Glenn's Blog

GREAT NEWS FOR FORGIVEN MORTGAGE DEBT, FOR SOME BORROWERS

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:50:22 -0600

President Bush signed into law the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007, which is designed to relieve the stress many current home owners/sellers are feeling at the prospects of owing taxes on the "Phantom Income" earned when their debt is forgiven. Whether through a foreclosure or a short sale, lenders usually end up forgiving the mortgage debt that was not repaid. Under previous tax codes, this unpaid loan amount was considered a "gain" to the borrower and thus taxable "Phantom Income" at the tax payer's ordinary income tax rate.

The Debt Relief Act eliminates all or part of the tax consequences of forgiven mortgage debt for borrowers under very specific situations. These rules must be met in order for the forgiven debt not to be a taxable event:

The debt must be discharged (forgiven) between January 1^st, 2007 and January 1^st, 2010.
The property sold/foreclosed on must be the borrower's principal residence under the tax code, meaning the borrower must have lived in the home for a minimum of 2 of the previous 5 years.
The debt canceled must be "Qualified Principal Residence Indebtedness" which means that it is a loan that was used to acquire, construct or substantially improve a property.

Thus, loans used to purchase 2^nd homes, investment real estate, etc do not qualify under this new provision.

In addition, refinances usually only qualify up to the original amount borrowed to purchase the home. For example, a borrower buys a principal residence for $450,000 by securing a loan for $400,000. Later the home's value drops to $300,000 and is sold through a short sale for this amount. Ignoring expenses, penalties, and any principle that may have been paid down, the lender has forgiven $100,000 in debt. Under this scenario, the debt would not be taxable.

However, assume this same principal residence was originally purchased for $300,000 with an original loan of $250,000. The home appreciated to $450,000 and the homeowner refinanced for $400,000. The value then drops back down to $300,000 and is sold for that amount with the lender forgiving $100,000 in debt. Since the amount owed of $400,000 was greater than the original loan amount of $250,000, the first $150,000 in forgiven debt is taxable.

There are other complicated rules governing the taxation (or not) of forgiven debt, so anyone finding themselves in this situation should consult their tax advisor or attorney for clarification in their specific situation.

BUYING AN AUCTION BARGAIN

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:45:47 -0600

Prospective homeowners and investors are looking to snatch up bargains at auctions being held to sell lots of homes that have been foreclosed on by banks. As you drive around many towns, you'll see the ‘auction' signs directing you to homes that are up for auction and when you get to the homes, there will usually be additional information on when and where the auction will be held. Are there really bargains to be had? Sometimes.

At the auctions I've attended, auction companies will auction anywhere from 1 or 2 homes to literally hundreds of homes over a couple of days. At the auctions, every home receives a ‘winning bid' which represented the highest amount offered that day. However, these bids do not have to be accepted by the banks who are the sellers.

I always thought the highest bidder is the winner. Well not quite. There are different types of auctions. An ‘absolute' auction is what I was thinking of. These are where there is no minimum bid required and the highest bid price is what the home will sell for. However, most auctions of bank owned homes are not ‘absolute' auctions, but rather, subject to the seller's (bank's) approval. This means the bank will review the offer and let the winning bidder know in a week or two if they'll accept the offer.

The most recent auction I watched was last month and an agent friend of mine did successfully buy a home for $329,000 (including the buyer's premium, which I'll explain below) in Brentwood that I feel is currently worth about $400,000. So my friend bought this home for about $70,000 under market value, or around an 18% discount. A good deal indeed, and he plans on renting it out.

At that same auction, I represented a client in an attempt to purchase a home in Antioch for $280,000 (including buyer's premium). With my estimate of the home's value being $390,000, this represented a very nice discount of approximately 28%. However, the bank declined that offer, asking if my buyer would consider increasing the offer to the mid-$300,000's. That would make no sense for most investors. We turned down their counter-offer.

Offer? Counter-offer? Doesn't sound like an auction, but more like traditional real estate sales where a buyer makes an offer and the seller responds to the offer. And since most auction buyers are investors looking for the ‘screaming good deal' and the banks are trying to recoup as much of their loan losses as possible, I understand why most deals do not come together.

Of the 20+ homes that I tracked at that November 2007 auction, banks have only accepted about 15% of the highest bids to date, with most being declined. I'd be surprised if more than 20% end up selling. The auction company's literature states that over 90% of high bids are accepted by the banks. This was definitely not the case at this auction, however, a few deals were successfully worked out.

There are many things to be aware of when buying auction properties.

The homes are sold ‘as-is', meaning that you are not allowed to ask for any repairs to be made. The banks usually do not have any inspections completed, so it is up to the buyer to inspect the property as thoroughly as possible, including having professional inspectors look at the home if they want. There are usually one to three dates within a couple of weeks of the auction date where you can preview the home.
Most auctions require that you put down from 5-10% of the winning bid as a down payment. Usually a portion needs to be in a cashier's check with the balance in the form of a personal check. You can get traditional loans to purchase auction properties (unlike buying at trustee sales on the courthouse steps where you need the full amount in cashier's checks at the time of purchase). However, at some auctions there is no contingency for financing, meaning that you have to know that you can get the loan. If your bid is accepted by the seller, your deposit is at risk if you end up not getting your loan.
The auction companies make their money by either charging the sellers a commission to auction the homes or by charging the buyers a "buyer's premium". Buyer's premiums are common in the auction industry, but somewhat foreign to the real estate industry. A buyer's premium is a percentage of the winning bid that is added onto the bid amount to establish the final purchase price. Buyer's premiums usually range from 5-10% of the bid price. In the case of my friend, the winning bid was $313,000 and the buyer's premium was 5%. This made the final price $328,650. Make sure you take the buyer's premium into account when determining what to bid for auction homes.

While the best deals may often be turned down by the banks, there will be some deals for investors. If a buyer is looking for a home to purchase and live in, this is a fantastic way to buy a home for 10-20% below its current fair market value. If you'd like to be notified of upcoming auctions, please feel free to call or email me and I'll add you to my "Auction Notification List".

THINKING OF DOWN-SIZING?

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 11:03:14 -0600

There are many reasons for wanting to buy a smaller home. The kids have moved out and 5 bedrooms are no longer needed. The current home or yard have become too much to clean & maintain. Baby-boomers are preparing for retirement.

Regardless of why you are considering buying a smaller home, how should you approach this situation in the current market? It depends upon your timing, relative home prices and what home values are doing where you next wish to live.

If you know you are going to sell & buy in the next year or two and the current value of your desired new home is considerably less than your current home, then you should sell as soon as is feasible for you. This is because as prices decline, the values of the homes become closer which results in a net loss in equity.

