Buying a home
The REAL Home Buying Process in Sacramento
Our home buying process in Sacramento: get ready, learn what your budget buys, search with focus, and close on a plan. Real estate and mortgage brokering in one place.
The short version
Most buyers start by touring houses. Then they find one they love and discover they were not ready to write on it. Our home buying process in Sacramento turns that order around. We get you ready to win a home first, and then we go find it.
We call our buying process REAL, and it works in four steps. Ready means your financing is reviewed and your representation is in writing before you tour. Educated means you know what your budget buys here, and what the monthly payment really is, before you fall for anything. Aligned means a search built on what you actually need, so you see fewer homes and better ones. Locked means the offer, inspections, loan and closing run on a plan so the ending holds no surprises.
Surroundings is a one-stop shop. Maggie B. Hopkins is both a real estate broker and a mortgage broker, so your home search and your loan run through one call, one team and one plan. The price, the financing and the closing date are planned together, and nothing gets lost in a handoff between two offices that have never met.
As a mortgage broker, Maggie shops your loan across a network of approved lenders. Get a quote from us and compare it. Give yourself options.
Here is each step in detail. When you are ready to start, tell us what you are looking for.
Ready: Financing and Representation Before the First Tour
The home a buyer loses is usually the one they were not ready to write an offer on. Being ready comes down to two things: knowing your financing will hold up, and having your agent's role and pay agreed in writing.
Your financing. Get a pre-approval based on a real review of your income, assets, debts and credit, the same things an underwriter will look at, not a guess. When we handle it, Maggie does that review herself and shops your loan across a network of approved lenders. If something in your credit needs attention, she finds it while there is time to fix it. You are always free to use any lender you choose, and we will work with them. One refinance client's score dropped 100 points over a disputed collection. Maggie got it corrected and the loan closed. Approval always depends on underwriting.
Your loan options. Compare the programs you qualify for side by side. Explore options before you commit. FHA loans allow as little as 3.5 percent down for qualified buyers, and some conventional programs allow 3 percent. VA loans can require no down payment for eligible veterans and service members, and Maggie is a Certified VA Loan Specialist. California's down payment assistance programs open and close with their funding, so we check what is available when you are ready.
Your representation. Since August 2024, buyers sign a written agreement with their agent before touring homes together. Ours spells out what we do for you, how long the agreement lasts, and how we are paid. Our pay is negotiable and agreed between you and us in that document. A seller may offer to cover some or all of it, and when one does, we show you how that works in your offer. We go through every line before you sign.
The REAL Home Buying Process in Sacramento
Educated: What Your Budget Buys Here, Before You Fall for a House
Knowing what you can borrow is not the same as knowing what you want to spend every month. Before you tour, we build the full monthly picture for the price range you are looking at: principal and interest, property taxes, homeowners insurance, mortgage insurance if your loan has it, and any HOA dues.
A few local numbers help set expectations. In August 2026, the median sold price for an existing single-family home was $549,000 in Sacramento County, $692,500 in Placer County, $690,000 in El Dorado County and $648,000 in Yolo County, according to the California Association of REALTORS®. Medians shift with the mix of homes sold, so we look at the actual sales in the areas you are considering.
Property taxes. In Sacramento County, plan on about 1.25 percent of your purchase price each year. That is the 1 percent base set by Proposition 13, plus local voter-approved bonds and special assessments. Many newer neighborhoods add Mello-Roos special taxes on top. Builders must give you a Notice of Special Tax before you sign, and we read it with you.
The supplemental tax bill. After you buy, the county sends a supplemental bill for the difference between the seller's old assessed value and your price. It usually arrives six months or more after closing, and it comes to you rather than your lender. Our Sacramento property tax calculator estimates it so you can set the money aside from the month you close.
Insurance. In the foothills of Placer and El Dorado counties, wildfire risk affects whether and how a home can be insured. If you are looking there, we get an insurance quote on the specific address early, before it can surprise you in escrow.
This is the step that saves people months. You see the real payment on each home before you fall for one.
