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BRINGING YOU HOME

If you live here already, you know how blessed we are. If you’re considering living or investing here, you’ve probably experienced some of the area’s extraordinary possibilities: City living with country settings and small-town communities; enthralling agricultural beauty, and true farm to fork lifestyle, If Northern California is your real estate destination, you’ve arrived at the right spot. Whether you’re looking to buy your first home – or to sell an estate – expect nothing less from us than a Meritage blend of real estate expertise, professional service, creativity, and a passion for achieving your goals. 

Home Buying Process

As soon as you can, start reading Web sites, newspapers, and magazines that have real estate listings. Make a note of particular homes you are interested in and see how long they stay on the market. Also, note any changes in asking prices. This will give you a sense of the housing trends in specific areas.

Getting prequalified is one of the most important steps in readying yourself for a home purchase. In todays competitive environment sellers want to be sure you are qualified to purchase their home prior to stepping through the door. This also positions you in the best possible way to get your offer accepted and puts you in the divers seat when searching for homes. Need help finding the right lender? We know a guy, or a girl. 🙂

Lenders generally recommend that people look for homes that cost no more than three to five times their annual household income if the home buyers plan to make a 20% down payment and have a moderate amount of other debt.

Find The Right Property
the-perfect-home-one

Real estate agents are important partners when you’re buying or selling a home. Real estate agents can provide you with helpful information on homes and neighborhoods that isn’t easily accessible to the public. Their knowledge of the home buying process, negotiating skills, and familiarity with the area you want to live in can be extremely valuable. And best of all, it doesn’t cost you anything to use an agent – they’re compensated from the commission paid by the seller of the house.

Typically, purchase offers are contingent on a home inspection of the property to check for signs of structural damage or things that may need fixing. Your real estate agent usually will help you arrange to have this inspection conducted within a few days of your offer being accepted by the seller. This contingency protects you by giving you a chance to renegotiate your offer or withdraw it without penalty if the inspection reveals significant material damage.

Both you and the seller will receive a report on the home inspector’s findings. You can then decide if you want to ask the seller to fix anything on the property before closing the sale. Before the sale closes, you will have a walk-through of the house, which gives you the chance to confirm that any agreed-upon repairs have been made.

Start touring homes in your price range. It might be helpful to take notes on all the homes you visit. You will see a lot of houses! It can be hard to remember everything about them, so you might want to take pictures or video to help you remember each home.

Who You Work With: Matters

Success Is In The Closing

Lenders will arrange for an appraiser to provide an independent estimate of the value of the house you are buying. The appraiser is a member of a third party company and is not directly associated with the lender. The appraisal will let all the parties involved know that you are paying a fair price for the home.

As you can imagine, there is a lot of paperwork involved in buying a house. Your lender will arrange for a title company to handle all of the paperwork and make sure that the seller is the rightful owner of the house you are buying.

At closing, you will sign all of the paperwork required to complete the purchase, including your loan documents. It typically takes a couple of days for your loan to be funded after the paperwork is returned to the lender. Once the check is delivered to the seller, you are ready to move into your new home!

DESTINATIONS

Use this interactive map search tool to find any home for sale throughout Northern California. From Lake county, Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Solano, Yolo and Sacramento. If it’s on the MLS you’ll find it here. Looking for homes not yet on the MLS or “Off Market” homes? Make sure you subscribe to our Insiders list below so you’ll get coming soon and off market listings before they hit the MLS. Need immediate assistance? Call or text us at 415.513.7300

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COMMUNITy

COMMUNITY
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Interactive City Search

Every home has a story, and they are as vast and varied as the world is wide. But they all start with inspiration, and inspiration starts with our surroundings. That’s what home is. Family. Friends. A sense of place. An amazing view. It is all part of what makes a space a home because your home is where you truly live. As a leading real estate group, we understand that your best life begins with a home that inspires you.

Sonoma County

Sonoma County is a dream destination for amazing wine, breathtaking ocean views, spectacular summits, impossibly tall trees and unforgettable epicurean experiences. Just an hour’s drive from San Francisco is Sonoma County.

Discover over 500 wineries and experience the rustic charm of down-to-earth locals, farmers, winemakers, and acclaimed chefs at farm-to-table restaurants. At the end of each day, unwind in your new home or unwind in your backyard oasis. Each community offers something different and yet something for everyone. From cycling through the vineyards, a horseback ride or multiple course wine & food pairings. Make Sonoma County your next destination.

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COMMUNITIES

Marin County

Marin County is an outdoor wonderland, with weather that allows for mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, and sailing all year long. Plus there are more relaxed activities like whale watching, bird watching, garden tours, scenic painting photography and more.  Whatever you hope to do, we can help you find it.

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WHO YOU WORK WITH MATTERS

Negotiation

Every offer is negotiated with your best interest in mind to achieve the highest and best terms and conditions

Comparative Market Analysis (CMA)

We provide comparable market analysis with true comparisons to give you accurate market pricing. Enjoy a detailed walk-through analysis that points out your homes unique features, upgrades and home maintenance needs.

Complete Satisfaction Guaranteed

Our proven formula puts you in the driver’s seat, succeeds where others fail, consistently sets new high prices, and navigates every single detail in your favor It’s how
WE DELIVER RESULTS!

Testimonials

We love our clinet's and we feel like family. Thank you to all for your generous comments and support.

The best realtor I have ever had. Honesty , integrity, kind, and caring. We highly recommend her! Connie spent so much time dealing with pest inspectors, appraisers, loan officers, escrow agents, the title company, and the sellers realtor. She truly is amazing.

Gary Sumner Bought a Single Family home in Penn Valley

listed a top end home in Novato, got the asking price. They got stager in to advise on colors and furniture, stored excess furniture, found cleaners at an hours notice, recommended landscaper. When property sold I suddenly found myself homeless. Connie and Roberta found us a condo and a house in a few days then managed to close on both in less than 21 days. Felt very comfortable dealing with both of them currently using them to find other properties for me. Big bonus they only charge 5%. commission.

Juliet25 Bought and sold a Single Family home in Novato

after using different agents over the years it becomes quite obvious what sets the great ones apart from the rest. She both sold our old home and helped us purchase our new place. She was extremely knowledgable of the market both in getting top dollar for our house sale and in offering an accurate price for our purchase.

Dustin Box Bought and sold a Condo home in Novato

I highly recommend Connie Medeiros. Last month Connie helped my wife and I purchase our first home and we could not be happier. Personally we were a little intimidated at the whole process but she literally walked us through each and every step of the way answering all of our questions. She not only found us the house of our dreams and crafted the perfect offer but then was able to negotiated closing costs and even a price reduction in a very hot market. Connie's experience, knowledge and professionalism are bar none.

Johnny Bought a Single Family home in Petaluma

I have worked with Connie and Distinct Advantage Real Estate on the purchase of a first home and two investment properties over the past 8 years. The knowledge and level of service provided is unparalleled. Not only is Connie my go to Realtor, but I frequently refer her and hear the same compliments.

User1221538 Bought and sold a home in 94947

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