If everything drops 10% in value over the next year, then the value of a current $600,000 home drops to $540,000 and the new smaller home that is today worth $400,000 drops to $360,000. The difference in prices changed from $200,000 to $180,000 and that $20,000 change in the spread is a net loss to the seller.

The situation can be far more dramatic for home owners who are considering selling and moving to an area of the country where prices are flat or perhaps even rising. Say you want to retire in beautiful Charlotte, North Carolina where you can buy your dream home today for $300,000. If homes there continue to appreciate over the next year, say 5% or $15,000, while the home here depreciates by $60,000, the real loss in net worth is $75,000 for waiting one year to retire & sell.

This can be a huge hit to a baby-boomer's retirement nest egg. Thus, if you are considering selling your current home & buying a less expensive home in a depreciating market, it is best to do so sooner than later.

However, if your dream smaller home happens to be more expensive than your current home, and is located in an area which is also experiencing declining prices, then you do not need to be in a rush to sell & buy quickly. There are two benefits to taking your time. Firstly, the price difference between the homes would be narrowing, meaning that ‘net loss' discussed above becomes a ‘net gain'. Secondly, waiting will allow buyers to purchase at a lower price which will result in slightly lower buying expenses and lower property taxes.

FAMILY BAILOUT PLAN – GOOD OR BAD IDEA?

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 18:15:44 -0500

Record numbers of home owners in East Contra Costa County, as well as the country, are struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments with most of them owing more than their homes are currently worth. Many of them are on the brink of not being able to make their payments and fall into the foreclosure process. I've had several owners ask me if they should ask relatives to help bail them out of their predicament.

In most cases, the answer is no. In most cases owners would be throwing good money after bad and feeling even worse because now they owe money to their family members as well as the bank. The bottom line is that if a relative's loan only postpones the inevitable loss of the home, they should not ask for or accept generous bailout offers. The owner is not only going to lose the home, but feel horrible for accepting money from relatives that they cannot repay.

Owners in this situation must honestly evaluate why they're in the situation of not being able to afford their homes. For most people stuck in this situation, it is because they borrowed more than they should have using low adjustable rate loans. With interest rates adjusting upwards, their payments have increased from uncomfortable to unmanageable. If accepting a loan or gift from a family member does not eliminate the cause of the problem, the owners are likely to find themselves in the same situation once the borrowed amount is spent.

There are a few cases where, in my opinion, it actually does make sense to accept an offer of financial assistance from family members. If the owners are in this situation due to a temporary set-back, such as a loss of job, medical expenses, etc, then it would be logical to accept the loan as a ‘bridge' solution until the owners get back on their feet financially and can resume making their house payments and pay back the borrowed funds.

Another case where borrowing money makes sense is when owners who have equity in their homes, but cannot afford the monthly payments and are at risk of losing the home in foreclosure. If they sell their home, they'll walk away with cash and save their credit scores. Before borrowing the funds, get a reality check from a trusted real estate agent on how much the home would sell for and how much would be netted after sales expenses and existing liens against the home. If the sale nets enough to repay the borrowed money and have cash left over, then it makes sense to borrow the money, keep the home from being foreclosed on, then sell the home.

Lastly, if you have an obscenely rich relative who will never need the money back and can really bail you out with a large sum of money, (enough that you can payoff your loan sufficiently to be able to afford a new lower payment) then go for it and be thankful.

As a final comment, regardless of the home owners reason for the predicament and believe they'll be able to recover, it is never wise to borrow a family member's money if it is going to create a financial hardship on the kind relative.

RELOCATION PACKAGES

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:15:36 -0500

Congratulations! You've been recognized for your talents as a valuable employee and offered a promotion within your company. You'll soon be tackling exciting new responsibilities. One of the first challenges is that your employer wants you across country in 2-3 weeks and you have a family, kids in school, pets, a home to sell, etc.

Most employers realize that a job change which requires a move at the same time can be quite stressful. In order to make the transition as smooth and stress-free as possible, many employers offer relocation packages to their employees. These packages are designed to reduce many of the headaches associated with a sudden move as well as pay many of the expenses.

The services they offer vary widely from employer to employer as well as the type of position you're moving up to within your company. Typical packages are coordinated through relocation companies and include travel & temporary housing allowances, moving services and real estate services on the selling and buying end.

The wonderful thing about most relocation deals is that they pay the typical expenses associated with selling and buying your homes. These costs include inspections, title & escrow fees, loan fees, real estate commissions, etc. These expenses typically equal 7-8% of the selling price of a home and 2-3% of the purchase price of the new home. This savings of $50,000+ allows most relocated employees to transfer all of their equity into their new home.

Relocation companies have relationships with real estate brokers and are going to request that you get written bids from 2 to 3 agents. It is important to understand that you usually have the right to interview and hire any agent you think will be best for you, so long as the agent/broker agrees to the relocation company's terms. So if you have a preferred agent, who is familiar with you and your home, make sure you interview that agent as one of the 2 or 3 agents.

HOW SHOULD I LEAVE MY HOME?

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:04:21 -0500

Many sellers wonder what their responsibilities are when they turn over possession of the home they just sold to the new owners. How clean should the home be, where do they leave the keys and remotes, when do they turn off the power, etc. I feel the Golden Rule sets a terrific guideline here: "Leave the home as you would like to receive it if you were the new owners."

Would you like to move in to find out that the water was already shut off, the carpets need cleaning before you bring your furniture in and there are bags of garbage on the side yard? Of course not.

Here are my basic recommendations in these areas. Arrange in advance with your real estate agent an appropriate place to leave your keys (house, mail box, pool, etc), remote controls, paperwork, alarm codes, etc. The paperwork should include original builder manuals and warranties as well as those from any improvements such as a pool or new appliances.

Schedule the phone, tv/cable, mail service and any other non-essential services to be transferred to your new home or turned off as of your last day in your old home.

Schedule the PG&E and water services to be turned off 2-3 days after you give possession to the new owners. Keep the garbage service in your name until the garbage is picked up after you move out. Communicate this timing to the new owners, through your agent, so they will know when to make sure these items are set up in their names, ensuring uninterrupted service.

It is a great idea to leave the new owners a note detailing what you've left them, basic instructions on the systems of the home (alarm, spa, sprinklers, etc), the names and numbers of service providers such as gardeners, and simple stuff like your mailbox # and garbage pickup day. Your buyers will appreciate your extra effort, just as you would if you were moving in.

Every seller has a different view on how clean they should leave their home for the new owners, just as each buyer has different expectations on how clean it should be when they move in. Most sellers are very conscientious about how clean they leave the home, while a few do not seem to care.