Aligned: A Focused Search, Fewer Homes and Better Ones
Touring everything on the market wears you out and teaches you little. We build your search around real criteria: the commute you will accept, the space you need, the age and condition of home you are comfortable taking on, and the payment you settled on in the last step.
From there we watch the market for you. When a home looks right, we tell you what we see in it, good and bad, before you spend a Saturday on it.
On a tour, we look past the staging. Many Sacramento-area homes were built decades ago, and the expensive surprises tend to sit where photos do not reach: the roof, the sewer line, the electrical panel, the heating and air system, and signs of water. We point those out as we walk, so you are already thinking about inspections before you write an offer.
If you are moving here from out of the area, we tour homes for you on live video and send recorded walk-throughs, and we line up your financing before you travel. Our relocation page covers how that works.
We describe homes and places by the facts: the layout, the lot, the distances, the amenities nearby. Who belongs in a neighborhood is never part of the conversation. You decide where you want to live.
Locked: Offer, Inspections, Loan and Closing on One Plan
The offer. We write your offer on the California purchase agreement and build the terms around what this seller needs: the price, the deposit, the contingencies, and the closing date. Maggie reads every pre-approval letter the way an underwriter will, so your offer goes in with financing the seller's agent can trust. When we arrange your loan too, the seller's agent can call one person and get straight answers about the house and the financing. That carries weight when there are several offers. One couple we represented beat seven other offers for the home they wanted.
Escrow opens. California purchases close through escrow, usually handled by a title company here in Northern California. No attorney is required at closing. Your deposit goes to the escrow company, not the seller, and the standard purchase agreement gives you three business days after acceptance to deliver it unless your offer says otherwise. Escrow will never change its wiring instructions by email. Before you send money, call your escrow officer at a number you already know.
Inspections and disclosures. The seller gives you a set of disclosures about the home and its natural hazard zones. You hire inspectors: a general home inspection, a wood-destroying pest inspection, and often a sewer line camera, roof or chimney inspection. That same couple's inspection found a major sewer repair the seller did not know about. We negotiated $20,000 off the price because of it.
Contingencies. Under the current California purchase agreement, your investigation, appraisal and loan contingencies each default to 17 days unless your offer sets different terms. You remove each one in writing. We put every date on a calendar and count backward from it, so nothing expires by accident.
The loan and appraisal. The appraisal is ordered, the loan goes through underwriting, and you receive your Closing Disclosure at least three business days before you sign, so you can review your final numbers.
Closing. You do a final walk-through shortly before closing, sign your documents with escrow or a mobile notary, and the sale closes when the deed records with the County Recorder. After closing, watch your mail for the county's homeowners' exemption form. It takes $7,000 off your assessed value.
After the Keys
Our work does not end at the closing table. We remind you about the supplemental tax bill before it arrives, help you file the homeowners' exemption, and stay your contact for the house, and for the loan if we arranged it, for as long as you own it. When we can, we throw a housewarming and invite the neighbors, because a new house feels like home faster when you know the people next door.
Maggie B. Hopkins, CA DRE Broker #01750680, NMLS #349517. Surroundings NMLS #2528307. Loan approval depends on underwriting, and nothing on this page is a commitment to lend or a rate quote.
This describes our general process and is not legal, tax, or lending advice. See first-time buyers and VA and military buyers for more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to sign an agreement before touring homes in California?
Yes. Since August 2024, buyers sign a written agreement with their agent before touring homes together. It sets out what the agent does for you, how long the agreement lasts, and how the agent is paid. The pay is negotiable, and we go through every line with you before you sign.
Is there an attorney at closing in California?
No attorney is required. California purchases close through escrow, a neutral party that holds the deposit, documents and funds and releases them when every condition in the contract is met. In Northern California, escrow is usually handled by a title company.
How long is the inspection period in California?
Under the current California purchase agreement, the investigation contingency defaults to 17 days after acceptance, as do the appraisal and loan contingencies, unless your offer sets different terms. Each contingency is removed in writing.
What is a supplemental tax bill?
It is a one-time bill from the county that covers the difference between the seller's old assessed value and your purchase price for the rest of the tax year. In Sacramento County it usually arrives six months or more after closing, and it comes to you, not your lender.
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