Every year since my freshman year of high school, I’ve always made vision boards. I would cut out my favs from magazines and glue them together to make one big collage of things that I would like to work towards. Whether it be a short-term or long-term goal, something small or something big, it was always exciting for me to set my goals at the beginning of each year.

As I matured, I went from cutting out a cool pair of jeans or a new purse to curating photos with beautiful kitchens, pools, marble bathrooms, and comfy beds! I am pretty sure everyone dreams of the day they can purchase a home that is truly their own. That goal always seemed so far out of reach until 2019. I was 2 ½ years deep into owning my own business and had been very intentional about putting money into my savings (I’m not the best saver, but I did a few things that really helped). I would typically set aside 30% of each paycheck. I also used an app called Digit in which you connect your checking and/or savings account to the app. Digit works by looking at your cash flow to decide if it can transfer some of your money into an FDIC-insured Digit deposit account. It basically moves money around without you even noticing it. I wouldn’t look at the app for months, and digit accumulated money I didn’t even know I was missing (this worked for me - cause if I see it I typically like to spend it). Additionally, I transferred my savings into a Marcus by Goldman Sachs account. At the time, their Annual Percentage yield was around 2%, which was better than most savings accounts; however, it has recently changed to 1.3%.

As many of you had questions about the first-time home buying experience, I wrote out my steps to share the process. Hopefully, these will help those first-time buyers get over the jitters - it’s not so scary!

Step One – Making the Decision

Ahhhhh! Yes, I was nervous, I questioned myself and I thought, “can I really afford this?”. I had a lot of friends and acquaintances who worked at and with Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. I had seen their navy blue signs all over town, especially when driving down West Paces Ferry. I thought to myself, “They would never work with me … I am chump change compared to all of their other clients. My price point is probably not even worth their time.”, but that was far from the truth.

I decided to work with Kathryn Boyd Crabtree from Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty. She had recently worked with a few of my friends and helped them find their first home. She knew the area I was looking in like the back of her hand and with first-time homebuyers, therefore, a perfect fit for me. We had an initial meeting where we discussed details, and she gave me a booklet that Atlanta Fine Homes Sotheby’s International Realty curated for first-time homebuyers, which I found to be very helpful. It had commonly used terms, timelines, and a lot of other helpful tools!

Kathryn Crabtree is a third-generation REALTOR®. She has been surrounded by the business her entire life. Kathryn's grandmother, Holly Boyett, is an icon in the Atlanta real estate industry. Kathryn Crabtree’s mother, Kim Boyd, is currently in the Top 5% of the Atlanta REALTORS® Association and is a Life Member of the organization’s Top Producers. Kathryn Crabtree and her mother, Kim, are a POWER TEAM. They were recently awarded the ARA’s #1 Team for Sales Volume. Can you say amazing?!?!

I didn’t really know where to start, but Kathryn Crabtree made things quick and easy.

She gave me the name of one of her preferred mortgage lenders, Dawn. Dawn is also fabulous and gets it DONE. If you need a lender, I highly recommend her. Dawn Dailey (ddailey@loansite.com).

As I started speaking with Dawn, I quickly surmised that this just made financial sense. I had spent the past 7 years paying what basically was a mortgage payment on rent and moving every other year. (I call those years E & E – Expensive and Exhausting).

Step Two – What Can I Afford?

The lending process was pretty painless for me. Dawn took a deep dive into all my finances. You’ll get pre-approved for a mortgage amount based on income, savings, debt, 401K, taxes, etc. Once you are pre-approved, you’ll have a good handle on what you can afford. See below for my key takeaways on obtaining a mortgage.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Obtaining a mortgage will be a crucial step in purchasing your first home, and there are several factors for choosing the most appropriate one.
Lenders will evaluate your creditworthiness and your ability to repay based on your income, assets, debts, and credit history.
In choosing a mortgage, you'll have to decide whether to elect a fixed or floating rate, the number of years to pay off your mortgage, and the size of your down payment.
Conventional loans are mortgages that are not insured or guaranteed by the federal government.

Step Three – Where Should I Look?

Of course, everyone hates Atlanta traffic, but, for the past 7 years, I have lived in the same little “bubble”. When deciding to look for a home, I did not want to go out of my said “bubble”. So when it came time for me to consider buying my first home, the location was everything. I know every REALTOR® says – location, location, location but, location didn't mean as much to me about resale; but more about being close to everything I love and need – office, workout, restaurants, family, friends, and shopping. I drew a radius around my desired area (which was very small) and gave it to Kathryn Crabtree.

There were a couple of things I toggled back and forth on:

Could it be a home or a townhome?
I like the idea of low maintenance – i.e. no yard work #lazy #busy
Location for me needed to be within a quick shot to the office and gym
The property needed to be newer – I did not want to have to do any major updates (not a good DIYer and didn’t want to manage a ton of extra work)
What would I do with this property in 5-8 years if I didn’t want to sell it – was it rentable?
2-3 Bedrooms/2-3 Bathrooms
Primarily wood floors
Atlanta Taxes are more expensive
Open-Concept

All important things for first-time homebuyers to think about!

Step Four - Start Looking

This part was fun for me. Since my bubble was pretty small, and I had a good grasp on what I wanted and what I did NOT want, we ended up putting an offer in on the first home we saw but only toured 2!

Step Five - Offer

I was pretty confident that the first house was THE ONE! The location was perfect, and I love the open-concept of the kitchen, living, and dining room. There were 3 bedrooms 3 ½ bathrooms + a refrigerator in the garage- can you say party time?! LOL. Just kidding - but that was a nice bonus.

We put in the offer, they countered once, and we accepted their counter. Kathryn advised us through the entire process, and it was ultimately the easiest part!

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Step Six - Inspection

A home inspection is basically like going in for a check-up at your doctor’s office.

Kathryn Crabtree recommended an inspector, Adam Cashin, and, let me tell you, he was hilarious! Adam is a longtime Atlanta resident with a lot of experience in the inspection process. He is with the company Building Knowledge.

While a home inspection is not a pass or fail test, it does, however, open the door for renegotiation. The seller is not obligated to fix anything, but the buyer can also walk away during this time if they’re not satisfied with the condition of the home.

The inspection took a few hours but was very informative + entertaining :). Adam walked us through the house and basically gave us a homeowner’s tour while checking on important factors:

Water Damage
Structural Issues
Old/Damaged Roof
Damaged Electrical System
Plumbing Problems
Insect and Pest Infestation
Issues with the HVAC System

Overall, we had a very clean inspection, and we were off to the races!

Step 7 - Closing

AHHHH Closing! The final stretch! Kathryn recommended Campbell + Brannon . They have a few locations around Atlanta and a great reputation. The closing was super fun (Henri’s pastries and a Meat + Cheese board …need I say more?), and we may have popped a bottle or two.