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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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. Finding the perfect home can be a daunting task, this is where my expertise and wealth of knowledge come into play. Let me show you around some homes that meet your dream home criteria so you can find the one that's right for you.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

My Testimonials

David L.

You really can't do better. It's not just that Carol is always prepared and is the connsumate professional, most of all it's that she cares. She knows the market and explains it well. If you're a seller she knows how to maximiz...

Nilofer M.

The fact that I bought a house with Carol and sold that same out 21 years later is a sign that Carol is the one to pick. To say she is detail oriented and always on top of things is an understatement. Because I had a significan...

Sam B.

Carol Jeans is a great real estate agent, and we are so thankful we worked with her. She helped us sell our parents' house in Saratoga where they had lived for over 50 years. She helped us through the whole process - deciding t...

Cindy W.

We had an outstanding experience working with Carol on several real estate transactions. She is unparalleled in experience and expertise. So knowledgeable, organized and calm. She is the best! She helped us stage our home with ...

Troy S.

We worked with Carol and her team to sell our single family home in Los Gatos. She was amazing. Made everything super easy for us, managed the end to end process, got our home into great shape and sold the home for a price we w...

Ron R.

This lady was absolutely amazing from start to finish. Not only being compassionate, but very professional. What did she, say she was going to do she delivered. Carol, Ron, and Kathy will always be thankful and grateful to you ...

Adnan A.

Carol is amazing. She helped us buy our first home and now we have an amazing investment condo. She is very helpful, and responsive and gives great advise to match your needs for the property you are looking for. I highly recom...

Marguerite P.

I give Carol Jeans a high 5 Star rating! Carol worked with us every step in getting our home ready for sale, The staging was wonderful, and our home sold in 2 weeks. She is a pro at real estate and organized and honest! We high...

Cindy W.

We loved working with Carol on several real estate transactions. She is brilliant, knowledgeable, well experienced and loving. Such an exceptional agent and human being. 5 stars and simply the best of the best. You will adore w...

Suzanne F.

I have had the pleasure of working with Carol on both the sale of my home and the search and purchase of a new home. She listened to what my needs and desires were and made them her priority while expertly guided me through the...

David G.

This is the hardest-working woman in the business hands down. If you want a highly experienced agent that will maximize your results look no further! Whether your buying or selling Carol and her team will get the job done seaml...

M. B.

My wife and I had lived in our home for 35 years. We had rebuilt it after the Loma Prieta earthquake and loved it, but it was becoming too much for us to handle. We decided that even though we had a real estate agent in the fam...

Doug K.

My wife and I will always be so glad that we chose Carol Jeans as our real estate agent and so grateful to her for her help. Carol was there to guide us through every stage of the process of selling my father's house after he p...

James R.

Carol was absolutely incredible to work with! She helped us purchase our first home in Willowglen and we could not recommend her enough! As first-time home buyers, we were inexperienced, so having an expert like Carol guide us ...

Laurie C.

Carol Jeans was amazing from start to finish. Her warm personality and availability made the made the process of selling the family home an absolute pleasure. Most importantly, communication was seamless, with Carol and team an...

Brad C.

Carol sold our home in Los Gatos in March 2018. We made a bit of a snap decision to move out of the Bay Area and wanted a real estate agent that could make a deal happen on our timeline. A family friend recommended Carol to hel...

Ahmed R.

We have bought 3 homes with Carol every experience and all 3 were nothing short of A+. She is a professional who custom tailors every experience to your needs and gets you past the finish line with tremendous satisfaction. Leav...

Kirk C.

Worked with anyone as professional, smart, honest, and kind as Carol Jeans. I would give her a 10 on: skill, knowledge, professionalism, communication, integrity, personality, and kindness. Carol sold our home in Los Gatos a fe...

Randy R.

I met Carol through a friend who had worked with her to buy his home. I was extremely nervous about buying my first home, especially in the Silicon Valley real estate market. I did not need to be. Carol had everything under con...

Rebecca G.

I have been with Carol Jeans since my first house purchase back in 1997. Over twenty years later, with 4 houses sold and 5 houses bought, Carol has been with me every step of the way. I have depended on this amazing woman with ...

Shelley M.

Carol is amazing! She has been our agent for multiple transactions and we trust her implicitly. Her professionalism is exemplary, she is extremely knowledgeable, she goes way above and beyond any expectations, she truly cares a...

Michelle H.

We used Carol for the sale of our Saratoga home. She was fabulous from start to finish. Carol is an excellent communicator, on top of every detail, and takes away the stress of the sales process. Carol helped us prepare the hom...

Lindsey S.

Carol helped us buy our first home in Willow Glen. She was spectacular! Shortly after we started working with her, COVID hit, which made things so much more complex with no open houses and required appointments. She was super d...

Barbara K.

Carol did a great job in the face of COVID which required that we switch our staging from physical to virtual. Her advice on contractors to spiff up the house at very reasonable prices and her ability to market despite the ongo...

