Are you looking to buy a home but are completely lost on where to start? San Diego Realtor Ewa Baska walks you through the home buying process. Giving you the road map you will take on your home buying journey.

Help! I want to buy a home, but I don't know where to start. Let me walk you through a few simple steps of the home buying journey. The first is connect with an agent. All jokes aside, agents have a lot of experience. We know the market. We have access to tools to finding great homes. We can help you negotiate a great deal. And our services to you are free.

The seller pays our commission, so definitely use us. Two, find a lender to get pre-approved. The pre-approval is a pivotal part of the home buying journey. It basically tells you how much home you can afford. And most importantly, it shows you what your monthly payments are in order to figure out the right budget for you. Three, we'll go see homes. We'll go on tours, we'll schedule listings, and hopefully find a place you love. Four, we'll put in an offer. This is where things get exciting. And there are many strategies to making your offer stand out, which is why it's so important to work with a experienced professional.

The important thing to note here is that once you get put in an offer and it gets accepted, it doesn't mean that you're locked in to buy that home. We'll put the right contingencies in place in order for you to make sure that this is the perfect home for you. You can really get out of these contingencies during the escrow process. So don't worry about putting in offers, we're here to protect you. Five, the escrow process. Escrow is actually a really confusing fancy word that means many different things.

But basically, it's two big things. One, it's a neutral third party that handles all the contractual paperwork during the due diligence process. And it's the due diligence process, which is basically when we'll do inspections, appraisals, figure out your loans, and everything else we need to know to make sure this is the right home for you. Once that happens, which usually takes 20 to 30 days, you'll be a homeowner. Congrats! Hope that demystified the home buying process. Let me know if you want to start your search.