The most underrated tip for first time home buyers: when you’re starting out and this is your first time looking to buy a home, it can feel like you’re drinking from a fire hose.

I mean, literally.

Sometimes folks will tell me, “Hey Evan, I’m getting hit with so many different things. How do I line up financing and set things out to make sure I know I’m going to close?”

We mapped out on a board before how many people are involved in the home purchase process. Typically, at a minimum, there’s 12 different real estate-related professionals in a home closing.

On the other extreme, if there’s all of a sudden all different kinds of assistance and stuff for those professionals, there could be 16 to 20 different people touching a real estate transaction. That’s a lot of different people.

So, as a first-time buyer, how the heck do I make this even happen?

What if I told you there is a way to make sure that process is relatively smooth?

One of the biggest issues I see from folks is, all of a sudden, they see a home they like: “Oh, I want to buy it! It’s good, it’s going to go quickly, I need to hurry!”

So, they rush and pick a random real estate agent, a random lender, and then they end up with a subpar process.

Who you work with makes a difference.

Give yourself some time, prepare ahead.

Now, that all comes down to two major things.

Number one is your lender, because they’re helping handle the finances. You need to trust what they’re telling you to get accurate numbers and to understand how you’re closing.

For example, our business caters heavily to active duty military and first-time home buyers who are using VA loans or conventional loans.

We put out a lot of good quality information that helps support that. So, you want to find a company, a lending firm, that understands the process of first-time home buying and what it looks like specifically for you.

And then, number two, like your quarterback, is the real estate agent.

Having a real estate agent you can trust to walk you through your contract, to coordinate with the title offices or attorneys that you’re dealing with, is crucial.

You should narrow it down the whole process to ideally two folks that you work with heavily: your lender and your real estate agent.

It matters who you’re working with to streamline the process, and they give you the information you need to help get the deal well done.

My name is Evan Kaufman, your VA loan originator, dealing with VA and conventional loans for home buyers all across the country.

If you’re working with a lender right now and you want a second opinion, we’re here for you. If you’re needing some advice upfront and you’re just starting the process, we’re here for you.