So how clean should you leave your home when you move out? Contractually you are usually obligated to a minimum standard of maintaining your home in "substantially the same condition as on the date of acceptance" of the buyer's offer. This means that if your home was filthy when the offer was made, you may leave your home dirty and if your home was immaculately clean when you accepted your offer, you're obligated to leave it very clean.

In addition, the standard California Association of Realtors® Purchase Agreement states that "all debris and personal property shall be removed" unless agreed upon otherwise. So you may not leave your old car parts, unwanted furniture or bags of garbage when you move out.

Beyond these minimal contractual obligations, many agents will tell their sellers that after moving out, they should do a final ‘wipe down' of all surfaces and leave the home and garage ‘broom swept'.

Since the buyers of your home likely just paid more than a half a million dollars for your home, why not have a professional home cleaner do a ‘move-out' cleaning, have the carpets steam cleaned and have a yard care service maintain the yard for a week or two after you move out. All of this will cost you less than 1/10^th of 1% of what you sold your home for in most cases.

If you decide to clean your home yourself, make sure you leave enough time to do the job properly. Remember that you've just moved most of your worldly possessions, which often takes longer than you think it should and you'll be tired.

KEYS TO SELLING A VACANT HOME!

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 15:20:58 -0500

For many reasons, home sellers often find themselves in the position of selling a home that is vacant. Job changes, family emergencies, or simply buying another home prior to selling an existing home will result in the need to sell a vacant home.

Homes that look like ‘model homes' typically sell more quickly, and for more money (even though the beautiful furnishings and décor are not staying with the home). Buyers easily envision themselves living with comparable surroundings, making the purchase decision easier as well. So what is the best way to sell a vacant home when the home will not have the benefit of beautiful decor?

The key is that the home must show bright, clean, open, airy and as perfect as possible. When you move out of a home, it is amazing how many dust-bunnies have accumulated, how many spots on the walls need touch up paint, and you are reminded of the original color of your carpet where your couch used to sit. The slightest flaws are emphasized when there is nothing else to look at in a room. It is amazing how a broken outlet cover jumps out at you when there is nothing else to focus on in a room.

When possible, I suggest my clients have vacant homes painted, carpets cleaned or replaced, landscaping neatened up, and the home have a thorough professional cleaning. One of my sellers earlier this year spent over $12,000 to have their vacant home painted inside, re-carpeted, cleaned, some electrical repairs completed, some light fixtures replaced and the landscaping touched up.

Before completing these items, the home would have been viewed as a fixer-upper, with every issue being magnified. Once these items were completed, the home showed beautifully. The bottom line is that the home sold at a reasonable price that I am confident was $20,000 to $30,000 more than the seller would have received in the home's previous condition, making the cost of improvements a wise investment. In addition, my client's home was one of the few to actually sell in their neighborhood during the past 6 months and now there are two of the same model priced $25,000 and $35,000 less than what my client's home sold for.

YOU TOO CAN HELP PREVENT THE SPREAD OF WEST NILE VIRUS!

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:13:02 -0500

A representative of the Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District spoke at each of the local real estate agent tour meetings explaining how we as agents, as well as the general public, can help to prevent the spread of West Nile Virus.

First a little background:

West Nile Virus is a disease carried by birds and spread from bird to bird by infected mosquitoes. People, and other animals, can be infected as well by mosquitoes. Most people will never show symptoms or realize they were infected (1 in 150 infected people show symptoms according to the Mosquito & Vector Control District). In rare cases though, people can become very ill or even die from the infection. Other animals have a much higher death rate, such as horses where 1 in 3 affected horses will die.

So the key to preventing the spread of West Nile Virus lies in preventing the breeding of mosquitoes as well as the avoidance of being bitten by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes breed in standing untreated water, and it does not have to be much water either. Examples of prime breeding areas are neglected pools & spas, ponds, fountains, animal troughs and even items that capture & hold sprinkler or rain water such as old tires, Frisbees, etc.

Why did the District meet with local real estate agents?

The District uses many methods of communicating with the public. In the current housing market, with such a high number of vacant homes, they realized that agents list, view and show these vacant homes and can be part of the front line of defense in reporting these potential mosquito habitats. They also asked us to share with our clients this information so that our clients could eliminate potential breeding sources and report on other sources at vacant homes around them.

How to eliminate potential mosquito breeding areas:

The best way is to make sure all water sources are properly maintained. Pools, spas, ponds, fountains etc that have filtered and chlorinated water will not be suitable breeding spots. If you have a natural pond or other water feature, one of the best methods is to stock the water with mosquitofish. The District will provide these fish to you free of charge. These fish will eat up to 500 mosquito larvae per day and will repopulate your water feature to keep it mosquito free for years.

Dump and change water frequently. If you have pets with outdoor water bowls, dump the water every day and replace with fresh water. Any standing water, such as in old wheel barrows, coffee cans, tires, etc should be dumped out.

If the potential problem area is with another home, talk with the owner or report it to the district so that they can deal with the owner.

How to report areas of concern, or learn more:

If you suspect any home has standing & improperly maintained water, report it to the Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District at either (925) 685-9301 or you can email them at ccmvcd@ccmvcd.net.

You can learn more about prevention at the District's website: http://www.ccmvcd.dst.ca.us/.

Your property tax dollars at work:

The District is actually a public health agency, funded by the property taxes all property owners pay every year.

HAVE A LOT OF CASH? BUY A FORECLOSURE!

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:41:06 -0500

One of the most common questions I am asked is "Can you really buy houses on the courthouse steps and how does it work?" Especially now, with all of the news of home owners losing their homes to foreclosure in record numbers, investors and home owners alike want to buy homes and make huge profits or pick up instant equity. If you go to the courthouse steps in Martinez any Monday through Friday at 10:00 am or 1:30 pm, you'll see that it is possible. The trustee sales are held at the top of the steps, just across the street from McDonalds.

How it works is relatively simple. The auctioneer opens up the bidding by placing an initial bid on behalf of the lender for the amount owed the lender plus penalties and fees. If anyone else present wishes to buy the home, they may bid on it and the highest bid wins. Well over 95% of the homes are purchased by the lenders at the initial bid price. This is because there is very little or no equity in the homes, making it pointless for other potential buyers to bid on the properties.

I attended an auction in January where 20 homes were to be sold. Eight of them were postponed or canceled for various reasons and of the remaining twelve, eleven were bought by the banks at the initial bid prices. The one home that was bid up was the one that I was there to try to buy. I estimated its value conservatively at $360,000. The opening bid was around $150,000 and it was bid up by six bidders to $291,000 and was ultimately bought by a friend of mine who's a real estate agent as well. This was more than I was willing to pay, but probably still a good deal.

