Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Home Buying Process

Get Prequalified - Getting prequalified starts with talking to a lender (call or email us for a suggestion). A lender will look at your credit scores, income, revolving debts, and how much money you have to put up for a down payment on the home. Once they look at your financial situation they will determine the best type of loan  for you(VA, FHA, Conventional, Homepath) and what kind of payment would be comfortable with. The reason to get prequalified is to determine how much of a loan you can get that you are comfortable with to ultimately decide what price range you will be looking to purchase

Make your wish list - Think of how many bedrooms you are going to want and how many bathrooms. What kind of lifestyle do you want? A condominium will offer shared ammentities (pool, bbq area, clubhouse etc.,) with low to no exterior maintenance as where a single family dwelling offers more privacy and space, but more exterior maintenance.

Call your Realtor - We are experts in the area and now that you have been prequalified and made your wish list we are ready to start looking at homes on the market.

Select your home - No home is going to be absolutely perfect. Think of how long you plan on living in the home and figure out how it will best suit your families activities along with the layout of the home. Cosmetics can always be fixed and it doesn't have to be pricey to get it looking fabulous.

Make an offer - Your offer will depend on the current market situation. If there is a lot of inventory (homes on the market for sale) you can be more aggressive with your offer than if there is low inventory. In a time where there is low inventory your offer may need to be at list price or sometimes even over depending if its priced at market value or not. Your Realtor will be able to guage and give you more guidance when it comes to writing your offer.

Open Escrow - Once your offer is accepted you will enter escrow. Escrow is a trusted independent third party that acts as the mediator of the transaction. Escrow makes sure that the obligations of the contract are dealt with and the monies are distributed properly

Order a home inspection - A home inspection is VERY important. This process occurs after your offer has been accepted by the seller and it is now time to look deeper into the home. You hire a third-party professional to give you their opinion of the integrity of the home, large or small repairs that may need to be done, code violations, age of the systems/appliances in place, and things that may need to be fixed soon. This gives you an idea of what is going to be involved in owning this home. Almost EVERY home that is not going to be purchased brand new is going to have issues. Don't let this scare you, it is part of owning a home.

Order an appraisal - The lender you are working with will order an appraisal on your behalf through the bank you are obtaining your loan from. The bank appraisal will determine the market value of the home. If the home does not appraise for the purchase price, the bank will refuse to make the loan unless you can renegotiate the purchase price with the seller.

Remove contingencies - A contingency is something that may or may not take place. For example: in the home buying process you have a contingency period to inspect the home with a professional home inspector. If you find a major problem with the property you may back out of the deal, but if you want to continue with the purchase of the property you must remove your home inspection contingency. There are several other contingencies such as appraisal contingency and loan contingency.

Final walk through -Your final walk through  usually takes place 5 days before you close the deal and the house is yours. This walk through is important because you want to make sure the home is in the same condition that you purchased it. There have been times in a home purchase where the home had been flooded because of a leak. By doing the final walk through you can write in your final walk through form anything that was not the same when you wrote the agreement.

Go to closing - Closing! At closing all funds for the loan as well as your down payment go into escrow and are dispursed accordingly. Escrow then sends the deed down to the county recorder's office and the deed is then transferred into the new home buyer's name. You are now a home owner and you get your keys to the new place!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Wood Ranch Homes for Sale & Short Sales (LOW INVENTORY)

There are currently 6 single family Wood Ranch homes available for sale and only 1 condo! That is just crazy! The price of the single family homes range from $613,000 - $895,000. Not a single one of those properties is a short sale.

If someone is facing foreclosure, the worst thing to do is do nothing. I see it all the time. People just avoid the phone calls and they end up getting foreclosed on. This ruins their fico scores tremendously and then they are left in a panic situation to find a place to stay. It is so important to find a short sale specialist to help guide you through the process. There are possibilities for relocation money in some situations. One bank offers up to $30,000.

For buyer's looking for short sales in Simi Valley there are currently 11 properties available for purchase. If you would like to see these properties you can search for them HERE.

Ventura County Real Estate Tips!

Invest in your home before you sell! Even though we are in an up market, it is still important to do some fix-ups where needed. Curb appeal is very important as relayed in this article: Investing in curp appeal pays off. Buyer's want a property they can move right into. If you are one of the few properties on the market that is move in ready, you are going to have people biting at the bit to purchase your home. You will see multiple offers and a bidding war scenario if priced right. Talk with your Realtor before putting your home on the market. They will help guide you as to where you will get the most bang for you buck.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Ventura County, California Foreclosures on the Decline

According the the Ventura County Star's article on the 13th foreclosure's are on the decline. Have we filtered through all the junk loans? Not quite. As of today there are currently 1,420 homes in pre-foreclosure! These are potential properties that could be foreclosure's or the seller's could short sell their property.

In Simi Valley, California there are 291 properties that are in pre-foreclosure as where there are only 92 active listings on the market. So is this inflation that has been happening (the 10% rise in the last year) real? 291 properties that have the potential of turning into foreclosures. Some of those properties will become short sales, some with get loan mods, some will make their payments current, and some will become bank owned.


Friday, February 15, 2013

Wildhorse Canyon, Simi Valley Homes

There are no short sales in Wildhorse Canyon as of today, however there are 2 available listings. I have not seen this tract before with only 2 available properties!? Is this a sign that our economy is getting better? I'm not necessarily sure that this is the case, however this is good for home seller's. 2 available listings and one is back-up/contingent!!!! If I had a home up there I would seriously consider selling. If you know any one selling their home in the Wildhorse Canyon area, have them give us a call! (805)206-6363

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Big Sky Simi Valley Homes for Sale


Big Sky Simi Valley is one of the newer developments in Simi Valley on the North side of the valley. It offers great views of the valley along with great parks for the kids and even a dog park. There are currently only 3 active homes for sale. This shows the demand to live in the area. The people that live in the Big Sky area are high income professionals along with young professionals with families. It is a great place to raise kids and there are great schools near by. The area is very well maintained and is very appeasing to the eyes. If you have a chance swing by Big Sky Simi Valley, you won't be disappointed! Search Big Sky Simi Valley Homes now

Along with the amazing hikes and dog park, there is also 4 baseball/softball diamonds. They really did great work and put a lot of thought into the area when they were developing it. In the community there is also a fire station and not too much further is the Simi Valley Town Center which is Simi Valley's mall. 

Big Sky Simi Valley is home to Lost Canyons golf course. Lost Canyons golf course is one of Freddie Couples signature golf course. This course will test your accuracy and skill. It is set in the hills of Big Sky and it offers two 18 hole courses. The Sky course and the Shadow course. Lost Canyon's has unbelievable mountain views and makes for the place to play in Simi Valley.