Latest / Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life / Top 20 home buyer questions for 2025 Santa Clarita and greater Los Angeles Homes, townhomes and condos

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Top 20 home buyer questions for 2025 Santa Clarita and greater Los Angeles Homes, townhomes and condos · Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life

0:00
SPEAKER_00: I often cover questions from real estate buyers.
0:03
SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to talk about quite a few.
0:05
SPEAKER_00: These should be evergreen.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: So whenever you're watching these videos, you should be able to get specific tips and tricks on how to navigate any real estate market as a home buyer, whether it's a first-time homebuyer or a veteran home buyer, somebody has something to sell, somebody that's buying for the first time, somebody that's been renting for a long time, thinking about jumping into the market.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: This should serve your purposes greatly.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: Now, one of the questions that people have is what's the current state of the housing market in Santa Clarita or wherever you're looking?
0:36
SPEAKER_00: You can rely on some of the syndication websites.
0:40
SPEAKER_00: I use the word rely lightly because the syndication sites are built around actually profiting from you giving up your personal information.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: Then they take that information, they sell it to real estate agents that are paying for it.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: And some agents pay a hefty sum every month to be able to get your information's leads.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: One of the things that I would definitely tell you is watch out for that.
1:02
SPEAKER_00: Try to find local resources.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: In Santa Clarita, I've always found that my system seems to be most updated, Santa ClaritaOpenhouses.com.
1:12
SPEAKER_00: Now, as far as the market goes, you want to find out if in fact it's a buyer's weighted market or a seller's market.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: A seller's market is going to be indicated by the fast moving of real estate, real estate going higher than actual listing prices.
1:25
SPEAKER_00: On the other end of it, the real estate buyers are going to hold the advantages.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: They're going to properties are going to be sitting on the market longer.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: Those listing prices, those offerings are going to be less than those amounts.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: You'll be able to see that in the sold inventory.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: I have that posted on the website as well, Santa ClaritaOpenhouses.com.
1:42
SPEAKER_00: Either case, the condition of the market is very dependent on your next step.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: Now, if the market is starting to increase, and it has been over time, the thing that you want to look at is resources and agents out there that are sharing their expertise as far as where they believe the market's going to be going.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: If everything's locked nice and solid, interest rates seem to not be moving much, and it seems like inventory is flowing at a nice even pace, then of course anybody's guess as to what's going to happen in the future, because we really don't know what tomorrow's going to get us.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: But those are specific types of real estate markets, kind of to understand.
2:21
SPEAKER_00: And as far as current goes, that's definitely going to be very time sensitive.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: So make sure you look at the right resources when you're developing your strategy to approach purchasing real estate.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: What are the different home prices in different neighborhoods and average home prices?
2:38
SPEAKER_00: Again, very dependent on the time of year in market.
2:41
SPEAKER_00: Typically, traditionally, in a very normal market, those housing prices seem to be a little bit higher priced per square foot in the spring and early summer.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: But it depends on the trend of the market.
2:53
SPEAKER_00: Is the market increasing?
2:55
SPEAKER_00: Do we have lacking inventory?
2:57
SPEAKER_00: If inventory is less than the buyer demand, then we're going to have higher prices and homes are going to be selling at a premium.
3:05
SPEAKER_00: If it's the reverse of that, if we have less higher inventory and a low buyer demand, then usually that's going to indicate more of a buyer's market.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: But you're going to want to check those neighborhoods because neighborhood pricing is usually dependent on location.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: You've heard this before, location, location, location thing does definitely apply.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: Well, that does apply to real estate.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: So if you are closer to major city centers without it being in a bad area, if you're closer to freeway access, if you happen to be in a community that does a lot of commuting, that's also important.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: And of course, locations to restaurants, uh hubs, entertainment centers, paseos as well in Valencia here in Santa Clarita Valley.
3:49
SPEAKER_00: Those also have properties that carry a premium.
3:53
SPEAKER_00: If you're talking about agricultural or horse property, property that's long and expansive, again, the things that those properties have as part of their attributes, that's going to add to their value.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: So if they happen to have access to water, if they happen to have a well, if they happen to have larger septic systems, if they happen to have solar panels, those sorts of things, they're going to add, and of course, if they have hot walkers for horses, barns, outside facilities, those also add to their value.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: As far as getting pre-approved for a mortgage, that's usually not too difficult.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: There's several different options for that.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: You can talk to a local real estate lender or broker that usually they are usually the most nimble and they will potentially be able to get you the best deal.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean to stop there, however.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: If you have a bank, you can go talk to those mortgage people at the banks.
4:45
SPEAKER_00: I know whenever you walk in the front door of the banks that I go into, they have mortgage information everywhere about how fantastically low their interest rate and how great their service happens to be.
4:56
SPEAKER_00: Watch out for that.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: At the end of the day, you're going to see it plain on paper.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: At least you should ask for it plain on paper when it comes to what you're going to be paying for interest and what you're going to be paying for the costs associated with you purchasing a house and needing a loan to do so.
5:14
SPEAKER_00: There are many different types of loans.
5:16
SPEAKER_00: My dad was famously in love with a 30-year fix.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: He loved it because he knew that for 30 years nothing would change until he paid off the residence.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: Not that they ever did, not that people really do anymore, but it is something to look for versus an adjustable rate mortgage.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: I carry a little bit of a pain point, but some people use them very aggressively and effectively to navigate purchasing of real estate.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: You need to have all those, all the loans explained to you before you buy into any one.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, consult with people that are close to you.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: If your agent is worth their salt, and I'm talking about an agent that does not also do loans, because you will run into those two.
5:59
SPEAKER_00: I've always had an issue.
6:00
SPEAKER_00: I think it's best if the agents stick to what they do better and the lenders stick to what they do best.
6:07
SPEAKER_00: Food for thought.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: Best schools in the area, lots of online resources for that.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: If you're looking for the best schools, great scone of the organizations out there.
6:16
SPEAKER_00: In addition, on different websites, even Santa Clarita Openhouses.com, you'll see some housing reports and reference to the local schools, and that'll give you an idea what district the house happens to be located, Condor, Town Home, and then what that subsequent school score happens to be.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: And again, lots of the schools in Santa Clarita are blue ribbon, and people do actually move into neighborhoods to score a high-level, high ranking.
6:44
SPEAKER_00: So kids having transplanted themselves from Los Angeles, because in Los Angeles, of course, you have schools that aren't as highly rated.
6:53
SPEAKER_00: Even the private schools seem to be very expensive in Los Angeles compared to public schools in Santa Clarita without any additional offerings.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: So you want to make sure you look into the local schools.