She ended up listing the home for $369,000 and selling it very quickly for $350,000. The home was in good shape, which is unusual in foreclosed on homes, only needing a fresh coat of paint to be ready to sell. After fix-up costs, selling expenses, and carrying costs, my friend had profits of around $45,000 before income taxes.

There are many challenges and risks involved in purchasing homes at trustee sales. The major challenge for most people is that you have to pay in full for the home at the time you purchase it. This means bringing cashiers checks totaling as much or more than the purchase price. Some people may have $200,000 to $500,000 sitting in a bank account, but for many investors, that means drawing equity out of other real estate to buy foreclosures. Thus, they are shifting some of the risk onto their current home.

Another major risk includes unknowingly assuming other liabilities. When a home is sold at foreclosure, junior liens to the lien initiating the foreclosure are wiped out. So if a home has two mortgages, and the first mortgagor forecloses, the second loan is removed from the property. (Junior lien holders will know of the foreclosure, and if they feel there's sufficient equity to recoup part or all of their loan, they can bid to buy the home as well) However, if the second mortgagor initiates the foreclosure, the home is sold to the buyer subject to the first mortgage. There can be other instances where the buyer will be responsible for other debts on the home as well, such as certain types of taxes the former owner may have owed.

A third significant risk is that unlike buying most resale homes, you typically do not get a chance to preview the home prior to buying it. You are buying a home that sellers lost due to their financial inability to make the house payments, so their motivation (or ability) to maintain the home has understandably dropped as well. Thus, quite often buyers end up with fixer-upper homes. So foreclosure investors end up with unknown fix-up expenses and time for repairs.

However, if you have the stomach to face the risks, and do enough investigating prior to making an offer, then there are definitely a few homes that will be sold on the court house steps to investors who'll make a tidy profit.

The Art of Moving

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 01:23:09 -0500

Congratulations! You got the keys to your new home. You're very excited until reality hits: now you have to pack and move everything you own.

The simplest way to move is to hire professional movers. They will come out, pack everything you did not pack (even your dirty dishes). They supply all of the packing materials, moving equipment, labor, vehicles and even insure everything they pack in the event of damage. They will load all of your possessions, transport them, and then unload them into the designated rooms of your new home.

They will provide clients with a list of helpful hints to make your move smooth as well as items they are not permitted to move such as chemicals and flammable items. For local moves, fees will often be based on time (you will save $$$ by packing your items) while long distance moves fees will be charged based on weight & miles (you will save $$$ by disposing of the 10 year collection of Car & Driver! magazine).

Another way of moving is to hire a service that drops a large container on your driveway a few days prior to the move date. You would then have a few days to pack & load all of your items into the containers. The service would then transport the containers to your new driveway where you would have a few days to unload everything. While this method may save you some money, it does not normally insure your property and you provide nearly all of the packing, loading & unloading labor.

The least expensive method is the ‘food & drinks' method of calling all family & friends over for the pleasure of helping you move, during which you'll provide a delicious take-out meal. You'll want to make sure you do all you can in advance of your crew arriving. Buy a bunch of moving boxes & packing tape. Borrow or rent a 2 wheel dolly, a 4 wheel dolly, a refrigerator dolly if needed and a bunch of moving blankets to pad your stuff. You can find most of these items at your local moving company store and most rental facilities.

Box & label your belongings before your friends show up to make the best use of your friends' time, and so that items are protected the way you want them protected. Otherwise your best friend may very well help you pack your cd collection with your fishing lure collection using your grandmother's antique doilies to protect one from the other. Always keep in mind that there is no insurance for your items when paying with pizza & beer.

Signing on the Dotted Line

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:16:47 -0500

One of the final steps in buying a home is to sit down with the escrow officer at the title company and sign the paperwork. For sellers, it's a small hill of papers, while for buyers, it often seems a mind-boggling mountain of forms.

It is important that buyers and sellers arrive at the signing prepared in several ways. Firstly, each person signing needs to bring approved photo identification, such as a state driver's license. The notary will need a copy, as well as a thumb print, as proof of who is signing.

Secondly, each party should have an understanding of what their costs and proceeds should be. This can be provided by the real estate agent, lender and/or escrow officer. This way, each party can compare their expected costs and proceeds to the actual numbers prepared by the title company and question any discrepancies.

This leads to the third, and probably most important, area to prepare for. That is to be ready to ask questions. There are a lot of forms and numbers sliding across the table in front of buyers and sellers. Each of them is important and signers should understand what they are signing. Never be afraid to say "I don't understand this form, can you please explain it to me?" Hopefully your real estate agent is there with you, and between your agent and the notary, they can explain in understandable terms what each item is.

Lastly, if you're the buyer, bring a cashier's check for the balance due, made out to the title company. (Amazingly, when my wife & I bought our first home, no one ever told us this check had to be certified funds and we brought in a personal check. Having to get a cashier check caused us to close escrow one day late.) If you're the seller, figure out ahead of time if you want the funds due you to be issued via check from the title company, wired to your bank account, put towards another escrow (for a new property you're purchasing) or split amongst these methods.

Once everyone has completed signing, the buyer's loan documents go back to the lender(s) who perform a final review. Then, if no new issues come up, the lender wires the loan amount to the title company.

The title company disburses the funds to pay the seller's outstanding loans and service providers such as the real estate agents. All remaining money is issued to the seller in either a check, a wire transfer, or is applied to another escrow for the seller's next home purchase.

REQUESTING REPAIRS ~ It's not a blank check to create a dream home!

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:46:52 -0500

Most of my buyers eventually ask me a great question (I've been fortunate to have so many wonderful & smart clients): "Once we've completed our inspections of the home we're buying, what are appropriate & reasonable repairs to request the sellers to complete?"

My position, which I share with both sellers and buyers, is that it is reasonable to request repairs of any active water or pest damage (usually identified on the pest inspection report) and any safety related issues (faulty electrical wiring). It is also acceptable to request that structural or system defects are fixed if they were not obvious when the offer was made.

Items such as damaged roofing and faulty windows are not usually known to buyers when they make their offer. The buyer likely assumed that these items were working properly when they made their offer and the price they've agreed to pay for the home did not factor in these repairs. Thus it is reasonable to expect the sellers to repair these items, offer credits sufficient to cover the cost of repairs or reduce the sales price accordingly.

On the other hand, if the sellers disclosed that the air conditioning does not work properly, the buyers probably took that into consideration when making their offer. They've likely reduced the price accordingly or asked in the offer that the air conditioning be repaired. In my opinion, it is not usually appropriate later in the deal to request this repair be completed since it was known to the buyer prior to submitting the offer.

