Home Buying Process Specialist, Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, Geist, Westfield, Indianapolis, Central Indiana

HowToBuyAHome.com's principal broker Jim Cadwalader helps people avoid the stress and pitfalls that can come with buying a home. His unique home buying process ensures that you buy the best home to meet your preferences, for the best price possible.

Step 1: Determine Your New Home's Criteria

Our approach is that we are here to help YOU. We are going to be with you from the beginning until you move into your new home, so the first step is to get to know each other.

1. We usually prefer to have our first meeting at your house, where you are comfortable and we can take the time to get acquainted. Learning about your family, future plans, hobbies and long term goals can help us in the search for that dream home.
   
   We are here as your resource, not the other way around. We would rather come to your house and sit at your kitchen table where you are comfortable
   
   
2. We will discuss the details of what you are looking for in your new home, such as:
   • Do you have any location requirements or particular neighborhoods you want to look in?
     
     
   • Do you need a large backyard or lot size?
     
   • How many bedrooms and bathrooms do you need?
     
   • Do you have any style preferences of the new home? Modern or Tudor? Ranch or two-story?
     
   • What other features do you need or want? It is important to understand the difference. You may want a skylight in the living room, but you may need a comfortable eat-in kitchen for your family meals.
     
     Read Wants vs. Needs for more information.
     
     

Step 2: Real Estate School - Knowledge Makes an Informed Buyer

Next, it's time for "Real Estate School." Understanding all the ins and outs of home sales and financing is difficult enough for professionals, let alone the layman. The better prepared you are to face these issues, the less stress and more enjoyment you get from your home buying experience.

We'll spend a good 2 - 2 ½ hours in "school," discussing a variety of topics, including:

And more. Chances are, you don't know much about any of this. You will when we're done! It takes a bit of work, but it's worth it.

Step 3: Find Your New Home

The biggest part of the home buying process is looking at houses. It can be time consuming, frustrating and tiring. The more you know about what to look for in a prospective home, the faster, easier, and more enjoyable this part of the process will be for you.

• We will look at 30, 40, even 50 houses with you, as many as YOU want to look at.
  
  
• We like to look at a house 2, 3, or 4 times before you make a final decision.
  • We love this part of the buying process because you will be learning so much
    .
    
  • At first, we are explaining to you the differences between what a good roof and a bad roof look like, or how much maintenance this exterior will need in the future, etc.
    
    
  • By the time we're going out to see the third or fourth property, you'll be getting out of the car, pointing, and saying "Look, the roof has curled shingles on it." Or, "Look at that chimney cap. It looks in pretty bad shape, doesn't it?"
    
    
• We will go with you to every home inspection, we will tour every area of the home, room-by-room, inside and out, to make sure you get what you pay for.

  We want to know what areas might need attention or repair in the next five years and increase your cost of ownership. We want to take this same approach as we consider all aspects of the house, including:
  

  Roof Heating and AC System Water heater Floor covering and linoleum Windows

  Bathroom fixtures Kitchen countertops, cabinets and appliances Mechanicals

• Read about the areas of concern you should look for as we tour and inspect homes.
  
• We would like you to go through enough houses to develop a good set of cross-references in your minds.

After we've been through a few houses together, we want you to be able to say "Now, this is a good buy!" or "this isn't a very good buy at all," and know that it's true.

Step 4: Home Inspection / Make An Offer / Close

Once you have found a home you would like buy come the long process of negotiations, financing, home inspection, contracts, fees, etc. It can be a complex and stressful time if you don't have the help you need to get through it all. We'll be there to help get you through it.

• We will be with you throughout the home inspection process.
  
  • We want to see any problems that may have been found.
    
    
  • If the pictures are not clear enough, we will have the inspectors show us the suspect areas. We can't negotiate an adequate repair if we can't adequately describe what the problem is?

• We will go with you to see mortgage brokers or bankers. Jim was a part owner of a mortgage company for six years; he knows the business.
  
  
• We will deal with the selling agents to negotiate special arrangements and benchmarks needed for the sale to take place.
  
• We will follow up on the special arrangements to insure they are done correctly.
  
• We attend all closings, from beginning to end.
  
  

Step 5: Cash Back Rebate, Plus All That Personal Service and Attention

We offer you a cash rebate based on the purchase price of your new home. We will refund part of the sales commission to you, up to 25% of the commission generated from the first $100,000 of the sale, and 50% of the remaining balance, no matter how much it is.

Read Cash Rebate - FAQs for more information.

Step 6: A Continuing Relationship

We have helped more than 400 families find their new homes in Central Indiana, and have maintained a relationship with many of them over the years. We love to hear from them, and are glad to help them in any way we can, even years after the sale. This is what one former client had to say:

"It has been 2 years since we bought our house but Jim has been helping us even today. I called him last week about something I suspected in the basement and
he showed up at our house the next day - and probably saved me upwards of $200 by diagnosing a simple problem for which someone else would have charged dearly."

Some of our former clients have contacted us five or ten years later to have us help them sell their current house and find their next new home. And we often get new clients referred to us by many of our "satisfied customers."

Still Have Questions?

Educating yourself about the home-buying process is key to purchasing a home you love and can afford. As your Realtor^® and Buying Agent, we are here to provide the information you need to make an informed decision, answer any questions you might have, and get you through the home-buying process as easily and stress-free as possible.

If you still have any questions about the services we offer or our Cash Rebate plan, please contact us for more information about our home-buying process. Call 317-446-1605 today!