Buying
ONGENAGROUP
Buying a home
Four phases. You’ll never wonder what happens next.
Phase 1Consultation & planning
Goals, timeline, execution
We establish what you’re actually trying to accomplish, set the timeline it has to fit, and agree how the search will actually be run — pre-approval included — before you fall in love with anything.
- Initial consultation
- Timeline
- Mortgage pre-approval
- Custom MLS search
Phase 2Home search
Touring, evaluating, offering
Every property gets read two ways — as a market comparison and as a building. Then we prepare the offer and negotiate the terms, not just the price.
- Showings
- Construction assessment
- Comparable analysis
- Offer & negotiation
Phase 3Under contract
Inspection, attorney review, appraisal
The inspection is where construction experience earns its keep: what’s urgent, what’s cosmetic, what it costs, and what’s worth negotiating versus letting go.
- Home inspection
- Inspection negotiation
- Attorney review
- Appraisal
Phase 4Closing
Walk-through, closing, and after
Final walk-through, closing day, and follow-up afterward — because the relationship is supposed to outlast the transaction.
- Final walk-through
- Closing
- Post-closing follow-up
Goals, timeline, execution
We establish what you’re actually trying to accomplish, set the timeline it has to fit, and agree how the search will actually be run — pre-approval included — before you fall in love with anything.
- Initial consultation
- Timeline
- Mortgage pre-approval
- Custom MLS search
Touring, evaluating, offering
Every property gets read two ways — as a market comparison and as a building. Then we prepare the offer and negotiate the terms, not just the price.
- Showings
- Construction assessment
- Comparable analysis
- Offer & negotiation
Inspection, attorney review, appraisal
The inspection is where construction experience earns its keep: what’s urgent, what’s cosmetic, what it costs, and what’s worth negotiating versus letting go.
- Home inspection
- Inspection negotiation
- Attorney review
- Appraisal
Walk-through, closing, and after
Final walk-through, closing day, and follow-up afterward — because the relationship is supposed to outlast the transaction.
- Final walk-through
- Closing
- Post-closing follow-up
See the listings before they reach the portals.
Zenlist gives you the same MLS view I have — active listings, coming soon, and private network inventory, updated as it changes rather than on a portal’s delay. Request access and we can save searches and compare homes in the same place.
zenlist.com/a/james.ongena
How long you’ll own it changes what you should buy.
A home has to be held long enough to absorb the cost of buying and selling it. These are the horizons we plan around — before the search, not after the offer.
| Property type | Break even | Comfortable profit | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resale home | 3+ years | 5+ years | Five years clears most market cycles, so you’re not forced to sell into a soft one. |
| New construction | Difficult under 3 years | 7+ years | New construction carries roughly an 8–15% premium above market value for being new. Sell inside three years and that premium is very hard to recover. |
If your timeline is shorter than the home requires, that’s a conversation we have before you write an offer — not a discovery you make at closing.