My lender locked in a client at 3.85 percent interest rate today

Amazing time we live in. Home values have fallen dramatically and on top of that the interest rates are floating around the 4 percent mark!

The time to buy is now!

Top 3 reasons to buy? Money is 'cheap', interest rates are at an all time low! The tax benefits of owning a home are incredible! No more paying off your landlords mortgage, look at your home loan as a forced savings!

Interested to learn more? Call, text or email me today.

562.233.3724 / robinauwerda@kw.com

Median Detached Home Price in Los Angeles County

Your offer was accepted! Next step is...

Congrats! your offer was accepted ! What are the next steps?

Real estate adventures and useful tips.

Visit my YouTube Channel

Home Shopping

Fountain

When I was little I always loved fountains. The ones in my hometown can be simple ones with just one spout or with a statue in the middle. I remember I mistakingly used to cal them 'dolphins'.

What is your favorite fountain?

Pets and short sales, have a game plan!

Top 3 reasons to visit me at my open house today.

Viewing a home.

New Listing in Fullerton

I really appreaciate your referrals. Thank you!

The request for repair is very important.

What you should know about the appraisal when buying a home.

A must know about The Earnest Money Deposit.

Why you need a Home Inspection when buying your home.

So, where does your initial deposit go, when you write an offer on a home.

YES!

You found the home you like, love, or fix up. Now it is time to write the offer. If this is your first time writing an offer, this may be a stressful time. You don't want to make a mistake, you may not understand everything in the purchase contract (yet) and you're wondering, ...perhaps... what will happen to my initial deposit or earnest money deposit as it is also called.

Well, there is only good news! Yay! No more sweaty palms!

The money will be cashed by the Escrow Company, generally within 3 business days after acceptance of your offer. This means the money, let's say $3,000.00, will not go directly to the seller. They will not spend it on icecream and toys before you even purchased the home. The $3,000.00 will become part of your total down payment! So, it is not extra money out of pocket for some obscure slush fund.

The next hurdle you may think of is, what happens with my $3,000.00 if I find out that the home is falling apart and we withdraw our offer. Great thought! After acceptance of your offer you have 17 days to do your due dilligence. Meaning, to find out everything there is to know about the home, do your home inspection, get the appraisal done and get your loan in place. If for whatever valid reason, let's say there are too many safety issues with the home that cannot be taken care of, you withdraw your offer before day 17 you will get your initial deposit of $3,000.00 back. (sometimes minus some administration fees)

However, if at day 17 you remove your contingencies and then after that time back out of the transaction; it will be very hard to get your initial deposit back.

Therefore, I will always help my clients to know well before day 17 what the shape the home is. Have the appraisal done, the loan in place etc. etc.

So, good news all around. You can be rest assured that when you buy your home with me, I will guide you every step of the way so you know what decision to make and when, and; feel good about it because you understand what you are doing!

Enjoy your home buying!

Robin Auwerda
562HomeGuy.com
Find me on YouTube!

Don't you want to know first if you want to work with me?

I really enjoy the home buyer consultation. Why? Because I get to know someone better after just meeting them over the weekend at an open house, or after a brief phone call off a sign or advertisement. Sometimes It's someone I "know" from Facebook.

You'll be invited to my office. It's a nice, comfortable office. You'll be greeted most likely by Kathy our Director of First Impressions. She is a sweetheart and will put a smile on your face. She's just a little sunshine!

We'll meet in one of the conference rooms, glass of water or soda and off we go. I think it's really important that in the time that we spend together we get to know eachothers expectations if it comes to your home buying experience. I can only imagine that you'd like to know if you even want to work with me.

I want to know how you got to the decision to buy a home for you (and your family). If you could swing a magic wand around, what would your home look like, where is it located? What do you like about the place your staying right now and more important what irritates you about it. Just basic but important stuff to talk about.

Remember, you are buying your home and nobody elses. It's all about you!

Next time, "What are you comfortable with?"

Robin

It all starts with looking around.

This weekend I was at my open house. Both Saturday and Sunday. Great weather to be out and about as a buyer to look at all the homes that were open to the public.

As I was setting up the flags and banners to attract you to my open house, a neighbor from a couple of streets over cane by and asked if he could look inside. Of course!

