What’s up you guys Tim Trevathan with Tim Trevathan homes here on a back to the basics video yes we’re going to cover the fundamentals of buying a home why because I’ve been two years into this Channel and I haven’t done it surprisingly and I think it’s good to cover it because of course if you’re watching this video and my channel looking to make a move to Georgia you may be wondering well how do you buy a home to begin with so this is the video for you and if you are interested in new construction I’ve already done a part one and part two series on that basically it’s titled the step-by-step process of how to buy a new construction Home In Georgia I did that earlier this year and it has been very helpful for clients in fact had two people reach out became homeowners after watching that video because they gained confidence after knowing more about the process of buying a new construction home and so this one is similar except it’s going to cover more of resale homes so let’s go ahead and dive in [Music] so the first step is you probably guessed get a realtor such as me and this is what I do full-time once you have a realtor you want to get a pre-approval letter with a mortgage lender often times it’s best to go with a local lender somebody who works 24/7 it’s as far as answering questions on the weekends that is a very valuable asset and resource to have and once you get that preapproval letter you can start looking at homes now take a step back when it comes to the pre-approval letter how do you get pre-approved basically you want to put your two tax returns your last two years tax returns submitted in to the portal with the lender on their website as well as last two months bank statements last two months pay stubs for your job and a soft pool on your credit once you’ve done that you basically can get a pre-approval letter actually you need a hard pull on your credit to get a pre-approval letter but if you just just submit the application online which takes about 15 minutes you can get what’s called a pre-qualification letter which is the very preliminary step but if you want to actually have something ready when it comes to submitting an offer you want to have a pre-approval letter now if you’re looking to buy in cash that’s a totally different story you don’t need a loan so with that process you need a proof of funds which basically means a bank statement at your bank or your stock portfolio account where with an official letter head it shows your balance there that can meet or exceed the purchase price of what you plan to offer on a house so that is liquid cash in hand whereas you’ve got a financed situation where you’re using conventional or FHA or VA loan product or USDA in some parts outside of metro Atlanta then you can go that route most buyers are going to go with that route because that’s what we do in this day and AG is getting loans in terms of being able to qualify so that you can purchase a home so once you’ve got that then you can talk with your realtor hey I’ve got the pre-approval letter in hand a lot of times I’m in touch with the lender as well and they tell me I set up a client portal on our fmls site First Multiple Listing Service that’s what fmls stands for and basically this is our direct realtor side that all listings are input in directly so if you see any listings on Zillow that is because fmls it feeds through there and propagates it to many different Syndicate websites Zillow redin real Tulia all those those are the main websites and many more and so you can use Zillow as a resource to look at homes but also look at fmls because just in case there’s a home that is active status and then goes pending under contract if that contract terminates for whatever reason with that buyer it comes back on the market on active status fmls notifies you faster and you never know within that one or two hour difference to be able to see that status change can make all the difference what it means to go see that house and put an offer and be the first dibs to get it after that contract before termina once you have this email system set up you’re seeing these properties online talk with me Tim I want to see this five to seven or so homes this weekend and we’ll go take a look at them I try to be available to my clients at all times of the day every day of the week I know a lot of times it’s the weekends where I go show houses because that’s when clients are available so once they give me that list I will schedule the appointments all I need is a 24-hour notice in advance to be able to schedule those cuz sometimes this owner occupied or tenant occupied or they have pets they need time to be able to get out of the home once I get an idea of what kind of home you’re looking for a lot of times I’ll recommend to you what kind of home that you should see in addition to the list that you provide me so then comes showing day we go and we meet at the first house I’ve got a pre-established map route in place going from point A to point B to make it very efficient to go through all the homes in one day we have to see it another day we certainly can after we see the homes if you like one we submit an offer submitting an offer means writing an offer and emailing it to the listing agent who represents the seller along with an attachment of your pre-approval letter within 24 hours usually you’ll know a response from the seller about your offer they’re going to either accept it reject it or counter your offer I give you a tip are you ready this is based on firsthand experience and I wouldn’t say this is for every situation but what I say is that 85% of the time a seller will counter back the listing price if the home has been on the market for 14 days or less in other words if the home