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Tips on Buying Home

Buyer's Guide

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: Market Analysis

Know What You Need And What’s Available

It’s important when purchasing a new home, to have all the facts you need to make an informed decision and The Gene Dru Property Group of eXp Realty has extensive experience and local housing market knowledge in Baltimore County & Baltimore City to help you do just that. We will work with you to ask all the necessary questions and gather important information about exactly what you are looking for, including many factors and features that will be driving your home purchasing decision. We will then go to work, based on your unique and specific criteria, to find the perfect home for you.

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Step 2: Home Financing

Let’s Take Care Of The Finances Early

Getting everything together for financing a new home can be daunting. However, it is crucial to ensure you have the strongest financial footing for when we find you that perfect home. At The Gene Dru Property Group of eXp Realty we have a network of trusted lenders and when you work with us, our network becomes your network. With their help, we can determine exactly how much you can afford and will get you formally pre-approved for a home loan so we can start exploring your options.

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Step 3: Home Shopping

This Is Where The Fun Begins

The excitement of buying a new home starts with the search. By combining your financials with our market analysis, we will use our expertise to narrow down a list of potential homes that check off all your boxes. Then, the fun begins as we start to visit each property and compile a list of pro’s and cons for each home to be used to narrow down our current selection and/or for future property searches.

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Step 4: Making Offers

Negotiating Your Dream Home

When buying a home, your initial offer is a critical part of the process because it has to meet both buyer and seller expectations, and initiates the home buying and negotiating process. The Gene Dru Property Group of eXp Realty will help you determine a fair, data-driven offer based on our in-depth market analysis and will then utilize our years of experience, market expertise, and relationships to negotiate the best deal for you.

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Step 5: Property Inspections

Conducting A Property Inspection

Once your offer is accepted by a seller, the next step is to get a complete home inspection to get a full understanding of the condition of your home, including what isn’t visible to the naked eye. We will provide you with a trusted home inspector and carefully review the results with you and make recommendations based on the results. This is another crucial part of the process, as it can serve as a negotiating tool, as well as offers strong assurance and peace of mind for your new home purchase.

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Step 6: Financing Approval

The Home Buying Process Is Almost Complete

The Gene Dru Property Group of eXp Realty has years of experience and expertise to ensure the final and most crucial stages of your home loan approval are not overwhelming. We will monitor and update you on the progress of your home buying transaction and keep you informed of any updates and/or items needed along the way. And once we get the financing approval, or “clear to close” you’ll be in the final stretch towards homeownership.

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Step 7: Now, We Celebrate

Congratulations! You Are A New Home Owner!

The closing or escrow process takes a lot of work, time, and effort from all parties and The Gene Dru Property Group of eXp Realty will be by your side every step of the way. Once completed, after receiving clear to close, we will conduct a final property walk-through with you to ensure any items that needed to be addressed have been completed, as well as to ensure nothing has changed with the condition of the home. Then we’ll schedule settlement, and once both parties have signed all necessary documents, your new home is officially yours, and it’s time to celebrate!

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. 

