Leave a Message

Thank you for your message. I will be in touch with you shortly.

Buyer's Guide - 9 Point Process

Steps to be Savvy & Ready

Buying a home is one of, if not, the biggest milestone in your life. Given this, you have to be prepared and proactive – but where do you start? My approach is to hold your hand through your process of self-discovery in a simple over-arching process: Keeping you updated on the current and forward looking economic market, sending you personalized listings that are on and off-market, scheduling private tours or sending you recorded walkthroughs upon request to ensure you are seeing inventory, triangulating with the other agents to ensure we have a pulse on competing activity, review & summarize property disclosures to call-out all of the downside risks of a home, and ultimately hone your internal “value-board” so that you will make a decision in complete confidence.

Important to keep in mind:
A common misconception is not speaking with an agent early on because “they aren’t ready yet”, and this is far from the truth. Similar to most purchases in life, a person does dozens if not hundred of google searches and review reads before even trying an item on in-person at a store, and unfortunately, a home cannot be returned with a QR code at your local Whole Foods. Speaking with an agent that can explain the process to them and create structure that is mentally tangible will make them infinitely smarter, savvier, and edgier buyers in the market.

main

Step 1: Consultation

We can speak live, over the phone, or on a video call, and I will lay out the pavement on the path of your home search – What’s your ideal location? What is your ideal budget? Is something motivating your timeline? What are your future life goals?

I will also keep you updated on your target market, what’s selling? How many offers? Why isn’t that one selling? Where are rates today and where do you see them going? Are there bank programs with promotional rates?

By the time you are “ready”, you won’t be “starting” your search, but you’ll be prepared for it.

main

Step 2: Research

From here I will send you curated listings manually that are both on and off the market. I will not put you on an auto generated system pull of every home in your target district, but homes that I believe truly fit your heart and budget. I am always available to set up private showings, but early on in your search I will go out to homes that pique your interest and send over a recorded walkthrough.

main

Step 3: Get Qualified To Set A Budget

I will explain how a loan officer decides your budget so that you have a rough idea of your affordability before getting preapproved. This being said, I don’t want to diminish the importance of getting preapproved because this will truly set the framework around what your actual budget is, and ultimately help us zero-in on homes you can afford or aspire to.

main

Step 4: Find The Home

While continuing to provide my services shown under “Research”, I will match your momentum by ramping up listings and providing real commentary on the videos I send over so that by the time you have made a decision to make an offer on a home, you would have seen hundreds of homes. This eliminates buyers’ remorse and ensures that you know what you are buying because your internal value-board has been matched.

My goal is to provide you with the most personalized service that is designed to help you buy your dream home

Schedule a Consultation
main

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.

main

Step 6: Complete Full-Scale Diligence On The Home

If a home becomes of true interest, I will summarize and complete a full-scale review of the disclosures and send over a highlight for you to review before you review the disclosures yourself. This mitigates the burden of trying to make sense of the documents and whether or not the home is a lemon.

I will complete a valuation of the home with supported comps, again, not on an auto-generated system, but a valuation that I curated and leveraged AI to then reinforce for me as opposed to created for me. We will discuss my findings to ensure that we are in agreement and you can confidently size up the home.

main

Step 7: Gauging the home (Rapport, Activity, Pricing Honing)

We will overlay the following considerations over our value assessment and initial offering price:

 

  •  I'll provide research performed on the Sellers.
  • Are there more recent comps that have gone into contract and are pending?
  • What price are they pending for? how many offers did they receive?
  • How long has our home been on the market?
  • Has the property had any price changes?
  • What offers have been on the table and not accepted?
  • How many disclosures have been downloaded?
  • How many of those downloaded disclosures show true agent activity?
  • How many agents have reached out to you to ask you questions like I have?
  • Are the Sellers providing seller financing?
  • Are the Sellers amenable to Seller Credits to cover some repairs, etc.?
  • Can I confirm all items that are to be included in the contract?
  • What time are offers due?
  • What time will you be meeting with the Sellers?
  • What's your M.O. or Modus Operandi on your offer dates?
main

Step 8: Make An Offer

I will speak to your loan officers to ensure that our terms can be comfortably executed. I will speak to the listing agent to gather final activity data on the home. And finally, we will reassess our valuation before creating our offer presentation.

main

Step 9: Finalize Your Loan, Complete The Appraisal, & Finalize Paperwork

I will provide a timeline via email and calendar of anticipated tasks, immediate tasks, completed tasks, important links for utilities, phone numbers for my preferred vendors (which I can manage), and dates and timelines of any planned actions post-close. To complete this I will remain intimately connected to every party in your transaction so that I can provide you with these updates and hold your hand past the finish line and to the trophy.

Mortgage Calculator

Estimate your monthly mortgage payment, including the principal and interest, property taxes, and HOA. Adjust the values to generate a more accurate rate.

All estimates are provided for informational purposes only. Actual amounts may vary.
Reset
$0,000 Your Payment 20 15 65
$0,000 Your Payment

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.

Home Search

Home Valuation

Seller's Guide

Work With James

His background allows him to comfortably tune in to the ebbs and flows of the ever-changing market and provide uniquely catered advice to anyone, and he has built an extensive team of partners to leverage for the benefit of his clients.

Let's Connect
GET IN TOUCH
CONTACT DETAILS

JAMES KIL | CA DRE# 02120566

(415) 377-9307

[email protected]



2001 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 300
San Francisco, California 94109