By Todd Lewys
Think back to when you bought your first home.
Then, try to describe the emotions you experienced during your search for a home, and then the range of emotions you felt during the actual purchase process.
Not surprisingly, descriptions such as intimidating, stressful and overwhelmed come to mind.
That’s understandable, as buying a home is the biggest single purchase you and your spouse will make in your lifetime.
Add to that the fact that the first time buying a home is one of the most unnerving experiences any of us will ever face, and you have a situation that is – suffice it to say – highly challenging.
Which is exactly why you will need an experienced REALTOR® to guide you through the complex home buying process – a nuance-filled process that Realtors have been trained to deal with.
For their part, Haylie Payne and her fiancé, Cameron Borisenko, are glad that they enlisted the services of an experienced Realtor to help them find their first home.
“Because it was our first home purchase, we really didn’t have a clue about anything,” says Payne. “So we thought it would be a good idea to hire a Realtor to help us out.”
Turned out, it was a very good idea.
The Realtor asked Haylie and Cameron a lot of questions, and quickly narrowed down their price range and search area.
Things then progressed quickly from there.
“Our Realtor sent us some listings and one that we were interested in came up on Saturday at supper time,” recalls Payne. “We texted her about it right away, and she responded quickly, saying, ‘see you tomorrow.’ She got us in on Sunday so we could look at the home right away.”
As fate would have it, Haylie and Cameron liked the home, but wondered if the home offered good value relative to other homes in the general area.
Their Realtor quickly allayed their uncertainty.
“She sat us down and showed us what other houses in the area were selling for and showed us that it was a good buy,” she says. “It’s great to have your own Realtor, someone you’ve sat down with and who knows what you want.”
After a brief deliberation, the couple decided they wanted to make an offer to purchase. Their Realtor quickly sprang in to action.
“She met us the next day with all the paperwork and took us through the whole contract in about an hour-and-a-half. She told us what we were signing, what conditions to write in and just made everything a lot less nerve-wracking. Thanks to her help and knowledge, we weren’t overwhelmed by the process.”
The paperwork done, their Realtor presented the offer, the deadline for the vendor’s response midnight the same day.
Ultimately – after a bit of negotiating – the offer was accepted. Elated and relieved, Haylie and Cameron had their first home.
Haylie says they couldn’t have done it without the guidance and support of their Realtor.
“We ended up getting the home that we wanted in about three weeks. Our Realtor was ready when we needed her, and her professional, knowledgeable answers to our questions were the key to our getting a home as quickly as we did.”
Now, Haylie and Cameron are officially home owners, and couldn’t be happier.
“We’re so happy with the house we got,” she says. “The knowledge and experience that a Realtor brings to the table makes your life so much easier. If you’re a first-time buyer, I would recommend using a Realtor. It’s great to know a Realtor is on your side to take care of everything, making a complicated process so much easier to deal with.”