7:05
SPEAKER_00: The websites will give you that information.
7:07
SPEAKER_00: When you're searching online for schools and in neighborhoods and those sorts of things, understand that better schools, better neighborhoods carry a higher price because those sellers happen to know where those schools are located and how high rank they are, and they know that buyers will pay a premium.
7:24
SPEAKER_00: Just see what schools are out there.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: Also, before you jump all in moving into a house or wanting to buy something, thinking that, oh my gosh, it's just across the street from the school, there's no doubt they're going to take my child.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: You want to make a phone call?
7:38
SPEAKER_00: Follow that phone call up with an email to the school officials just to make sure that they're still accepting students and you're not going to be placed in a school that's several blocks away, which we do see happen from time to time.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: Make sure that school is definitely the one.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: Another question that I get often are there any upcoming developments or infrastructure projects?
7:58
SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: Stuff in Santa Clarita is always being built.
8:01
SPEAKER_00: They're making new shopping centers, new housing tracks.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: New housing is very much active out here.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: I do represent my clients at new housing as well, but the only caveat is make sure you have me with you, take you on a tour before you go on it alone.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: And I only say this because that's the rule that the new housing tracks have developed in order to pay us a fee or our commission so the buyer doesn't have to pay it.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: And of course, it's of no fault or of no cost to the buyer, I should say.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: New housing will actually pay us a fee to bring you and represent you throughout the new housing purchase process.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: But we need to be with you.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: There are lots of new developments out here.
8:42
SPEAKER_00: They're building new housing.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: Some of them carry a massive homeowners association, some of them carry mellow ruse tax, some of them actually have to put radon shielding over the ground because there used to be oil wells out here in certain places.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: These are things to look out for.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: You'll see them on the disclosures when you're purchasing, but it is nice to have that fourth set of eyes, second set of eyes on sure that you know exactly what you're buying.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: Not that the new housing agent isn't going to cover it, typically they do, but you're just so excited at the time.
9:13
SPEAKER_00: It's nice to have somebody to say, hey, let's let's look at this real quick and talk about the implications of even possible resale, not just living in that property, but possibly what it's going to mean to you when you want to resell it and how that particular disclosure is going to fit with you wanting to do that.
9:31
SPEAKER_00: As far as infrastructure and future developments out here in Santa Clara, those are easily found.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: I do write about them often at Santa ClaritaOpenhouses.com.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: All right, so now we're going to talk about crime rates in various neighborhoods.
9:46
SPEAKER_00: There's a whole lot of apps out there, but what I always tell people, I was LAPD for a long time, what I always tell people about crime is call the local the local law enforcement.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: Find out who that happens to be.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: In Santa Clarita, it happens to be the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
10:01
SPEAKER_00: Give them a call and say, hey, listen, I'm moving into this area.
10:05
SPEAKER_00: I like this particular neighborhood.
10:06
SPEAKER_00: Do you have a particular deputy or some kind of a control officer or control deputy, a detective maybe that is in control of this area or maybe like a senior lead type cop?
10:18
SPEAKER_00: And we had those in the police department, they're called senior lead officers, and they basically have a particular geographical area which they base they take care of.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: So any crime that happens, issues that happen in there, they do coordinate the help and bring in additional law enforcement resources to try to help those areas.
10:36
SPEAKER_00: But having said that, they know a lot about those areas, and that's who you probably want to talk to.
10:43
SPEAKER_00: Now you can pull up the apps, you can pull up Megan's Law to see if there's any sexual predators in the area and so on.
10:49
SPEAKER_00: And that's very, very helpful.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: That should be part of your process when you're in real estate, but also reaching out to the local law enforcement, and especially when you find the one, that house that we find you that you really want to buy, that's really the time to do this.
11:04
SPEAKER_00: Call them up, give them the address, and say, Do you have any problems?
11:08
SPEAKER_00: It reminds me of a story in Burbank where I used to live back in the day.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: There was a crazy guy named David.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: David loved to wear big welding gloves and walk to 7-Eleven and bring back a double super big gulp with his welding gloves.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: And he would stand at the corner and just start screaming like a crazy person.
11:29
SPEAKER_00: Well, David was a little bit off, so that's what it was.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: If I would have called the Burbank Police Department, I'm sure they would have told me about all the incidents about David, and I wouldn't have had to realize it myself.
11:41
SPEAKER_00: Not that that was going to stop me from buying the house because he seemed harmless enough.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: Mostly harmless, but it would have been nice to at least know.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: All right, how do property taxes work in California?
11:54
SPEAKER_00: When you're purchasing real estate in California, most times you're paying in Los Angeles County somewhere around 1.25% of the appraised or assessed value.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's say assessed value.
12:06
SPEAKER_00: When I get those confused, not confused.
12:09
SPEAKER_00: There's a little overlap there because when you're purchasing a property, usually that new recorded price, that's the assessed value now.
12:17
SPEAKER_00: If you bought it from somebody that bought 30 years ago, their assessed value, if they never had a reassessment, could actually be at the original price they paid for, and that might have been 100 or 200 grand.
12:28
SPEAKER_00: Now all of a sudden you're paying 1.2 million, so your assessed value is much beyond what they were paying for property taxes.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: But that's how that's structured.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: You pay it twice a year.
12:39
SPEAKER_00: If you're going to be purchasing real estate, it could be that your real estate, those property taxes are impounded.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: That means that the property taxes basically are part of your payment every month.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: There's an escrow account that your mortgage holder has, and they'll be divvying out those money for taxes twice a year or maybe squeaking it out a little bit every month.
12:59
SPEAKER_00: Depends on how that escrow account happens to be organized or put together.
13:03
SPEAKER_00: Having said that, a lot of people like that because it's something else they don't have to think about.
13:08
SPEAKER_00: But other people like to have more control over their money when it comes to property taxes, so they would rather not have it impounded, they would rather have the responsibility and ability to hold on to that money and then pay it themselves twice a year.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: All I would say is this see what fits best with your financial profile.
13:27
SPEAKER_00: If you're somebody that's more of a spender, not a saver, you might think about maybe having it impounded, but you might not have that choice.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: So depending on the type of loan you're going to get, could actually mandate that those property tax payments are impounded into your account, meaning every month part of your payment is the property taxes divided into 12, of course.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: So you have a little bit of that.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: Now, talking about property taxes, there are in Santa Carita Valley something known as mellow ruse.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: Mellow and ruse.
13:57
SPEAKER_00: These are two senators, if memory serves, that were responsible for thinking that the people purchasing real estate might be able to pay those certain infrastructure costs instead of the home builders when home builders were building in an area.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: Now, what you'll find is some new home builders don't have any mellow ruse fees because the builders pay them up front to be able to build on that land.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: Kind of cool.
