How to buy a home in Oakland Piedmont Berkeley

Buying a home for the first time can be intimidating.  There are 3 phases to the process and each have plenty of costly pitfalls to avoid.  Becoming an educated home buyer before you purchase substancially increases your ods of becoming a happy home owner.  I offer a Buyers-101 sit down  and it is not a commitment that we will be working together.  It is a chance for us to meet one another and to introduce you to the entire home buying process.  Only after you are brought up to speed on the current real estate market conditions can  you determine if now is the right time to investigate becoming a home owner.  Here is a Home Buying Flow Chart that gives an overview of the process.. 

   

My Buyers-101 will cover all of the following:    

Phase 1: Market Education  

• Neighborhoods
• Property values
• Rules of agency
• Types of homes
• Fixer properties
• Foreclosures
• REO’s
• House hunting
• Loans
• Pre-approvals
• Closing costs
• Sunday Open Homes
• Disclosures

Phase 2: Structuring an Offer  

• The contract
• Offers in competition
• Contingencies
• Timelines
• The inspection process
• Deposits
• Pre Approval letters
• Picking your price
• Negotiations
• Acceptance, now what

Phase 3: Escrow  

• Your good faith deposit
• Clear title reports
• Title insurance
• Homeowners insurance
• Permits, disclosures, repairs
• Inspection process
• Appraisal process
• Underwriting process
• Removing Contingencies
• Closing process

  

 

 

  

If you are not quite ready to sit down together but you’d like the most up to date information on homes in your area of interest, you are welcome to complete the form below and I will get you all set up for automatic updates. 

1. Your Name(required)
2. Your Email(valid email required)
3. Your Phone Number(required)
4. What City do you live in now?
5. What is the price range you'd like to stay in?
6. What type of property? Single Family Condo Income Property
7. Are you a first time Buyer? YES NO
8. Do you already have an agent? NO YES
9. Oakland Neighborhoods you're interested in:
10. Montclair Rockridge (lower) Rockridge (upper) Broadway Terrace Glenview Trestle Glen Crocker Highlands Lakeshore/Grand Piedmont (city) Piedmont Ave Temescal Piedmont Pines Skyline Drive Oakmore
11. Berkeley Neighborhoods you're interested in:
12. Gourmet Ghetto
    Northbrea Wastbrea N. Berkeley Thousand Oaks Berkeley flats Elmwood Claremont Hills The Uplands Fourth Street
13. Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?

 

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About Brian Santilena, Realtor

Brian Santilena sells real estate in Oakland – Piedmont – Berkeley, CA – Department of real estate 01244612.  Brian Santilena is one of the top real estate agents in the Oakland – Piedmont – Berkeley markets.  He is a member of the Oakland Board of Realtors, the California Association of Realtors and the National Board of Realtors.  Brian practices real estate in Oakland – Piedmont and Berkeley CA since 1998.  He aggressively helps home buyers and home sellers who are looking to buy or sell real estate and Oakland homes, Piedmont homes and Berkley homes.  See what some of his home selling and home buying clients have to say about working with Brian.  He is with Pacific Union Real Estate at 1900 Mountain Blvd. Oakland CA 94611.  He works in many neighborhoods in addition to Piedmont, Montclair, Rockridge, Upper Rockridge, Glenview, Trestle Glen, Crocker Highlands and many more areas and homes for sale.  Brian is a licensed contractor and is listed on Real-Estate-Agents.com .  If you are specifically interested in homes for sale in Rockridge and homes in Upper Rockridge, please take a look at Brian’s Homes In Upper Rockridge  website.