The workplace. As a REALTOR my workplace is al over town. Today I'm at my home office working on all the tech stuff that I can think off, and remember from a seminar I went to about a week ago. Marketing is online they say. that's true in many ways however the face-to-face and voice-to-voice is still more important in my book.

Yesterday was a little bit of running around and office work. The photo here shows Ua and Lisa, two of my favorite REALTORS at the office. A workplace is important to get motivated and have a sence of belonging I guess.

The fun part starts when I am 'all over town' showing properties or meeting with clients and friends. That's the way I like to do business, working with people who I like and who like me. By referral only, I call it sometimes. I can spend more time on my clients and their real estate needs that way. Many REALTORS spend time on 'door knocking', 'cold calling', calling 'for sale by owners' etc., etc. That time, I like to use to really be of service to my clients. when I meet my clients I always ask them for referrals, "... who do you know that's also thinking of selling their home...". It's a Win-Win situation.

I hope you enjoy your workplace as much as I do mine! Make it a great day!!

Oh, and by the way, I am never too busy for any of your referrals!

Thanks,

Robin

www.562HomeGuy.com
562.233.3724

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?

Home Shopping

Viewing a home.

New Listing in Fullerton

I really appreaciate your referrals. Thank you!

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

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!

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"