14:22
SPEAKER_00: Other builders, not so much.
14:25
SPEAKER_00: So then that comes to you in the form of additional taxes.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: How much?
14:29
SPEAKER_00: Some of the areas in Santa Clarita carry pretty hefty, almost paying double property taxes.
14:35
SPEAKER_00: You add that and homeowners association dues, you're up there in payment.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: That's good to know going in, so you know which areas to look at if you don't want to get involved in those sorts of things.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: Now, Melaruz and Special Assessments back in the early 90s kind of knew, and uh that's when they kind of broke ground on it out here in Santa Cruz Valley, Stevenson Ranch for carry that when people were first buying.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: And at the very beginning, people kind of freaked out a little bit about it.
15:04
SPEAKER_00: Over time, though people kind of got used to it.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: Now it's kind of just part of the process.
15:09
SPEAKER_00: Another 10 or 20 years, it's probably going to be very usual in the real estate buying process to have Melarus and assessments.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: They do go a while, so it's going to depend on how long they're going to be needing to be paid in order to pay off these infrastructure costs.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: I will tell you that sometimes those end dates aren't really ending dates.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes some of those entities that are taking the money, whoever they are, having to do with schools, maybe street lighting, these sorts of things, infrastructure costs, emergency services, and those sorts of items.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, maybe if they still need it, they just say we need it, and then Melaruse continues.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: You want to find out.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: There hasn't been a great system to be able to do that research on Melaruz.
15:58
SPEAKER_00: I do have systems in place where I reach out to my title officers and ask them how the Melaruz looks, what that cost is, I can get you that.
16:06
SPEAKER_00: But as far as they're going to go and when they're going to end and what's going to be required at the end in order to have them continue, that's a little bit more tricky.
16:15
SPEAKER_00: But I do do do I do my best in order to get that from my kind of nice knowing.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: And where this really applies is if you're going to be purchasing a property that has Melaruz that might be over next year, then that's what they're trying to tell you and sell you on.
16:29
SPEAKER_00: It would be nice to know if that really is factual or if next year it's going to come to where it's supposed to be paid off, but then it's going to continue because somebody needed to keep taking from these extra taxes.
16:42
SPEAKER_00: So that's good to know.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: All right.
16:45
SPEAKER_00: When you're looking at common contingencies in a purchase agreement, as a buyer, as a buyer, this is what's going to happen.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: If you're going to be state, you have particular contingencies that are in place.
16:58
SPEAKER_00: These contingencies are your rights, they're rules that basically are in place per contract that give you time.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: They usually lay out a calendar of events.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: As far as contingencies go, one of these could be that you have a contingency in place that you get to do inspections and you have so many days to do it.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: So then you have a chance to have a professional home inspector come out property, which is always, should always be the case to come look, even with new housing, believe it or not.
17:29
SPEAKER_00: Some people squawk at it, but I can't tell you how many new houses I've sold were that home inspection, even on a new house, even though the new house is covered by the new housing community for 10 years, lock, stock, and barrel in some cases, they find things that when the seller would have moved in, they would have turned on the water and pipes weren't connected.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: So they would have had a whole house flood.
17:52
SPEAKER_00: Yes, the new housing would have covered it, but what a mess.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: So the inspection on housing is also very much recommended.
18:02
SPEAKER_00: Other contingencies could be loan.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: When you go in there, usually in the state of California, at least at the time of this video, brand new 2025, there are contingencies in place as far as you getting approved for a loan.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: There are contingencies in place for the time you have to do your inspections, the time that the seller has to send you the information they know about the property.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: There are also contingencies on your loan and other items.
18:29
SPEAKER_00: It's important going in if you happen to be in a seller's market where properties are moving very fast.
18:36
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes other buyers to compete will reduce their contingency time frames.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: So instead of that number I talked about being 17, maybe they'll reduce it to 10 or 5, or even give up all of their contingencies, meaning giving up all of their rights.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: So if they happen to want to cancel just after going into escrow, they might forfeit their entire deposit.
19:00
SPEAKER_00: I'll talk about deposit in a moment.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: That's basically the handshake in a monetary way, telling the seller you're serious about purchasing their residence.
19:09
SPEAKER_00: Whether you get the deposit back or not is going to depend on your contingencies and which ones you've removed or which ones have you've signed off on as soon as that date comes.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: And the seller's agent is enforcing that particular requirement, telling you, hey, listen, you need to remove these things so the seller can move forward with selling you the residence.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: After you remove contingencies, after you've signed a document stating you're removing them all, you want to cancel, usually your deposits forfeited to the seller.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: But again, everything in California and everywhere else is subject to litigation.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: So you have choices when it comes to those things.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: And your guide, your real estate agent, should be explaining to you this entire process.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: So those are some contingencies, and you'll see those in the purchase agreement.
20:00
SPEAKER_00: Definitely important to pay attention to.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: If you're going to start redacting or pulling back from having those contingencies in place or shortening those time frames, just make sure that you can perform.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: And if you're doing it to be competitive, don't overdo it because especially if you're going to be waiving everything and there's something seriously wrong with the house, you've just given up your right to have it addressed and almost you have to accept it at that point or get out of escrow and you could thereby forfeit your deposit.
20:28
SPEAKER_00: So please get good advice.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: How long do homes actually stay on the market for sale?
20:34
SPEAKER_00: Again, this is going to come back to being a seller's market or a buyer's market.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: In a seller's market, the properties don't stay on the market very long.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: Examples are 5, 10, 15 days from the listing point into escrow, and then an additional 30 to 45 days for the escrow process.
20:53
SPEAKER_00: That's usually how long it takes to close a property.
20:56
SPEAKER_00: So if you were to go buy something, put an offer in, depending on your loan.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: If you happen to be paying, uh using a loan that had 20% or some kind of a conventional type loan, 20% or 10%, but conventional, usually real estate lenders can get those done in about 30 days all in.
21:14
SPEAKER_00: If you're using other types of loans dependent on other organizations to do the appraisal and other property investigations, like maybe a veterans administration loan or VA loan or FHA loan, the Federal Housing Administration loan, those appraisers certified by both those entities might be a little busy.
21:33
SPEAKER_00: So it might take them a while to get out there.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: In addition, maybe they're not as quick to get those reports turned in.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: So we might see an escrow go from 30 to 45 days.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: There's also escrow time frames that are extended on mutual agreement.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: Maybe both parties say we're not going to close until 60 days from today or 70 days from today.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: But the longer you go, understand as a real estate buyer, you could be running into issues with your.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Interest rate lock.
22:01
SPEAKER_00: And that's a discussion to have with your lender.
22:04
SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure that will come up if, in fact, you have that offer written once the lender gets their copy and sees that it's going to take you X amount of days to close this because of mutual agreement.
22:15
SPEAKER_00: Probably a good conversation to have before, but they should be able to inform you whether or not it's going to cost you more money to keep that particular interest rate locked for that longer period of time.
22:27
SPEAKER_00: Usually there's no issues with that, but that is something to consider.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: And it depends on the market how long properties sit.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: If it's a well-adjusted, normal market, and I've been doing this since 1998, somewhere between three to six months isn't uncommon for a listing to be on the market before it actually sells.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: We've just seen a lot of difference out here because remember in 2007, the market collapsed the end of 2011 and 2012.
22:53
SPEAKER_00: That was the bottom of our market out here in Santa Clarita Valley and Greater Los Angeles, and it's just been going up since then.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: And then we had very, very low interest rates, if you remember, twos and three percent.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: Now we're up at six and seven percent, depending on your qualification.
23:10
SPEAKER_00: And of course, that will also depend on when you happen to be buying in the future, what your interest rate's going to be.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: Those historical lows probably won't see them, I would venture to say ever again, at least in the twos, but you never know.
23:24
SPEAKER_00: So let's keep watching that.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: So these are how long homes typically stay on the market.
23:30
SPEAKER_00: It depends on the type of market.
23:33
SPEAKER_00: What should I look for during a home inspection?
23:36
SPEAKER_00: First off, who you're hiring to do that home inspection is incredibly important.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: They should be certified, they should be bonded, they should be those people that are experts in that particular way.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: They should be certified, they should have insurance, and they should have experience to be able to do home inspections.
23:54
SPEAKER_00: There are several different certifications out there for California home inspectors.
23:58
SPEAKER_00: Those are definitely the types of people you want to hire.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Your agent should have a list, as do I, I have, home inspectors that are better than others, only because they're just more critical and they point out super obvious things.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: They also point out the much more concerning things and they don't hold back.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: At the end of a home inspection, typically you're going to have a little bit of a discussion or a talk with the home inspector and your agent present.
24:26
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you a suggestion, some advice.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: Never, ever allow the seller or the seller's agent to be present for that debriefing session from your inspector.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: You're not hiding anything.
24:38
SPEAKER_00: But sorry to say it, and on this end, usually sellers' agents and sellers are a little bit critical of what the home inspector says, and there's lots of arguments, bad words are exchanged, and people end up hating each other.
24:52
SPEAKER_00: And that does not help but hurt the real estate process.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: It's better that you get this report from the home inspector after you've had this debrief and they'll send it to you usually the same day, day after, typically.
25:04
SPEAKER_00: Some of them you leave the property with it because they're that adept with technology.
25:09
SPEAKER_00: Once you have the report, then you can go through it with your agent, your other people that are on your end of it, your team, and make good decisions as to about are you going to ask for anything?
25:20
SPEAKER_00: Are you going to ask for credits?
25:21
SPEAKER_00: Do you want stuff repaired?
25:23
SPEAKER_00: Are you just going to continue with the as-is proposition, even though you've discovered these things via the home inspector?
25:29
SPEAKER_00: If the home inspector points out things that you can't accept or don't want to, usually when you put together that request for repairs or want further clarification from the seller as to what your home inspector labeled or reached out and told you about, usually those answers come in pretty quickly via the seller's agent.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: That's why in real estate it's really good to have your own agent on your own side.
25:53
SPEAKER_00: Imagine dealing with the agent, same agent, representing the seller as the buyer when it comes to requesting repairs, could have a propensity to maybe push you and not allow you to do what you really want asking for these items.
26:08
SPEAKER_00: And I say allow.
26:09
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes people get a little pushy, and sometimes we as people don't want to do any confrontation.
26:14
SPEAKER_00: It's always good to have somebody on your side 100%.
26:17
SPEAKER_00: So when it comes to that point, they're going to be fighting for you lock, stock, and barrel, like I do for my clients.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: What are the benefits of buying new construction versus an existing home?
26:28
SPEAKER_00: Existing home, you know what you're going to get.
26:30
SPEAKER_00: You know that it's been established in the neighborhood.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: More than likely, there's not going to be any settling.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's it's been there for a number of years.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: You the neighborhood's established.
26:40
SPEAKER_00: You can great criminal histories on that neighborhood.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: The Megan's law really works well because the people have been there for a long time.
26:48
SPEAKER_00: So those are some of the benefits of buying the resale.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: Plus, if the sellers have taken care of it, I mean the house could go for pretty much forever as long as it's been attendant kept updated.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: So you know, you know, those established neighborhoods.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: Plus, there's something about some of these established neighborhoods feel like Christmas, right?
27:06
SPEAKER_00: They feel wonderful.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: And we have a lot of here in Valencia, if you're interested in that.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: And also Saugus, they just feel like Christmas.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: So anyway, if you want to see those areas, let me know.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: But as far as new construction, usually you get a warranty.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: Usually you're going to pay higher taxes, just depends on a particular builder.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: Also, in the new new housing, you're going to be paying a pretty steep homeowners association.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: And when you're buying new housing, it's it's particularly important.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: Pay attention to the actual phase.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: So when you're going to new housing, one of the questions I ask when I'm representing buyers is what phase is the builder in?
27:44
SPEAKER_00: Is the builder at the very beginning?
27:46
SPEAKER_00: Is this the beginning phase, or is the builder in a further along phase?
27:50
SPEAKER_00: It's important to know because usually the beginning phases are where you're going to make your most money.
27:56
SPEAKER_00: And then moving through the process, those ending phases are usually tapped out as far as price.
28:02
SPEAKER_00: And then you'll see those phases will be finished, and the builder is going to be starting brand new construction on a new area in the local market, and then those prices will just continue to climb.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: Then you can look at new housing trends.
28:16
SPEAKER_00: They're very good at dictating the market and knowing where properties are going to go.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: If you happen to see new housing closing shop and leaving town, that might be something to pay attention to because I remember back in 2007, just a few months before, showing properties, new housing in Antelope Valley, it was like crickets.
28:35
SPEAKER_00: It was like a ghost town.
28:38
SPEAKER_00: They had all closed up shop and they seemed to have left.
28:41
SPEAKER_00: And then with subprimer collapse, I believe that was March of 07.
28:45
SPEAKER_00: Then the market just went in a downward trend for a number of years.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: New housing, yeah, there could be some benefits.
28:53
SPEAKER_00: New housing's nice, but just beware of the upcharges.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: You get in there and you start to add the things that the model has, you can put in hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra fees and costs when you're purchasing new housing.
29:07
SPEAKER_00: And ladies and gentlemen, that's sometimes where they get you.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: So have a good advisor that advises you to be weary and not to go out there and overspend when it comes to adding upgrades and changes to the residence at the new home beautification centers.
29:25
SPEAKER_00: How does the bidding process work in a competitive market?
29:28
SPEAKER_00: Bidding process, I'm pulling these questions offline.
29:31
SPEAKER_00: Bidding process usually is the offering counter-offer process, offer-counter offer.
29:36
SPEAKER_00: So if you see a residence that you like, you're going to offer that offer is going to be at a specific amount.
29:41
SPEAKER_00: You're going to have other terms.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: You might take contingencies, which are basically your rights, and you might shrink those time frames.
29:49
SPEAKER_00: It might give you in contracts 17 days to do inspections.
29:53
SPEAKER_00: Your agent might say, you know what, I think we could probably get those done in 10, and that's going to be more attractive to the seller.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: If it really happened to be in a seller's market, that might be something we want to talk about.
30:03
SPEAKER_00: If you are thinking about asking the seller to cover closing costs, you're part of escrow, you're part of title or whatever, not having that money, but we're in a seller's market, that might not be something to ask for in that particular market because you might be in competition with other people wanting to buy that aren't going to need that particular requirement.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: Food for thought.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: I will tell you this though.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: When it comes to making offers and counteroffers, I hear it from a lot of people.
30:31
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to play games.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: I just want to buy the house and move in.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, sellers love the counter-offer process because usually the price goes even higher than they expected.
30:43
SPEAKER_00: So that's what's in it for them.
30:45
SPEAKER_00: You might have to play if you're going to get in real estate, and you might have to go through the offer-counter offer process.
30:53
SPEAKER_00: Know this.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: Be true to yourself.
30:56
SPEAKER_00: If there comes a particular line in the end that you're not going to want to go past when it comes to purchase price or any other terms and obligations with regard to the offer you're making, then stand your ground and say this is it.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: And if it doesn't work out, tell yourself this was not meant to be.
31:14
SPEAKER_00: This house was not yours.
31:16
SPEAKER_00: And that's it.
31:17
SPEAKER_00: And then you move on.
31:19
SPEAKER_00: Don't harbor it, don't hold it, don't think about it, and don't have nightmares about it.
31:24
SPEAKER_00: Just move on.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: And here's something else.
31:27
SPEAKER_00: Try not to tell a lot of people that are around you because sometimes people give crappy advice.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: You should be trusting the one that you hired to represent you as your buyer's agent in the process.
31:40
SPEAKER_00: Again, be wary.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: Just make sure that you're getting the proper advice.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: What are closing costs and who pays for them?
31:50
SPEAKER_00: Closing costs are going to be four things.
31:52
SPEAKER_00: You're part of escrow, your title insurance fee.
31:56
SPEAKER_00: Title insurance is going to cover you in the future in case somebody tries to come in and say you owe them money when it was the previous seller or anything else.
32:04
SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, your lender's fee and your realtor's fee.
32:07
SPEAKER_00: Lender's fee, realtor's fee, lender's fee, usually not up for too much negotiation, but you can state agents fee up for negotiation.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: Definitely try.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: Talk to them about what their value is, what are they going to do for you that's different than other agents?
32:23
SPEAKER_00: I love to ask that question or have that question asked of me.
32:26
SPEAKER_00: And then ask them for the services that they're going to be providing you.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: What does that cost look like?
32:32
SPEAKER_00: And some agents break it down per hour cost, some agents break it down in a percentage, like used to be, but in some cases, the agents might be able to get the seller to pay that fee.
32:43
SPEAKER_00: So that's something to also inquire about.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: But definitely it's important to have your own agent on your side, not also representing the seller.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: As I've talked about in previous videos, when it comes to trying to negotiate repairs, requests for repairs, credits, something like that with regard to things that you discovered via home and a deal with the same agent representing the seller is really tough.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: And in most cases, not beneficial at all to you as a real estate buyer.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: You have your own agent on your own side that is totally responsible for just your end of the transaction.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: Oh boy, they can be a pit bull going after that seller's agent, getting you what you need and never backing down.
33:27
SPEAKER_00: Something to consider.
33:29
SPEAKER_00: These closing costs, lots of ways you can pay it.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: You can maybe in some cases have it incorporated into the loan.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: It's going to depend on if the seller is going to allow for that and if the property is going to appraise for that.
33:42
SPEAKER_00: So let's say your closing costs on a$500,000 house, if they existed, was$15,000.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: So that's about 3%.
33:50
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't include your agency.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: But let's say that's what the number was because the seller is going to be paying your agent a commission.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: Agent different than their agent, of course.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: So at that$15,000 fee, you can pay it within escrow out of your own funds, something that you have were saved.
34:08
SPEAKER_00: You can also maybe go to the seller, and if$500,000 was a good price to pay for the property, maybe you offer them$515,000.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: And then you want those$15,000 credited back towards your closing costs.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: That could work.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: But the seller's only holdback could be them not being confident in their property appraising for that$515,000 figure.
34:33
SPEAKER_00: So that might be why that could be rejected.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you could split it half in half.
34:39
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you could go up$7,500 and then come down$7,500.
34:43
SPEAKER_00: So offer$500,000,$7,500, and then see where that gets you with the home seller.
34:50
SPEAKER_00: It could very much happen that they would agree to that, and then you pay the other$7,500 out of your pocket.
34:56
SPEAKER_00: So these are closing costs and these are different ways to have them handled.
35:01
SPEAKER_00: If you are a veteran or with specific types of loan programs, sometimes you can get the lender to increase interest rates to get those covered.
35:11
SPEAKER_00: Just watch out for that.
35:12
SPEAKER_00: You want to see the before and after numbers, and maybe it might be more beneficial for you to borrow it from somebody, a family member, than it is to try to have those financed.
35:21
SPEAKER_00: Because remember, if you're financing a piece of real estate for 30 years, those super small micro changes in interest rate today are going to carry hefty prices as you get 30 years down the road, if we all make it that far.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: All right, so that's where that one is.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: Can you explain the homeowners association, HOA fees and rules?
35:43
SPEAKER_00: There's going to be something called C C and Rs, Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions.
35:48
SPEAKER_00: It's a document that you're going to get.
35:50
SPEAKER_00: It should be early in the process so you can understand if there is a homeowners association, what they do, what they cover, and if they have any rules.
35:59
SPEAKER_00: Most have a lot of rules.
36:01
SPEAKER_00: And it could be pet dependent rules.
36:03
SPEAKER_00: So maybe they don't allow certain breeds of dogs.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they don't allow a certain number of dogs or cats.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they don't allow you to wash your vehicle outside.
36:13
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they don't allow you to replace any exterior plants outside with something that hasn't been approved by them.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: And if you're excited because you're a new homeowner and go to Home Depot and buy that rose bush and want to plant it out in front of your house, maybe it doesn't fit within the local idea for the community in those specific elevations.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're living close to a lake, like in Bridgeport, where maybe a rose bush wouldn't make sense, but more lake type foliage would.
36:43
SPEAKER_00: But there's rules there.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: So you'll know that once you get this massive document prior to that.
36:50
SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions, make sure your agent gives you the phone number to the homeowners association, call them up.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking about buying a house in Bridgeport.
36:59
SPEAKER_00: This is the address.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: Tell me I have three pit bulls.
37:03
SPEAKER_00: Tell me if that's going to be a problem.
37:06
SPEAKER_00: And then get that backed up in writing.
37:08
SPEAKER_00: If they say, oh my gosh, no, we all love pit bulls, then make sure, not to be the pit bulls, but make sure that they give you that in writing with a name and a date they gave it to you.
37:18
SPEAKER_00: So if you do move in, you happen to be talking to some cat as they're way out the door, make sure you have some kind of verification and backup.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: If your agent says, oh, it's going to be fine, don't even worry about it, worry about it.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: Still find out on your own.
37:33
SPEAKER_00: And I would have told me, you know what, I'll check it out.
37:36
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry.
37:37
SPEAKER_00: That's something that's predicated, or their commission's dependent on a positive answer.
37:43
SPEAKER_00: I would make sure that I would start to think, uh-oh, that doesn't sound right.
37:49
SPEAKER_00: Connor said, I should be investigating these things myself.
37:52
SPEAKER_00: It's like building codes, it's like additions to residences.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: Those things are important because what you don't want is trust your agent on something and then have it coming back to you when the city's banging on your door because you've got some shed you bought the property with, wanting you to tear it down, or they're going to fine you$500 a day until you do.
38:12
SPEAKER_00: Uncomfortable spot.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: Your agent should be explaining these things to you.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: And I'll tell you, when my clients start to talk to me about homeowners association, what they will allow, what they won't, I say, here's the number you got to call.
38:22
SPEAKER_00: You got to call, you got to get a name, get an email address.
38:25
SPEAKER_00: After you get the on the email with them, send in the email and say, Yeah, I just called about my three pit bulls.
38:31
SPEAKER_00: You were very nice, Veronica.
38:33
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for the information.
38:34
SPEAKER_00: From what I understood, what you told me, it's not going to be a problem at all to have these dogs on the property, yes or no.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: Send the email and then make sure you CC agent on it.
38:45
SPEAKER_00: Not that they're going to be able to really do anything, but they're part of the process.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: And if future problems come up and you have the three pit bulls, you get some issue from the city or the homeowners association, then you'll be able to say, Well, Connor can be an expert witness, and I can go and say, Absolutely, got the email right here.
39:03
SPEAKER_00: He CC'd me, I saw it.
39:05
SPEAKER_00: She responded, they had absolutely no problem with pit bulls, and now they're being hassled because they have pit bulls.
39:11
SPEAKER_00: That was against the CCNRs.
39:13
SPEAKER_00: There might be other legal ramifications.
39:16
SPEAKER_00: They might say, Well, you should have read it, the C CRs, you should you got a copy of it, you should have gone through it with a fine-tooth comb.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: There's always ways for people to try to wiggle out of stuff.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: This is food for thought, folks.
39:28
SPEAKER_00: This will help you through these processes when you get there.
39:32
SPEAKER_00: What is the process for making an offer on a home?
39:35
SPEAKER_00: Currently, you're going to need a pre-approval letter.
39:37
SPEAKER_00: If you're going to have some kind of loan that requires a down payment, you're going to need proof of funds.
39:42
SPEAKER_00: And with the pre-approval letter and proof of funds, it's going to depend on whether or not they're complete.
39:48
SPEAKER_00: Pre-approval letters, most part, look really good when you have a super solid pre-approval by a very well-known lender on a local level because most of the agents with the listings are local agents, and it's really nice when we have a secure track record from local lenders that are writing paper on real estate as far as approving loans.
40:09
SPEAKER_00: Now, the local lender is being part of the process, they can spur off an approval letter that is like an underwriter approval.
40:18
SPEAKER_00: So it's not just your regular garden variety run-of-the-mill approval, it's a much more solid underwriter approval.
40:25
SPEAKER_00: And in that case, in that regard, it's super valuable.
40:29
SPEAKER_00: That would be somewhere nice to start.
40:32
SPEAKER_00: So you have those documents, those items, and then the offering process will be via your agent at a price and terms that you have discussed.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: That offer is then packaged after you understand everything.
40:45
SPEAKER_00: Typically, I'll send copies of all the documents to my clients outside of the document signing service so we can have a discussion.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: I am not a fan of sending everything already in the document signed system where it just takes you going through and clicking and approving the offer.
41:02
SPEAKER_00: I'd rather explain it.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: So I'll send you the whole document.
41:06
SPEAKER_00: Then if there are no changes and we still want to move forward, then I'll send it to you for signatures after I get it packaged with everything.
41:14
SPEAKER_00: Typically everything in the same file and email, depending on what the listing agent suggests or likes.
41:21
SPEAKER_00: I like them separate, but all in the same email.
41:25
SPEAKER_00: So I like to see the offer, the proof of funds, that would be the bank statements, and of course all the all the sensitive information blocked out.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: And then I like to see the underwriter approval and what they're going to include as being part of the offer in that way in a singular email.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: The thing that could not help is if your agent happens to not have their wherewithal and says, Oh my God, I forgot this.
41:49
SPEAKER_00: Oh my God, I forgot that.
41:51
SPEAKER_00: Usually that's kind of the sign of somebody new.
41:54
SPEAKER_00: Mistakes are made, but as a listing agent, listing property, I find that that's very tedious, especially in a real estate transaction where I'm representing the seller and we're getting multiple offers, hand over fist on their properties, to have these subsequent emails coming in with additional attachments.
42:13
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes if we have offerings that are really, really good, better than those, sometimes those are put on the back file.
42:21
SPEAKER_00: Now everything has to be the seller, depending on whatever agreement the agent had with the seller.
42:26
SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is if the seller said, if somebody sends me a$50 offer on the property, you're to look at that as frivolous and not bother me with it.
42:34
SPEAKER_00: But everything else gets to go to the seller if there's no other agreement and the seller will see it.
