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A Note From Dan

Buying a Home: Become An Informed Buyer

Satori Recommends: DBNR Investments

In last week’s edition, we discussed the current “Buyers Market”, although I encouraged you to draw your own conclusions about current conditions.

This week, I’m focusing on what you need to know to be an informed buyer, and how to learn it. The buying process has become shark-infested waters for the prospective homeowner, with greater options, new regulations, strict requirements, expanded documentation, and much more.

PREPARE - This is personal. You and your significant other will need to agree on your goals. What kind of home will you live in? What area is best for you, based on your commute, schools for your children, or even crime statistics? What can you afford and how will that amount change over time?

• GET QUALIFIED - Unless you have cash for a home, you’ll need financing. Begin with institutional financing from direct lenders like Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Chase, or a mortgage broker of your choice (I recommend strongly that you get a referral from someone you trust for someone who’s been through the process recently). Your goal here is to find out how they assess your qualifications and how that assessment matches your own.

• GATHER YOUR RESOURCES - Get everything you’ll need to be ready for immediate action. This includes collecting financial documentation, moving cash available into one liquid account, blocking time on your calendar to deal with this project (it will seem like having a second job), arranging child care (trust me on this), and having a written, agreed-upon plan to follow.

• FIND THE PROPERTY - Once you know what you can afford and what to look for, you can begin the actual search. This is the first time in the process you should be looking at homes, and only looking at those you can afford to purchase. Some more aggressive clients prefer to find a home without the support of a Realtor, and there are many options to do that with Internet technology and social media venues. Many people will zero in on an area and then find a local Realtor who knows the region well and who can access easily homes for sale (within the real estate community on Multiple Listing Services).

• ENTER THE CLOSING PROCESS - You shop for a lot of homes, considering what you like and what you can live with. But then “The One” you just love appears. You’ll know it the moment you walk in the first time - a special sort of emotional experience you will always remember. You negotiate and write a formal offer that is accepted by the owner and then you’re in escrow. This is the part of the process where professionals complete their specific tasks and coordinate their results with the others. The Realtor, the lender, title company employees, escrow officers, attorneys, inspectors, appraisers, and repair people all play a role in the purchase and must all be synchronized to produce results on that magical day of “The Closing.” Closing is done differently everywhere but basically you sign all final documentation, put up you money, and after a final few days of paper shuffling, the house is yours.

• MOVING DAY AND BEYOND - Having seen many people move, my first piece of advice is never underestimate the energy and time necessary for this part of the process. Fortunately, you are so excited about the purchase that this almost seems anti-climactic, but a little early preparation can make this part of the process go very smoothly and dramatically increase the your enjoyment of your new home. Even before you close escrow (even before the time you start house-hunting), start thinking about your current stuff - what you want to save, what you want to toss, give away, or replace. Also, in your new house, think about any immediate repairs or modifications that need to be made before you move in, and start thinking about the steps you need to take to change or forward utilities, mail, phones, cable and internet service, and … well, you get the point.

Once you’ve moved in and the chaos has dissipated, take a few moments to savor your accomplishment. This will have been no small task and it deserves celebration. Good memories of the move will be natural if you planned and executed your plan well. Enjoy!

HELPFUL RESOURCES

Lending tree information

For Sale By Owner.Com

Ginnie Mae (GNMA - Government National Mortgage Association)

An ABC Good Morning America piece on the new tax credit qualifications

Finally I have two PDF forms I will email to you if you drop me an email requesting them free of charge. AND, I won’t send you a bunch of useless email either.

DBNR Investments is my new company. We began with three investors who believed it could work and provide a significant return on investment. The business plan is working as expected, though delayed a bit by the holidays and severe winter weather where many of the properties are located.

Our mission is to put people into homes who want them, can afford them, and will improve their situation in life by working for home ownership. At the same time, we are contributing to eliminating the backlog of unsold and foreclosed homes in this country - which, by the way, is still on the rise.

We deal directly with the potential home owner. This way, we decide whom we sell to and eliminate costs the home buyer would have to pay using Realtors and/or lenders. With my years of experience of putting people into homes, I can identify the ones who are passionate about home ownership.

Because we can purchase distressed property at low prices, we are uniquely positioned to provide a healthy profit to our investors.

So if you were offered an opportunity to participate as an investor and you passed, I respect your choice; it may not have been right for you or timing was bad. But if you passed because of fear, I invite you to be courageous, acknowledge your fear, and take action anyway. Get involved, and invest in this opportunity to put people in homes across the U.S.

Call me at my office number (408-879-2335) or email me at dan@dbnr-investments.com to discuss our current progress and ways you could profit from this project as a buyer, a seller, and investor, a vendor or wholesaler. We are expanding, and our revenues and resources are growing!