I normally give a quick run-down of the home that I'm holding open. Bedroom count, bath', square feet, lot size and then invite you to take the Grand Tour, regardless of the size of the home. I have some flyers about the home, however you have to see the home to find out if it will work for you, not read about it... After the "Grand Tour" the neighbor was about to leave. I asked him if he'd been looking at homes for a while or just started. "Oh, I've been looking for a couple of weeks now." was his reply. So, I asked how he went about finding homes to look at. Are you using the internet, a Realtor..? The internet was his way of learnig about homes for sale. He didn't realize that only aproximately 10-15% of all homes for sale will ever have an open house. Of course I offered to help him in looking for homes and get him into the 85% of homes that do not have an open house. I asked if he'd done his homework in regards to financing the home.

At the end of our chat this gentleman agreed that talking to a lender and meeting with me at the office to go over the home buying process was of value to him. We set the appointment at a time that is convenient for him and I arranged for a lender to reach out to him to answer all his questions.

As easy as that, conversations happened 4 or 5 times this past weekend. NO pressure but tons of information to help you the buyer make informed decisions. Decisions that will lead you to be a homeowner because you understand and see the benefits, homeownership brings with it.

Next time I'll talk about the buyer consultation. Not a boring dry meeting but digging deep in to what you want. You are buying YOUR home; not mine. It is therefore all about YOU!

Enjoy the day and visit www.562HomeGuy.com to start your search today.

You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Just type in "562HomeGuy" or "Robin Auwerda"

Buyers!

Ever heard (or seen signs in the window of homes that are for sale) of HomePath Financing?

What is the financing for? It's offered on Fannie Mae/Government Owned Homes.

What you want to know...

- 3% Down payment
- NO Mortgage insurance
- NO Reserves needed
- NO Appraisal
- Keith Murphy with RPM Mortgage is an authorized HomePath Lender.

Not all homes are offered or eligible for this program however.

Now you know.

Enjoy your day!

Robin

www.562HomeGuy.com

Homeowners and Carbon Monoxide

- did you know?

It started July 1st, 2011. New legislation went into effect requiring homeowners to install carbon monoxide detectors in every California home; a move CAL FIRE officials say will save lives.

"Carbon monoxide is a silent killer, each year claiming the lives of an average of 480 people," said Acting State Fire Marshal Tonya Hoover. "And sending more than 20,000 people to emergency rooms across the nation."

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless, odorless gas that is produced from heaters, fireplaces, furnaces and many types of appliances and cooking devices.

The best way for homeowners to stay protected from CO is to have a carbon monoxide detector installed on every floor and outside each sleeping area.

Why Facebook is awesome!

It's still amazing to me how much smaller the world is compared to only a few years ago. For me it works something like this.

Eventhough cars are not allowed to go any faster than 10 years ago, boats still have to battle the waves and flying to Amsterdam has taken 10 hours for as long as I've known, the world has gotten smaller. This morning I emailed my aunt seconds after she emailed me her new address, I was on a chat with my brother in Holland and made friends on Facebook in Montana in an instant.

For example the lady in Tennessee... I've never met her, I've never heard her voice or seen her handwriting, yet somehow there seems to be a connection. She happens to have a sense humor that's somewhat like mine, she has smart comments and inspires people around her. At least that's the impression I have of this lady. I don't really remember how or when we connected on Facebook but I found out enough about her in the last couple of months to know that if I ever have a client moving to TN or a family member that needs to sell a home in TN; she'd be the first on my mind to contact.

Facebook is one way to meet people, stay in contact with people and sometimes just unwind and waste time with.

I think Facebook is an awesome way to express and sometimes, promote yourself.

Yesterday was Keller William's RED DAY. "Giving back where we live". This year we played soccer and BBQ'd, it was great. The kids had to ask us questions about our professional past. Questions like; what was your first job, how much did you get paid and what did you like about it. I ended up talking to some great teenagers who are just now finding out thath there IS a future for them in society.

Below is an email from my team leader at the office. Makes me feel good that little things, go a long way.

Bottom line; play more sports, BBQ often and hang out with people you don't know once in a while.



"I want to thank everyone who participated in Red Day, It was a huge success!

We had a great day with the kids, We had a scavenger hunt with questions that the kids asked us and they got raffle tickets for getting into dialogue, thank you Jeanine for putting that together. We BBQ'd hamburgers and Hot dogs, thank you Jose for staying over the grill and thank you to everyone who provided items and helped prepare. And we had a soccer tournament, thank you Marcos, Wilson, Pat, Kevin and Nivias daughter Arianna for participating in the tournament.

