Leo laughed. "I looked it up. It’s a marathon, not a sprint. We’re probably looking at if everything goes right." Phase 1: The Prep Work (Weeks 1–4)
They spent the first few weeks in a whirlwind of paperwork. They met with a mortgage broker to get , a step their broker insisted was non-negotiable. "You can't go shopping without a wallet," he’d told them. Between gathering tax returns and finding a real estate agent they actually clicked with, the first month vanished before they even saw a single kitchen island. Phase 2: The Hunt (Weeks 5–12) how long does buying a house take
Their loan officer asked for what felt like every bank statement they’d ever generated since birth. The Finish Line: Closing Day Leo laughed
Then came the Saturdays. Dozens of them. They saw "charming" bungalows that were actually falling apart and "modern" condos that felt like sterile boxes. This, their agent explained, was the most unpredictable part. Some people find 'The One' in a weekend; for Maya and Leo, it took and fifteen viewings before they walked into a blue craftsman with a sagging porch and both whispered, "This is it." Phase 3: The Offer and Negotiation (Days 1–7) We’re probably looking at if everything goes right
Exactly after that first conversation on the balcony, Maya and Leo stood in a quiet office, signing a mountain of documents. It took about an hour. When the lawyer handed them a heavy set of brass keys, the months of stress felt like a distant memory.
One week of biting their nails until the report confirmed the "sagging" porch was just cosmetic.