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Buyer's Guide

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Meet Our Broker

I am the Broker Owner of 1st Choice Home Team, a company I started in 2017 out of a passion for Homeownership and the desire to help underserved clients and provide a premium experience for those who put their trust in me. I have been in Financial Services and Retail Banking since 2006. I pride myself on being an expert in my field and am privileged to serve both home buyers and sellers as a Real Estate Broker. Together, as a Mortgage Broker, I am a wealth of knowledge for my clients when making the largest and most important decisions in Real Estate. 

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Successful Buying process

I Know That Buying a New Home Can Be Stressful

But it doesn't have to be.  Instead it can be the glorious start to a new chapter.  The anticipation of creating new memories in a home that better serves your needs. We're here to help you determine your budget, find the perfect neighborhood & hear "OFFER ACCEPTED!"

Moving to a new home is EXCITING and we can't wait to help you every step of the way.

How Does a Real Estate Transaction Work?

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Step 1

Loan Evaluation

Before making an offer, talk with a lender to determine your budget.

Step 2

Offer Presented

Buyer's Real Estate Agent presents offer to Seller's Real Estate Agent, who conveys it to seller.

Step 3

Purchase Negotiation

Sales price, terms and contingencies are negotiated & agreed upon.

Step 4

Inspection Period

Buyer begins 10-day inspection period & submits repair requests.

Step 5

Seller’s Disclosures

Seller's provide disclosures that materially effect the value.

Step 6

Good Faith Deposit

Buyer's submits title company which is held in earnest.

Step 7

Loan Application Processed & Appraisal Ordered

Concurrent with loan process, closing agent confirms seller has clear right to sell property & establishes facts, such as whether there are any restrictive covenants on the use of the property.

Step 8

Closing Docs Issued

Lender provides load estimate & closing disclosures detailing all terms & costs.

Step 9

Ontingencies Satisfied

Once financing is complete, inspection repairs made, appraisal complete, contingencies are dropped off.

Step 10

Final Walk Through

1-2 days prior to closing, buyer confirms that the home is in the same condition as when toured & all agreed upon repairs have been made.

The Timeline

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Set Your Budget

This is so important, I will ask you, "What is the maximum you would want your new home payment to be?" The answer is usually, "well, as low as possible". Of course, but if you needed to put a number on what monthly payment feels comfortable for you and your family at this time, what would it be? Typically, a household of two or more income earners will make enough to qualify for their desired payment. However, you may qualify for a 'maximum' of up to 50% of your gross income as a payment if you have no other debt. I then provide you with a Purchase Price Range, based on the payment you want and the payment you max qualify for. Will you stretch your qualifications and go for the nicer house in the nicer neighborhood? Or will you favor the lowest payment over all others? A few things to consider:

Are you at the front end of your earning potential? If so, you might want to push on your budget a bit. This would be for young professionals who are in positions where they expect significant increases in their compensation. Their pay may be entry level and has a lot of room to increase over the coming years, so it might make sense to over extend just a bit, knowing you can grow into the monthly payment.

Are you at the end of your earning potential? If so, you might not want to push on your monthly budget. This would be for anyone on the back end of their career OR with a fairly fixed income.

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Agent Compensation

SPOILER: Seller Pays

As of August 17th, 2024, seller's can no longer advertise what amount they are willing to pay a Buyer's Agent (typically 2-3%). Also, we are now required to disclose to you (the buyer) and have your sign a Representation Agreement before touring any homes. The agreement outlines what my compensation is, and that I am working for you with the expectation to earn this compensation upon completion of my duties as your agent. 

Real Estate transactions typically involve two agents, a Buyer's Agent (me) and a Seller's Agent. As a Buyer's agent, my sole fiduciary responsibility is due to you.

I will assist you with every aspect of the home buying process, from initial consultation to negotiations and closing. The Seller's Agent represents the seller, and their fiduciary responsibility is due solely to their seller and their sellers best interest.

I will devote my time and expertise, with the expectation of compensation. Typically, the seller pays for the compensation of the buyer's agent (me). 

