In the market for a home?

I can assist you in your home search.

Walnut Creek downpayment assistance program for first time homebuyers.

Do you need an Agent?

Absolutely!  When it comes time to purchase a home, it will become necessary for you to negotiate with the seller, either directly, or indirectly through the seller's agent.  If you negotiate indirectly through the seller's agent, then you should know that the seller has already enrolled the services of a realtor® to represent him as his authorized agent in handling the sale of his home, and in negotiations.  While nothing in the law prevents an agent from representing both the buyer and seller in the same transaction, an agent authorized to represent you exclusively is the best way to level the playing field.  Your authorized agent is bound by law to represent your best interests in the transaction and help you to get the best deal.

Buyer without a Buyer's Agent	Buyer with Buyer's-Agent representation.

The other scenario is when you negotiate directly with a seller in a For-Sale-by-Owner transaction. In most cases, you will not save any money by purchasing directly through a seller. The reason the seller is marketing "By Owner" is to save the commission, and two people cannot save the same commission dollars. However, if you really like this house, and wish to pursue it further, let me know the address of the property and the contact information.  I will call the seller to ask if he is cooperating with brokers. It would be to your benefit to have expert representation.

Keep in mind that the seller will be paying my fees. It should not cost any more for you to purchase the home using my services. The seller will just be paying the commission he was hoping to save. I think you will find that you will pay as much if you buy from an owner directly as you would pay if you bought through an agent. And, with an agent you receive expert representation that could save you thousands of dollars in legal fees.

Need more Proof?  Click Here to see what HUD, the department of Housing and Urban Development has to say about using a real estate broker in the search for a home.

Reasons to own Real Property:

If you've ever considered, home ownership, there is no time like the present.  Over the past 20 years, home prices in California has far outpaced the rest of the nation.  In fact, recent home value appreciation has been so phenomenal that much of the wealth in this State can probably be attributed to the accumulation of equity in our homes.  While there is no guarantee of sustained performance, in recent memory, real estate has been one of the most secure places to invest.  In fact, there is now evidence that at least some of the wealth accumulated in the stock market is being transferred into real estate.  While the current market conditions can be considered depressed, the realty market has remained strong.

In addition to the potential benefits of equity growth in home ownership, there is another, far more immediate benefit, of tax relief from home ownership.  For most people, a home purchase also means a sizeable home mortgage payment, and property tax payments.  These two items alone, when itemized on a typical tax returns results in a significant tax shelter that enables most renters to own their own home for the same or less cost of renting.

Coming up with the Down Payment:

The single biggest obstacle, of course, for most new home buyers is saving sufficient capital for a suitable down payment.  The good news for you, is that if you have decent credit, NO DOWN PAYMENT loans are out there.  Home property prices appreciate so fast in the bay area that many lenders believe that home value will quickly appreciate to increase the loan/value ratio to acceptable risk levels in a relatively short time.  While the traditional down payment for a conventional loan is 20% of the purchase price, I have frequently seen down payments of 10%, 5% or even 0% loans processed and approved.  The secret of course is credit.  As you can understand, the lower the down payment a purchaser puts into a property, the higher the risk assumed by the lender.  Therefore, it just stands to reason that the lower the down payment, the more stringent is the credit requirements.  For more specific quotes on whether you would qualify for any particular loan program, you should consult with a lender.  If the lender you speak with can't get you the loan you want, don't give up.  Different lenders, or Mortage Loan Brokers frequently come up with vastly different results regarding the loan they are able to acquire for you.  Check with several.  If you need referrals, we do have lenders that we can refer you to.  Give me a call and let's talk.  I'll try my best to help you with your home purchase plans.  For an estimate of what you can expect to pay for your new mortgage, try my loan calculator and see what figures you are likely to feel comfortable with.  Tip:  Remember that when you are a home owner, you can expect significantly lowered taxes and hence, likely to be able to afford a higher housing payment than if you were not a home owner.  I can not, of course, advise you on how much difference you can expect given the potential difference in individual tax profiles, but I recommend that you  consult with your tax advisor to find out how much tax savings you can expect from becoming a home owner.

