Michael Fielden
← All resources

The buyer's playbook

Your Path Home

A confident, plain-English guide to buying a home in the Bay Area, from first conversation to keys in hand. Fifteen steps, five phases, one page each.

For buyers pdf · 24 pages Download PDF

The buyer’s playbook I hand to every first-time client. It is the whole transaction in one document: every form you’ll sign, every report you’ll read, every deadline you need to hit, and the questions to ask yourself at each step.

What’s inside

  • The 15-step roadmap, from your first sit-down to the morning you get your keys.
  • A plain-English BRBC walkthrough so the buyer-rep agreement is no surprise.
  • What to look at on a tour versus what’s safe to ignore.
  • The core California disclosure forms (TDS, SPQ, NHD, AVID) translated.
  • Contingencies, EMD, and wire-fraud safety — the parts that protect you.
  • The three rules I hold every transaction to.

Who it’s for

If you have never bought a home in California, start here. If you have bought a home before but it has been more than five years, the rules have changed and this will catch you up.

How to use it

Read it once cover-to-cover. Don’t fill in the questions yet — just get the shape of the process in your head. Then we sit down for forty-five minutes and walk through what matters for you.

Or read it here

Flip through the playbook without leaving the page.

Click below to load an inline flipbook. Use the fullscreen button for a much bigger view. Arrow keys, side controls, or clicking the edge of a page all turn it.