What actually happens.

Step one

First, we just talk.

Before you sign anything with me. I'll explain how the whole thing works and answer whatever you want to ask. If you decide to wait, or to work with someone else, that's a fine result and there's no follow-up call.

Step two

Lender before house. Always.

Not the other way around. I'll introduce you to two or three lenders so you can compare rates and fees rather than taking the first offer. They'll tell you what you qualify for — that's their job, not mine, and it's a line I don't cross.

What I'll do is make sure you understand the numbers they give you. We'll go through the loan estimate line by line, and I'll explain what your monthly payment actually includes: principal, interest, property taxes, insurance, mortgage insurance if it applies, and HOA dues if there are any.

Step three

Then we go look.

Now we go see houses. However many it takes — I've spent seven months looking with a client before, and that was fine.

Before you get attached to something, I check the things people forget: permit history, flood mapping, which school the address actually feeds, what the commute genuinely looks like at the hour you'd be driving it.

And if I think a house is a bad idea, I'll tell you. That conversation costs me money and I have it anyway.

Step four

Writing the offer.

I'll call the listing agent first, because price isn't always the thing that wins. Sometimes it's the closing date, or a rent-back, or the seller wanting to know their house is going to someone who'll look after it.

Then I'll explain every line of the offer before you sign it. You'll have closing costs in writing beforehand. There's no version of this where you find out about a number at the table.

I'll also look for structures most agents skip. On one transaction, working through a complicated assumable mortgage saved my clients over a hundred thousand dollars at closing and more than a thousand a month afterward.

Step five

Where deals quietly die.

This is where the deadlines start, and where deals quietly fall apart when nobody's watching them. You'll get a written week-by-week timeline. I confirm every date myself rather than assuming escrow has it handled.

Step six

Then, keys.

Final walkthrough with a checklist. Then keys.

Step seven

And after that, I'm still here.

I'm still reachable. Clients call me months later about contractors, about a permit, about whether something is normal. That's part of it.