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Here at California Star Properties, Inc. we believe very strongly that every
buyer is entitled to an agent that works for you, the buyer. This means
that the agent must at all times protect your interests, help you spend your
housing money wisely, and get the best house for the best price. We know we
will get paid a commission on any house we help you buy, but if we help you
find the right house, you will come back every time you have a real estate
need.
- We start every home buying process by applying for the home loan and obtaining
for you a formal approval with the loan amount, terms, conditions.
- We then identify with you what your housing needs are and we ask you about
the size, room count, bedrooms, bathrooms, lot size, one vs. two stories,
two, three, four car garages, single family style, condo or PUD (Planned Unit
Development) and more.
- We provide to you a hardcopy of the first search and go over reading the
map to assist you in locating each property and matching the information on
the listings.
- We prepare you to track the properties that you see and to make notes about
each and we train you how to make it simple. We want you to be an informed
buyer and as such we show you how to consider properties.
- Is the neighborhood acceptable to you? Remember that if cars are parked
on the front lawn today that they will be there when you move in. If there
is graffiti in the streets it will not disappear just because you are moving
in.
- Is the street scene appealing to you?
- Ok, you are in front of the house...is the architecture appealing to you?
- If these are all in sync then park the car and turn off the engine. Stand
outside the home at the curb. The noise that you will hear on the curb in
the front yard will be the same noise that you will hear when barbecuing
in the backyard.
 Now,
if each of these areas rate 7+ on a scale of 1 to 10 then we should see the
inside of this property.
I provide each buyer information on all properties that meet their needs via
e-mail. These come with pictures and mapped directions. You can place your own
home information into the first property search as the starting point. Then
enter the first property you would like to see in the following search area,
and so forth. This will give you maps and directions that can take you on a
complete tour. You can see properties before work, during lunch hour, and after
work at your convenience.
The homes that I want to see are the ones that meet your needs. I will set
appointments to get into each and every property that you wish to look at. Then
I will council you on what I see as a professional who has been looking at properties
for over 36 years. Upon your approval I will write the offer to purchase the
home and go over all of the terms and conditions with you. After you agree with
the terms written I will present the offer to the Seller.
A Real Estate sale is not about winning. It is about structuring the transaction
in the beginning so that it works at the end. Remember that the buyer wants
to buy the home. The Seller wants to sell the home and the goal of the Agent(s)
is not about how to win... the opposite is true. In most cases when a transaction
goes together well is because the Agent(s) personality and ego were left out
of the transaction.
Consider the following: a home is offered for $500,000 and the Buyer wants
to offer $450,000. It is not the buyer's agent's job to say,..."I don't
know about this offer. It appears to be very low." The better way to write
an offer is to council the buyer as to what other people have paid for homes
similar to the one being bought and let the buyer make the best offer that they
can based upon that council.
Now, the Seller may receive an offer and it is up to the Seller to be informed
(perhaps by the agent for the Buyer) as to why an offer is being made at that
price. Remember that the Seller can accept an offer, counter an offer, or reject
an offer... or simply let an offer expire. I laughingly say that I have been
asked by Sellers to leave some of the most prestigious of homes when representing
a Buyer. The next day I have returned to the same home and presented a new offer
from the same Buyer and have had Sellers do everything listed above. But, most
important is the fact that a Buyer has the right to make any offer that they
want. Today's Realtor® must be a facilitator and transaction manager. They
do not dictate to the client what to do...but they do provide "good faith
council." The Buyer needs choices and information that they can rely upon.
The Buyers and Sellers want to buy and sell.
Funny, in five years will you really care if you paid $485,000 and were selected
to buy the home by the Seller when the new value is $700,000?
No, I didn't think so. But, if you offered $400,000 and the Seller didn't sell
to you and five years from now you are sitting in your car and as you drive
by you say I could have bought that home for $485,000 (only offered $400,000
and now it's worth $700,000! At that point I think that you will care. More
important is the fact that you are not living in the location that you really
wanted to own.
Being an agent means that "we are employed by you." That should mean
that we make the offer at the terms (with current data) that you ask us to place
in writing to the Seller. We prepare you with the loan so that you are an all
cash transaction to the Seller and yes, every so often the Sellers do accept
the so-called ridiculous offers that they are presented with. Hence, make your
best, most informed offer.
ADVANTAGES OF HOME OWNERSHIP
If you are planning to buy a home, you probably have good reasons in mind,
ranging from the purely personal to the very practical.
A Place of Your Own
Your home is your castle, as the old saying goes. A home is a place you
can call your own. Perhaps you are ready to settle down in your community and
want the feeling of permanence and involvement that comes with owning your own
home. Perhaps you need more space in which to raise a family. Or, maybe you
want more freedom than you have in a rental unit to adapt your living space
to suit your individual taste and needs.
Financial Incentives
For many people, the motivation for home ownership is primarily financial.
Owning your own home is a first-rate investment for a number of reasons:
Scheduled Savings
When you buy a house, your monthly mortgage payments serve as a type of
scheduled savings plan. Over time you gradually accumulate what lenders call
"equity," an ownership interest in the property that you can often borrow
against or convert into cash by selling the house. In contrast, renters must
continue paying rent to a landlord for as long as they rent, without the opportunity
to build equity.
Stable Housing Costs
Another advantage of home ownership is that while rents typically increase
year after year, the principle and interest portion of most mortgage payments
remains unchanged throughout the entire repayment period (typically 30 years).
In fact, because of the effect of inflation, over the years you pay the same
amount but with ever "cheaper" dollars.
Increases Value
Houses typically increase in value, or "appreciate," over time. It's not
unusual to find a house that sold in 1972 for $27,000 that today is worth
$539,000 (30 years later). We can't insure that this same rate of growth will
continue, however, for thirty years people keep saying that, "it can't
continue." The facts are that for the past three decades that we always
have a couple of years that property goes down in value, three to four years
of minor appreciation and a couple of years are "banners years."
We typically see 10.5% appreciation per year.
Tax Benefits
Homeowners also get significant tax breaks that are not available to renters.
Most importantly, interest paid on a home mortgage is usually tax deductible.
This factor alone can save you a substantial amount each year in federal income
taxes.
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