42:40
SPEAKER_00: It's just difficult after the seller's already looked at everything.
42:44
SPEAKER_00: Then the agent sends something else that they should have had with the original offer.
42:48
SPEAKER_00: Oh, by the way, this is these buyers, this was an additional.
42:52
SPEAKER_00: It just looks confusing, and then it creates a little bit of doubt in the seller's mind as far as the wherewithal and tenacity of the real estate agent representing that particular buyer.
43:03
SPEAKER_00: I know there's nothing you can do about it, but make sure you team up with somebody that knows the process and has done this a lot.
43:12
SPEAKER_00: As far as making that offer, once it's all packaged, it's sent.
43:16
SPEAKER_00: Usually there's some kind of counteroffer sent.
43:19
SPEAKER_00: So it'll be offended.
43:20
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes, if you're the only game in town, you're the only buyer, usually that counteroffers cleaning up terms.
43:26
SPEAKER_00: It's saying who escrow, who the seller's going to choose for the escrow company, who the seller is going to choose for the title.
43:33
SPEAKER_00: The seller's going to choose for other things.
43:36
SPEAKER_00: So that's going to be part of that counteroffer.
43:39
SPEAKER_00: In addition, maybe your agent had a particular box checked that didn't apply to the property you were purchasing.
43:47
SPEAKER_00: There's so many boxes on these documents.
43:49
SPEAKER_00: Some of them were filled automatically because of disclosures here in Santa Crita Valley, and in some cases, those boxes are missed.
43:58
SPEAKER_00: Your agent should.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: Be cleaning that up, but in some cases they don't.
44:02
SPEAKER_00: I just say this, I always make sure I go through everything I make an offer with regard to my buyers to the seller's agent so we don't get counters on any of those things because to me it's kind of embarrassing.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: Even though the buyer really doesn't understand what that means, it's like, well, come on, Connor.
44:18
SPEAKER_00: This is hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, and you're making your box or you're adding a box that doesn't apply.
44:24
SPEAKER_00: But I get this all the time from agents that are writing offers on my seller's listings, and I see it, I understand it.
44:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna go to their buyer and talk to them because they're none of my business.
44:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm just dealing with this agent and dealing with the offer they submitted, giving that to my seller, and then I'll explain, yeah, this item right here, the agent shouldn't have checked that.
44:43
SPEAKER_00: They did.
44:43
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna have to get that cleaned up, so I'm going to counter them on that.
44:47
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're in a multiple counter situation, that means other buyers want to buy the property, that's a whole different animal.
44:54
SPEAKER_00: And that could get very exciting.
44:56
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they're gonna come back and once specific things changed.
44:59
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the counter offers for all these different people are gonna be different.
45:04
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they're only gonna counter the top three offers, and sometimes in that countering offer process, they're gonna ask you for highest and best.
45:13
SPEAKER_00: Give us your best offer.
45:15
SPEAKER_00: That means time frames.
45:18
SPEAKER_00: Remember those contingency things that you have, the times to do inspections and stuff.
45:22
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you didn't shorten those time frames in order to maybe be more attractive to the seller.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you left them full.
45:29
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of the best situation.
45:31
SPEAKER_00: Also, if you were going in with, let's say, 10% down and you're able to increase it to 20% down, that could also address the best scenario in making an offer.
45:42
SPEAKER_00: As far as best and highest, of course, highest response to price.
45:47
SPEAKER_00: So what are you willing to pay?
45:49
SPEAKER_00: There's clever ways to also approach that.
45:51
SPEAKER_00: That you could inject as a as a buyer's representative, if in fact you're interested in your agent would be able to represent you as a buyer, a little clause in there saying, you know, the buyer will pay 5% more than the highest offer the seller received with verification.
46:09
SPEAKER_00: So to stack that and make it a little bit more beneficial.
46:12
SPEAKER_00: But of course, that's going to depend on the market.
46:14
SPEAKER_00: And if you're doing those sorts of strategies in order to win a property, that means it's very much a seller's market.
46:21
SPEAKER_00: And don't get too emotionally into this thing.
46:24
SPEAKER_00: Just go as far as your finances and your family, those closest to you.
46:31
SPEAKER_00: And if you have nobody, you yourself, how far you're actually willing to go as predetermined earlier.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: It's difficult when you're on a diet to go shopping, right?
46:43
SPEAKER_00: And not to eat.
46:44
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of a problem.
46:46
SPEAKER_00: Don't start trying to get involved in changing your rules that you should already have pre-assigned.
46:54
SPEAKER_00: If I'm in a diet and I'm going to go out somewhere, I know I'm not going to eat, I'm going to stay true to my diet.
46:59
SPEAKER_00: Make your rules.
47:00
SPEAKER_00: If you're going to come back at a particular price that you weren't willing to go, there's no reason to go there.
47:05
SPEAKER_00: You've already made the rule.
47:07
SPEAKER_00: That's when we start costing ourselves problems.
47:10
SPEAKER_00: When we start changing it as we've already had an agreement with ourselves.
47:14
SPEAKER_00: And if it doesn't work out, it wasn't meant to be.
47:16
SPEAKER_00: Then you just move on to the next one.
47:18
SPEAKER_00: All right.
47:19
SPEAKER_00: So they do talk about the escrow process.
47:22
SPEAKER_00: Usually seller does select that service.
47:24
SPEAKER_00: They choose the escrow company and have it be told usually from their agent if they don't know an escrow company.
47:30
SPEAKER_00: Escrow companies, they have prices that they charge, the seller pays their fee, and the buyer fee according to escrow.
47:38
SPEAKER_00: You can get those numbers.
47:39
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes there are discounts available.
47:41
SPEAKER_00: So I would definitely ask.
47:43
SPEAKER_00: I would fire off just an email to the escrow officer.
47:46
SPEAKER_00: Hey, listen, I understand I'm only the buyer in this deal.
47:49
SPEAKER_00: And the seller chose your services.
47:51
SPEAKER_00: But I heard from some cat I might be able to get my fees negotiated or some kind of a discount.
47:56
SPEAKER_00: Would you help me?
47:57
SPEAKER_00: And if they say, uh, are you law enforcement or military?
48:00
SPEAKER_00: Say no, but I'm good friends with uh Connor.
48:02
SPEAKER_00: He's law enforcement or ex-law enforcement.
48:04
SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
48:05
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that'll work.
48:06
SPEAKER_00: But that's the process.
48:08
SPEAKER_00: And again, they're a third-party, independent performer, and they're the ones that are going to be looking at everything and making sure time frames are taken care of and upholded, and they'll be going through that process.
