first time buyers: Buy a Home and Something Will Break - 11/05/08 10:59 AM
I helped a wonderful couple buy their first home in New Fairfield, Connecticut.  We closed yesterday, and they immediately began moving in. 
At the closing, I warned them:  "Something will break shortly after you move in.  Don't worry.  It won't be the end of the world.  You will get through it." 
They laughed at me: "Yeah...yeah...yeah...  Whatever you say, Don." 
That was yesterday.  Tonight, they called.  "The toilet overflowed and there is water all over the bathroom.  Does this count as the thing that will break as soon as we move in?" 
Fortunately, they were laughing - or, at least they … (13 comments)

first time buyers: Last-Minute Gotchas Before Closing - 11/03/08 03:30 AM
It never fails.  Something always turns up at the last minute when we are planning to close on a home.
This afternoon, I have a closing for my buyers, who are buying a new home in New Fairfield, Connecticut.
Of course, something turned up - a repair that wasn't made.  We'll deal with it, but all it does is add more stress for the buyers - as well as for the sellers. 
Sellers can help to avoid these "Last-Minute Gotchas" by following a few easy steps:
If you agree to make a repair, then make that repair before closing If you know of … (2 comments)

first time buyers: When Will I Close on My Home? - 10/31/08 02:48 AM
When buyers make an offer to buy a home, one of the details listed in the offer is the anticipated closing date.  Actually, in the offers used to buy homes here in the Danbury, Connecticut area, the wording is that the home will close "on or before" the chosen date. 
Of course, this date can be negotiated between the buyers and sellers. 
However, given the mortgage market of the past year, we have run into issues where many homes do not close as planned.  The lenders are taking longer to remove conditions of the loans prior to issuing their clear to … (2 comments)

first time buyers: Hurry Up and Wait! - 09/28/08 05:23 AM
I was talking with one of my buyers, who currently has an offer in on a short sale property. 
In talking, we started ruminating how buying a short sale property is like a day in the airport:  Hurry up and wait! 
Airport:  Hurry up!  Hurry up!  Have to leave the house on time.  Might be traffic.  Arrive at the airport early.  Now, wait. 
Short sale:  Hurry up!  Hurry up!  It's priced right.  It's in pretty good condition.  It's in the location you've been wanting.  Let's write that offer today.  Now, wait. 
Airport:  Hurry up!  Get in line to check in.  … (16 comments)

first time buyers: What to Offer? - 05/09/08 11:35 AM
Buyers in this market often wonder how much to offer on a house they want to buy.
Some just wildly assume they can offer 10% or 20% or 30% less than list price.Others have read an article in the paper that they should offer less than 10% of list price, and buy for no more than 90% of list price.Others just don't know what to do.
What should you offer?  If you want the house, then offer fair market value.
We will look at what comparable homes have recently sold for.  We will create a market analysis for the property and determine … (3 comments)

first time buyers: Buying a Home, Getting Married, and Cursing - 04/13/08 03:32 AM
One of my favorite types of buyer clients are those who are also planning a wedding.They're excited.  It's typically their first home purchase.  Their lives are enmeshed in a rush of positives - the love, the wedding planning, the honeymoon planning, the thought of owning their first home, their plans for the future.
It is fun to work with these buyers.  They want to buy a home.  They want to set up their new lives together.
Recently, I was emailing one of my buyer clients who are also planning their wedding.  I asked the groom-to-be how the wedding plans were coming … (2 comments)

first time buyers: Buyer Rules: Be Honest with Me! - 12/30/06 05:13 AM
When I take new buyer clients out to view homes, while we're driving around in my car and getting to know each other, I tell them that among other things, there is one very, very important rule that I have:  They must be honest with me!
I tell my buyers right up front that I will not be offended if they don't like a home's floorplan, or the wall-after-wall of wallpaper, or the Pepto-Bismol-pink bathroom.  (I had one of those in my first house...)  After all, I'm not the one who chose those pink bath tiles.
By telling me all they like or … (7 comments)

first time buyers: Is Your Agent a Homeowner? - 12/30/06 02:28 AM
I've always wondered how people can enter the real estate business, help people buy and sell homes, but have never bought or sold their own home.  I call them the "renter-real-estate-agents."
Can a renter be a good real estate agent? Perhaps.  But if they're not a homeowner themselves, they lack the true experience and knowledge of homeownership as a whole.  They lack the first-hand experience of all that homeownership entails - maintenance, property tax issues, tax deductions, the emotional attachments, and so on.
Most importantly, a renter-real-estate-agent has never experienced, personally, for themselves what it is truly like to be a home buyer … (45 comments)

first time buyers: Want to Buy a Home? Get Pre-Approved! - 12/29/06 06:02 AM
A few weeks ago, I received a call from a prospective client who wanted to buy his first home.  We talked about his needs and wants.  Where he wants to live.  The basics.  We also discussed his price range.  When I talked about helping him get pre-approved for a mortgage, he refused.  He wanted to see what's out there in his price range first.
Well, if you need a mortgage to buy a home, and you won't get pre-approved for that mortgage by a mortgage broker, then how do we know for sure what price range to be looking at? 
Say … (4 comments)

 
Don Fabrizio-Garcia, Owner/Broker/Trainer - Fab Real Estate (Fab Real Estate)

Don Fabrizio-Garcia

Owner/Broker/Trainer - Fab Real Estate

Danbury, CT

More about me…

Fab Real Estate

Address: 1 Padanaram Road, Suite 203, Danbury, CT, 06811

Office: (203) 947-1107

CT SCAN: CT Real Estate Scan www.FabRealEstate.com Covering your real estate wants and needs in western Connecticut.


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