GUIDE TO HOME-BUYING IN LOS ANGELES

STEP 1: Determine your budget

The first step in the home purchasing process is to understand what you can afford. Many buyers overlook fees like closing costs (one time fees) and property taxes (recurring expense). Thus, to be financially prepared a buyer needs enough savings to cover both downpayment and closing costs. Next, the total monthly cost, commonly referred to as PITI, is important to take into account when deciding your budget. PITI explained below:

  • Principal (monthly payment towards loan balance)

  • Interest

  • Taxes (in LA county the annual property taxes are about 1.25% of purchase price)

  • Insurance

If applicable, be sure to include HOA (Homeowners Association) fees in your monthly budget as well.

Pre-approval: A lender collects your basic financial information and based on this they may pre-approve you for a loan up to X amount. This pre-approval document will serve as proof that you are a qualified homebuyer. A bank may offer as low as 0% downpayment, depending on property and buyer qualifications, but loans with 5%-20% downpayment is more common.

Lender fees are part of closing costs so inquire with lender regarding their fees. We’re happy to recommend lenders that our clients have used with great success in the past.

STEP 2: Identify a property

The fun stuff begins. Now that you know your budget, it’s time to find a home. We can help identify areas that meet your desired lifestyle and budget. While majority of homes for sale are uploaded on Zillow and other 3rd party websites, we have access to several pre-market or off-market listings as well. Thanks to our extensive network we have been successful in representing buyers purchasing off-market listings several times in the past. We help coordinate and schedule showings.

STEP 3: Submit offer-we Help you win

When you find a home you love, the next step is crafting a strong offer — and this is where having the right team makes all the difference.

We provide our clients with up-to-date comparable sales, local insights, and our professional opinion on value. This an important first step because the listing price is not necessarily indicative of a homes market value. This ensures we’re making a smart offer, not just chasing a number.

Once we have a clear idea on value, we reach out to the seller’s agent to gather important details about the seller’s situation. Understanding the seller’s priorities — whether they need extra time to move, prefer a quick close, or are focused strictly on price — allows us to tailor our offer to stand out. Small adjustments based on the seller’s needs can make our offer far more attractive without necessarily costing you more.

When it comes time to draft the offer, we guide you through key decisions like:

  • Purchase price and deposit amount

  • Escrow timeline

  • What personal property to be included

  • Which contingencies to keep, shorten, or even waive to make offer stronger

Contingencies (like inspections, appraisals, and loans) are important protections for buyers, but they can also impact how a seller views the offer. We’ll advise you on what’s typical — and what’s competitive — for your specific situation.


Key takeaway: While price is the most important factor a seller considers in an offer, there are multiple ways a buyer can make their offer more competitive. This is especially important in a multiple offer situation. We are here to guide you in crafting the most competitive offer while

STEP 4: ACCEPTED OFFER

Once terms have been agreed upon and signed by both parties - potentially after counters - then the offer is accepted. The day of acceptance is the day the timelines start from, so a 30-day escrow will have a scheduled close of escrow 30 days from day of acceptance. Escrow is usually opened the same or next business day.

STEP 5: Escrow process

There are several key milestones during escrow process. In broad strokes these include, but are not limited to:

  1. Initial deposit due to be received by escrow.

  2. Escrow paperwork to be reviewed and filled out - how will you take vesting etc.

  3. Lender paperwork - buyer to provide all requested financial documentation to lender for underwriting. This is to ensure buyer meets all requirements for loan approval.

  4. Seller disclosures and other reports due to be delivered to buyers, these are designed to transfer sellers and general knowledge of property to new owner.

  5. Get quotes for homeowners insurance.

  6. Buyer to conduct property inspections and review all reports/disclosures. We have list of property inspectors previous clients have used with great results in the past.

  7. Removal of Buyer Investigation Contingency - once removed buyer forfeits their contractual right to cancel escrow based on any findings under the investigation of property, including but not limited to reports, seller disclosures and inspections.

  8. Removal of Buyer Appraisal Contingency - lender orders appraisal to be done when we have an accepted offer. If appraisal comes in at/above purchase price, we’re good to go and buyer may remove this contingency. If appraisal comes in lower, the lender will only lend on the appraised value. Buyer may try and negotiate with seller to bridge said gap, if unsuccessful buyer may elect to cancel escrow and be entitled to their deposit back so long as they have an appraisal contingency in the offer. In multiple offer situations it’s not that uncommon that buyers remove their appraisal contingency even though it comes at a risk to buyer.

  9. Removal of Buyer Loan Contingency - this is usually the final contingency to be removed. Once all contingencies have been removed, the buyer generally does not have any contractual rights to cancel escrow and thus would risk their full deposit if they elect to cancel escrow beyond the point of full contingency removal.

  10. Signing of loan documents. The lender will coordinate with escrow and escrow will setup an appointment with buyer to review and sign all loan documents with a notary.

  11. Lender to wire entire loan amount to escrow and buyer to wire remaining funds to cover full downpayment and closing costs.

  12. Escrow setup the recording in county of Los Angeles.

  13. Confirmation of recording a.k.a close of escrow - you’re are now officially the new owner!

STEP 6: Get the keyS

Once escrow has officially recorded you are now the new owner and it’s time to get the keys to your new home! :)

Please note this is a simplified and general overview of the escrow process. The information on this website is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice.