BOYENGA TEAM | COMPASS

Silicon Valley Buyer & Seller Resource Library

Start with the decision in front of you, then choose the guide that helps you ask the next useful question. Eric and Janelle Boyenga and the Boyenga Team at Compass bring a Property Nerds approach to buying and selling: connect the home, the records and the practical next steps. This library brings our core guidance together so you can move from an early plan to a more focused conversation without searching through unrelated articles.

These resources provide educational planning frameworks. They do not evaluate a particular property, replace an inspection or interpret your transaction documents. Keep the date and source of information visible, and obtain qualified technical, legal, lending, insurance or tax advice where the question calls for it.

Start a buying plan

If you are deciding where to begin, read the buyer overview for a practical starting conversation about your priorities and search. The buyer representation guide explains the questions to discuss about services, communication and organizing a purchase. Use these together to distinguish essential requirements from flexible preferences before a compelling listing makes the decisions feel urgent.

Arriving from another region? The relocation guide helps organize location research, research visits, remote questions and the household move. Start with your actual routine and unresolved choices rather than treating a city name as the answer. Share the brief with the team so property research connects with the way you want to live.

Compare the homes behind the listings

The home tour scorecard gives you a consistent record of layout, setting, condition questions and personal fit across a shortlist. Keep observations separate from conclusions that need professional review. Then use the homeownership-cost checklist to bring recurring expenses, transition costs and prospective projects into the same planning conversation. A list price alone does not capture your whole decision.

When a home deserves closer investigation, the inspection planning guide helps organize scope questions, report limitations and specialist follow-up. Buyers considering a midcentury home can also consult the Eichler inspection questions. Use the general process and the property-specific questions together; an architectural label is a reason to investigate, not a condition finding.

Organize property records and association questions

The permit-records checklist helps buyers and sellers organize questions about improvements and supporting documentation. Keep the source, date and scope of each record alongside what it says. A marketing description, a floor plan and an approval record serve different purposes, so bring discrepancies to the appropriate professionals rather than treating one document as an answer to everything.

For a condominium or townhome, use our HOA document checklist to include association materials and the questions they raise in your research plan. Ask the team which records are available, what remains outstanding and which matters need a qualified adviser. Keep personal preferences about shared amenities separate from unresolved questions about responsibilities or costs.

Build a selling plan around your goals

Begin with the seller overview, then use the selling strategy guide to connect pricing, preparation, presentation and your next move. Write down your priorities and the commitments that depend on the sale. The guide helps frame the questions to revisit after launch rather than assume a plan can remain fixed regardless of new information.

The home preparation guide provides a way to organize project decisions, compare vendor scopes and assemble a launch-readiness file. Before materials are finalized, use the listing marketing review checklist to review factual sources, room labels, imagery and the published presentation with your team. These steps help keep the property’s story connected to the evidence behind it.

Coordinating a sale with another purchase? Our buying and selling at the same time guide helps organize the sequence, questions and fallback plans around your circumstances.

Use pricing evidence and market reports carefully

The comparable-sales guide explains the questions to ask about selection, similarities, differences and the point in time an analysis reflects. The market-report reading guide provides a separate framework for understanding definitions and comparing reports before drawing a conclusion. Use broad context and property-level research together rather than turn a headline into an automatic price instruction.

Prepare for the handoff

The final walk-through and possession guide helps organize agreed items, open questions and the practical transition. Bring your actual transaction documents into that conversation. A personal checklist is a communication aid; the team and your qualified advisers can explain how unresolved questions relate to the next contractual steps.

Choose your next conversation

You do not need to read every guide before asking for help. Choose the one closest to your decision, record what remains unclear and bring those questions to Eric, Janelle and the Boyenga Team at Compass. Tell us about your property or home search, your timing and the issue you want to resolve. We can help organize the next research steps around your circumstances.