It is typical for Buyer Agent compensation to be 2-3% of the purchase price, depending on the amount of the home being sold. When we submit an offer to purchase a home, we will also include a request for the seller to pay for your representation (Buyer's Broker Compensation). 

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Why Hire an Agent for Your Home Purchase?

Unrepresented consumers account for
70% of all real estate lawsuits.

Are you required to have a real estate agent to purchase a home? No. But you’re also not required to have a professional cut your hair, so why do you pay someone to do that? Because you don’t want to walk around with your hair a mess, right?

Don’t skip out on your Representation, don’t go at this alone. The Seller has a Professional Representaing them, make sure you have a Professional too. 

Buying a home is often one of the biggest financial investments you’ll make in your lifetime. A lot can go wrong, and unfortunately, it can go REALLY wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing.

Wish List

Buying a new home can be so much fun, and its important to identify what you really want in of a new home. The number of bedrooms and baths are easy ones to start. What about location and commute? Are schools important? Do you need a need a garage or want a community pool?

Write down ALL the things you would love to have in a new home. After you’ve filled your mind with all the possibilities, start sorting them and ranking them in order of importance, narrowing it down to 3-5 must haves. It’s important to do this BEFORE you start looking at houses so you don’t get distracted by something that looks beautiful, but doesn’t quite fit your needs overall. We will first only focus on homes that have most of your WANTS, and filter out those that don’t. It is good advise not to fall in love with a particular house at this stage, it may be off the market by the time we are ready to view and make an offer on it. For now we just want criteria for your home search.

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Down Payment

Determine what your down payment is. While some put 20% down on their home, you can often qualify with as little as 3.5% down. It’s important to be clear on this number as it will impact your monthly payment. You’ll also need to have your Earnest Money Depsoit on hand as well. Typically buyers put 1-3% of the purchase price down as earnest money deposit. I’ll break down your earnest money deposit in just a bit, but know that you’re earnest money deposit will be added to your down payment on closing day.

Meet With Your Lender

Yes, we can also help you with your home financing! And, the majority of the time we do it faster, and more affordable for you than any local bank. We are speaicalist after all, we do this everyday!

Now that you have a some idea on what you want and the numbers you’d like to hit, it’s time to talk to a lender. Every buyer must have a pre-approval before seeing any homes. Depending on your price point (usually luxury listings), Listing Agents will require proof of funds prior to showings. This ensures sellers aren’t prepping their home for showings for buyers that aren’t in a position to buy. Your pre-approval will be submitted with any offer so the sellers know you can secure a loan for their property. Once you have your pre- approval, revisit your ‘must have’ list to be sure those items can realistically be secured at your price point.

Learn More
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Build Your Timeline

Are you renting? Do you need to sell your current home? Closings typically take 17-25 days, so line up your dates to be sure they work for you. If you need to sell your current home in order to buy your new home, it’s important to have it cleaned, staged and photographed PRIOR to looking at homes. 

Desireable homes get into contract quickly, sometimes after the first weekend, and usually at or above asking price. If we identify a home you like, we want to schedule a showing immediately and submit an offer without delay.

If you are wanting to offer below asking price or otherwise looking for a deal, we need to be looking for homes that have been on the market typically for 20+ days. That tells us no other buyers are interested, and there may be an opportunity to get a deal, discount or seller credit. 

If you’re renting, know that your first mortgage payment isn’t usually due for 31-60 days AFTER close of escrow, which helps you not double up on rent and mortgage payments.

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Set up Your Home Search

Now it's time to start shopping for your new home!  We'll automate this by setting up a custom home search for you with all of the criteria you listed above.  This means anytime a new home hits the market that meets your criteria, you'll get an email notification.  If you like what you see, reach out and I'll set an appointment to your the home with me.

A few ground rules to make this process as enjoyable as possible:

Do not request tours for homes that are not in your budget. I can promise you this never ends well and oftentimes makes you disappointed in what you CAN afford.

