A 10-Step Guide to Buying a House in the San Francisco Bay Area
I work with customers coming from all over the world to purchase properties in the Bay Area. They have many questions. Can I borrow money oversee to purchase a home in the United States? How do I calculate my taxes on the purchase? Is the housing market favorable right now?
Relax!
Let’s start with the basic steps to making a successful home purchase. Whether in San Francisco, San Jose, Sunnyvale, or Palo Alto you can follow these same 10 simple steps.
STEP 1: FIND A HOUSING AGENT OR REAL ESTATE AGENT
When purchasing a home, the first step is always the same – find a good real estate agent (Realtor®). A real estate agent will guide and assist you through each step in the process. They will teach you along the way, help you avoid mistakes, and can even introduce you to other professional partners such as property lawyers, accountants, and loan brokers.
STEP 2: HAVE A DISCUSSION WITH THE REAL ESTATE AGENT ABOUT YOUR OBJECTIVES FOR THE HOME PURCHASE
After finding a real estate agent you like, you will want to discuss your motivations and objectives for the purchase. For example, why you want to purchase a house? Will you live in the home or rent it out? Are you looking for a tax advantage with the purchase or a primary residence? Discuss with your agent your budget and possible financing options. Discuss your preferred timing. Are you looking for something in the next month or the next year? It will be important to convey your desires for a living environment. Do you like fast-paced city life or something quieter and more serene?
For additional information about keys questions to ask yourself, please read this article: Think About These Three Key Questions Before Meeting Your Realtor
Also, everyone is welcome to a free face-to-face consultation
STEP 3: OBTAIN A PRE-APPROVAL LETTER FROM A LOAN BROKER
In a hot real estate market, like the San Francisco Bay area, you will often need to move quickly to get the deal you want. It is a must to have a Pre-Approval Letter from a loan broker. This tells the buyer that you are serious and qualified – not just looking around. Your agent can recommend a qualified loan broker. You will need to provide income and credit information to the broker. Your credit score will have a direct impact on interest rates.
To learn more about maintaining and improving your credit score, please read this article:
To learn for about pre-approval letter, please read this article:
STEP 4: START LOOKING FOR THE HOME THAT YOU LOVE
At this stage, your real estate agent will help you set up screening or filtering criteria so you can see only those homes that meet your needs. When you find some homes you are interested in, your agent will make arrangements to go with you to see these homes. Through this process, you will learn even more about what is available and affordable in your desired area. As always, communication with your agent is the key. He will need to know what you see that you like and what you don’t like.
STEP 5: READ THE SELLER REPORT (DISCLOSURE REPORT)
You’ve found a home you want and think you’re ready to make a bid. Wait just a minute! In Silicon Valley, or just about anywhere in the United States, the seller is required to provide a Disclosure Report. You will want to read this report thoroughly. It contains important information that you need to know. For example, if you like to entertain friends, watch for information about street parking in this report. If you’re looking to rent the home out, look for restrictions on rental units in the area. Information about earthquake and flooding zones will also be included in the Disclosure Report.
STEP 6: DEVELOP A CONTRACT AND BID
You have finally decided to bid on a house. As a buyer, you will want to start drafting a contract. You are dealing with a large amount of money so you will need to decide the best way for you to make this purchase. Do you want to make an all cash-deal? Maybe you want to finance all, or part, of the purchase. There are other conditions as well. Do you want a Property contingency ? What about Loan Contingency There is always more than just the price to consider and you need to be guided by an experienced agent about these terms to your advantage.
STEP 7: COUNTER-OFFER
After the seller receives your offer he may be satisfied with some conditions and dissatisfied with others. This is where the negotiation starts. The seller may make a counteroffer. This counteroffer will probably affect some of the conditions like revising the time requirements for a house inspection or removing some contingencies and will likely attempt to negotiate the final price as well. After reviewing this counteroffer, you and your agent can decide to hold fast to your original offer, walk away from the deal, or submit a second counteroffer or final counteroffer.
