Buying a home
How I help you buy a home, step by step
Buying a home in Clarksville, TN, explained step by step: a real consultation first, pre-approval, a focused search, and an offer you understand.
The short version
Most agents start by showing houses. You pick a few from Zillow, they open the doors, and everyone hopes the right one turns up. I start somewhere else: by making sure you're ready to win the right house, and that you understand every step before you're asked to sign anything.
I'm Keri Gilles, a REALTOR® with Haus Realty & Management, and my buyers hear the same thing from me on day one. I'd rather you ask twice than guess. Nobody should sign the biggest purchase of their life without somebody explaining how it all works first.
Every purchase I handle goes through four steps: Ready, Educated, Aligned and Locked. You get pre-approved and we agree on how we'll work together. You learn what your budget really buys before you fall for something out of reach. We search for the homes that fit your life instead of everything on the market. And once you find the one, we write an offer you understand and carry it all the way to closing.
Whether you're a first-time buyer, a military family on PCS orders, relocating from another state, or shopping for a $700,000-plus home, the steps are the same. How fast we move through them is up to you.
Book My Buyer Consultation
Ready: pre-approved and on the same page before we tour
Before anything else, we sit down for a consultation. I call it Mutual Permission to Reject. The first few minutes are about me: how I work and how I can help you. You can decide to work with me or not, and either answer is okay.
Then I ask you seven questions. They start with "What is important about moving, to you?" and end with "Is this what you really want?" Your answers tell both of us whether you should move now or stay put for a while. From there, I recommend a plan built on your answers, not mine.
At that meeting I also make you three promises and put them in writing: I'll always be on time, I'll always tell you the truth even when it's hard to hear, and I'll always do what I say I'm going to do.
You can see your first home before you're pre-approved. Before we tour more than that, you and I have the pre-approval conversation. A lender looks at your income, your credit, your debts and the money you have for a down payment and closing costs, and tells you what they're willing to lend. That letter matters for two reasons. Sellers take an offer more seriously with one attached, and it keeps you from falling in love with a house you can't buy.
Here's the paperwork, in order. Before your first showing, I'll send you a touring agreement to sign. It covers that first home. After that, we talk about a buyer representation agreement, which covers how we'll work together through the search, and I'll tell you what I tell every buyer: you can cancel working with me at any time, for any reason.
By the end of this step you'll know what you can borrow, what you want to spend each month, and exactly how the two of us will work. Those are different numbers, and the second one is the one that decides how the next few years feel.
How I help you buy a home, step by step
Educated: every step explained before you have to decide anything
The buyers I work with say the same things to me. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to be asking." "FHA, VA, conventional, I couldn't tell you the real difference." "He was throwing out terms like I already knew what they meant." If that sounds like you, you're in the right place.
This step is where I explain it all before it matters. What the different loan types are, and which ones might fit you. What a down payment really needs to be, and what your options are. What closing costs are. What an inspection can and can't tell you. What happens between an accepted offer and the day you get the keys. If you're buying with a VA loan, we'll talk through how it works. I'm a Military Relocation Professional, and a lot of the buyers I work with are on orders.
We'll also look at what your budget buys in the areas you're considering. Not the listing that's well over your number because the kitchen looked great online, but the homes you can actually buy, and what you trade off between them. More house farther out, or less house closer in. Newer, or more land. Sometimes this conversation saves a buyer months of looking in the wrong place.
No question is too basic. I've never had a buyer regret asking one. I have seen buyers regret signing something nobody explained, and making sure that doesn't happen to you is a big part of my job.
By the end of this step, the process won't be a mystery anymore. You'll know what's coming, in what order, and why.
Aligned: fewer homes, better ones
Once you know what you want and what it costs, we search for homes that fit your life, not everything with the right number of bedrooms. That means fewer showings, and better ones.
I cover a lot of ground: Clarksville and its neighborhoods, Middle Tennessee from Nashville to Murfreesboro, Mt. Juliet and Dover, and Christian, Trigg, Todd and Logan counties in Kentucky. Those places feel different from each other, and the right one depends on your commute, your budget and how much space you want. If you're heading to Fort Campbell, the gate you'll use matters. If you'll drive to Nashville, I'll suggest you test that commute at the hours you'll actually travel.
When we tour, I'm looking at more than the photos showed you. How the layout works day to day. What the roof, the heating and cooling system and the windows look like. What's next door and down the street. Whether the house would sell well again someday.
That last one matters more than most buyers expect. I once had clients fall for a $595,000 home on five acres. The land was beautiful, but the house had been started by one owner and changed by the next, and the bedrooms were small and awkward. If they bought it and needed to sell in five years, they'd be stuck exactly where those sellers were. I told them so, and it cost me that sale. I'd do it again.
I'll tell you what you need to hear about a house, not what you want to hear. You make the decision, but you'll make it with everything I see.
Locked: an offer you understand, all the way to closing
When you find the one, we build the offer together. Price is only part of it. Financing, the inspection period, the closing date and what you're asking the seller to cover all shape whether an offer wins and whether it protects you. In 2021 I had buyers up against three other offers. I recommended $20,000 over asking because I was confident the home would appraise there, so they wouldn't have to bring extra cash to cover a gap. The listing agent called the next day. The sellers were going with us.
I'm careful with every word in the contract. Early in my career, I wrote a seller's help with closing costs as "up to $10,000" instead of "$10,000," and my buyers had to bring about $800 to closing that they shouldn't have owed. I've written every contract since as if that mistake is waiting in it.
Once your offer is accepted, here's how it usually works where I sell:
- Earnest money. You put down a deposit to show you're serious. The amount depends on the price of the home, and when I'm your agent, my office holds it.
- Inspections. In Tennessee you usually get 10 days to do your inspections, then a 5-day resolution period to work out repairs with the seller. In Kentucky it's usually 15 days, with inspection and resolution combined. Your contract sets the exact days.
- Financing and appraisal. Your lender orders the appraisal and finishes approving your loan. Each step has a deadline, and I track every one.
- Closing. In Tennessee, a title company handles the closing. In Kentucky, it can be a title company or an attorney's office.
Through all of it, I'll tell you what's coming before it arrives, and when something comes up, you'll get a recommendation from me, not only a problem. Let's get you home. Tell me what you're looking for, and we'll start with a consultation.
This page describes how I generally work with buyers. It isn't legal, tax or lending advice. Your contract and your lender set the specifics.
What my clients say
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be pre-approved before I look at houses?
Not for the first one. You can see your first home before you're pre-approved. Before we tour more than that, we'll have the pre-approval conversation, because sellers take offers more seriously with a letter attached.
What do I sign before you show me a house?
Before your first showing, a touring agreement that covers that home. After that, we'll talk about a buyer representation agreement. You can cancel working with me at any time, for any reason.
How long is the inspection period in Tennessee?
Usually 10 days to do your inspections, then a 5-day resolution period to work out repairs with the seller. In Kentucky it's usually 15 days, combined. Your contract sets the exact days.
Who handles the closing?
In Tennessee, a title company. In Kentucky, it can be a title company or an attorney's office. Either way, I'll walk you through what to expect before you get there.
Do you work with VA buyers and families on PCS orders?
Yes. I'm a Military Relocation Professional, and many of the buyers I work with are moving to the Fort Campbell area on orders. We'll plan the search around your timeline and talk through how a VA loan works before you make an offer.
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Ready to make your move with Keri Gilles, REALTOR®?