Remember when walking homes, someone else is often living there.  This means we want to be respectful of their space, especially if children are accompanying us.

And finally, there are almost always cameras, so save any talk of price, offers or opinions for after the showing.

You-re Under Contract... Now What?

Remember when walking homes, someone else is often living there.  This means we want to be respectful of their space, especially if children are accompanying us.

And finally, there are almost always cameras, so save any talk of price, offers or opinions for after the showing.

10-Day Inspection Period

10-Day Inspection Period

This is your time to do all of your due diligence on the property. It is HIGHLY recommended that you hire a professional inspector to do a full inspection of the home. You can google some options or I’m happy to share a few companies I’ve worked with in the past, but who you use as your inspector is your decision. The inspector will climb into the attic, check the a/c, run all the faucets, check all the electrical and look for anything that is out of order. They’ll then provide you with a full report that is often dozens of pages long — you want them to be thorough! They’ll point out everything that is in working order and everything that is not. Once the inspection is done, you’ll have an opportunity to ask the seller to repair or replace anything that isn’t working properly. Let it be noted, you cannot ask for things that are working properly to be repaired or replaced. If buyer and seller cannot come to an agreement during this due-diligence period, buyer has the opportunity to cancel the contract and receive a full refund of their earnest money deposit.

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Appraisal

Once the inspection is complete the next contingency to remove is the appraisal contingency. Most loans require an appraisal and if the home doesn’t appraise for the purchase price, buyers and sellers have a few options. The buyer can exercise their right to cancel the contract and receive an full refund of their earnest money, buyer and seller can renegotiate on the price, or buyer can bring the difference between the appraisal amount and loan amount to the closing table to bridge the gap. This is called an “Appraisal Gap”. 

Once the appraisal contingency has been met, the only remaining contingency of significance is the Loan Contingency, which means your loan must be approved and finacing available to you. Once all contingencies are removed (by you signing in writting), only then would your earnest money deposit be at risk if you decide not to buy the home.

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Final Walk Through

This occurs 2-4 days prior to close and is your chance to walk the home one last time to ensure that all of the repair requests have been completed and that the house is in the same condition as when you first saw it. It’s normal to see boxes stacked in the garage because sellers are moving too! If everything looks good, you’ll sign paperwork accepting the home’s condition and we’ll be on our way to a smooth close.

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Closing Day

Closing day is usually a collection of a few days. The Title Company will receive loan documents 3-5 days prior to close and you’ll have two options: you can make an appointment to sign at the Title Company OR they’ll send the documents to you with a notary to sign in the comfort of your own home. Either way is just fine, but you’ll need to be sure if you’re signing at home that there is time for documents to get back to the Title Company in a timely manner (espeacially if you’re signing out-of-state or more than a drive away from their offices). Both buyers and sellers usually sign all the documents a few days prior to close, so that on closing day, all that is left to do is wire your funds to close &  send the title to record at the County Recorder's Office. 

Your property is officially closed once the title has been recorded, then funding will follow. Depending on which day of the week and the time of day, sometimes funding doesn’t happen until the next day. Banks often work on Eastern Standard Time so if you’ve recorded late in the day on a Friday, you can expect it to fund on Monday.

Good news? Once it’s funded we can release the keys to your new home to you!

What you Can Expect

Real Estate is more than just selling high and buying low. My approach is to take the time and care with every client as if my home and financial future were on the line. I treat my clients like family, and they become my lifelong friends. I can promise you that I will explain in detail every aspect of this process, and work with you to make the decisions that provide you the greatest advantage. I am passionate about homeownership and you will not find a more dedicated and knowledgeable Broker. 

Work With Us

Get assistance in determining current property value, crafting a competitive offer, writing and negotiating a contract, and much more. Contact us today.

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Contact Details

1st Choice Home Loans

Phone

(858) 531-6069

Email

[email protected]

Address

8880 RIO SAN DIEGO DR STE 800 SAN DIEGO CA 92108 JORGE MURILLO | CA DRE# 2038407

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