Ultimately all repairs are negotiable. It is up to each buyer to decide what they'd like to request and each seller to decide if they'll agree to all, some, or none of the requested repairs. If the buyer has not removed their property condition contingency, they can cancel the purchase if an agreement on repairs cannot be reached.

When both parties realize that no home is perfect and negotiate in good faith, there are rarely any serious issues over negotiating repairs.

KNOW WHAT YOU ARE BUYING!

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:16:41 -0500

When buyers find a home that meets their needs, it's time to fully understand what they are buying. The sellers must disclose everything they know about the home and the buyers have the responsibility to inspect the home until they are completely comfortable with all aspects of the home they are buying.

I always insist that my buyers have home and pest inspections completed at a minimum. If there's a pool, I always strongly suggest having it inspected as well. Based on the findings in these inspections and the buyer's desires, they may also have the roof, chimney or anything else they wish inspected.

Most homes have minor issues, and some have serious issues, that are not visually obvious. It is better to find out about a clogged dishwasher drain line (and have it repaired) before you move in to your new home, rather than by cleaning your dishes the first time and feeling like "Old Faithful" just erupted in your kitchen.

I had a buyer recently whose home inspection found that the GFCI outlets in the bathrooms were not wired correctly. They did not trip when they should, which poses a serious threat of shock. This was an issue that we insisted was repaired prior to closing escrow on the purchase.

I once represented a seller whose home was literally sliding off its foundation. This was not obvious to the untrained eye, including mine and the sellers. The buyer's home inspector had concerns about the foundation so they called in a structural inspector at a cost of $800 to the buyer. This inspector said the home would eventually fall off its foundation if repairs were not made. The first buyer backed out of the deal and we found another buyer who was willing to purchase the home as-is with a full understanding of the issue.

During the escrow process, while buyers are completing their inspections, the sellers and the real estate agents involved have the obligation to complete a myriad of disclosures, sharing everything they know about the home with the buyers. While all of the disclosures are important, some contain information that buyers find most relative to their decision making process.

I place special emphasis on the Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) and any addendums or supplements to the TDS. The TDS is completed by the seller and the agents. The seller must indicate what the home includes (dishwasher, garbage disposal, gas water heater, etc) as well as if these items are all in proper operating condition. The sellers must also indicate whether or not they are aware of any significant defects in the structural components of the home (walls, plumbing, roof, electrical, etc).

The agents representing the seller and buyer are also required to complete a visual inspection of the home, and disclose their observations in the TDS. Typical findings in my inspections are normal ‘wear & tear' items, such as marks on walls & floors, hairline drywall & stucco cracks, etc. It can also include such other items as the homes proximity to a busy street or school.

Other important items to watch for in the disclosures: Have there been pets in the home and are there pet odors? Have there been insurance claims against the home? Is the home located in a flood, fire or earthquake zone? Has there been any mold in the home? Have there been repairs or improvements made to the home that were done without permits, or not up to code?

Armed with all of these disclosures and the inspections, the buyer should be well enough informed to decide to either continue with the purchase as is, request some repairs be completed, or cancel the purchase. The goal is to be a fully informed buyer, rather than a surprised (when it may be too late) home owner.

FIRST TIME BUYERS ~ PREPARE A STONG OFFER!

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:00:57 -0500

I'm often asked by first time buyers, "How do we write an offer that a seller will accept?". It's a great question. In a buyer's market like we're experiencing today, that usually means the buyer wants to get the home for considerably less than asking price. A couple of years ago when multiple offers were common, the challenge was to simply be the winning bidder.

Once my buyers identify a home to buy, I always begin by preparing my market analysis of the home's value. It is important to understand this value range, regardless of the asking price, so that my buyers can submit a quality offer at a justifiable price.

While price is the key component of most offers, there are many other factors that sellers take into consideration when determining whether to accept, counter, or reject an offer. Most sellers' greatest concern today is knowing that an accepted offer will result in a successful sale. Some easy ways to assure sellers of this are to point out that as first time buyers, your offer is not contingent upon the sale of another home. Also make sure that you are pre-approved for your financing and have your agent communicate this to the seller. Currently, with the upheaval in lending, this is of great concern to sellers and their agents. Also demonstrate that you are willing to complete your investigations of the property, remove contingencies & close escrow quickly (if your agent has determined this is important to the seller) by shortening the customary time frames to do so.

It is beneficial for buyers to be as flexible as possible, especially if offering a price the sellers may view as low. For example, an offer is stronger when the buyers are willing to allow a rent back to the seller, be flexible on the close of escrow date or express a willingness to not ask the sellers to make lots of repairs. Look at any offer you are submitting from the ‘big picture' standpoint of ‘are you getting a good deal on a home you'll love owning?'.

A great offer should also be accompanied by a great cover letter. The cover letter should point out the benefits of the overall offer as well as the qualities of the buyers themselves.

FIRST TIME BUYERS ~ USING THE INTERNET TO SEARCH FOR HOMES!

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:28:40 -0500

Finding the best home for your housing needs can be quite challenging. The key is receiving pertinent information in a timely manner. Last BLOG I discussed the benefits of using a real estate agent to monitor the available homes on your behalf. The Internet provides another timely method of staying on top of the real estate market.

Local agent websites, such as mine at www.GlennsHomes.com, usually have two areas where you can search for homes. The first is the agent's ‘personal listings'. These are homes that the agent has listed for sale. Most of them will be on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), though some may be ‘coming soon' or exclusive listings, which are not listed on the MLS.

The second home search area provided on some agent websites is the MLS, allowing viewers to access all homes listed in the local MLS. Details vary from site to site, but most allow you to set up certain search criteria. For example, it is easy to set up a search of 4+ bedroom, 2,500+ square foot homes in Brentwood priced up to $725,000. You can search one time only, or you can save these search selections and have new homes automatically emailed to you as they come up for sale. In this way, you are automatically notified of new homes that meet your basic needs.

If you are considering a move to another area, you can either find an agent local to that market who has a website serving that area, or you can use www.realtor.com which gathers data from most MLS systems around the country to create a huge database of homes throughout the country.

Studies show that 70%+ of all home buyers use the Internet in some capacity to look for homes during their search process. Using the Internet and automatic email updates is free and easy. Feel free to experiment on my website.

FIRST TIME BUYERS ~ SEARCHING FOR HOMES

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 12:48:11 -0500

Over the past several postings I've laid out a game plan for first time home buyers which includes selecting a real estate agent & lender, determining what you can afford and identifying what you need in your home vs. what you want. So what is the best way to find a home?

