Costa Mesa First Time Home Buyer

What Happens During Escrow?

Once your offer has been accepted on your new Costa Mesa home, escrow is opened.

Great! Your offer has been accepted, as a Costa Mesa first time home buyer, do you know what happens next?

During escrow you will do the following (showing typical time periods):

1. Deposit your earnest money into escrow - within 3 business days of acceptance
2. Review and sign escrow instructions
• This will include providing information on your insurance company/agent
• You will complete vesting instructions stating how you want to hold title
• You complete a statement of information so the title company can check for any liens or judgments or prove that it is not you if a problem later attaches to your property.
3. Provide verification of down payment funds - this is usually done upon presentation of offer but no later than 7 days after acceptance.
4. Work with your lender to get as far through the approval process as possible.
• The loan contingency is typically removed at 17 days, and to protect your earnest money deposit, you will want to have a fully underwritten approval and have as many conditions such as providing taxes, paystubs, etc. signed off before the 17 days are over.
5. Get your appraisal - within 17 days of acceptance.
• The appraiser will give the fair market value of your home, and your lender requires that the appraised value be at least the purchase price. If not, there will be additional negotiations.
6. Seller to provide disclosures - within 7 days of acceptance.
7. Buyer to complete all inspections within 17 days of acceptance.
• This includes having a third party inspection and any other inspections you may want such as soil, lead paint, or further investigations of things called out by the inspector such as leaks, electrical issues, roof, etc.
8. Buyer to review and sign seller disclosures.
9. Request repairs - within 17 days of  cceptance
• After reviewing disclosures and doing property investigations, the buyer may choose to request repairs from the seller.
• For REOs/bank owned foreclosures and short sales, the sellers are unlikely to make repairs.
• For equity sales, this is a new negotiation between buyer and seller.
10. During this time, your lender will be working to gather all needed documentation and clear all conditions so that they can obtain loan documents.
11. Escrow will be gathering all documents and communicating with all parties including the lender, buyer, seller, Realtors, and title to make sure that all necessary items are received.
12. Realtors will be helping with disclosures, inspections, repair negotiations, and gathering necessary documentation.
13. Seller will sign deed in favor of buyers which will be held by escrow until close of escrow.
14. Once the lender provides loan documents, buyer will sign loan documents. 
• Usually signing occurs 3 to 5 days prior to close of escrow.
15. After loan documents are signed, escrow will send them back to the lender.
16. Lender will check in loan documents and obtain any needed items prior to funding.
17. Lender will fund the loan.
18. Title will record the deeds and confirm that they have been recorded.
19. CONGRATULATIONS! You now own your new home!

So, now you know what it takes to go from being a Costa Mesa first time home buyer to being a first time Costa Mesa home owners.

 

Are you ready to be a Costa Mesa first time home buyer? If so, please contact Christine Donovan at 714-319-9751 to get started today.

Originally Posted at: Costa Mesa First Time Buyer

Warren Buffett Says He Would

Buy Loads of Single Family Homes

He points out that several years ago, people were very eager to buy homes because prices were going up, but not despite low prices and low interest rates, people are concerned about buying because prices may go down. Warren Buffett believes this combination makes it a good investment. He recommends buying single family homes both for living in and for rentals or income property.

Please see the interview at Warren Buffett on Single Family Home Purchases.

Do you agree with Warren Buffett? Do you agree that with homes prices down 35-40% in Costa Mesa from the high of just a few years ago and interest rates at or near historical lows, that it is a good time to invest in your future? Are you considering buying a Costa Mesa home? Would you like to know what Costa Mesa homes for sale are good deals? If so, please contact Christine Donovan at 714-319-9751 to find out how you can take advantage of this opportunity.

Originally Posted at: Warren Buffett Says He Would Buy Loads of Single Family Homes

If You Haven't Found Your Costa Mesa Home after the First 10, It's Time to Think Again

 When you first start your home for your Costa Mesa home, you probably have some idea of what you're looking for:

• Bedrooms
• Bathrooms
• Neighborhood
• Price

You start out excited and ready to go, but after going out to look out homes a few times and seeing nearly a dozen, if you haven't found "the" Costa Mesa home for you, you may be feeling discouraged.

Perhaps you've decided not to buy a short sale or an REO/Foreclosure.  Perhaps your price doesn't quite get you the Costa Mesa home you were hoping it would.

Whatever the reason, if you've seen 10 Costa Mesa homes and haven't found one on which you want to make an offer, I tell my buyers that it's time to re-evaluate what you really want.

It may be time to consider one less bedroom, or maybe you've realized you would rather pay a little bit more and buy a single family home rather than a condo. 

Rather than being frustrated after looking at 30 homes, doesn't it make sense to sit down and rethink everything and start again with a fresh perspective?

If you're thinking about buying a Costa Mesa home, please give me a call at 714-319-9751 so that I can help you buy your new home while staying on track and focused on what is truly important to you.

Originally Posted at: Buying a Costa Mesa Home

Buying a Costa Mesa Home? - Avoid Buying Obsolescence

So, you've decided it's time to buy a Costa Mesa home, and you're thinking about what you really need.

