Buying a new home in the Los Angeles area is probably the biggest investment you’ll ever make.  More than simply a financial investment, it’s an investment in the area you’ll live, the schools your kids will attend and the lifestyle you and your family will enjoy.  It takes thoughtful planning, discipline, patience and a good REALTOR® – one who asks the right questions, listens to your needs, and helps you identify the best deals from those that look good on the surface.

One of the ways we help our buyers get the best deals is through our free VIP Buyer Program:

• Priority access to foreclosure sales, short sales, estate sales, motivated sellers and the very best deals before theyʼre available to the general public.  These properties are not available anywhere else.
• Expert negotiation services to help you get the property you want at the lowest possible price.  If it’s a short sale, we can often use our own professional loss mitigation firm to help get you the best deal.
• Creative deal structuring and access to our preferred lenders to get you the best rate and terms.

As your Los Angeles real estate team, we care enough about you and your time to NOT drag you from open house to open house until you find a house you like but can’t afford.  This approach is inefficient, exhausting and clearly the WRONG way to go about the home search process.  Instead, the following are the sequential steps outlining the RIGHT way to go about finding the perfect house for you:

1)    Get prequalified and preapproved by a mortgage broker

• It makes no sense to start looking for a home until you understand both how much home you can afford and have a loan commitment in hand to buy the home you want.  Sellers are much more receptive to potential buyers who have been pre-approved to buy a home. It tells sellers you are a serious buyer and can close on the property.

2)    Make a list of your needs and wants

• Your NEEDS list should include items you must have in a home and location (i.e. number of bedrooms/bathrooms, backyard, one-story, good schools, etc.).  These are not to be compromised.  Your WANTS list is your list of wishes, things you would like to have in your home but are not absolutely necessary (i.e. pool, den, office, close to shopping, etc.).  These lists will keep you on track and disciplined during your home search.

3)    Research location(s), neighborhood(s) and type(s) of homes

• Based on your needs & wants, we will provide you a list of neighborhoods for you to think about.
• Do some research on the Internet and drive some neighborhoods to get a feel for the area and whether or not you can see your family living there.  Don’t worry about looking at specific homes just yet, you’re just trying to get some clarity on the areas in which to conduct your home search

4)    Eliminate those areas that don’t work for you

• Finding a home involves the process of elimination, not selection.  It’s important that we eliminate those areas and neighborhoods that don’t work for you so we can concentrate on homes in the areas that do work for you.

5)    Select and view homes for sale that meet your criteria

• We will provide you a detailed list of Los Angeles properties for sale that fit your parameters and make arrangements to show you properties at times that are convenient for you. Your reactions and opinions are very important (like it or hate it) as it helps guide us as your agents to find a house that meets all your needs.
• Take notes and pictures of the houses you like and rate them on a 1-10 scale for future reference.  Pay close attention to the list price and the differences between houses you view (size, upkeep, street location, level of updating, etc.) to get a better sense of the value of homes on the market.

6)    Choose the best 2-3 homes you viewed and see them again

• Now that you’ve seen enough homes to know which ones are right, it’s important to see them again because you’ll notice things you didn’t see the first time.
• Take note of the differences between the homes and which one (if any) you could you see yourself living in.

7)    Mine for information, develop strategy and write up offer

• A good real estate agent knows that information is king when making an offer on a property.  Some things we will find out before writing up an offer for you include the following:

1. What was the selling price of comparable properties in the last 6 months?
2. How many similar properties are currently on the market?
3. What is the seller’s motivation for selling?
4. Is the seller emotionally attached to the home or is the sale just transactional?
5. How much interest or offers has the property received?
6. What liens are attached to the title of the property?
7. What is the skill level, motivation and relationship to the seller (if any) of the listing agent?

• Once we have gathered this information, we will develop an offer strategy to get you the best price and terms on the property
• We will explain all the paperwork to you in detail, submit your offer, and then negotiate with the seller’s agent on your behalf until we have agreement

Questions About Buying a Home?