Your Complete Guide to Buying A House

You’ve got the whole team on your side.

Here at Embark Real Estate Group we know that hiring the right people who have dedicated roles is the biggest key to success. There will never be a time you won’t be able to reach someone who knows exactly what is going on with your journey and can help guide you through the process and accommodate your schedule. We have helped more than 225 families and individuals sell their home and move to their next one and we are excited to be the team to guide you through your journey! 

John Kohlhepp, Embark Real Estate Agent

John
Kohlhepp

Kylee West, Embark Real Estate Agent

Kylee 
West

Guenael Mirville, Embark Real Estate Agent

Guenael
Mirville

Ian 
Ulrich

Why Embark?

We understand the importance of finding your dream home for the best price possible. Our experienced team of real estate agents is dedicated to providing exceptional service and personalized attention to each of our clients. We strive to make buying or selling as seamless and stress-free as possible. Our commitment to excellence and customer satisfaction sets us apart from other real estate groups. Our agents are knowledgeable about the local real estate market and have a proven track record of success. We work tirelessly to negotiate the best deal for you. 

Brad and Kylee lived in a small house with a small yard but wanted some room not only in the house, but also in the yard for their dogs and kids to run around. We were able to help them sell their house and get the closing dates lined up so that they only had to move once. 

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buyers we’ve helped get a new home in the last 12 months
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first-time buyers we’ve helped in the last 12 months

We are your fiduciary.

A functionary is someone who simply does tasks for the client.

A fiduciary puts your interests, dreams and goals FIRST. As a fiduciary I will educate you on all aspects and possible outcomes before you make decisions and advocate for the best possible outcome based on your decisions and goals. Here are my 6 commitments to you as your fiduciary:

  • Loyalty – This is my fundamental duty, to act solely in your best interest!

  • Reasonable Care – It is my duty to perform my duty to you in a competent and professional manner. As my client you are not only getting my services for this transaction, you are getting my expertise from years of experience and hundreds of transactions.

  • Confidentiality – Everything we discuss will stay between us. I will not disclose anything to any other party that may weaken your bargaining position.

  • Disclosure – All pertinent information about properties and agency relationships will be disclosed to you. 

  • Obedience – I am obligated to obey all lawful requests you give me.

  • Accounting – It is my duty to be organized and keep account of all documents, communications and other important information for your transaction. 

Financing

  • Conventional – This is by far the most common type of financing. If you have great credit and a decent amount saved up for a down payment we generally suggest going this route.
  • FHA – This is best for folks who don’t have amazing credit or we are running into issues with income limits. Contrary to popular belief, this is not only for first time buyers.
  • USDA – For buyers looking to buy rural residential property this is a great 0% down option.
  • VA – Another 0% down options for US military veterans
  • Cash or Cash Equivalent – If you have enough liquid cash to be able to purchase a property for cash this option would give you a ton of leverage to get a good deal. We can also look into different cash equivalent options like delayed financing, private lending or borrowing cash from a family member in order to make a cash offer.
  • Other – The sky is the limit when it comes to financing for properties. There are loans for ITIN holders, DACA recipients and Islamic loans. There are also tons and tons of grant programs out there that we can look into based on your unique situation.

  • Depending on your loan type, minimum down payments range from 0%-25%.

  • Most first time buyers with good credit qualify for 3% down payment conventional loans

  • Any loan (with the exception of VA loans) that have less than 20% down payment will likely have an additional payment on their monthly payment called Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). Some financial experts (such as Dave Ramsey) suggest waiting until you are able to make a 20% down payment to purchase a home, others say buying sooner and building up equity is the best thing to do. That decision is up to you and what is best for you and your future.

  • Closing costs are lumped into buyers’ down payments but are technically separate. This is typically 1-2% of the purchase price but the range is fairly large depending on location, taxes, what time of year you purchase and a few other moving parts. These closing costs are able to be covered in part by the seller and are part of the negotiations when we make an offer. 

  • Principle – this is the amount that reduces what you owe. Since a mortgage is amortized, you pay less principle in the beginning of your loan and more towards the end.

  • Interest – This is how the banks make money. This is the opposite of principle with amortization, you pay more interest up front and less at the end of your loan.

  • Taxes – no explanation needed. But if you escrow (which we recommend) this will be part of your monthly payment and your bank will pay your taxes for you.

  • Insurance – similar to taxes, you bank will collect and make your insurance payments for you.