price is $400,000 and that’s their asking price on the market we offer 390,000 there’s going to be a 85% chance they will counter back with the list price of 400,000 they may give you some credit towards closing cost it depends if you’ve got a multiple offer situation or not even if it’s past 14 days past 2 weeks you may still get uh a counter offer that comes in at list price but we’re going to save that for another video just wanted to share that one tip though once you go under contract when they accept your offer you now are in the due diligence period this is already spelled out in your contract ahead of time so there are no surprises usually it’s the first 5 to seven days sometimes shorter depending on how competitive that home is and that is the time where you have the right to inspect you hire an independent home inspector certified and license to go and inspect the property once they inspect it you get the report back usually that same day or the day after you negotiate terms whether it’s a credit towards your closing cost or actual repairs or a combination of both and then once everything is agreed upon you are past the due diligence period And this is usually when the time the lender will say all right I’m going to order the appraisal for you an inspection fee is about $3 to $500 depending on what you do it could be more and then the appraisal is $400 to $500 these are upfront fees that you have to pay sunk cost if you will that even if you terminate you can’t get this money back so this is part of the risk of trying to purchase a home you just have to be mentally prepared for while you’re going through this appraisal process they will order the appraisal for you your lender then they will have the appraiser go out to the property they’ll come back with the report and then we’ll go into that detail as far as what an appraisal looks like in another video but basic basically once you get a good appraisal back you’re fully funded for the loan then you go and close on the home and before you do that usually you do what’s called a final walkthrough one or two days before closing typically I’ve been doing it the day of closing a few hours before and that is to see the home in the condition hopefully intact in in the way that we originally saw it the first time and a lot of times this is when all the furniture from the seller has moved out they’ve moved out of the house so we can see that there’s no surprises any kind of dce or broken items in the house if we’re good with that we then go to closing also before this final walkthrough period usually a few days before closing your lender will tell you what is your full cash to close amount that you need to wire to the closing attorney and so that you can purchase the home that will usually involve your down payment plus closing cost unless that the seller’s covering any which that will also be in another video as well as any kind of appraisal gap which thankfully we haven’t had to deal with that in recent years this except in 2021 when it was a very competitive market that will also be in another video and then basically once the attorney has the funds you show up to closing a lot of times the seller and the listing agent will also be there on the other side of the table with the attorney at the end of one table you guys sign the papers the funds get released from the lender to the closing attorney the closing attorney wiring it to the seller seller then gives you the keys garage the openers key fobs for the swimming pool or gate if there’s a gated community involved and then congratulations you’re a homeowner now there’s a lot more that goes with the offer process and B a home this is a general overview but if you want to know more details such as what is an appraisal in financing contingency what are the differences what does due diligence period look like and how does a negotiation process look like and what actually goes into to an actual offer do you want to see what a purchase and sale agreement actually looks like and see the actual line items and what we fill in the blanks with well then stick around for the next Back to Basics videos until then subscribe and catch you on the next one!
- I introduce the video as a “Back to Basics” guide, aimed at first-time homebuyers in Georgia, particularly focusing on resale homes (not new construction).
- The first step is hiring a realtor, ideally someone experienced and local like Tim, followed by securing a mortgage pre-approval from a reliable lender.
- Pre-approval requires submitting financial documents like tax returns, bank statements, pay stubs, and a credit check; pre-qualification is a lighter version but not sufficient for making offers.
- Cash buyers need to provide proof of funds, such as bank or investment account statements, with amounts that cover or exceed the purchase price.
- Tim sets clients up with an FMLS portal, providing real-time listing access often faster than public sites like Zillow or Redfin.
- Home tours are scheduled with at least 24 hours’ notice, and Tim optimizes routes to visit multiple homes efficiently, mostly on weekends.
- Submitting an offer involves paperwork and attaching the pre-approval, with typical seller responses being acceptance, rejection, or a counter-offer (often at list price within the first 14 days).
- The due diligence period follows an accepted offer, allowing for home inspections, negotiations on repairs or credits, and final decisions before proceeding.
- Upfront costs include inspection and appraisal fees, which are non-refundable even if the deal falls through ($300–$500 each).
- Final steps include a walkthrough, wiring funds, and closing, where keys, remotes, and documents are exchanged—officially making you a homeowner.
