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. I may be able to steer you away from certain homes or neighborhoods, suggest hidden gems, or give you pointers that will help you find your dream home for the right price.

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.

Our Testimonials

Keaton A.

We worked directly with Sarah Michaud, who was absolutely amazing to work with. Kind, sweet, generous, and can help you strike vision in homes where you may want to make some changes. I highly recommend the Pargh Team and hope ...

John G.

We were very pleased with Sarah’s intimate knowledge of the neighborhoods we were interested in looking. We also benefited from Sarah’s discerning eye toward building quality and potential problems with construction techniques ...

Elle

Franklin and Lana Pargh are two of the best people you could ever meet in Middle Tennessee. They are so kind and helpful. I’ve known them for years. They helped me purchase my condo when they were just starting out with Compass...

Mark S.

Joy was an absolute phenomenal agent to work with. Her knowledge of the area, and communication was outstanding. She listened to what we were searching for and was able to find the home of my wife’s dreams. She was available to...

Matt W.

We had a great experience working with Joy Smith and The Pargh Team. Joy is everything you’d want in a real estate agent — knowledgeable, responsive, patient, and truly invested in helping you find the perfect home. She guided ...

Steve S.

The Pargh team at Compass was an amazing. First they set me up with Hilery She is a first class agent that listens to you at every showing and gradually puts all of your comments into finding the right home. She works tirelessl...

Lindsay Y.

I had a great experience working with the Pargh Team. Erin Tunney did a great job putting together a marketing plan for the sale of my home. Given the current market (e.g., high interest rates, suppressed values, and slow marke...

SP

Amy's dedication to her clients is evident in every interaction, and she never cut corners. She was always honest, transparent, and responsive, offering invaluable advice and support. I felt like both her clients and us as the ...

Andrew Q.

We have bought and sold many properties and without a doubt Amy Wyatt is the best realtor we have utilized. We have used Amy for our last 3 buy and sell cycles. She has an exceptional focus on the details of a transaction and i...

Jaclyn L.

Franklin, Lana, and the operations team really know what they're doing and made us feel completely comfortable from day one with the sale of our house. I would recommend them to anyone for buying or selling-- stress free, hones...

Sasha S.

An excellent company of very effective professionals in their field, in my opinion, the best in this market, giving results in the most incredible and difficult conditions, with the most sophisticated and demanding clients. Exc...

Daniel H.

The Pargh Team continued to impress us with how they handled the sale of our home. With expert advice when it came to list timing, pricing, and beyond, we could not be more grateful to have had them handle the sale of our home....

Iain B.

Team Pargh again knocked it out of the park (or out of the Pargh!?). They helped guide us through delicate negotiations regarding appropriate price adjustments for deferred maintenance and flood damage. Thank you. We got it done!

Winston V.

The Pargh Team exceeded expectations on finding my wife and me our ideal property in the Nashville area. The team made the search streamlined and focused, qualities that are important when relocating. Lana, Franklin, Joy and Je...

Goldstein

The Pargh Team is all that and more. From start to finish, our experience working with Lana and Franklin Pargh was excellent. We found the best home for our needs and beat out other offers because of their deep understanding of...

Boris B.

A shout-out to the amazing Pargh Team! Just like a few years ago, when our family dreamt of moving to our favorite neighborhood and they instantly surrounded us with support, knowledge, and ideas and completely exceeded our exp...

Jacob U.

Franklin and Lana Pargh are incredible agents. They can think outside of the box and solve complex issues which can commonly arise when performing real estate transactions. They are also always available, even on nights weekend...

Mary Liza B.

The Pargh Team is quite simply the best real estate team in Nashville! Each of their agents utilizes their unique expertise with every home purchase and sale. For example, with her background in architecture, Lana Pargh can see...

Amy C.

I cannot say enough good things about The Pargh Team. They guided and supported us through every step of selling our old home and purchasing our new one. They explained each step of the process and were available to answer the ...

Alan P.

Over the last 5 years, I've worked with The Pargh Team to buy both home and investment properties. Not only are they highly organized, particularly around all the closing processes, but their team also helped out a ton with arc...

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As a team comprised of many West Nashville natives with decades of experience in real estate, architecture, and design, we are uniquely qualified to help you buy, sell, renovate, and design your home, whether for personal use or investments.