  • Other – If you have PMI, it will be added to your monthly payment. If your neighborhood has an Home Owners Association (HOA) fee it counts towards your monthly payment but you will likely pay it separately. 

As you keep making your payments the markets will go up and down. We will make sure you know what rates are and how your value is looking to make sure your equity is secure in your home. We are here to help every step of the way of your home ownership journey!

This is super important because we will work closely with your lender to make sure you get the right house and the right loan. We have recommendations for you but at the end of the day you are the decision maker on who you want to work with! 

Timeline of the Process

We generally recommend giving yourself 2-3 months at an absolute minimum to find the right house and get through this process and leave yourself with enough time to allow for timelines to be flexible. We do typically see anywhere from 6-18 months being a normal amount of time for first time buyers. The nice thing about a mortgage is that they start after the first full month after closing. So if you close on March 2nd, your first payment would be due May 1st!

We will go over this in the next section, but even if you are still a few weeks or months away from getting serious we highly recommend knocking this out so that when we do look at a house and it’s the right one we can start offering instead of starting the approval process. 

We will look high and low for the right house for you but there are also great tools like Zillow or Realtor.com that share houses for sale in the area. If you see something that you love, send it to us. One word of caution on these sites though; they make money by selling potential buyers information to business in the area so if you put your contact info in the field you will get tons of calls. If you have a question about the house, that’s what we are here for! We also encourage you to check out open houses to get a better feel of what’s out there on your own time. When you go to these, let the agent there know you are working with us and they will be happy to show you around.

Once you see a house you love we should set up a showing to check it out. We will need to get permission from the seller to see it since it is their house still and sometimes sellers ask for a day or two heads up on scheduling, but each property is a bit different. These showings typically last for 30 minutes and exist to get a feel for the house. They are not extensive inspections. That will come as part of the contract.

This is covered extensively shortly and we don’t expect you to memorize this part. We will be there to walk you through each and every part of putting the offer together. While an offer (or purchase contract) is a legally binding document, it is essentially just a list of things that need to happen (contingencies) before the sale is finalized (closing). Depending on the market conditions and the specific property, we may need to be fairly decisive and quick on making an offer. 

We will have a specified amount of time to do any and all inspections. We generally recommend getting at least the general inspection which you will schedule directly with the inspector. We can give some recommendations for some of our favorite inspectors. There are also other inspections you can add on for an additional fee; like septic, well, mold, radon or a sewer scope (recommended on older and vacant houses). The cost for the general inspection is typically $300-$700 and the add ons vary widely. You do not need to attend the inspection but we strongly recommend it. This typically lasts 90 minutes to 3 hours. This will be your last opportunity to have access to the house, take measurements or show any family members. Since the sellers do still own the property I would try to keep the amount of people at the inspection to 4 or less. If you need to bring more than 4 people please let us know so we can make sure the seller won’t be upset. 

Some sellers are selling their house “as is,” meaning there will be no remedy period. The inspection period stays the same, but this portion of the process won’t happen. If there is a remedy period, we will have the opportunity to make a list of items from the inspection report that you would like fixed (remedied) at the seller’s expense. This list is due at the end of the inspection period. There are three ways to go about having these items fixed. First, and our highest recommended option is to ask for a credit so you can make the repair after closing with a contractor of our choice. Second is asking the seller to fix it before closing. And third is asking for a price reduction. If the seller doesn’t agree to fix the items you then have the option to terminate the contract and keep looking or accept the house knowing the repairs will be on you to fix yourself at your expense. 

If you are getting a mortgage, this is usually required by the lender (although there are a few rare exceptions). They are looking for two things. First they are looking for similar homes that have sold recently in the area to make sure the price you are paying is a fair market price. If their value comes in below what we are in contract for then we will go back to negotiating the price. If the new price is above the appraised value, you have the option to terminate the contract and keep looking. If it is as or above the price in the contract then it’s smooth sailing! Second, they are making sure the house is in good condition. They may require repairs to be made. If they do, we will negotiate who is paying for those repairs. This is separate from the remedy.

After all of that we hurry up and wait. The lender will run your file through underwriting again to make sure everything is buttoned up. At the same time, the title company will be finalizing your title insurance (typically paid for by the seller!) and make sure the title can transfer smoothly to you as the new owner. After both these items are complete we are given the clear to close (CTC) which means there are only a few last steps to do before getting the keys!

Before closing we will take one last trip to the house to make sure everything is still in the same shape as it was during the inspection. I also love grabbing a photo and a quick video of you telling your story to brag about how awesome you are on our social media page. This is with your permission of course. Typically this happens an hour or so before closing.

