Most of my favorite clients have been first-time buyers. They ask better questions than people who think they already know how this works. Here are the five things I wish I could tell every first-time PNW buyer at the start of the process - before the bidding wars, before the inspection panic, before the closing-day scramble.
1. Get pre-approved before you fall in love.
I know this sounds obvious. It's still the thing I see ignored most. People look at homes online for months, find the one, then start the lender conversation - and discover their actual budget is 12% lower than the number they had in their head, or that their down payment timeline doesn't line up with the closing schedule the seller wants.
Get the pre-approval first. Talk to two or three lenders - I'll connect you with people I trust if you don't have anyone yet. The 30 minutes it takes saves you weeks of false-start touring later.
2. The list price is a starting point, not a number.
Especially on the Eastside. Some sellers price low to drive multiple offers. Some price ambitiously to filter out tire-kickers. The only way to know what a home is actually likely to sell for is to look at what comparable homes in the same neighborhood actually closed at recently - and that's a comp analysis I'll run for you on any home we tour.
Translation: don't anchor to the list price. Anchor to the comps.
3. Pre-inspections aren't always the right move.
Pre-inspections - paying $400-$700 to inspect a home before you write an offer - have become a default expectation in the PNW. They're often the right call. They're not always.
If you're competing with five other offers on a home that's likely to sell over ask, a pre-inspection lets you waive your inspection contingency and strengthen your offer significantly. If the home has been sitting for three weeks, you're probably the only serious offer on the table - and you can keep your inspection contingency, save the pre-inspection cost, and still get the home.
The right answer depends on the situation. We'll talk through it for every home.
4. Earnest money is real money.
The earnest money deposit (the check you write when your offer is accepted, usually 1-2% of the offer) is genuinely on the line. If you back out for a reason that isn't covered by a contingency, you can lose it.
This is one of the hardest conversations I have with first-time buyers, because the earnest money line on the offer feels like a number on paper until it isn't. Read every contingency carefully. Understand what you can and can't walk away from. I'll never let a client sign something they don't fully understand.
5. Closing isn't the finish line. It's the start.
The first six months of homeownership are the most expensive months you'll have in the home - small repairs, the things you didn't notice in inspection, the appliance that decides to give up two weeks after you move in. Plan for it.
I send every client a list of contractors I trust before they close. Plumbers, electricians, handymen, the guy I always use for window cleaning. You shouldn't have to find these people in a panic.
The unwritten rule.
The biggest difference between buyers who feel good about their first home a year later and the ones who don't isn't price. It isn't even the home. It's whether they had honest counsel through the process - someone telling them when not to write an offer, when to walk away, when to stretch.
That's the work I aim to do. The SERVICE you deserve isn't getting you into a home. It's getting you into the right one.
Thinking about a move on the Eastside?
I'd rather have ten unhurried conversations than one rushed transaction. Whether you're three months out or three years away, I'm easy to reach.
Start a Conversation