Perhaps you've been pre-approved or you know about how much you want to pay monthly, and so you've come up with a purchase price.

Now, you're trying to decide what's important to you.  I always sit down when people are considering buying a Costa Mesa home to ask several questions.

It's important to consider what's important to you in buying a Costa Mesa home, and it's also important to try not to buy obsolescence.

And, you're probably wondering what "buying obsolescence" means.

For instance, most buyers these days expect want demand at least 1.5 baths in a home, so if you're thinking that you could "live" with just one bathroom, you might consider what that might do to your pool of buyers when you're ready to sell your Costa Mesa home.

When you're buying a Costa Mesa home, make sure to consider how other buyers might look at it later when you're ready to sell it so that you don't have problems selling an obsolete home.

If you want to work with an agent who takes the time to consider things like future value and saleability of your Costa Mesa home, please give me a call at 714-319-9751.

What Should a Buyer Look for in a Costa Mesa Realtor?

So you're considering buying a Costa Mesa home, and you're not sure what you should be looking for in a Costa Mesa Realtor to help you buy your new home.

There are several important factors to consider when choosing your Costa Mesa Realtor.

• Experience

Does your Costa Mesa Realtor have experiencing helping clients buy homes?

Are they a listing or a buyers' agent?

If they don't have experience, do they have a mentor to help them through the process?

• Knowledge

While experience is critical, your Costa Mesa Realtor should also have knowledge.

Has your Costa Mesa Realtor kept up with the current market?

Does he understand short sales?

Can he effectively interview the listing agent to learn whether or not the short sale is likely to be successful?

Does the Costa Mesa Realtor know how to handle REOs/bank owned properties?

• Market Knowledge

Does your Costa Mesa Realtor understand the realities of today's market such that he can advise you on how to best position yourself to get the best deal for your new home.

• Communication

Will your Costa Mesa Realtor update you on the homes for sale that best meet your needs? 

Will your Costa Mesa Realtor communicate well with you and with the seller's agent? This is especially important in a short sale.

How often? In what way?

• Personality

This may seem like an odd requirement for your Costa Mesa Realtor, but you will be spending a lot of time with your Realtor. Make sure that the personality is compatible with yours.

If you're considering buying a Costa Mesa home, please contact Christine Donovan at 714-319-9751 to discuss how we can help you find your new dream home.

Originally published at What Should a Seller Look for in a Costa Mesa Home?

Originally published at What Should a Buyer Look for in a Costa Mesa Realtor

I'm Not an Order Taker, but Do You Really Want One?

So you've decided it's time to buy an Orange County home, and you're trying to decide how to go about what is probably the largest purchase of your life.

Today it's possible to do a lot of investigating about what houses are for sale and for what price in any particular area or city.

Maybe you've gotten to the point where you think maybe you need a professional to help you, but what kind of help do you really need?

Do you need an order taker?  What do I mean by that?  Do you need to tell someone that you need a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home  with a yard big enough for a pool, you want to live in Irvine and you have been pre-approved for $750,000?  Will that person then turn around and give you a list of the homes that meet that criteria and then ask you which one you want to make an offer on?

Is this really what you need?

It occurred to me that buyers might not realize that it is important that your Realtor not be just an order taker when I sat down with new clients the other day.

As we talked about their desire to purchase a new home, I asked them several thought provoking questions about what was important about buying a home and making sure that I really understood what they are trying to accomplish.  This goes way beyond the criteria for the home such as bedrooms and square footage.

Once we completed the discussion, one of my clients commented that this was very different from what he expected.  He expected me to be an order taker.  He expected that we would just look at the homes in their price range.  However, he said that he really appreciated my way of doing things as it helps both of us to really understand what he wants and why he is buying a home.

And, yes, part of his "homework" is to complete a list of what he does and doesn't want in a home, but to me, that is not all we need to talk about when buying a home.

Certainly, anybody can be an order taker, but do you really want one for the largest purchase of your life?  Or, do you want somebody who is going to really understand what is important about buying a home to you and who can help you pilot your way through the myriad of details that go into buying your home?

Buying a Costa Mesa Home

What are Contingencies and Why are They Important?

Basically, contingencies allow a buyer who is buying a Costa Mesa home time to inspect the home and attempt to get a mortgage loan before being fully committed to the purchase of the home.

In California, the California Association of Realtors (CAR) purchase contract typically allows 17 days for all buyer contingencies to be removed. These contingencies usually include: physical inspection, appraisal, finance/loan, a review of title, review of seller disclosures, wood destroying pest (termite) inspection, review of conditions, covenants and restrictions (CC&R's) and any other considerations/inspections the buyer might consider important in determining whether or not to purchase the home.

This time period can be made shorter or longer, and is typically much shorter with the purchase of an REO/foreclosure/bank owned home.

When buying a Costa Mesa home, it is important that the the buyer complete all inspections and be ready to remove contingencies in a timely manner. The buyer needs to have all of these completed in a timely manner because once contingencies are removed, then the seller may get to keep the buyer's initial deposit if the buyer elects not to or cannot close on the purchase during the time specified in the contract.