This is the big moment. It will take an hour or so and will be a lot of signatures. After it is done you are officially a homeowner! Possession is part of the offer, sometimes you get the keys at closing, occasionally the seller needs a few weeks to move out, you’ll know the exact day and time when we make the offer.

You’re done, congrats! We love staying in touch with you after you have purchased your house. If any issues popup or there are projects you want to do we would love to provide some insight and connect you with the best contractors in town. 

Writing an Offer

This is pretty straightforward and the biggest factor in the offer. Keep in mind that if you ask for any seller paid expenses (closing costs, warranties, allowances, repairs, etc.), from the seller’s perspective, your offer will decrease by the amount you are asking for.

If there are multiple offers on a property, there is a high likelihood that the winning offer will be over list price. In order to protect you from going well above the next highest offer, you can do an escalation clause. This is essentially you offering the list price for a property, but you are willing to escalate gradually up to a certain price, beating any other offers by a set amount. For example, if a house is listed at $249,900, you could offer a max escalation of $280,000, beating the next highest offer by $2,500. If the next highest offer is $272,000, your offer would automatically be escalated to $274,500. This is based on the net to the seller, not just purchase price, so in the example above, if the $272,000 offer had a $500 warranty paid by the seller, your offer would only be escalated to $274,000 if you did not ask for the sellers to pay for the home warranty. 

In multiple offer situations the buyer with the cleanest offer will win. Besides price, the number one factor in the winning offer in a multiple offer situation is the appraisal gap. If you are getting a mortgage, your lender will more than likely require an appraisal. This is to determine the value of the house so they can recoup their money in the event the borrower (buyer) defaults, and the bank sells the property. An appraisal gap states that the buyer will meet the difference in the appraised value and the purchase price up to a certain amount. For example, let’s say you are in contract at $280,000 and put in a $30,000 appraisal gap. If the appraisal comes in at $265,000, you will bring an extra $15,000 to closing to cover that gap. If the appraisal comes in more than $30,000 below the purchase price in the contract, you will renegotiate the price. In the example above, if the appraisal came in at $245,000, the best case scenario would be dropping the price to $275,000 since there is still the $30,000 appraisal gap. If the appraisal comes in at or even above the purchase price, the appraisal gap IS NOT saying the purchase price will increase.

Standard is a 7-day inspection period. You can do your inspection(s) during this timeframe. At the end of the inspection period, you will make the decision whether or not to proceed with the purchase. If there is a remedy period, you will have the opportunity to ask the seller to make some repairs on issues that were discovered during the inspection period.

Standard is a 3-day remedy period. The seller will give a response to your request for remedies. This agreement will either be for the seller to make the repairs, or for the seller to give a credit at closing for you to make the repairs yourself after closing; this is negotiable. 

Everything in a property is negotiable. Typically, the kitchen appliances stay with the house, but you can also ask for the washer and dryer, curtains, or any other items that are at the property when you see it. Keep in mind that those items do hold value to the seller, so there is no guarantee they will be willing to part with them. If there are items you see during the showing, let me know, and I will talk to the seller’s agent before putting an offer together. 

Historically, this is paid for by the seller, but is negotiable. It is also not required; in a competitive market, many buyers forgo the warranty altogether. This is also something that you can purchase as part of your closing costs. It typically costs $400-$700 and covers appliances for the first year of owning the home. 

Historically, this is $1,000, but is negotiable. It is typically held by the title company and will go towards your closing costs. If the contract is terminated for one of the contingencies in the contract (inspection, remedy, appraisal, etc.),the earnest money will be returned to you as long as you make the decision within the timelines in the contract. 

This will make your offer much more desirable to the seller. It is essentially the same as normal earnest money except if you decide to back out for any reason at all, it will go to the seller. This is not recommended outside of making an extremely competitive offer. 

This will be on a weekday during banking hours (9am-5pm) and will last about an hour. All parties on the title will need to be present, and if you are married, your spouse will need to be there, even if they are not on the title. 

This usually happens at closing, and you will receive the keys once you are done signing. However, occasionally sellers ask for a few days, or even a few weeks of possession after closing in order to finish the move to their new place. This is all negotiable and part of the contract, so you will know exactly when you get the keys right when we go into contract. 