Success Stories

Testimonials

"Super easy Buying Experience! From beginning to end, super easy, had great communication, and was by far an excellent experience! Gene and his entire team, from Theodora to Olivia to all those working behind the scenes, were all amazing to work with. Excellent knowledge of the area and neighborhoods, super patient, and very informative while working with me as a first-time homebuyer. I was expecting the experience to be more stressful and taxing, but it was truly enjoyable and fun! I cannot thank Gene and his team more - If I have to select an agent and real estate team again in the future, I will select the Gene Dru Team a million times over!"
"Super easy Buying Experience! From beginning to end, super easy, had great communication, and was by far an excellent experience! Gene and his entire team, from Theodora to Olivia to all those working behind the scenes, were all amazing to work with. Excellent knowledge of the area and neighborhoods, super patient, and very informative while working with me as a first-time homebuyer. I was expecting the experience to be more stressful and taxing, but it was truly enjoyable and fun! I cannot thank Gene and his team more - If I have to select an agent and real estate team again in the future, I will select the Gene Dru Team a million times over!"
Buyer
"Gene is the absolute best! He knows Baltimore like the back of his hand and is always professional, responsive, and quick with paperwork. He just helped me buy my first home in an expedited closing and made sure we didn't miss any deadlines. Gene also took care to make sure I fully understood what was happening at every step of the process. His knowledge of the area and the industry can't be beat there is not a question he can't answer! 11/10 will absolutely buy my next home with him!"
"Gene is the absolute best! He knows Baltimore like the back of his hand and is always professional, responsive, and quick with paperwork. He just helped me buy my first home in an expedited closing and made sure we didn't miss any deadlines. Gene also took care to make sure I fully understood what was happening at every step of the process. His knowledge of the area and the industry can't be beat there is not a question he can't answer! 11/10 will absolutely buy my next home with him!"
Eli B.
"Gene did an excellent job from beginning (valuation) to listing to managing viewings to negotiating the sale. He got us a price above the listed price and skillfully managed the bidding process getting us an excellent result."
"Gene did an excellent job from beginning (valuation) to listing to managing viewings to negotiating the sale. He got us a price above the listed price and skillfully managed the bidding process getting us an excellent result."
Alex F.
"Highly recommend. Experienced and knowledgeable. Excellent communicator. Pam walked us through every step of the process. Someone you can trust when you have to make big decisions."
"Highly recommend. Experienced and knowledgeable. Excellent communicator. Pam walked us through every step of the process. Someone you can trust when you have to make big decisions."
Franco T.
"Pam was extremely responsive and helped us find a home in just two weeks. She outbid 7 other offers to get us our house. As a bonus, she is fluent in Spanish, which allowed both my wife and I to feel comfortable participating in the home-buying process."
"Pam was extremely responsive and helped us find a home in just two weeks. She outbid 7 other offers to get us our house. As a bonus, she is fluent in Spanish, which allowed both my wife and I to feel comfortable participating in the home-buying process."
Aryah F.
"Pam went above and beyond her role as a realtor for us during the search for our very first home! I cannot say enough good things about her and our experience. Through the highs and lows of the journey, she was there, communicated frequently and clearly, advocated for us, and ensured that at the end of it all, we got the absolute best for our family! I would recommend Pam in a heartbeat because after all, she is our homegirl!"
"Pam went above and beyond her role as a realtor for us during the search for our very first home! I cannot say enough good things about her and our experience. Through the highs and lows of the journey, she was there, communicated frequently and clearly, advocated for us, and ensured that at the end of it all, we got the absolute best for our family! I would recommend Pam in a heartbeat because after all, she is our homegirl!"
Buyer
"Under this tough situation, we all know how hard it is for a buyer to make a decision to purchase a house. Lucky for us, Josh went through it all the way together with us, his professional experience gave us the confidence to make the final choice, if you want to settle down in Maryland, go for eXp Realty, you will be proud of your choice for sure!"
"Under this tough situation, we all know how hard it is for a buyer to make a decision to purchase a house. Lucky for us, Josh went through it all the way together with us, his professional experience gave us the confidence to make the final choice, if you want to settle down in Maryland, go for eXp Realty, you will be proud of your choice for sure!"
Buyer
"I met Gene years ago and have bought and sold multiple houses with him as my realtor. I've dealt with multiple realtors before I met Gene and it's night and day. As an investor, I don't have time for slow-responding realtors. Gene always responds fast, I never need to deal with anyone else."
"I met Gene years ago and have bought and sold multiple houses with him as my realtor. I've dealt with multiple realtors before I met Gene and it's night and day. As an investor, I don't have time for slow-responding realtors. Gene always responds fast, I never need to deal with anyone else."
Buyer & Seller
"My experience with Gene, and the GeneDru team, was simply seamless. The whole team was very responsive and helpful throughout the process of selling my condo. They made it easy, quick, and stress-free!"
"My experience with Gene, and the GeneDru team, was simply seamless. The whole team was very responsive and helpful throughout the process of selling my condo. They made it easy, quick, and stress-free!"
Lindsay S.
"Gene has been our Realtor for years now! He has been top shelf since we first met him, and only gets more awesome as GDPG grows! We've sold 2 properties each for more than the list price and bought 1 property that was a difficult transaction, Gene ultimately rescued that deal! Gene is extremely knowledgeable and responsive. He has a solid team to expedite the process! All Ace's!"
"Gene has been our Realtor for years now! He has been top shelf since we first met him, and only gets more awesome as GDPG grows! We've sold 2 properties each for more than the list price and bought 1 property that was a difficult transaction, Gene ultimately rescued that deal! Gene is extremely knowledgeable and responsive. He has a solid team to expedite the process! All Ace's!"
Buyer & Seller

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