Want to know what you accomplished? As we were in the park with the kids, the principle, councilor and committee members were in a meeting talking about closing the hope academy's sport program. For those of you that were there, they were the professional looking team that showed up in the green van. The sports program is one of the great things that keeps the kids off the street and it was going to be canceled. The kids showed up with their trophy very excited and wanted to share what a great day they had. They were asked several questions about the day and were very excited about their trophy. The committee chair closed her folder and said this discussion is over. You saved their program!

Thank you again. I look forward to working with you to change more lives.

Your Team Leader,

Elaine"

Your Home Value

Whereever you live, whatever you live in. Condominium, windmill, townhome or single family residence, to know the value of your Abode is, well... Priceless. Now that the market has been somewhat stable after the roaring first decade of this millenium. We all need to be aware of the value of our home. Just to name a few possible reasons... You may be thinking of MOVING UP to a larger home or better neighborhood, you may be wondering if you can lower your property tax-bill. How about possibly re-financing into a better interest rate?

Tons more reasons, would make this a very boring piece o' Blog.

Bottom line is that the market evaluations that I prepare for my clients are to accurately and agressively place a value on your Real Estate. Not just a comparison to what is available for sale, currently pending and sold properties this year. NO! First of, it is of paramount importance to know what appraisers look at when appraising a home. Second I make sure I will compare "Apples to Apples", by making adjustments to key features to the properties that wiLl be part of the evaluation.

Rumor has it that sooner rather than later the Banks will release many foreclosures and short sales on to the market. Good chance that this will impact the value of your home. Therefore, if you're thinking to sell.... Consider SELLING NOW. If you are looking to re-finance, step up your game plan and talk to a lender.

Great resources are available to you. CONTACT ME Today.

To your home!

Robin

Your own back yard.

To own a piece of property to call your own is just a great feeling! Just the feeling of being able to do with it what you want. Color the walls purple, for all you care!!! Right now I'm sitting in the back yard. Looking around how Spring time is in over drive. The scrub Jays are feeding their little ones, protecting the nest from the crows in the neighborhood, Humming birds are having "Arial Dogfights" over the best blooming flower in the yard. The Angel's Trumpet in the corner of the yard is in full bloom. Great scents come our way. For the second year now our artichoke is in bloom too. YAY! The blooms are what you find in the grocery store. Very Yummy with garlic butter. All this relaxing stuff made possible by making the decision to buy your own pad. Now is your time! Have you done your homework? Haveyou talked witha lender? Have you talked with me?

Yesterday's Thank You Note

Yesterday was a day that started out pretty good. I got up out of bed early so I would be able to pick up my friend and fellow Realtor Dennis Berry. Dennis is someone who is great if it comes to keeping the Keller Williams story in the spotlight. My Realtor-story in the spotlight for that matter. He interviews, listens and than makes sure I end up in our local newspaper the Press Telegram. I owe him lunch at the minimum!

After dropping Dennis off at the office I made my way to the LAX Marriott for a Keller Williams / CITI Bank short-sale mastery class. Yet another one on this topic, since as a Realtor it is important to stay on top of the changes in the industry. An all day event certainly worth attending. I am happy to say I am now also member of the KW- Distressed Properties Community. Waahooooo!

The evening was leftover- evening with home made Tofu Lasagna. Great recipe if you want it, text me... Fire trucks drove by in the distance and of course our White German Shepherds (The Beasts) were howling away. They actually have their own Facebook page.

On my desk at the office that day, I found an envelope with a Thank You note from Tim Weidenkeller, The Insurance Guy, with Farmers. it read:"You have helped my business to grow and I appreciate it! -Tim" It's little things like that that make my day. I hope I make yours too...

Thank you for helping me be a successful Realtor.

Robin

This month in Real Estate

check out this short real estate update.

http://www.youtube.com/kellerwilliams#p/c/70FB5BC074D3E360

If you know of anyone looking to buy or sell a home, please, contact me today. Out side of California? NO Problem, I have connections with Realtors in every state and will refer you to the best in the area that you are lookin in.

Enjoy the day!

Robin
www.562HomeGuy.com

Home Buying Class THIS WEEK!

Hi !

this Thursday April 28th at my office, from 6pm-7.30pm the Home Buying Class will take place again. This event is open to everyone interested in learning more about what it takes to get pre-approved for a home loan. R.S.V.P. today, pizza and soda's will be waiting for you!

text, call, email, Facebook or twitter me.

