Buying a home for the first time can be confusing. That’s why the tips and strategies you’ll find in our 8-week series will set you on the right path. It’s my own unique approach and a “behind the scenes” glimpse of what you should look out for and consider when starting your own search for a home.

You’re excited to go house hunting and want to find the “perfect” home, right?!

Don’t let your excitement or desire for a home spur you to make any rash decisions or overlook some serious red flags. You don’t want a home you’ll regret buying, so carefully weigh the pros and cons before making an offer.

Buying a home for the first time can be confusing. That’s why the tips and strategies you’ll find in our 8-week series will set you on the right path. It’s my own unique approach and a “behind the scenes” glimpse of what you should look out for and consider when starting your own search for a home.

Buying a home in the Gainesville market requires an understanding of not only the seasonal shifts in market activity but also the weekly flow of the market.

When it comes to getting a mortgage to buy your first home, many buyers decide on the price point of the house they want to buy before talking to a lender.

They’ll say something like -- “We are going to buy a home for $500,000” -- and then they head out to open houses in that price range.

Even though that’s how it seems like it should be done and how many people do it, that’s not at all the way to start your home-buying experience.

In fact, if you go about financing your first home this way, you’ll not only have a miserable experience, but it also could cause you to buy the wrong home!

There’s a very specific formula and step-by-step approach that buyers – like you -- should take to make sure they end up with the home that best fits their needs and budget.

It requires some initial patience on your part so that each step is done right (and then you are prepared to quickly put in an offer with confidence when you reach that point!).

Don’t Skip These Three Steps

When you’re thinking about buying a home, what pops up in your mind? Are you most excited about living near your favorite coffee shop, certain restaurants or a convenient bike trail? Or are you filled with the anticipation of having a home with awesome features, like a chef’s kitchen, deluxe master suite, or a large yard with a patio?

Usually people tend to lean toward one or the other — being a “house person” or “location person.” Which are you?

We all do it. We finally feel ready to buy a home, the time is right, we feel like we have saved enough for a down payment, AND we then assume the next logical step is to get online and find some open houses to go to.

Resist that urge.

Yep, we tell our clients to NOT start looking around at homes immediately!

You can feel the attraction immediately and imagine a picture-perfect life together for many years ahead. You’ve fallen hard, very hard ….

But wait! We’re not talking about your latest date but rather a home you saw while house hunting.

Yes, buying a home is like falling in love.

Is student loan debt holding you back from being a homeowner?

You’re not alone.

Many first-time buyers are worried that their large student debt takes them out of the game when buying a home. But, most of the time, it doesn’t!

As a buyer do you find yourself “wanting to see everything” in your price range or “needing to look at just one more house or condo”?

You may truly believe that having a wide selection of homes to choose from is the only way to find one you love.

Guess what? It’s a proven fact that having too many choices only increases your chance of making the wrong choice!

Buying a home, especially if it’s your first time, can be complex and confusing at times. But, you are not alone!

Just like most first-time homebuyers, you want to make sure you don’t do something wrong. Or, you might worry that you don’t know what you don’t know!

Many first-time buyers look forward to finally visiting listings and stepping into an actual home they’ve seen only online.

At this point, you’ve gone through what seems like the hard part -- determining your needs and wants with your agent, talking to lenders, getting approved, lots of paperwork, narrowing down neighborhoods, plus time spent thinking, hoping, dreaming.

Buying a home for the first time can be confusing. That’s why the tips and strategies you’ll find in this 8-week series will set you on the right path. It’s my own unique approach and a “behind the scenes” glimpse of what you should look out for and consider when starting your own search for a home.

Did you know that some normal — even harmless everyday activities — could hurt your chances of buying your dream home? You want to avoid any slip-ups that might make your lender think twice about processing your mortgage loan.

I am excited to bring you this series — Things Everyone Should be Talking About – featuring little-known tips and strategies that you can’t get anywhere else.

I created these secrets based on helping my buyers with more than one hundred sales over the years. I’ve tested everything that works and weeded out what doesn’t. It’s all here in one place for you!