A checklist works best when it is in your hand. These are ours, one for each part of the job, ready to download and print. They follow the same order the steps come in, and each one leaves room for your own notes.
Printable Checklists
Your Otay Mesa Home Checklist Library
A small library of Otay Mesa checklists, each a printable PDF: buying, selling and moving, with local reminders.
Download the checklists
Each checklist is a one- or two-page PDF that prints cleanly. The same lists appear below, so you can read them here first.
- Otay Mesa Home Buyer Checklist (PDF) — From pre-approval to your first month: what to do, in order.
- Otay Mesa Home Seller Checklist (PDF) — From the first market report to the last box: what to do, in order.
- Moving to Otay Mesa: A Checklist (PDF) — Practical steps for a move, from three to six months out to your first 30 days.
Otay Mesa Home Buyer Checklist
From pre-approval to your first month: what to do, in order. Download the PDF.
Before you shop
- Get a pre-approval letter from a lender.
- Set a monthly budget that includes property tax, homeowners insurance and any association dues.
- Write a must-have list and a nice-to-have list.
- Look up typical values and recent price changes in the areas you like.
Touring homes
- See each home on a weekday and on a weekend if you can.
- Check the age and condition of the roof, water heater, furnace and windows.
- Ask about HOA dues, special taxes and any planned assessments.
- Look for signs of water damage, cracks or uneven floors and ask about them.
- Ask what is included in the sale.
- Ask whether the address is near an airport or industrial overlay, and check the property’s zoning.
- Ask whether the home is in a Mello-Roos district or has another special tax.
Making an offer
- Review recent sales of similar nearby homes with your agent before you choose a price.
- Decide the deposit, the contingency periods and the closing date.
- Attach your pre-approval letter and proof of funds to the offer.
Under contract
- Get the deposit to escrow by the date in the contract.
- Book the home inspection and the pest inspection right away.
- Go through the disclosures and the title report with your agent.
- Get homeowners insurance quotes before your contingencies end.
- Answer lender requests fast, and do not open new credit or make big purchases.
Closing and after
- Do the final walk-through and confirm agreed repairs.
- Sign at escrow, including the ownership report for the county assessor.
- On day one, re-key the locks, arrange utilities and check smoke alarms.
- File for the homeowners’ exemption, and set money aside for the supplemental property tax bill.
Otay Mesa Home Seller Checklist
From the first market report to the last box: what to do, in order. Download the PDF.
Before you list
- Get a market report for your street and discuss pricing options.
- Plan your timeline, including your next home.
- Collect permits, association papers, warranties and receipts.
- Make a repair list and decide which fixes will matter to buyers.
- Declutter, clean and schedule professional photos.
Listing and showings
- Complete the seller disclosures carefully and completely.
- Plan showing times and put away valuables and medications.
- Compare offers on more than price: contingencies, closing date and a rent-back if you need one.
- Have the special-tax and overlay details ready for buyers.
Under contract
- Open escrow and deliver disclosures on time.
- Expect an inspection and decide how you will respond to repair requests.
- If the appraisal falls short of the price, talk through options with your agent.
- Confirm your estimated net proceeds with the escrow officer.
Closing and moving
- Schedule the move, close out utilities and file a change of address.
- Clean, and leave keys, garage remotes and appliance manuals.
- Save the closing statement, and ask a tax advisor about the sale.
- Ask about Proposition 19 before you sell if you are 55 or older, severely disabled or a disaster victim.
Moving to Otay Mesa: A Checklist
Practical steps for a move, from three to six months out to your first 30 days. Download the PDF.
Three to six months out
- Sit down with a lender early; a pre-approval shows what you can comfortably afford.
- Add up the whole monthly cost, not only the loan payment: tax, insurance, HOA dues and special taxes.
- Coming from another state: Have a tax professional compare your take-home pay under California’s rules with your current state’s.
- Coming from another country: If your funds or income are abroad, ask a lender which documents they need and how long each takes.
- If you are selling; Coming from elsewhere in California: If you own a home now, decide whether your purchase depends on its sale, and estimate the proceeds.
- If you are selling; Coming from elsewhere in California: Homeowners 55 and older, and some others, should ask the assessor about carrying their tax base to a new California home (Proposition 19) before selling.
- If you are renting: Choose a rent you can sustain and set a date to reconsider buying, using the rent-versus-buy tool.
- Spend time in the area on a weekday morning, a weekend and an evening, and drive the commute at rush hour.
- Coming from another state: Ask how the home is heated and cooled; some older coastal homes have no air conditioning.
One to three months out
- Estimate closing costs and the cash you will need at escrow with the closing cost tool.
- Get moving quotes, or use the moving cost planner, and ask about insurance for the move.
- If you are selling: Order the home’s permit history and gather HOA documents before you list.
- If you are selling: Get a personal market report and a plan for preparing the home.
- Learn the neighborhood: groceries, parks, pharmacies and the routes you will actually use.
Once you are under contract
- Read the seller’s disclosure package closely, including the Transfer Disclosure Statement and the hazard report, and list your questions for your agent.
- If there is an HOA, read its rules, budget and reserve study early.
- Collect an insurance quote for the address before you remove your contingencies.
- Expect a stack of signatures at escrow, including a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report for the county assessor.
- Order a home inspection and a termite (wood-destroying pest) report soon after the contract is signed; both are customary here.
- Ask about smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms and water-heater bracing, which California requires to be in place at a sale.
Move week
- File your change of address and update it with banks, employers and insurers before move day.
- Walk through the home before you sign to confirm repairs, appliances and overall condition.
- Measure doors, stairs and rooms for big furniture, and ask your HOA or building about moving-truck rules.
- Pack an essentials box you open first: chargers, medications, documents, sheets and basic tools.
Your first 30 days
- Watch for the supplemental tax bill California sends after a purchase; it is separate from the regular bill.
- Coming from another state: Put a DMV visit on your calendar; new California residents are generally expected to license drivers and register vehicles quickly.
- Update your voter registration to your new address.
- Coming from another country: Set up U.S. banking, keep copies of your documents and learn how credit history works here.
- If you are renting: Read the lease carefully for the notice, deposit and renewal provisions.
- Change or re-key the locks, test the alarms and find the water shut-off and the electrical panel.
- Arrange utilities and internet before move day and ask for a year of past bills.
- Find local health care providers and a vet and move your records over.
- Coming from elsewhere in California: Look up the pet license, trash, organics recycling and street-sweeping rules for your new address.
How to use them
- Print, or keep on your phone. The checkboxes work on paper; on a phone, the PDF opens in your reader.
- Skip what does not apply. Not every item fits every home or every move.
- Ask for the personal version. Rudy can add the dates, the addresses and the local details for your own plan.
Common questions
Are the checklists free?
Yes. Print as many copies as you like.
Are they legal or tax advice?
No. They are general orientation from a real estate agent. Your lender, an attorney and a tax professional advise on those questions.
How current are they?
They are redrawn when the wording changes, and each PDF shows the month it was prepared.
Keep exploring
- The guide — The whole process, step by step.
- Closing cost estimator — Estimate the cash to close.
- Moving cost planner — Estimate the cost of the move.
- Otay Mesa Real Estate Terms Explained — The terms in plain English.
Talk to a lender. Rates, loan programs and approvals come from lenders, not from websites or real estate agents. Talk to your own mortgage broker, or use our preferred lender, Point Mortgage Corporation (NMLS #231073), at (619) 475-4095. You are always free to choose any lender you like, and you can verify any lender’s license at nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
General information for orientation, not legal, tax, financial or appraisal advice. Details change; confirm anything that matters with the official source, your lender and your agent.