CONTACT

How we work with buyers

BUYERS

It is so important to have a trusted, seasoned advisor helping you when buying real estate, probably the biggest purchase you will ever make in your life. Working with a home buyer is much more to me than conducting a business transaction; We enjoy getting to know each of our clients on a personal level, helping them achieve their dreams of home ownership. We always put our clients’ interests first – you can be assured that we are 100% on your side!

Figuring out What You Want

  • We will discuss what you are looking for in a home
  • We will educate you about different SF neighborhoods and what kind of home you can get in your price range
  • We will walk you through the home buying process step by step
  • If you are not yet pre-approved for a home loan, we will put you in touch with excellent mortgage bankers who will educate you about your financing options

YOUR HOME SEARCH

  • We will set up a property search for you using MLS data and also monitor off-market listings using my extensive real estate network.
  • We will go to some open houses to view available homes for sale – this outing will give me an even better idea of what features are most important to you
  • We will preview new listings for you on Tuesdays during the broker’s tour. If needed, we will make a special appointment for you to view the property at your convenience.
  • Friday at noon is the deadline for new listings to hit the MLS in order to be included on the following Tuesday’s broker’s tour. After this noon cutoff, we will email you those listings that meet your search criteria, along with viewing recommendations. 

TIME TO MAKE AN OFFER

  • Once we have identified a property that interests you, we will talk to the seller’s agent to find out why the seller is selling, when they are taking offers and how much interest there is in the property; We will also obtain the property disclosures for you.
  • We will review the property disclosures and give you information on comparable properties that have recently sold.
  • If you decide to bid on the property, we will strategize your offer, taking into account not only your offer price but also the terms of your offer which in many cases are just as important to the Seller as the price. We will work with your mortgage banker on determining the most realistic financing terms.
  • We will include a pre-approval letter from your lender/mortgage broker with your offer.
  • We will submit your offer and will provide you with prompt feedback on where you stand. If it’s looking like your offer is not the top offer, we will determine if there is any way to put your offer into contention.

IN CONTRACT

  • Once you have an accepted offer in place, we will begin the escrow process and be your advocate through the transaction.
  • We will give you, the escrow officer and your mortgage banker a written timeline of all contingency/closing dates to keep everyone on track.
  • We will schedule and attend any property inspections, including any necessary follow up inspections, and we will closely review all resulting inspection reports.
  • We will closely monitor all contingency dates and make sure that all the necessary paperwork and information has been submitted throughout the transaction.
  • We will walk through the property with you before closing to make sure it is in the same condition it was in when you got into contract. 
  • We will coordinate the signing of your escrow paperwork and a final walk through plus key exchange at close of escrow, when you become the official new homeowners!

YOU'RE A HOMEOWNER!

  • We are not going anywhere! We will be here to answer any questions you may have and to troubleshoot any problems that may come up.
  • We give all our clients a list of favorite contractors (painters, floor refinishers, gardeners, etc) and can provide you with any other resource suggestions you may need for improving your new home. 
  • We will stay in touch and let you know about recent comparable sales in your neighborhood, keeping you up to date on the market
  • We especially love visiting clients after they have made improvements to their new homes. It’s really exciting to see how far they’ve come since we started the home buying process!

Have a question? We're happy to talk with you!

    lkaufman@gmail.com 415.310.1256

    Corcoran Icon Properties
    Noe Valley office • 4040 24th Street
    San Francisco, CA 94114

    House-user Yelp Instagram Facebook-f Linkedin

    © 2022 Laura Kaufman Real Estate, All Rights Reserved    l    Laura Kaufman, CA License #01425571