BUYERS

YOU BEGIN WITH A VISION, WE FACILITATE THE DREAM

Buying a home, whether it’s your first or fourth time, can generate a roller coaster of emotions ranging from disappointment to excitement and everything in between. With Johnson & Walker, we are here to guide and consult with you through every step of the process, and will make it fun along the way. Our collaborative philosophy is that you begin with a vision, we'll help facilitate the dream.

WHICH BUYER PROFILE IS YOURS?

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  • FIRST TIME

    Like Victoria and Tyler, you have always rented your home and are now ready to knock down your own walls.

  • SEASONED

    Like Nate and Kristine, your lifestyle has expanded and so has your need for additional room.   Knocking down walls won't give you the floor plan you require.

  • TRANSITIONAL

    Like Linda and Tom, your needs have transitioned with your lifestyle and you're ready to simplify.

READY TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP?

LET'S WORK TOGETHER!
We'd love to hear how we can help with your real estate adventure.
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FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS

When it comes to buying your first home, the entire process can be incredibly intimidating. Often, it’s the dreaming of moving into a home, making it your own, and building a life there that serves as the drive behind the desire for home ownership, but figuring out how to take the first step can be daunting. With Johnson and Walker, we are here to make sure that your dream of home ownership becomes a reality. Here’s a step-by-step look and what you can expect when working with us:

When we first meet, we like to take some time just getting to know each other. We learn all about what you envision your ideal home to be like, and we’ll spend time brainstorming your wants, your must-haves, and your deal breakers.

The next step is for you to connect with a lender. You’ll need to submit an application and gain pre-approval, and at this point, we can provide you with our lender recommendations. Of course, you’re also free to shop around on your own, but we ask that you work with a lender who was strongly recommended to you by someone you trust. Ensuring that you have an experienced, reliable advocate on your side will help guarantee that you’ll have your loan approval and necessary documents in place to close on time.

This is where the fun begins! Based on the information we gathered during our intake meeting, we will put together a selection of homes for us to tour together. Before the tour, we will preview all active properties that fall within your parameters, and from here we design the tour to include homes that we consider “winners,” homes that could be “maybes,” and a few homes that you may not have considered but could still have potential.

Our tour might run anywhere from 2-4 hours, depending on your schedule, and at the end of the process we’ll have a much more thorough understanding of what the right home will be for you. Sometimes people find their dream home during this step, but if not, we continue to send you listings with potential until the perfect place has found you!

Once you’ve found “the one,” we begin putting together the offer. We will start by providing you with a market analysis to help determine a competitive offer price.  We’ll walk you through the contract, including going over various contingencies and addendum to ensure that you understand the contract and your obligations as a buyer.

Finally, after submitting our offer (and after possibly negotiating counteroffers), our goal is to get to mutual acceptance. Once you and the sellers come to an agreement, we will provide you with a timeline of dates that include each action item you need to complete prior to contingency expiration. If this sounds stressful, don’t worry—we’re here to help you at each step along the way!

A home inspection is going to be your version of an x-ray of the property. You will hire a professional home inspector (we can help provide a few referrals) who will walk through each part of the home, from the basement and crawl spaces to the attic and roof, inspecting each detail and searching for anything that might be cause for concern. Afterward, the inspector provides you with a detailed report of any issues they found, and from here, we’ll go back to the seller and negotiate repairs or necessary funds to manage the repairs.

After mutual acceptance, we will work in conjunction with a third party escrow officer to ensure the transaction is managed to meet all deadlines. After inspection, your next step will be to focus on the various conditions your lender may have given you to complete your application for final funding. Once all loan documents have been sent to escrow, you will meet with the escrow officer about 2-3 days before closing day to sign the documents. On closing day, once we have received word that the documents have recorded, we can hand over your new keys!

When the day you’ve been waiting for finally arrives, we’re ready to help you plan a successful transition! We have several resources to assist you with the entire moving process, from packing up your previous home to moving it all into your new home. We also have recommendations for services you might need in setting up your new home, whether you plan to paint, install new flooring, or tackle a bathroom remodel. We’re here for all of your real estate needs, no matter what part of the process you’re in.

OUR GUIDES

BUYER BRAINSTORM
House or condo? In-city or suburbs? Garage or yard to plyt? With so many choices available, our Buyer Worksheet assists you in really understanding your wants and needs.
BUYER BLUEPRINT
With our simple 8-Step plan to homeownership, Buyers are provided with a seamless experience where we control the process so you can control the decisions.

RESOURCES

Purchasing a home requires a highly skilled team of professionals (in additional to your real estate brokers) that can help guide you through the home buying process. While we do not require you to work specifically with our team, we strongly encourage you to start a conversation with these individuals. They are well vetted, very experienced, and will provide supportive coaching through each step of the experience.

LENDERS

INSPECTORS

SEWER SCOPE

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