There are many ways to search for homes, and it is best to keep all options open because you never know how you will find the best home for you. There are two methods for identifying homes that greatly increase your chances of being the first to know when new homes become available: Your real estate agent and the Internet.

Your agent will monitor the market for you and contact you as new homes become available. I try to check the MLS several times a day for new homes that meet my active buyers' needs. When a new home comes on the market that seems perfect, I contact my client immediately and suggest we look at it as soon as convenient for them. If a new home is close to my clients' needs, but there is something not quite right, then I'll discuss it with them and set up a time to show it to them if they'd like to see it.

When your agent shows you homes that appear to meet your basic needs, it is best to share with the agent exactly what you like and don't like about any given home. This way, your agent learns even more specifically what you like. As additional homes become available, your agent can preview them for you, weeding out the ones that would not work for you. Over time, you should find that the homes you are viewing with your agent are becoming more closely aligned with your housing needs.

Next posting I'll focus on using the Internet to search for homes. Other methods that buyers should use include visiting open houses, reading agent ads, driving the neighborhoods you'd like to live in, watching for ‘coming soon' signs, talking with friends, etc.

FIRST TIME BUYERS ~ NEED vs. WANT!

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 12:50:12 -0500

If money were no object, we'd all own our dream homes. Thankfully, life is not quite that easy. Most of us have to work up to the homes of our dreams, and we earn a level of self-appreciation for having done so. First time home buyers face the question of "What do I really need?" vs. "What do I want?" when looking for a home.

Start by writing a brief description of your basic acceptable home. Then make a list of common home features such as: bedrooms, bathrooms, size, yard, garage, age, condition, living room, dining room, fireplace, pool, spa, stories, schools, area of town, etc. Then for each feature, list its level of importance and your minimum needs and wants.

Once you've completed this exercise, consider your current lifestyle and anticipated life changes. If you are newly married and thinking of starting a family, then the 2 bedroom condo that meets your basic needs today may very well not meet your needs in a year. Since you'll likely be in your home for 2 - 5 years at a minimum, you may want to adjust a few of your needs to accommodate anticipated life changes now, rather than later.

Answering these questions early on in the house hunting process will help your real estate agent identify homes that meet your basic needs. Contact me to receive a free copy of my Buyer Questionnaire which will help you get a jump start on analyzing your housing needs.

The exciting news is that in many cases you will also be able to find a home with many of the items on your ‘want' list. I remember the excitement of one client who bought their first home which met their basic needs: 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, single story, nice neighborhood and fenced in yard. The exciting part for them was the things they were able to get that were on their want list: a large yard with a fenced in pool, basketball area, dog pen and a second full bathroom.

PRETENDING TO OWN A HOME MAKES ACTUAL OWNERSHIP EVEN EASIER!

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 10:59:44 -0500

When my wife Rene and I were first married one of our goals was to buy a home as quickly as possible. This was in the late 80's in San Jose, California and there were a few challenges in front of us. We had no money (we spent Rene's on the wedding & honeymoon and I had none), we had low wage jobs, interest rates were very high at around 10% and homes were appreciating quickly. On top of that, unlike recent years, you typically had to have a 10% down payment and funds to cover your closing costs in order to buy a home.

We had determined that there were homes available that met our basic needs priced from $100,000 to $130,000, that we'd likely go with an adjustable rate mortgage around 9.5% and have a monthly payment of around $1,200 per month. We felt as though we could afford this payment, though it would be tough.

In order to get comfortable with this monthly payment, we decided to start living as though we already had a $1,200 house payment. So every month we'd pay our rent of $400 and put the remaining $800 of our ‘imaginary house payment' into a savings account. When we got a little extra money, such as Christmas bonuses, we'd put a portion of it in our housing fund. After a while, the interest started to grow nicely as well. Over the course of 16 months, we saved more than $15,000 and did buy our first home for $128,000 with a 10% down payment and covered our closing costs. (Now I wish we'd bought 10 homes in this price range, but at the time it felt like we were taking on the national debt.)

I encourage first time buyers to pretend that they own a home immediately by living the budget of owning a home by saving the difference of their projected house payment and their current housing costs. When done successfully over a period of time, a couple of great things will happen. They will prove to themselves that they can afford a home payment.

In addition, they will save money extremely quickly which can be used towards their closing costs and down payment. Buyers who have accumulated funds to use towards the purchase a home are very desirable and thus they can make more aggressive offers resulting in a better purchase price or other terms.

An additional bonus: Once they buy a home, they will likely find that making the actual house payment is even easier than making the ‘imaginary house payment' due to the tax benefits of owning a home. Ask your tax professional how home ownership would affect your taxes. If you do not have a tax professional, contact me and I'll give you my CPA's name & number.

RELAY FOR LIFE A HUGE SUCCESS

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 09:30:53 -0500

My daughter, Kirsten, and I walked with the two Sharp Realty teams at our local Relay for Life event sponsored by the American Cancer Society on June 23rd & 24th where the preliminary numbers indicate that we raised over $265,000 to donate towards fighting cancer. This is a substantial increase over the $202,000 raised last year. This is only Brentwood's 3^rd annual event and it's getting bigger & better each year. This great success would not be possible without everyone's support, so again, thanks to all who supported & donated to the cause.

We actually had a really good time, while we were doing all of this. There were many fun moments as well as some emotional moments. Here are a few of my more poignant moments:

The 24 hour walk always starts with the survivor lap, where those who are currently fighting, or have survived cancer, walk the first lap. It is amazing seeing how many people locally have been affected by cancer and quite emotional knowing that every one of these people and their families has been so dramatically affected. In that crowd is my friend Rochelle, my friend Allen's mom and our friend's the Swisher's young son Britton. Here's a picture I took of the survivor lap:

At dusk, there was a luminary ceremony where the entire high school track was lined with luminaries dedicated to those who are surviving or have passed away from cancer. There were some inspirational readings, a couple of beautiful songs sung wonderfully by Kirsten's good friend Sami (Wind Beneath My Wings & Don't Forget to Remember Me) and a very emotional & personal sharing by Brian Swisher of the affect of Leukemia on his son Britton and their whole family. Brian struggled to re-tell of the horrors of going through that experience and the toll it took on Britton and their family. He shared that the survival rate with this kind of cancer has improved from essentially a death sentence a mere 30-40 years ago to being survived over 65% of the time now. It is the money raised and research done that has resulted in this dramatic improvement. He thanked everyone for their participation and stated that everyone who works to raise money, educate & perform research are heroes in today's world. Brian shared that while we know many causes of many cancers and there are many preventative measures that we know we can take to minimize our risks of getting certain kinds of cancer, there are other kinds of cancer, such as Leukemia, that we don't understand why people become afflicted. The only solution for these cancers at the moment is effective treatment after coming down with it. Britton spent over 6 months in San Francisco in a cancer ward where he endured chemotherapy, bone marrow transplants & more. Fortunately, Britton is doing very well now, because of the funds raised and research done in the past. The Swishers and all of us look forward to the day when no one has to hear the dreaded words, "You have cancer".

