Laguna Woods Home Buyers Guide | Kitty Platt & Amir Kharrazi

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 we 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 agents like us to take much of the stress off your shoulders? Not only will we help identify properties you might be interested in, arrange showings, and ultimately handle the offer process, but we also have knowledge of the market that you don’t possess. Finding the perfect home can be a daunting task, this is where our expertise and wealth of knowledge come into play. Let us show you around some homes that meet your dream home criteria so you can find the one that's right for you.

Step 5: Find the Right Home

This should be the most enjoyable step of the entire process (other than moving in!). We 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. We 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. We 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.

What Our Clients Say

Trusted by Buyers & Sellers in Laguna Woods

Seller

The team of Kitty and Amir were very good. They were responsive to our requests and provided some good suggestions during the selling process. We had special circumstances that did not permit the viewing of the home all the tim...

Buyer & Seller

My husband and I loved working with Kitty and Amir! They helped us find our first home in Laguna Woods. They both were extremely helpful, patient, kind and knowledgeable. We were so very pleased with their professionalism that ...

Buyer

In summary, Kitty and Amir would be our first choices if we look for another home in this area. It took us a few months to find the home we like because we were residing in another state. Kitty and Amir were very supportive and...

Mike M.

Both Kitty and Amir did an outstanding job navigating us through the complexities of the real estate transaction. They both went the extra mile to make sure all the details were covered even though we lived out of state. I coul...

Paul M.

Kitty was there for all aspects of the sales process, and that was especially helpful, since I was an out-of-state buyer. We had lots of discussions during the process of finding and buying the property and helped me through al...

Rose

I recently had the pleasure of working with Amir Kharrazi to purchase a new home. From start to finish, it was an absolute pleasure! From our initial conversations and throughout the whole process. He was highly knowledgeable a...

Buyer

Kitty and Amir were helping me by sending daily listing in the range of price that I could afford. they were always ready to show me homes that I found interesting. I am glad we found one and they helped me through out the proc...

Mike S.

Kitty and her husband are very, friendly, Organize, On time, Professional and Helpful to process my property in Laguna Wood to Complete Sell my House.

Sellers

Kitty And Amir did an outstanding job helping my husband, and I sell our condo in Laguana Woods. We live out of the area, and they made the transaction easy. They both were very professional and knowledgeable. They were also av...

Buyer

I met Kitty Platt at an open house in Laguna Woods Village. Later she helped me secure a summer rental in the same community. After experiencing LWV for several months, I reached out to Kitty to consider making a purchase. She ...

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Buyer's Guide

A Step-by-Step First Time Buyer's Guide

Step 1: Research

Step 2: Decide on Your Budget

Step 3: Get Prequalified

Step 4: Choose a Real Estate Agent

Our Goal is to Provide You With the Most Personalized Service That is Designed to Help You Buy Your Dream Home

Step 5: Find the Right Home

Step 6: Make an Offer

Step 7: Have the Home Inspected

Step 8: Select Your Loan

Step 9: Get a Home Appraisal

Step 10: Finish Paperwork

Congratulations!