If you are also selling a house and need to sell that prior to closing on a new home, we will need to put a home sale contingency in your offer. You do lose a bit of leverage with this contingency, but it is required by your lender in order to make your approval work. If you are able to purchase without selling your home, I definitely recommend that because it will give you a bit more leverage on your buy side to potentially get a better deal, AND it will give you more flexibility on your sell side to get the best and highest offer for your old house.

If the seller is trying to find their next home, we will put this in the offer. Essentially, we will wrap up the purchase when they find their next place to live. This could take a few extra days, or it could take several months. Obviously, you are rolling the dice a bit, but if you are willing to put this in your offer, it does increase your leverage.

Wonder if building a house would be best for you?

As Columbus continues to grow and expand, builders are trying their best to keep up the supply of new houses. There are some amazing builders out there that have a vast selection of homes, prices and quality of builds. We are here to guide you through every step of the process if you do decide to go the route of building a new home rather than buying an already existing one. 

PROS

There are a TON of advantages of building over buying an existing home. 

  • Everything is brand new. No projects, repairs or upgrades needed right away. Big cost savings! 

  • Competition is not nearly as crazy, often builders offer incentives in the form of price reductions, rate buy downs or paying for your closing costs. If you need to have a home sale contingency or have less than top notch financing or can’t or just don’t want to offer appraisal gaps or waive contingencies these can be really appealing.

  • Not every builder offers customization packages but most do! 

CONS

We have done dozens of new construction homes and just want to make sure you know all of the downsides as well. 

  • Location is often further away from downtown. 

  • The builder gets to determine the timeline. Often there are delays because of weather, supply shortages or labor issues. These are entirely out of anyone’s control. My rule of thumb is whenever the builder says you will have the keys double the time. We have seen this range from a few weeks to over a year of waiting for the house to be done. 

  • If you buy in an early stage community you will be living in a construction zone for the first few years in the house. 

  • Kitchen appliances often do not come with the house. Sometimes we can negotiate this as part of the contract but it’s not super common. 

  • The house settles a ton in the first year, and that’s totally normal. But nail pops, drywall cracks and other issues pop up in that first year. Luckily every builder we recommend has a warranty that covers all of these items in the first year!

Our Favorite Builders

  • 3 Pillar
  • Arbor
  • Centex
  • DR Horton
  • Epcon
  • Fischer
  • M/I
  • P&D
  • Pulte
  • Rockford
  • Romanelli and Hughes
  • Schottenstein

If you do decide to go this route we will go through the builders website and pick out the ones that are best fit for you and schedule a tour just like we would an existing house on the market. We have great relationships with the builders and they love working with our clients. Occasionally our clients get access to new inventory prior to them going out to the market in general. 

The 99% House

House hunting is a blast! Especially when it’s on HGTV and the budge and timeline is limitless. We would love to make an empty promise that we are going to find you the house that matches 100% of what you are looking for in the budget that you are looking for, in the perfect location, with the perfect neighbors and get it done in a day. However, we have found that the 100% house just does not exist, so we are going to shoot for the 99% house! As we are looking at houses, both online and in person, we will use this as our guide and help make decisions along the way. We typically find that once homeowners rate their house at 70% or lower, that’s when they call us to start looking for a new one. After we meet, we will be able to identify houses that will make it tot he 90% or higher range for you and then you will take it from there to see when we get to the 99% house. Once we hit 99%, it’s time to start talking about an offer!

After we are done helping you find your first house, we love staying in touch and as life happens and change happens, the 99% house sometimes becomes the 95% house, then the 80% house. As your life changes your house can change too! From projects and expansions to updates and repairs, we have just about every contractor and professional you could ever need to keep your house as close to 99% as possible. And once your house becomes the 70% house, we will be here to help you find your next 99% house!

The Embark Promise

Here at the Embark Group, we hold ourselves to a high standard. We strive to be approachable, accessible, adaptable and have a sense of adventure with our clients as we guide them through the home buying and selling journey. There is no such thing as a “normal” or “easy” real estate transaction, and that is what draws us to this work. We promise to put your needs first and treat you and your family with honesty and integrity. We promise that you will be blown away by our service, advice, and expertise. We promise to communicate clearly and frequently with you. We promise to be your Realtor for life. 

We know that each of our clients will have at least one friend, family member, or co-worker that would benefit from our service. We hope that you will introduce us to those in your life who are on their own home buying journey. If we have the opportunity to connect with someone in your circle after your deal closes, we know that we have kept our promise to you. Our clients are our top priority, and our only ask is that you give us feedback throughout your journey to learn how we can best serve others in the future. 

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