Why Buy With Us

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Step 4: Choose a Real Estate Agent

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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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Why choose us

1
Local Expertise
We’ve lived in Iowa City for many years and know every neighborhood inside and out. Our deep understanding of the local market ensures we position your home for success.
2
Unmatched Customer Service
We’re not just about transactions—we’re about relationships. Our team goes above and beyond to provide a personalized experience that makes you feel valued at every stage.
3
Proven Success
With high annual sales volumes and a reputation for excellence, we consistently achieve top results, selling homes quickly and for the best possible price.

Our Testimonials

See why our clients love working with us.
 J. Henley

J. Henley

We worked with Allye to purchase a home during this crazy real estate market. Allye did a great job, was very knowledgeable of the area, attentive to our needs, and exceeded our expectations in every way. It was a joy to work w...
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Lin H.

Lin H.

Super helpful throughout the whole process to help me get the nice condo! Jill helped me with almost everything and solved all my concerns about this condo. Endless grateful for your extraordinary patience and expertise. It’s a...
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Annah V.

Annah V.

Jill is an excellent, knowledgeable, responsive, enthusiastic agent. As a first-time homebuyer, Jill made us feel comfortable throughout the process. After meeting with her, we immediately clicked and she was able to find us ou...
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Buyer & Seller

Buyer & Seller

Jill is very thorough in helping me sift through available properties. She provides an honest analysis and, rather than just chasing the commission, will tell me when she thinks a property is not a suitable investment. I have p...
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D. Gomez

D. Gomez

Jill is knowledgeable, caring, responsible, creative, and a wonderful agent. Jill successfully sold our first house in a very short time. She guided us through the whole process and was with us at every step. She was always a c...
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K. Melendez

K. Melendez

Allye was wonderful! She asked us what we were looking for, what we really wanted/needed in a home, and what we didn’t like in homes that we saw. Didn’t take too long for her to show us our forever home after showing us houses ...
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Buyer

Buyer

We had a wonderful time working with Jill. She is enjoyable to work with, easy to reach and communicates very well. Jill was extremely knowledgeable about the properties we were interested in buying and helped us navigate each ...
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Tyler E.

Tyler E.

Allye assisted us in our first-time home-buying experience. The process was seamless and stress-free. Allye was very knowledgeable and set our expectations for the process from the very beginning preventing any surprises from a...
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Seller

Seller

When it comes to selling/buying a house, to us, it is all about trust. We trust Jill and her team, and they indeed did an amazing job selling both of our houses. The real estate education she provided to us during the selling p...
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Lisa C

Lisa C

We had a great experience with the team. Marcy lead the charge on the sale and I can't speak enough how great she was to work with and incredibly responsive to all our question. Jill has built a great team and we would use her ...
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Dana's Investments

Dana's Investments

I have known Jill for at least 15 years, I do all my real estate business through her because she and her team are the best well organized and fast. I will never go somewhere else
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Jessica P

Jessica P

Jill and her team were so helpful in getting our house sold while my husband and I were living out of state. They have incredible attention to detail and lots of connections to help finish up those last few projects if necessar...
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Andrew H

Andrew H

We mainly worked with Marcy and she was a godsend! After going through several agents (one ending so terribly we almost decided not to sell), I met Marcy coincidentally and she said she could help us. She listened to us and was...
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A

Amanda H

Marcy was great to work with in selling my home! She helped guide the process, communicated clearly, and offered advice at critical moments of the marketing, offer, and closing steps, that made what I imagine could have been ve...
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Ryan Cho

Ryan Cho

I had an excellent experience working with the Jill's team for both buying and selling my condo in Iowa City. From start to finish, Jill and her team were incredibly supportive, knowledgeable, and responsive. No matter the time...
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Chad Buchanan

Chad Buchanan

Jill and Darci were awesome to work with. Very knowledgeable about all aspects of the market and home buying process. Loved working with them!
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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. 

Common Terms for Sellers to Know

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Our goal is to surpass each client’s expectations. The difference lies in our dedication to serving your needs as our own, now and in the future.

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