In the purchase contract, there is a liquidated damages clause. If this is initialed, then it automatically entitles the seller to keep the buyer's initial deposit (up to 3% of the purchase price) if the buyer removes all contingencies and then does not close escrow for any reason.

If the buyer who is buying a Costa Mesa home chooses not to remove contingencies in a timely manner because he doesn't have loan approval for example, then the seller can choose to cancel the purchase contract.

If you have more questions about contingencies or about buying a Costa Mesa home in general, please contact Christine Donovan at 714-319-9751.

For more information about selling or buying a Costa Mesa home, please see:

Selling a Costa Mesa Home - Can Anything Go Wrong Once Contingencies are Removed

Please see below for homes currently for sale in Costa Mesa.

Originally published at Buying a Costa Mesa Home.

Why is an Orange County Home that was Just Listed for Sale

Already Sold?

You have been diligently searching the home sites daily for a specific type of home in one certain area because you are ready to jump on it as soon as it comes up for sale. One day you notice one that's perfect; you get excited; you're ready to buy, but then you notice that it's already in escrow or worse yet sold. You know it wasn't there yesterday, so what happened? Why didn't you get the chance to buy your perfect home?

There are a couple reasons that a home might come up on the MLS (mutliple listing service) as already being in escrow or even sold.

1. The listing agent had a buyer ready and waiting for this type of house
• When it was listed, the agent called that buyer to let him know about the new listing.
• The buyer made an acceptable offer, and it went into escrow before it was ever on the MLS.

     2.   The home was put on the MLS for comparable purposes only.

• This is similar to number one, but it never even came up on the MLS as in escrow, back up, etc. because it was sold before it was even entered into the MLS.
• Again this might happen because the listing agent had a buyer in the wings or perhaps because it was a "pocket" listing that wasn't intended to be offered as a cooperative sale.

If you are interested in buying or selling an Orange County Home, please contact Christine Donovan at 714-319-9751.  

Originally published at Why is that Orange County Home Sold?

Why Aren't All Homes for Sale in Orange County on the MLS?

Have you ever felt like your agent isn't sending you all of the homes that are for sale that meet your wants and needs?

Maybe you have seen homes for sale on Trulia or Zillow that look perfect for you; yet they never come through on the lists of homes your Realtor sends you and you're wondering why your agent hasn't sent them to you.

The fact that you're not receiving them may not mean that your Realtor isn't doing a good job for you. There are several reasons why a home that appears to be for sale might not end up on the MLS.

1.   The Home Isn't Really for Sale
• Sites like Trulia show homes that are in foreclosure, and these often appear to be for sale even though they aren't actually on the market or up for sale. For more on this, please see Homes on Trulia that Aren't for Sale.
• This can be very confusing, especially since these homes often appear to be deals that are too good to be true. For instance a home for sale in Costa Mesa for $60,000 that is a single family home with 2300 sq. ft. is not really for sale. This is likely the default amount (the amount the current owner is behind in payments).
2. The home is already in escrow
• Frequently Realtors do not send homes to their buyers when they are already in escrow as this usually just leads to frustration on the buyers part since the home is not available.
• If there is little inventory or the buyer has very specific needs that are hard to meet, the Realtor might send these, but many choose not to forward homes that are already under contract to their clients.

3. The home may be a "pocket" or "exclusive" listing for the listing agent.

• Sometimes a Realtor may choose to list a home but has an agreement with the seller that they are not "cooperating" with other brokers/agents. This home would then usually not be on the MLS.
• This might happen because the Realtor agrees to take less of a commission if they don't have to split it with another agent.
• The seller might agree to this for some period of time before having it put on the MLS or may never have it put on the MLS at all.
• This is not as common as it used to be though it still happens.

4. The home is a FSBO/For Sale by Owner

• Usually FSBOs are not on the MLS, so if a home isn't listed by a Realtor/real estate agent, it probably won't be on the MLS.

If you're not seeing an Orange County home for sale in the MLS and are wondering why, please give Christine Donovan a call at 714-319-9751.

Originally posted at Why Aren't All Homes for Sale on the MLS?

Why Are the Homes on Trulia Often Not for Sale?

Perhaps often is an exaggeration. However, I have received many requests to see homes that are not truly for sale and have seen many questions on Trulia and other sites asking about homes that are not currently for sale.

The problem is that Trulia and some of the other sites include homes that are in the foreclosure process as part of their home feed.  Then potential buyers see homes that often appear to be very well priced and that are not truly for sale at the time.

It is then left to the agent to explain why these homes can't be seen or purchased.  Sometimes the homes have simply begun the process and have a notice of default filed against them, sometimes the foreclosure process has proceeded farther, and they have a notice of trustee sale filed which means a date has been set for a courthouse auction sale.  Occasionally the home in question has actually been foreclosed and is now bank owned.  Whatever the case,  these are not homes that are not readily "showable" at a buyer's request.

It's unfortunate that these homes are not more clearly marked as not being "for sale" in the more traditional fashion.  Some of these homes may eventually come on the market, and with others the current owner may find a way to cure the default and keep their home.

If you have a question about whether or not a home you see on Trulia is truly for sale, please give me a call at 714-319-9751.

Originally published at Homes on Trulia.