Additional tips for home buyers

Whenever we come across new tips for home buyers, we like to post them for your expanding knowledge base. And whether this is your first home purchase or you’ve bought homes before, we can all use additional insights to better prepare us for the home buying process. Enjoy this latest batch of tips.

The revelations of rain

With the recent heavy rains we are experiencing here in L.A., rain reveals many beautiful things. The skies become clearer, putting on display the picturesque, snow capped San Bernardino mountains, the air becomes cleaner and landscapes become greener.  

And because we don’t get consistent rain throughout the year, rain can also show you whether or not your potential new home has a water tight roof and how well the drainage system works. If you are currently in escrow on a home, call your real estate agent and ask to get back inside your perspective new home right away to see if the roof has any leaks. If there are roof leaks, you have much more leverage to have the seller fix the roof or at least get a credit so it doesn’t become your problem once you own the house.

And while you are on site, we strongly suggest you walk around the perimeter of the home to see if there are any flooded areas on the grounds or underneath the foundation, if you are purchasing a raised foundation home. Rain reveals many flaws regarding drainage and other water related issues such as run off or even potential slope failure if the home you are buying is located in a hillside environment.

Even if you are beyond your contingency (protection) periods and set to close escrow, you still want to see how the house performs during and after a heavy rain. If you discover an issue that is glaring and that was not disclosed by the seller, either because the seller was not aware or chose not to make you aware, you have recourse that protects you from having to inherit problems and issues with the home. 

Use this current opportunity to investigate your home to see how it’s doing. And drive safely getting there as we Angelenos are not always known for their “wet weather” driving.

Who drives the Real Estate recovery?

New buyers to the market. Plain and simple.

Having been through a down turn in the market before, I saw for myself that the recovery came about when renters realized the cost of rent was almost the same as what they could buy a similar home for and these people got in the game.

Play it out for a second. Any renter that becomes a buyer and purchases a $400,000 condominium frees up that seller to turn around a buy a bigger place, say in the $700,000 range. That $700,000 seller now needs a bigger place and in turn buys a place at or over a million dollars. This kind of “trade up” market condition creates an increase in the volume of sales which then stabilizes prices. Stabilized pricing defines the bottom of the market and then we start to see property values go up from there because more people entering the market drive up prices, hence, a market recovery.

Until new buyers feel comfortable getting into the market, the market will stagnate and even continue to decline in values. So, why would you choose to enter into a market when every story you read in the paper promotes gloom and doom and every television news report glorifies the depressing news of how all markets are seemingly bottomless pits?

If you look at our First Time LA Home Buyer.com site under the “most commonly asked questions”, you’ll get a better understanding of the critical components as to when is the right time for you to enter the Real Estate market. Timing is a critical component and more important, it comes down to your need that drives you to lean into the prospect of purchasing a home. Ultimately, until your need and your capacity to buy a home come into alignment, you are probably not ready to roll up your sleeves and take the necessary steps you will need to take in order to run through the finish line of any home purchase.

The way things are going, sooner than later, the cost of renting is going to become similar to the cost of home ownership. Interest rates are going down and there are fantastic opportunities for new home buyers to take advantage of really low interest rates with even smaller initial down payments.

Candidly, the real estate market is still looking for a bottom for entry level buyers because we continue to see more foreclosures competing with desperate sellers trying to position themselves to get out of the market because they over extended themselves. The really good news right now is that if you are thinking about getting your first taste of home ownership, you have some time to get smart and learn how to read the bigger picture of what is going on and how you can maximize your opportunity. So be a sponge and observe what is going on. Keep reading my blog and I’ll do my best to make you smarter and ultimately ready to get in the game when you feel the timing is right.

For now, I think I have some explaining to do about what I was thinking when I wrote the “campy” YouTube videos about buying a home. What the heck is a “Fico” score anyway? Tune in tomorrow and I’ll invite you into my head as to what I was thinking and my attempt to create humor from different vantage points of the home buying experience. To be continued…