Awesome! Great experience from start to finish. Using a professional realtor with experience equals a smooth transition from selling to buying. Joanie brings well-rounded expertise to help with your real estate journey! Thanks ...

Ida W.

Joanie Rish of Team Rish sold our home for the price asked. She provided us with marketing information, how to present our home, confidence, and full support for a successful sale. In our opinion, she is a top-choice profession...

Buyer

Joanie has always been very helpful and incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to residential real estate analysis and assessments. She is energetic and always takes the time to find the property that is right for you and your ...

Olga J.

It was important to choose a real estate professional with experience. Joanie is highly motivated with an extensive background in property selling/buying and a long list of prospective clients. Highly recommended!

Evelyn S.

Joanie was my realtor in both buying my new home and selling my existing one. The whole experience was painless. She was very knowledgeable about downsizing and finding a home to meet my needs. I highly recommend her.

Faye M.

Joanie is so wonderful! She was with us every step of the way! Joanie helped us with some very important decisions and informed us about things that we had no knowledge of! Took a whole day to drive us to Round Rock to see the ...

John H.

Joanie is an amazing person to work with. She is a no-bull kinda of person. She truly has your interest in mind the whole time. She has made the buying experience every easy and pleasant. We are in our second home, Joanie has f...

Hope R.

Joanie Rish was very attentive to our buying and selling needs and very professional. She helped us when buying our second home, she advised, listened, and provided good insight regarding the best areas suited to our needs. Als...

James W.

Joanie represented my father-in-law. He was moving to Katy, TX., but was unsure when his new home would be completed. She found a buyer and negotiated a lease-back from the buyer until my father-in-law could move. It was a win-...

Chad L.

Working with Joanie Rish has just been amazing! The hard work and attention to detail she puts into helping us find the perfect home are simply outstanding. We will never deviate from Joanie until we find our spot. I highly rec...

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If you're considering buying or selling a property in San Antonio, or if you’d like to learn more about the innovative opportunities at eXp Realty, Joanie would be delighted to connect and help you achieve your real estate goals.

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