You’ve watched friends do this. You’ve saved for years. You’ve Googled enough to be dangerous and not enough to be sure. Somewhere between the spreadsheet and the open house, the whole thing started to feel less like an exciting milestone and more like a test you weren’t given the textbook for.
A first home isn’t just a transaction. It is the moment a person stops borrowing the shape of their life from landlords and starts drawing it themselves. Our job is to make sure you draw it on solid ground — with the right lender, the right town, the right inspection, the right offer, and the right read on what you can actually afford without rearranging the rest of your twenties or thirties.
We move at your pace. We answer the questions you’re a little embarrassed to ask. And we tell you when a house is worth fighting for — and when to walk.
A first purchase in Massachusetts or New Hampshire has its own grammar: escalation clauses, mortgage contingencies, the Purchase and Sale Agreement, escrow holdbacks, attorney review, title work, the way the appraisal interacts with the offer you wrote on a Sunday. You will hear all of this for the first time. We’ve heard it approaching 2,000 times. Most of our job is translating — and slowing the moments that move too fast.
Representation isn’t a feeling. It’s a list of decisions made on your behalf, in the right order, at the right moment.
No names, no case studies — just the patterns we recognize before you finish describing them.
The pre-approval letter that came in too low. The lender who quoted a number on a Friday phone call that didn’t survive underwriting. The dual-income household that looks great on paper and confuses the wrong bank.
We don’t guess at financing. We introduce you to lenders who can actually fund the loan they pre-approve, and we structure the offer to survive what comes after the handshake.
You found the house. So did three other buyers. One of them is putting twenty percent down. One is waiving inspection. One is a cash investor.
Most first-time buyers respond by overpaying or walking away. We respond by reading the seller — what they actually need, what they fear, what makes their life easier — and writing an offer that wins on more than price.
The kitchen looks dated. The basement smells funny. The seller’s disclosures are thin. You like the bones but you’re scared of what you can’t see.
We walk it with you slowly. We bring in inspectors who explain what’s a five-thousand-dollar problem and what’s a fifty-thousand-dollar one. We tell you, plainly, whether this is a smart first house or a project that should belong to your second.
If an agent can’t answer these clearly, that itself is an answer.
These are different numbers. The bank looks at debt-to-income on paper. We look at the life you’re trying to live: travel, childcare, retirement contributions, the cushion you need to sleep at night. The right number is almost always lower than the maximum, and that gap is where comfort lives.
Price is one of about a dozen terms. Earnest money, inspection contingency, mortgage contingency, appraisal language, closing date, possession, inclusions and exclusions, seller concessions, and the Purchase and Sale Agreement deadline all live inside the offer. In a competitive market, the non-price terms are often what wins the house.
Inspection in MA and NH typically runs $500–$900 for a single-family home, more with radon, sewer scope, well water, or termite. Closing costs — lender fees, title, attorney, prepaid taxes and insurance, escrow setup — generally land between two and four percent of the purchase price. We walk through every line before you write the offer, not after.
More than people think. Massachusetts uses attorneys at closing; New Hampshire uses title companies. Massachusetts has a Purchase and Sale Agreement that follows the offer; New Hampshire often combines the two. Property taxes, income tax, school funding, and inspection norms differ. The right answer depends on your job, your commute, your priorities, and your math — not on which state sounds nicer.
You have options, and they are not just “walk away.” You can request repairs, credits, a price reduction, an extended timeline, or release. Which option is right depends on the issue, the market, the seller’s situation, and your tolerance. This is where smart negotiation matters most — not winning the offer, but protecting you after.
A call to talk through where you are, what you’re thinking about, and what a smart, sensible next step might look like. We’ll take it from there at your pace.
— Lisa Sevajian
lisa.sevajian@exprealty.com · 978-457-3406
Top 1.5% of over 1,500,000 Realtors · Brokered by eXp Realty