Robin
@LBrealtorTV
www.Facebook.com/Auwerda
562.233.3724
http://www.562homeguy.com/

The last couple of days...

... were exiting and busy. Yesterday I received a "sign call" on my listing in Long Beach, the Circle Area as the locals call it. Great conversation with Marian. I really hope that I was able to give her a lot of information that she and her husband can use in the search for their new home.

Also went to the Eye Doctor. Dr Tomlin. Located directly across from the Ralphs grocery store just off the traffic circle in Long Beach. The Dr is very knowledgeable and her staff is great. I only go there once a year but they always make sure they know my name and treat me right.

I had to go back there today to order my new frame. My wife came with and waited in the lobby. The atmosphere was great and we were able to joke around and make some people smile!

When working in the yard a neighbor stopped by to ask me a real estate related question. Great feeling since it makes me aware of the fact that people DO know that I am in the biz.

Earlier today I had a great massage at massage envy in Seal Beach. Very relaxing and got to talk some potential real estate biz at the same time. What more can a Realtor ask for.

All in all a great weekend so far.

Enjoy Easter with family and friends and keep a smile on your face. If you come up with a question about the real estate market, just text or email me.

Robin

http://www.562homeguy.com/

2243 Ohio Ave

I held an open house last Saturday. Great turn out. 12 people came to visit. I am always looking to meet people and possible new clients, both buyers and sellers.

Some of the people that came by were really picky and had negative comments about the home, otheres came by twice since they are really looking to buy in the coming 1-2 months. I don't mind the critics. The property is what it is. Nothing more, nothing less. I am holding it open so you can take a look and ask me questions about the real estate market.

I had a good report with most of the people, and may be working with four of them and help them buy a home. Tomorrow is my first consultation with Jesse. Looking forward to help him and his family get to know me and find out what I have to offer. During the consultation Jesse and I will find out if we want to work together and what steps are involved in buying a home.

If you or someone you know is interested to buy or sell, just do it, give me a call and let's get together.

Looking forward to meet you!

Robin

Teacher Loan Program is still VERY Alive!

A purchase loan program for ALL Employees of a California Public School District or a Community College District.

Little known fact is that the profits of this program go directly into the Teacher's Retirement Fund.

First mortgage at 80% Loan to Value, Second mortgage 17% Loan to Value, 3% Down Payment of which only 1% has to be from your own funds.

Fico scores can be as low as 620.

For more info contact me today!

Let's get the home search STARTED!

This month in real estate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmyHn9A2Ra8

Meeting the appraiser.

Tomorrow is Saturday. Oh quiet Saturday, where have you gone to. I can't really remember a Satur-Day-Off in quite some time. Tomorrow is no different.

Early in the morning I will put out open house signs for my open house on Iroquois Ave. It's in the Los Altos neighborhood of long Beach. Fellow Realtor Joe Sopo owns that hood like no tomorrow and was kind enough to allow me to hold his listing open. Awesome opportunity to which I look forward.

Then it's off to one of my own listings. ? Just openend escrow and the appraiser, send out by the buyers bank will put a value on the home. This appraisal will make sure that the buyer is not over paying and that their bank will lend them the money to purchase.

After that it's of to visit my dogs for a quick hello and walk. Always worth my time to be greeted by two white wagging tails. After the meet and greet, Open House. Great way to meet and greet with possible new clients. Banners in the front yard and info on the home.

If you have any questions about open houses, selling houses or buying them, find me on Facebook or visit http://www.562homeguy.com/

Enjoy!

Yelping

Robin, I'm not selling my home!

and you know what... most home owners aren't selling their home at this moment. Tons and tons of homeowners are living the life, they own their piece of America, they go to work, they raise their family, they throw a party every so often, fire up the BBQ and I can go on an on. They are enjoying their safehaven. They enjoy their home!!!

In this economy with all its difficulties it is always good to know where you stand financially. Where can we safe, what should we invest in? One of the major assets of most people is their home. Knowing the value of your home is important, it's one of your largest assets.

Has the value of your home gone down, up, or did it stay about the same. LEt me help you by providing you a FREE, no obligation market review.

Go to http://www.imnotselling.com/ and in no time you will be in the know on the value of your home!

Have a great week!

Oh by the way, today Saturday January 8th I will be holding an open house at 1590 Ramillo in Long Beach. Great Location, Large home. Find me on Facebook, for more info or come by.