Kirsten, Sami & I walked two hours for our teams from 2 am until 4 am Sunday morning. Last year, Kirsten & I spent the whole time together. This year, Kirsten & Sami walked mostly by themselves visiting & having a good time. For over 1 ½ hours I walked by myself and just thought. I spent much of the time thinking happy thoughts about my dad, boy do I miss him. I thought about many friends and family who've had cancer. There are many cancer survivors/fighters: Rochelle, Britton, Allen's mom, June N., Quinn, John D., Mike M. and others. And there have been many that have passed away from cancer: Matthew H., Berta, and so many others. I wanted each of them and their families to know that they were in my thoughts. I spent a lot of time being thankful that Rene, Garrett & Kirsten have not been stricken with cancer. I wondered what more I could do to help raise funds or otherwise help. I was pleased that Kirsten & Sami found me when there was just about 15 minutes left and we walked hand in hand around the track.

It was a great 24 hours and we'll be doing it again next year, even bigger & better.

There are more than 4800 communities that sponsor Relay for Life events and the combined fundraising represents the largest fundraising efforts in the world for one cause. Many of my friends who I emailed for donations responded that you already donate to the Brentwood Relay for Life, Relay for Life events in other communities, or other cancer research causes such as St Jude's Children's research program. That is wonderful.

If you'd like to learn more about cancer prevention and early detection, please click on the following link: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/ped_0.asp

Through your support, Kirsten & I raised over $500 and climbing. Donations can still be made to either Kirsten's tally or mine at:

Kirsten - http://www.acsevents.org/relay/ca/brentwood/kirstenhuxtable

Glenn - http://www.acsevents.org/relay/ca/brentwood/glennhuxtable

Please feel free to forward to others you think would be interested in any of this information or possibly donating. Thanks for you time & support.

First Time Buyers – Your Loan – Part One!

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 17:38:51 -0500

You want to buy a home in Oakley with a minimum of 3 bedrooms and 1,200 square feet of living space on a lot of at least 5,000 square feet. As of the writing of this article, there are 231 homes that meet these parameters, the 15 least expensive of which are priced between $375,000 and $400,000.

I would advise my first time buyers that they could expect to buy a suitable home for around $390,000. So the logical next questions are: How much cash do I need when I make an offer? What will my monthly payments be to own the home?

While these seem like simple questions, the answers vary dramatically from buyer to buyer. This is because everyone has a unique financial situation and there are a wide variety of loan programs available to borrowers.

Your realtor can give you general answers. However, to get answers specific to your situation, it's time to visit with a loan consultant. A loan consultant's job is to help borrowers' secure home loans. They will visit with you to understand your goals, gather some basic financial information about you and will obtain your credit score. Based on your credit score (the higher the better), employment history, savings, income and debt, they will explain the loan programs and interest rates available to you.

Feel free to call me for the names of my favorite loan consultants who will be able to answer your loan questions.

First Time Buyers – Is this good time to buy?

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Thu, 31 May 2007 18:40:17 -0500

You'd like to buy a home, which can be a scary enough prospect if it's your first home. Then you ask yourself, is this a good time to buy? This is a great question, especially since local real estate prices have been settling downward over the past year plus.

The answer, like so many answers, is it depends upon your situation. There are some clear cut cases where you should not buy a home right now. In my opinion, do not buy in Eastern Contra Costa County now if:

You'll likely need to move in less than 2+ years. (job transfer, pregnant with triplets, etc)
You anticipate a possible loss or reduction in income.
You're buying with the need to refinance within 2+ years in order to be able to afford your house payments.
You're planning on flipping the property for a profit within the next couple of years.
You want to buy using an attractive below market rate teaser loan, but cannot afford the fully adjusted mortgage payment.
You want to buy a home as a rental property.

Most of these are pretty obvious, but you'd be surprised by what some people want to do. Assuming you do not fall into one of these categories, I believe it's actually a very good time to buy a home. The reasons why:

Because values are down, you can get the best price possible in over 2 years.
Because inventory levels are high, you have lots of good to great choices in homes.
Because many sellers are very motivated or desperate, you can reasonably negotiate very attractive terms such as credits for closing costs and some nice extras included in the sale, etc.
Buyers can actually take their time in deciding which home they'd like to buy. (It was not that long ago when buyers literally had to decide within hours of a home going on the market to make an offer, and how much over the asking price they should bid)Interest rates are still very reasonable.

This does not mean that anyone should run right out and eagerly buy the first nice home they see. What it does mean is that when you find a home that really meets your needs nicely and you determine you can buy it for an exceptional price, then buy the home and enjoy it.

The question often comes up, ‘what if prices keep dropping, wouldn't we be better off waiting?'. Great question. Trying to time the bottom of the market is as difficult as timing the top when selling. I started telling clients in April of 2005 that I expected prices to top & begin dipping soon. It actually didn't start for another 6 months and it wasn't clear that the top of the market had passed until April of 2006. By then, sellers were already struggling to sell their homes and most were trying to get more than they were worth, not wanting to believe the correction had begun.

The same thing happens to buyers. They try to time the bottom, usually to miss it and then have to buy in an increasing market that is more competitive.

Property values have already dropped 10-15% from their peaks. Let's look at a scenario where homes drop another 10% over the next year. You could buy a home now for $500,000 now or a very similar home in one year for $450,000 and would be putting 20% down and getting 80% financing.

If you buy now, your monthly payments will be about $300 more per month than if you buy in a year, assuming the same interest rate is available in a year. During that year, if you have a traditional mortgage, you will pay down your principle balance by nearly $5,000 and will have tax deductible interest and property taxes of about $30,700 which will save you about $10,700 in income taxes assuming a 35% nominal tax rate.

At the end of the one year, your financial situation would be as such:

If you could guarantee that you could buy a similar home in one year for $50,000 less than today, then your net worth would be about $34,300 higher. The problem is that you don't know for sure you can buy for that much less, and other variables, such as interest rates, missing the bottom of the market, competitive buying, etc make waiting a calculated risk.

The bottom line, if you find a home you love & can afford & can buy for what is a great value today, buy the home. Enjoy the home, make it your own, and don't worry about whether you could have gotten a little better deal by waiting.

