North Shore Home Buyers Guide

Buying a home is an emotional process, and it can feel overwhelming. Whether you’re a first-time home buyer, or you’re looking to move, it’s important to understand the ins and outs of buying a home. That’s why we created this guide. We’ve been living and working in Chicago’s North Shore for 10+ years, and our mission is to do whatever it takes to help our clients achieve their goals.

From finding an agent to finally getting the keys to your new home, we’ll be with you every step of the way to help you navigate the home-buying process. We help you get from here to there.

Check out this guide below, and then get in touch if you’d like more information!

Steps to Buying a Home

To give you an idea of the home-buying process, here’s a step-by-step breakdown of each step that buyers typically go through when purchasing a home.

1. Find An Agent

It’s important to find a real estate agent that you trust and feel comfortable with. We believe our personal touch sets us apart. When clients work with us, they realize that it’s not just the marketing, but also the customer service aspect. We really put our clients first and do whatever it takes to help them achieve their goals. That’s been the focus from the beginning.

2. Get Pre-Approved

Unless you are paying for your home in cash, you’ll need to talk to a lender. Based on your income and credit history, a lender will determine how much a bank will lend you, which will help you determine the price range for your search. The lender can also provide answers to questions about interest rates, closing costs, loan products, down payment requirements, & monthly payment expectations. We can provide referrals for mortgage lenders if needed.

3. Buyer Consultation

What do you want in your next home? A consultation helps to make sure we are all on the same page with your timeframe and goals. We can set up a phone call or an in-person meeting to get a sense of what you are looking for. Then we will create a targeted Compass Collection for you to review homes that might be a good fit for you.

4. Explore Towns and Tour

After the consultation, you will be able to save the homes you want to see to a Compass Collection. Sometimes buyers know where they want to move, but not always. During the showing phase, we explore houses that fit your wants and needs in different towns and locations. This helps narrow down the search even more until we find your perfect home.

5. Offer, Negotiate, and Agree on Terms

We found your dream home- now it’s time to buy it! We will review the comparable sales data to analyze the list price and come up with an offer strategy. Once we submit our offer the seller will likely return with a “counter offer” price, which you can choose to accept, reject or make another offer. We will be there to guide you through the negotiation process. Once terms are mutually agreed upon we will submit a revised offer.

6. Sign Contract and Submit Initial Earnest Money

Once the terms have been agreed upon, the seller will sign our offer making it a fully executed sales contract. Typically the initial earnest money is due within two business days of the contract being signed. The earnest money deposit is applied to your down payment at close and is fully protected while under contract.

7. Home Inspection

As a buyer, you are entitled to conduct a thorough inspection of the home prior to moving forward with the purchase. The inspection takes place during the attorney review phase of the contract, which is typically 5 business days. We will schedule a home inspection, which is usually a 2-3 hour appointment. After the appointment, you will receive a report that highlights any issues that were found with the home. If any serious issues are uncovered, you can negotiate either seller repairs or credits at closing to have the repairs done yourself.

8. Attorney Review

Your attorney protects your interests and reviews all of the documents associated with the transaction. The attorney review phase is typically 5 business days after the contract has been signed. However, this phase may be extended until all issues have been resolved. Your attorney will negotiate amendments to the contract as well as formalize any inspection repairs/credits that the seller agreed to.

9. End of Attorney Review and Additional Earnest Money

Once all amendments to the contract have been agreed upon, all parties will sign the contract amendment. After the amendment is signed we typically have two business days to submit the additional earnest money.

10. Loan Application/Approval

The next phase is financing. Your lender will let you know the list of financial documents you will need to submit in order to obtain the loan. The lender will also conduct an appraisal to ensure the price offered is in line with a fair market value.

11. Loan Commitment

Once your lender has all of your documents, they will send everything to underwriting to review. Underwriting will then issue a “Clear-to-Close”, giving you the go-ahead to proceed to closing!

12. Final Walkthrough

After the sellers have moved out and before we go to closing, we will schedule a final walk-through. This is our last chance to make sure the sellers completed any agreed-upon repairs and that the home is in good condition.

13. Closing

Along with your attorney, we will accompany you to closing. There will be a number of documents to sign and review. Once closing is complete, you will receive the keys to your new home. Congratulations!

Our Vision Realized

We help you get from here to there. We aim to provide incredible experiences for our clients and community through direct communication, in-depth knowledge, and a servant’s heart. Learn more about us.

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