Atlanta First-Time Buyer's Guide for Confident Homebuying

A Step-by-Step First Time Buyer's Guide

Buying a home is one of the most exciting milestones of your life. To prepare yourself for this moment, you need to know what to expect during the process. This step-by-step first time buyer’s guide created by our team will help reduce the stress of buying a home and help you enjoy the journey as much as possible.

Red-brick house with a white-railed porch, dark shutters, and a gray shingle roof.

Step 1: Research

Do you already know where you want to buy? If you want a condo, townhome, or single-family home? Which features do you like and dislike? What’s available on the market now? If you answered no to any of these questions, now is the time to start researching. In addition to looking for homes that interest you, also take note of any changes in asking prices. This could give you valuable insight into housing trends in specific neighborhoods and help you when the time comes to make an offer.

Downtown Atlanta skyline with the cylindrical Westin Peachtree Plaza tower and surrounding high-rises.

Step 2: Decide on Your Budget

Notice we said to decide on your budget—not determine how much the mortgage company will give you. In many cases, a mortgage company will pre-approve you for more than you’re comfortable spending, which is why you need to determine the monthly payment you feel comfortable with before talking to a lender. This likely includes doing a full household budget and taking into consideration what changes other than a mortgage payment will occur once you move into your new home. If you’ve lived in an apartment or with roommates, you may overlook new expenses like garbage, water, or HOA fees that could easily blow your budget.

Furnished patio overlooking a lake, with white lounge chairs and a green lawn.

Step 3: Get Prequalified

Just because you think you can afford a certain payment every month doesn’t mean the mortgage company will agree. Just as they may approve you for too large of an amount, they may also approve you for a lesser amount or deny you a mortgage altogether. Lack of time at a job, insufficient credit, past bankruptcies, or other financial issues can cause major problems when trying to secure a mortgage. Before you get your heart set on a home, talk to a mortgage professional to find out what amount you can qualify for. This will also be an advantage when you make an offer on a home, as some sellers won’t entertain offers from those who aren’t already prequalified for a loan.

Smiling blonde woman in a black textured sweater.

Step 4: Choose Real Estate Experts

Can you shop for, look at, and ultimately make an offer on a home without a real estate agent? Technically yes, but why would you when it costs you nothing for agents like us to take much of the stress off your shoulders? Not only will we help identify properties you might be interested in, arrange showings, and ultimately handle the offer process, but we also have knowledge of the market that you don’t possess. Finding the perfect home can be a daunting task, this is where our expertise and wealth of knowledge come into play. Let us show you around some homes that meet your dream home criteria so you can find the one that's right for you.

Our goal is to provide you with the most personalized service that is designed to help you buy your dream home

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Atlanta neighborhood homes with the downtown skyline beyond the tree canopy.

Step 5: Find the Right Home

This should be the most enjoyable step of the entire process (other than moving in!). We will arrange showings of homes you’re interested in that are within your price range. Take notes about what you like and don’t like, and make sure to pay attention to details. Turn light switches on and off, open and close doors, and run the faucets in various rooms. Don’t limit your inspection to the home itself. Make sure to take time to explore the neighborhood and keep an eye on traffic at certain times of the day, the parking situation, and how close it is to necessities like schools and grocery stores.

Furnished entryway with a cushioned bench beneath a tall window beside the front door.

Step 6: Make an Offer

Once you have selected the perfect home, work with your agent to craft a fair offer based on the value of comparable homes on the market. Depending on what the home is listed at and whether the current environment is a buyer’s or seller’s market, your offer may be below, at, or even above the asking price. We will be able to help you negotiate if you receive a counteroffer and reach an agreement. At this point, the house will go into escrow.

Modern lakefront home with a stone chimney, wood-trimmed exterior, and furnished patio beside the water.

Step 7: Have the Home Inspected

In most cases, your offer will be contingent on having the home inspected to ensure there is no major structural damage or large repairs needed. We can help you arrange this, and you can schedule it within days of making an offer. If there are no major issues, the process goes to step eight. If there is, you can renegotiate your offer based on what needs to be fixed, or you can withdraw it.

Bright kitchen with a large island, pale wood range hood, brass fixtures, and tall black-framed windows.

Step 8: Select Your Loan

Now is the time to go back to the mortgage lender who pre-approved or pre-qualified you and choose your mortgage. You will be presented with various options based on your unique financial situation, including fixed-rate, variable-rate, 15-year, 30-year, or special programs such as VA loans or FHA loans. Work with your mortgage lender to select the option you feel the most comfortable with.

Two-story beige house with prominent gables, two garage doors, and a wide driveway.

Step 9: Get a Home Appraisal

Your lender will have your new home appraised so they have their independent value of it. The appraisal is to ensure that all parties involved are paying a fair price for the house.

Entryway with dark built-in cabinets, a woven bench, wicker pendant lights, and a glass-paneled door.

Step 10: Finish Paperwork

No one looks forward to all the paperwork involved in buying a home, but it’s a necessary part of the process. Fortunately, everything will be arranged by your lender and title company and, when you’re finished, you’ll know you are the legal owner of your new home.

Congratulations!

After signing the final paperwork to complete the purchase, you are now the owner of a new house. It may take a few days for your loan to be funded once the paperwork has been returned to the lender, but once that check is delivered to the seller, you’ll be all set to move into the home of your dreams.

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L. Denyes

We were referred to Madalyn and her team for the purchase of our new home. We can't thank them enough for all of their work and patience as we did everything via the phone and internet. They were amazing!

Khris

They are so great to work with! Madalyn and her entire team make the home buying process so easy! If you want a great realtor look no further!! Thank you for an easy move to Georgia!!

S. Smith

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D. Schroer

We had such a wonderful experience working with Madalyn and the team. She went above and beyond to make sure our house looked its absolute best before putting it on the market. She was incredibly helpful throughout the entire p...

C. Chandler

We had a great experience buying with the Suits Team. The communication, attention to detail, and helpfulness throughout made for a great first-time home buying experience.

T. LC

Madalyn is so fun to work with. She took the time to listen to what I was looking for in a new home. Being in a home within a short distance from my family was a high priority. She found a home for me that was a perfect fit and...

D. Han

Very helpful and best professionalism.

J. McWhorter

Madalyn & her team are first class. This was the 3rd time she has been involved buying/selling a home for us and each time they exceed expectations. Highly recommend if you are in the market to buy or sell your home.

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L. Tate

Nina Harris and the Suits Team made selling our family home as easy as possible. From the professional sales plan to all the minute details of closing, they handled it all with unflappable ease and efficiency. Every query was m...

J. Lewis

Nina was awesome! She was on top of everything and helped us feel confident about the process during every step. Really appreciate all that she did for us and for making it such a pleasant experience.

J. Z.

A friend referred me to Nina, and it was the absolute best choice I made while choosing a home. I had many questions and several fears about purchasing a home, and she put my mind at ease, even answering the crazy questions I h...

J. Posey

Madalyn and her team were great! My home was located in an oversaturated market and there were several homes in my neighborhood I was up against. They stayed on top of things each step of the way and communicated all essential ...

TJM

I've had the pleasure of working with Madalyn Suits and The Suits Team across multiple transactions, and I can say without hesitation they are true professionals in every sense of the word. My first experience with Madalyn came...

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The entire Suits Team was amazing to work with. So positive, professional and fun! They really provided realistic recommendations to assist us with our sale. Down to every detail including marketing, we really enjoyed the exper...

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S. Sendhil

The Suits Team was quite available and accommodating to my schedule for seeing properties. Very patient and gave me honest feedback on properties rather than just trying to close a deal. Appreciated and enjoyed working with them!

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