First Time Buyers – Meet The Realtor! (Part 2 of 12)

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:56:00 -0500

So you've decided you'd like to buy your first home. Great! So what do you do next? My advice is to meet with a few local real estate agents who work full time helping clients to buy & sell homes in the community you'd like to live in. These agents will have the best understanding of the local market, which will serve your needs best.

Since buying a home is likely the largest financial transaction you will ever undertake, your primary goal is to find an agent you are comfortable working with. Your comfort should be with both their expertise in real estate and the local market as well as their working style. Do you prefer an agent who is very aggressive, or one that is more easy-going? The best way for you to develop a comfort level is to visit with the agents in person to share your goals and ask lots of questions.

Your second goal is to learn about the home buying process. You want to understand the steps, time frames, costs of buying, etc. Ask about the entire process beginning with arranging your financing, searching for and negotiating an offer on a home, the escrow process and ultimately getting the keys to your home.

The agents should explain what costs are typically paid for by the buyers (lender fees, title & escrow fees, etc, in Contra Costa County) and which are typically paid for by the sellers (county transfer tax, home warranty, real estate commissions, etc, in my area) and provide you with an estimate of the costs you will incur as a buyer.

Your third goal is to begin to learn about the current real estate market. Ask for a list of homes that meet your basic needs. Let the agents know what you're looking for in size, bedrooms, bathrooms, backyard, schools, neighborhoods, etc. The more information you provide, the better the agents can narrow down the choices to your specific needs. If you are not very familiar with the community you're moving to, ask the agents opinions on best neighborhoods based on your desires. The list of homes that meet your basic needs will give you an idea of what is available and the pricing of those homes.

Ask the agents how the market is, especially for buyers. When I first published this article back in early 2005, it was a hot seller's market and buyers had to be prepared to compete with multiple offers and be able to make quick decisions. That's no longer the case locally. Currently buyers can take their time evaluating properties and make offers below the asking price and have a shot of working out a great deal. What are the agents' opinions of where the market is heading and why do they feel that way? They should be able to support their positions based on facts, not wishful thinking.

Once you find a realtor that you are comfortable with and confident will work hard for you, work exclusively with that agent. View that agent as your single resource for your real estate needs and stick with your realtor as long as you're satisfied.

If you are considering buying in the areas I cover, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley, Discovery Bay, etc, I would love to be one of the agents you interview. If you are looking at other communities, you may still contact me and I'll interview agents over the phone and give you 2 or 3 names of agents I feel would represent you well.

First Time Home Buyers ~ You Can Do It! (Part 1 of 12)

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Sat, 12 May 2007 11:22:52 -0500

I love many things about being a real estate agent, and one of my favorites is handing first time home buyers the keys to their first home. I recall with great pleasure giving a young couple the keys to their first home in Oakley on Good Friday, where they were able to celebrate their first wedding anniversary on Easter. While it may appear nearly impossible in an expensive real estate market like we have, it can be done when first time buyers understand the process and have a healthy balance of patience and persistence. (Even with the modest price declines of the past year plus, the median price of houses sold in East Contra Costa County was $500,000 in April 2007 vs $525,000 in April 2006 and less than half that amount nationally)

Buying your first home can seem overwhelming any time. A couple of years ago first time buyers felt like the deck was stacked against them with prices appreciating quickly, multiple offers were bidding prices even higher, and they were competing against buyers or investors/speculators who may have a large amount of cash to put down on the home.

In our current market, first time buyers are finding it much more challenging to secure 100% financing, with creditors tightening up lending practices following the implosion of many of the sub-prime lenders. In addition, buyers naturally question whether it is a good time to buy with home values slowly dropping.

Knowledge is power, and thus I encourage clients to learn as much about the process as possible from as many people as possible. Visit with family and friends about their experiences, good and bad, in the purchase of their first and subsequent homes. Ask what they'd do differently, if anything and what they found especially helpful. Thus you'll get advice you may be able to put to use, or at least use as a starting point when speaking with your real estate agent and loan consultant.

Over the next 11 or so blogs, I will discuss the major steps in purchasing your first home, including:

To buy or not to buy.
Visiting with a real estate agent to get an overview of the purchase process as well as the current real estate market.
Meeting with a loan consultant to determine what you qualify to borrow.
Learning to ‘live the budget' of owning a home, before you own one.
Determining what you ‘need' vs what you ‘want' in a home.
Searching for your home.
Preparing a desirable offer on your first home.
Inspections & disclosures.
Requesting repairs.
Signing, final details and getting your keys.
Tips on the 'art of moving'.

988 Country Glen Lane ~ Brentwood, CA 94513

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Wed, 02 May 2007 04:24:29 -0500

WONDERFUL LARGE PULTE HOME WITH A WONDERFUL FLOOR PLAN!

$660,000 for this great 4 Bedroom + Loft, 3 1/2 Bath, 3178 Square Feet home

Fantastic large Pulte home with open floor plan! Nearly 3200 square feet! Large gourmet kitchen with slab granite counters, stainless steel appliances, pantry & more! The interior features 18" tile flooring set at 45 degrees, wainscoting, 2 gas fireplaces, 3 bay windows, ceiling fans, downstairs master & more! Large yard with patio, shade structure, professional landscaping & pad for spa! Master has jetted tub! 4 bedrooms + loft + tech desk & 3 1/2 baths! 3 car garage! Alarm system installed! Pull-down ladder to large attic storage area. Call Glenn at (925) 437-5247 to arrange a private showing.

Learn more at my website: http://www.glennshomes.com/

View a virtual tour of this home at: http://www.tourfactory.com/290165

406 Madera ~ Brentwood, CA 94513

Glenn Huxtable (Sharp Realty) — Wed, 02 May 2007 04:07:51 -0500

GORGEOUS SINGLE STORY ON GREAT COURT LOCATION!

$539,900 for this spectacular 4 Bedroom, 3 Bathroom, 2084 square feet home located on a great court!

Single Story! Great Court Location! Gorgeous Upgrades!

This home is beautiful, functional and peaceful with so many desirable features, you can move in and begin enjoying this wonderful home on your first day! There are beautiful upgrades and décor inside and out. You'll notice the quality the moment you step inside and see the expansive hardwood flooring and crown moulding that carries through the formal living and dining rooms and the family room. The gourmet kitchen includes upgraded cabinetry, granite counters and stainless steel appliances. The backyard is beautifully landscaped and has a large stamped concrete patio and walkways as well as a play area with a play structure that is included Call Glenn at (925) 437-5247 to arrange an appointment to view this great home.

Learn more at my website: http://www.glennshomes.com/

View the Virtual Tour at: http://www.tourfactory.com/343860