48:21
SPEAKER_00: They'll become a point where you'll be signing loan documents if you're going to get a loan on the property, and that typically is ordered by the escrow company or they facilitate the handling of signing those types of documents.
48:33
SPEAKER_00: Also escrow paperwork.
48:35
SPEAKER_00: One of the things that I tell my clients when they have an escrow question, I make an introduction if I haven't already, if they haven't already gotten their introductional package.
48:44
SPEAKER_00: I make sure that now they have the escrow officer's name and phone number.
48:50
SPEAKER_00: I make the introduction over email or over a group phone call, a conference call.
48:55
SPEAKER_00: So now they ask the question to the entity.
48:58
SPEAKER_00: If there's a title question, I don't try to take that on.
49:01
SPEAKER_00: That's not my area of expertise.
49:03
SPEAKER_00: I know just enough to be dangerous.
49:05
SPEAKER_00: But I'll conference call the title officer with my client so that they can get the answer to their question.
49:11
SPEAKER_00: That's a good performer, folks.
49:12
SPEAKER_00: That's what you want on your side.
49:14
SPEAKER_00: You want somebody that's not going to leave you high and dry and not try to say that they're the expert in it.
49:19
SPEAKER_00: Get it from the person that you can follow up with later if the news happens to be wrong.
49:23
SPEAKER_00: That's what's most important accountability in the real estate process.
49:28
SPEAKER_00: All right, so let's talk about the first-time buyer home program, first-time home buyer programs or incentives, grants.
49:35
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's a lot of them used as fodder or attraction trying to get you to come in and sign stuff.
49:41
SPEAKER_00: Be wary.
49:42
SPEAKER_00: If it's a program, usually those programs have some kind of a training course.
49:46
SPEAKER_00: You have to sit down.
49:47
SPEAKER_00: But again, make sure it's a real thing before you go sign up for something.
49:51
SPEAKER_00: Because, truth be told, you might just be signing up for some clever agent's advertising module that he teamed up with his lender to be able to put forth.
50:00
SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions on grants and programs out there, home buyer programs or incentives, hit me up with an email.
50:06
SPEAKER_00: If you're not already represented, I'll walk you all the way through it.
50:09
SPEAKER_00: If you are, talk to your agent.
50:11
SPEAKER_00: Find out if these are real things or if you're just being led down the path, going to nowhere, trying to trap you into something that you're not willing to be trapped in.
50:21
SPEAKER_00: Best strategies for negotiating the purchase price?
50:24
SPEAKER_00: Great, great question.
50:26
SPEAKER_00: Find out where the comps are.
50:27
SPEAKER_00: You want to find out what properties have sold in the last 180 days that are very much similar to the property that you're going to make an offer on.
50:35
SPEAKER_00: You want to reach out and find out the sold properties, and then if there are any additions or subtractions to do, let's say the property you're purchasing has a pool and the other ones that sold don't have pools, then you're going to want to find out what actually those pools cost and then do those equivalent factor adjustments when you're making your offer on the property.
50:56
SPEAKER_00: But it's good to go in with that.
50:58
SPEAKER_00: And especially if you're making an offer at less than what the seller wants, backing that up with comparable properties, saying, Well, I know you want this amount of money, Mr.
51:07
SPEAKER_00: or Mrs.
51:08
SPEAKER_00: Seller, but this is what I found out.
51:10
SPEAKER_00: Your agent should be able to present that very good to the listing agent.
51:14
SPEAKER_00: If the market's moving fast and it's a seller's market, a lot of times that proof of a seller's property being overpriced is going to fall on deaf ears.
51:24
SPEAKER_00: You'll still make your offer, you can still include all those documents with it, but a lot of times they might say, oh my gosh, this is ridiculous.
51:32
SPEAKER_00: They're so much lower, and they're trying to they're trying to put comparable value on it when they have other comps that maybe price.
51:40
SPEAKER_00: But it is good to use that if you are going to be making a lower-than-listing price offer on a property.
51:48
SPEAKER_00: Because typically when people go in lower, it could be the case that the seller's agent didn't have the guts to tell them, no, Zach didn't have the guts to tell them that in fact this is not a good price to price their property for.
52:01
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it should have been less, but the agent wanting to get the listing went ahead and moved forward with it anyway and took an overpriced listing.
52:08
SPEAKER_00: That's why when you're making offers on anything and you believe the price is too high, then make sure you have your agent include the justification as to why you're pricing your offer at that particular level.
52:20
SPEAKER_00: And then it won't be offensive to the seller, and it might actually just work.
52:24
SPEAKER_00: The seller says, Oh my gosh, you were right all this time, my agent.
52:28
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much.
52:29
SPEAKER_00: I wish I would have listened to you in the first place.
52:31
SPEAKER_00: This is what we will sell the property for to this particular buyer because here it is.
52:36
SPEAKER_00: Here it is.
52:36
SPEAKER_00: These are the closed properties.
52:38
SPEAKER_00: Closed properties last 180 days.
52:41
SPEAKER_00: These are the models as my house, same elevation, within a block away, same builder, same year built, all the stuff.
52:49
SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
52:50
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna do it right now.
52:51
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna sell it.
52:52
SPEAKER_00: So that's something to know.
52:54
SPEAKER_00: And finally, how can I assess the future resale value of a property?
52:59
SPEAKER_00: There's so many online systems for that, but don't use any.
53:03
SPEAKER_00: You have to give up any personal information, and I would be weary even putting your real address into it.
53:09
SPEAKER_00: The reason being is you might get your door knocked by an agent thinking that you're gonna want to sell.
53:15
SPEAKER_00: You might have start getting all this mail, not only just email, because there's research sites that'll be able to tag your house with your email being generated from that residence.
53:26
SPEAKER_00: If you're doing any online shopping or anything else, yeah, I know it's horrible.
53:30
SPEAKER_00: And then you have all those other things that are gonna be able to put your name, because it's on title, it's public record, with a phone number, spoke you, these other things.
53:38
SPEAKER_00: They will put all this data together.
53:40
SPEAKER_00: And then when you've put your information to get your property valuation, even though you don't put your name or phone number or email, all of a sudden it's gonna be as if you did.
53:50
SPEAKER_00: I would just contact that local professional if you're in Santa Clarita Valley, hit me up, Santa Clarito Openhouses.com.
53:57
SPEAKER_00: Let me give you those numbers so you see it, so then you don't have to be worn out by everybody else ringing your phone or texting your phone off the hook.
54:07
unknown: Off the hook.
54:08
unknown: I love that.
54:10
SPEAKER_00: I hope this helped.
54:11
SPEAKER_00: Connor with honor.
54:12
SPEAKER_00: We'll see you next one.