Kelly V.

Carol Jeans is everything one could hope for in a real estate agent. She is warm, knowledgeable, honest, hardworking, and trustworthy. Most importantly, she is a true professional. When my husband and I set out to find a real e...

Liz C.

Carol Jeans was the real estate agent for the sale of our house in Los Gatos. I would simply describe the work she did for us as "sheer perfection". With her many years of experience and insider knowledge of the Los Gatos marke...

Felicia B.

My family has worked with Carol Jeans for many years now and she has been our real estate agent for 4 transactions. She is the best in the business. Her knowledge of the real estate market, professionalism, and authenticity is ...

Jay M.

We just completed our third Los Gatos house sale with help from Carol. To say she is good at what she does is a monumental understatement. She is tremendously knowledgable, cooperative, creative and is always a pleasure to deal...

Jeetu P.

We moved to California from Chicago. We were not very familiar with the California real estate joys. I had picked a few other real estate agents, but none had really felt like they were interested in more than just making a tra...

K. C.

I am sure that there are a number of very fine real estate agent in the South Bay area, but I have never worked with anyone as professional, smart, honest, and kind as Carol Jeans. I would give her a 10 on: skill, knowledge, pr...

Chris P.

Carol is a superstar. She has been my real estate agent on 7 home buying transactions and 5 home-selling transactions over a 20-year period. Her knowledge of market conditions is excellent. I trust she has always had my best in...

Sudha R.

Carol worked with us to purchase our first home in Fremont and she made our home-hunting process, a pleasant experience. From organizing meetings, signing us up for listings, and introducing us to one of the best bank mortgage ...

Sara G.

Carol and her team were incredible to work with. the house preparation and staging were top-notch, and we got a great price for the sale of our home. The timeline was precise, and she made all of the deadlines and kept us infor...

Amir M.

We carefully selected Carol Jeans to sell our Los Gatos home. Ironically, Carol was the listing agent on our property when we bought our house 23 years ago and her name came up as we were doing our research with friends who had...

Mark A.

We chose Carol to represent us in the sale of our Los Gatos home. She led us through the entire process offering superior guidance every step of the way. Her team of recommended plumbers, electricians, painters, handymen, and s...

Peter R.

Over the past 14 years, we have bought three houses with Carol and sold three houses with her too. Working with Carol gave us peace of mind and confidence with every transaction. She has the right blend of being a professional ...

Oliver D.

We got to Carol by referral from a friend. We were first-time buyers in the US (had bought houses in Germany before but the process is completely different). Carol explained us the complete process and terms, guided us through ...

Gaurav V.

Carol and her team at the Sereno Group are the best. We have bought and sold several houses over the years in different parts of the country and have had the pleasure of working with some amazing real estate agent, who have gon...

Katey K.

Carol was recommended to us by a friend. She and her assistant Louise, were incredibly thorough, competent, and professional. We had a price we wanted to meet and Carol counseled that we may struggle to get that price. So we de...

Cecilia P.

Our family worked with Carol when she was referred to us by a trusted friend. We couldn't have been happier with the amazing advice and energy she brought to our home-buying experience. She was professional, knowledgeable, deta...

Frank R.

It is with great pleasure that I write a review of Carol Jeans. Carol sold our home for us. A real estate transaction can sometimes be complicated and stressful. Carol made us feel secure and confident throughout the entire pro...

Daniel M.

We can recommend Carol Jeans highly from experience. Carol represented us both in the sale of our lovely Los Gatos home as well in the purchase of our new home closer to my work. Carol is truly delightful to work with. She is e...

A. F.

Carol helped us purchase our first home. Everything about the house is so ideal we are still living in the same house and loving it. During the search process, she was meticulous, patient, and mindful in placing us in just the ...

Buyer & Seller

I bought a home from Carol 21 years ago, then hired her to sell my home. So I've seen her on both sides of a transaction. She's extremely detail-oriented and creative and has a great set of resources to bring to bear to help yo...

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Seller's Guide

Work With Carol

As both a resident of and an agent in Santa Clara County, Carol possesses in-depth knowledge of the neighborhoods and their history, the homes, schools and city ordinances needed to help her clients make the best decisions when buying and selling in these communities.

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Contact Details

Carol Jeans | CA DRE# 01117857

Phone

(408) 313-0067

Email

[email protected]

Address

214 Los Gatos-Saratoga Rd Los Gatos CA 95030

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By providing Carol Jeans your contact information, you acknowledge and agree to our Privacy Policy and consent to receiving marketing communications, including through automated calls, texts, and emails, some of which may use artificial or prerecorded voices. This consent isn’t necessary for purchasing any products or services and you may opt out at any time. To opt out from texts, you can reply, ‘stop’ at any time. To opt out from emails, you can click on the unsubscribe link in the emails. Message and data rates may apply.