Time to buy?
It's all about being prepared to ACT.

Whether you're on your first home or your fifth, home buying can be both a thrilling and a nail-biting experience all at the same time.

The historically low inventory of properties in the Portland tri-county area has created an atmosphere where homebuyers must be ready to act immediately when they find their dream house. It's in your best interest to be as prepared as possible.

As a buyer's representative, my goals are to give you as many options as you need, keep you as informed as possible, and find you the best property for the lowest price. Here's a short list of buyer's services I offer:

Meet and talk over the home buying process

First, let’s discuss your goals and hopes for a new home. If you’re a first-time buyer, we can talk through the various phases of home buying process, preparing you to step out into the real estate market with knowledge and confidence. And if you’re trading up or scaling down, we can talk through those dynamics, too.

Get preapproved

Getting your financing underway is perhaps the most critical early stage. It is imperative that you have confidence in your spending limit before you venture out to view properties. Armed with a letter of pre-approval from a lender, you have a much stronger position to negotiate for your dream house. Preapproval also allows you to move more quickly when new opportunities come on the market. If you need proven, reputable lenders to interview, I can put you in touch with several.

Create a buyer’s profile and research properties

Documenting your home’s requirements and ‘wish list’ items will help us focus the search and find exactly what you’re looking for. We talk about number of bedrooms, style, schools, neighborhood, price range, special features and much more. Based on your Buyer’s Profile, I’ll begin the search for matching properties. Then I can email hot prospects, deliver listings to you personally, or just call when something pops up.

Preview and show properties

When we’ve got some target properties that might meed your needs, we schedule time to visit and walk through as many as you need. In some cases, I might preview them in advance to make sure they’re worth your time.

Prepare offers/sales agreements

When we find the right opportunity, we sit down and begin the process of writing a sales agreement (otherwise known as an ‘offer’). If you’re unfamiliar with the real estate contracts, I’ll take the time to explain the terms and conditions as we go. At the end, we have a fully-prepared sale agreement and earnest money (a good-faith deposit accompanying the offer), ready for presentation to the seller.

Present your offer

While many agents fax their offers to the listing agent, whenever possible, I prefer to present your offer/sales agreement in person to the seller’s agent and the sellers. Why? I like to highlight the best aspects of your offer and put you in the best position to get your offer accepted. This step 'personalizes' the process, perhaps giving you a leg up on other competitive offers.

Communicate timelines

Another reason to engage buyer representation is found in the phrase 'Time is of the essence.' A legal term, it’s another way of saying we’ve got to stay on top of the various deadlines for loan applications, home inspections, and all the other document reviews to get you to closing. I’ll stay in touch with you, the seller’s agent, your lending officer, and the title/escrow company to make sure we all get to the finish line successfully.

Welcome you into your new home

The best part of all. Congratulations!