Buying
ONGENAGROUP
Buying a home
Four phases. You’ll never wonder what happens next.
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 — the buyer representation agreement explained up front, pre-approval included — before you fall in love with anything.
- Initial consultation
- Buyer representation agreement
- 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 — through counteroffers and multiple-offer situations alike.
- Showings
- Construction assessment
- Comparable analysis
- Offer & negotiation
- Counteroffers
- Multiple-offer strategy
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 an open door after you buy — refinancing questions, improvement projects, and every move after — because the relationship is supposed to outlast the transaction.
- Final walk-through
- Closing
- After you buy
Private home search
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.