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.
It all starts at the Buyer Consultation, where you begin by sharing your story and your real estate goals. The consultation also helps you prepare for the current real estate market conditions and learn more about the home buying process. After this approximately hour long meeting, you will be prepared with all of the necessary knowledge to be a strong buyer in this competitive market.
Obtaining financing is an essential part of the buying process. Before you start looking at homes, you will need to speak with a recommended local lender to determine your target price range, estimated monthly payment, and obtain a pre-approval letter that will be used as part of submitting an offer on a home.
During the buyer consultation, you will work with Greg to setup a search on the MLS. The MLS is the origin of REALTOR® listings in central Ohio and a critical resource for acting fast to be the first to see a home and write an offer. If a home (or several) in your search piques your interest, let Greg know to scheduling your own private showing.
When you preview a home and it is a perfect match, the next step is to write an offer. To create a great offer, you will work with Greg to discuss terms such as: price, inspection and remedy time frames, closing time frame, earnest money, and others.
Once your offer is accepted, you are officially in contract! Greg will send you a copy of the fully executed contract accompanied by a convenient cover sheet with all pertinent dates and terms. Once in contract, you will receive weekly updates with an updated timeline, a highlight of the past weeks events, and items coming up the next week.
My goal is to provide you with the most personalized service possible, meticulously designed to help you navigate the process of buying your dream home. I am dedicated to understanding your unique needs and preferences, ensuring that every step of the journey is tailored to achieve your ultimate home-buying aspirations.
Immediately following the acceptance of your offer, the timeline starts on your contract deadlines, most notably the home inspection deadline. Greg can provide several great referrals for highly qualified local home inspectors that can provide an array of inspections services including: Full Home Inspection, Wood Destroying Insect Inspection, and Radon Inspection.
At the conclusion of the home inspection, a full report will be provided to highlight areas of the home that may need some common maintenance increasing in severity to items that need immediate attention for the safety of the home. Focusing on the most important items, you will work with Greg to craft a Request To Remedy. An agreed remedy must be achieved to continue with the contract.
An appraisal is usually required when obtaining a mortgage. The appraisal is a determination of the home’s value by a licensed appraiser. The subsequent appraisal report is used by the bank to ensure their loan makes good business sense.
In the meantime, your lender will be communicating with you to obtain documentation and answer pertinent questions related to your loan to obtain a clear-to-close.
One of the last steps before closing is the final walk-through. There is a dual purpose for this time:
1) Verify that all remedies have been completed
2) Check to ensure the property is in the same or better condition from the last time the property was viewed
Prior to closing, you will need to wire your down payment to the title company. For closing, bring your valid Driver’s License/ID (cannot be expired) and a blank check to closing. The blank check can be used in case a nominal amount is due at the time of closing – this is not common, but worth being prepared.
Once you finish signing the papers at closing, you are officially a homeowner! Keys will be exchanged at the time of closing or arranged for your possession date. There is no better feeling than the first time you step in your new home. Enjoy!
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.
Greg Gleaves made selling our home a breeze! He was incredibly organized, responsive, and proactive, keeping us informed every step of the way. His expertise and positive attitude made the entire process stress-free. We couldn'...
My wife and I can’t recommend Greg enough! He has helped me buy three houses and the latest one was in a crazy market. He helped us navigate the market to buy our current house but also worked extremely hard to sell the old hou...
I had a fantastic experience working with Greg when purchasing my first home. He was knowledgeable, worked to make sure I was thinking of everything I needed to be thinking about and was a great advisor and navigator for this j...
When my wife, toddler, and I moved to Columbus Ohio in 2021 we knew that we were up against a competitive housing market ripe with over asking price cash offers, curb offers, and massive bidding wars. Having both recently start...
Greg represented me on the sale of my home, and I cannot recommend Greg highly enough. He put together an outstanding game plan on a tight timeline and is a true professional in every sense of the word. I will recommend Greg to...
Greg was able to not only find me an affordable house in a really inflated market but was able to sell my condo for more than $5k over asking. You can trust Greg to get you a good deal.
My partner and I are first-time homebuyers who were referred to Greg and the team by our lender. They were excellent in several areas. Helping us find the right home (Greg gave us some good advice about narrowing our search, an...
As first-time homebuyers, my wife and I were nervous to say the very least, especially with the current state of the real estate market. Greg and the team were an immense asset to us, helping us refine our initial search, answe...
Greg is seriously the most wonderful real estate agent and more than I ever could have imagined. I just closed on my house yesterday and had such an amazing experience, and it's all thanks to Greg. He's knowledgeable, friendly,...
Greg sold our home at full list price and got us from listed to closed within one month. Not only did he perform flawlessly in navigating us through the selling process, but he was always just a text or phone call away as a tru...
Whether you're buying, selling, or investing, Upper Arlington's dynamic real estate market is full of opportunities. Let Greg Gleaves help you navigate this thriving community and find your perfect home in one of Ohio's most prestigious neighborhoods.