This cycle of offer – counteroffer could continue forever. In practice, however, for the Bay Area, it is not uncommon to see up to three iterations of this process. More often, due to the multiple-offer situation, you don’t even get a chance of counter-offer from the seller.
STEP 8: ESCROW AND PROCESS THE PURCHASE CONDITION (MEET CONDITION & CONTINGENCY)
If the seller accepts your final counteroffer the transaction enters Escrow. Escrow is where an impartial third-party (the Escrow Company) investigate title deeds situation and other transfers from the seller. They will receive and disburse the funds from the buyer on the day of purchase.
Once in Escrow, the both parties will proceed to meet the terms of the contract. Usually, this is when the loan broker will actually apply for a loan on behalf of the buyer.
STEP 9: REMOVE CONTINGENCY AND FUNDS IN PLACE
When all the contingency conditions are met, the buyer will then remove the terms so the process can continue. This is when the down payment will be transferred to the Escrow company. The Escrow company will verify that all contractual conditions have been met.
STEP 10: COMPLETE THE TRANSFER (CLOSE OF ESCROW)
If the conditions promised by both parties are met, Escrow will proceed with the transfer. On the day of transfer, the seller’s homeowner gets the money and the homebuyer gets the house. Congratulations you are now the new homeowner!
If reading this article has made you dizzy, don’t worry. Let me explain it all to you in person
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WHAT’S THIS BLOG FOR?
Before I started my career as a real estate agent, I found it quite difficult to find informative articles or websites that provided accurate information catered towards buying and selling houses in the San Francisco Bay Area. Yes, there are some out there on REDFIN or Zillow, but those are not catered specifically towards the San Francisco Bay Area. Sometimes, even tips and facts regarded as common knowledge aren’t applicable and outdated from a Bay Area perspective. My original intention of starting this blog, was to help shed some light on the seemingly inscrutable real estate market. As a real estate agent who has been practicing for many years, I wanted to provide accurate and relevant information to those who might be interested in buying or selling a home.
If you’re curious and want to learn more about buying and selling in the San Francisco Bay Area, then this website might be a good starting point to gain some insight!
WHO AM I?
My name is Chiuho Lin. I first found my calling for real estate in 2015, while I was looking for a new home in the San Francisco Bay Area. I found myself inexplicably drawn to this profession and after meeting hundreds of real estate professionals, I made the decision to become a real estate agent myself. To me, being a real estate agent is rewarding not only because I love meeting new people, but also because I have the privilege of helping them find their new home. A home is an essential aspect of people’s lives where families make happy memories together. I am so glad that as a real estate agent, I can help make their vision a reality.
WHAT IS MY PROMISE?
If you are interested in buying a house, as an agent I can promise you that I will be present in all stages of the buying process. This includes everything from consultations to address all your concerns, investigating real estate to find a home that suits all your needs, visiting the houses, providing insights on the neighborhood, assessing the current conditions of the homes that may require additional attention, read various reports filled with technical jargon, to helping you understand contracts. I ensure quality care and commitment in the entire process from start to finish.
If you are interested in selling, then the process would start from an initial consultation, to price assessments, market analysis, repair advice, time-to-market recommendations, staging assessment, style selection, housing listings, posters, social media promotion, marketing media selection, follow-up on house delivery. Once again, I will be active and present in the entire process to make sure everything goes smoothly.
As a professional, I take pride in my work ethic and ensure the utmost care and consideration while working with all my clients. I’d like to consider myself a trusted adviser to ensure a phenomenal experience throughout your buying/selling process. With that being said, if you ever need a professional consultation or assistance with anything – for example, gardening/landscaping, property manager property lawyer, paint master, decorator, roof repair master, loan broker, registration accountant – please feel free to reach out! I am genuinely passionate about what I do and hope that I can help share my knowledge with you all.
Chiuho Lin DRE#02007082
Keller Williams Thrive DRE#02177478