Helping other's get rich:

If you are currently renting, you are helping other people get rich, but not yourself.  Building wealth is not an easy thing for most people, especially in the bay area where rental costs are among the highest in the nation.  While it's not impossible to build wealth without investing in real estate, for most people, most of their disposable income is spent on housing expense, after which little discretionary income remains for savings or investments.  The secret and the reason why many lower income people, especially minorities has been able to become financially secure and independent in the (very expensive to live) bay area is that they purchased their home.  You see, housing cost is a given.  Unless you want to live in someone else's home, or wish to be homeless, housing expense is a requirement.  There is no way to get around it.  While you are paying high rent to someone else, you will find it difficult to have any left over to save or invest.  On the other hand, your landlord is able to use the rental payments to help him/her amortize his investment.  If that property has positive cash flow, you are adding to your landlords disposable income to save or further invest.  But don't blame your landlord, the freedom to purchase real estate is a one of the benefits of living in this great country we call the U.S. of A.  Whether or not you take the initiative and make the commitment to purchase realty is up to you, and is usually the difference.  Oh, don't get me wrong, it won't be easy.  Your landlord may have sweated 10 years or more paying for his investment before it became profitable, and may just now be reaping the benefits of his investment.  But if you do buy your own home, you will still be paying high housing costs.  But while rent prices usually spiral upward along with the ever rising cost of living, your mortgage payments will remain constant while you build up equity in your property, through both the reduction in loan principal, and by means of property appreciation.  It is not uncommon to speak with San Franciscans who have purchased their 3 bedroom home 20 years ago for $120,000 to be paying $600 month (with 10 years remaining before it reaches 0), and for this home to be currently valued at $600,000 or more.  If this individual were currently to rent this home, it would probably cost him $2500 to $3000 per month! 10 years from now, the property owner's mortgage will have been paid off while the renter will be paying $4000 to $5000 per month!  You can begin to see, using this example, the fantastic financial situation of the same individual that took the plunge and purchased as opposed to renting 20 years ago. 

What does it really cost?

Of course, if you want to know what it will really cost you, download my form "what it costs" in word format, and do some calculation to see what the net after tax effect is on a home purchase. I think that you may be surprised to find how much less it will really cost you to buy a home after considering the tax benefits.  Also follow the links on this site and use my mortgage loan calculator to figure out what the monthly payments will be on your loan.  Owning a home isn't for everyone.  But if the paragraph above Reasons to own real property hasn't convinced you that you should consider home ownership, nothing will.  But I'll bet that the reason you are viewing this site today is because you have considered the benefits of home ownership already, and have found it to be compelling reason to begin your search.

How I can help you.

If you'll permit me to become your realtor, I can assist you to get the property you want, at the price you want, and with minimal effort on your part.  Part of the reason many buyer's don't wish to enroll the services of a realtor immediately is because they are afraid of being a "bother", preferring instead to have already found the home of their choice before making that decision.  Oftentimes, it's because they might be looking, but aren't sure they are ready yet and don't wish to be pressured to buy when they might not be completely ready.  But I can assure you, IT'S NO BOTHER and you will NOT be pressured!  As a realtor, this is what we do for a living, and researching homes is what we do everyday.  I have the resources available to me to show you properties that you would not normally be able to view.  While it may be fun to view open homes on the weekends, why exclude yourselves from the vast pool of available homes that don't perform open houses?   And if you aren't quite ready to buy, don't worry -- I'll be happy to show you properties now, and when the time comes when you're ready, I'm confident that you will remember me and be happy with the services that I've provided that you'll want to use me again.  Please take a moment and view my PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE for buyers. 

HOME TOURS personalized for you.

One of the best things about enrolling me as your realtor is that I will create a personal home tour for you based upon your home search preferences.  I will line up and make all arrangements to view the pool of available homes that are suitable based upon your preferences, and will also provide you with feedback regarding the properties you have viewed.  We can do this as often as you like until you find a home that you like.  If you would like to view homes at your own leisure, we can do that too.  Fill out the the Buyer Preferences form and I'll send you regular updates via e-mail regarding the homes available on the market that fit your needs.

click here for Home Tour Info