Generally, real estate professionals in CA include real estate agents, realtors, mortgage broker, and mortgage lender. Buyers and sellers more often need them at the time of buying or selling.

1.  Real Estate Agents
A Real estate agent is either a person or an organization whose business is to market real estate on behalf of clients. There are buyer’s agent, seller’s agent and dual agents who work for both seller and buyer. Their main function is to look for suitable houses, negotiate price and terms on behalf of both, and prepare a standard purchase or selling contract.

2.  Realtors
They work with their customers to define their needs and identify suitable alternatives. They are the total real estate solution providers starting with identifying the property to closing the deal.

3.  Mortgage Broker
These professionals have specialized in the entire loan processes and help their customers in getting the best loan to fit their needs. They are either companies or individuals who work closely with mortgage lenders to provide a wide variety of loan schemes to their customers. They act as a mediator between mortgage lender and customer. They are ready to assist you with your lending needs. They will help you through the process and requirements-from home inspection to insurance.

4.  Mortgage Lender
They are the companies who actually finance the loan to the customers through the brokers. In the past, lenders were almost banks and saving& loan associations. Due to their limited options in lending, many different types of lenders have joined in this field. Today, most mortgage bankers act as wholesale lenders. They offer loans at a lower rate of interest than banks. Mortgage brokers deal with these lending institutions that have wholesale loan department for their customers.

Hence, it is a team work of all agents, realtors, brokers and lenders to provide better service to their customers. By effectively using their own resources, they can co-ordinate with each other.

Realtors, or real estate agents, are part of an office of agents, and each of them knows of buyers that are currently in the market for a home. Their buyers are pre-qualified, that is, they have already seen a lender and have qualified for a loan so the buyer knows exactly how much they can afford, and the Realtor does too. In many areas, a realtor won’t even show homes to a buyer until they pre-qualify. The process saves a lot of wasted time on everybody’s part.

Contrast this with the prospect of you putting up a “For Sale” sign in your front yard, and having to deal with people that will be calling you to talk about your house and want to walk through it, even though they don’t have the resources to actually buy it. In the end, they are just wasting your time.

Realtors also have contact with many people from out of town who are relocating to your area. Each realtor in town gets contacted frequently through their website, by people that are looking for a home by long-distance. They may be coming to town soon to look at available homes for a few days. The Realtor lines up a number of homes for them to tour that fit their criteria. One of them could be yours.

But, if you FSBO, that potential buyer won’t know your house is on the market until they get to town, if then.
EXPERIENCE

A real estate agent will be able to assist in setting the right price to list your home, according to the current market conditions.

A real estate agent is a trained professional who will spend the necessary amount of time it may take to get your home SOLD.

The agent understands and will take care of all the necessary paperwork to complete the buying process. The agent will also act as a liaison between you and the inspectors, thebuyer’s agent, and between attorneys, if they are involved.

Most buyers prefer to deal with a real estate agent because the agent will give them the unbiased professional opinion on a house, and how it stacks up against other houses on the market.

Agents understand all the different types of loans and financing options. They can provide information to buyers about local lending institutions to fit their needs.
ADVERTISING

Realtors have many ways to advertise your home, not just a newspaper ad and a “For Sale” sign in the yard. They also utilize the following ways to advertise a home:

The Multiple Listing Service

Open Houses

Web sites like Realtor.com and Yahoo Real Estate

Direct mail

Newspaper inserts

Regional Real Estate Magazines

Cable TV

Realtor “Caravans” where 30 or more Realtors will tour your home and then match it to their prospective buyers.
How much of this marketing muscle can you flex if you FSBO?
SHOWING YOUR HOME

Agents have expertise to help you get your home in top shape before your prospective buyers arrive. They can help you “stage” your home to look more like a model home that would appeal to a larger group of buyers. They know how to emphasize and focus on your homes good points.

If you FSBO you will be learning the process as you go, a costly education when you are trying to sell your own home.
SUMMARY

With all the time, knowledge, effort, and paperwork it takes to sell a home, you should take some of the work, frustration and fear out of the process, and hire a professional!

1. Build relationships.
2. Understand the numbers.
3. Reduce risk.
4. Be prepared.
5. Set goals.
6. Learn, and apply what you learn.

Real Estate Investing Principles

1. Real estate investing is about relationships. People are your most valuable resource, and the more of them you know, the more likely you are to find good properties to buy, or buyers for your properties. ask people for their names, and if your memory is poor, take notes. Know the right people too, including a real estate agent who gets many listings of the type you are interested in. Wouldn’t it be nice if you were the one he called first?

2. Know and understand the relevant numbers. When you look at a rental property, for example, you should be thinking about the income, the expenses, and the capitalization rate, or “cap rate.” Imagine how certain changes would allow you to raise the income, and what that would do to the value. A “feeling” about a property, without understanding the numbers, gets many investors into trouble.

3. Look for and use methods to reduce risk. Have inspection, financing, and other contingency clauses in the offer, so you’ll get your deposit back when a deal falls through. Consider your exit strategy before you buy, and have a “plan B.” Value real estate using comparables or cap rates, not “hunches.” Buy through your corporation or LLC.

4. Be prepared for real estate investing. Have business cards, pen and paper on you at all times. You never know when you’ll see a property for sale, or hear about one. Sometimes, when you mention that you invest in real estate, sellers, buyers and other investors suddenly appear with information, opinions, and sometimes even good deals. Be prepared.

5. Create action-oriented goals, not just wishes. For example, require yourself to look at a certain number of properties per week, and maybe even to write a certain number of offers each month. Set goals for all sorts of little steps, like making six phone calls per week, checking online listings twice per week, and so on. Action creates momentum. Repeated action creates habits, and good habits lead to more successful real estate investing.

6. Keep getting educated, and using that education. Learning more from books, magazines and even tapes or CDs is a great idea, as long as you spend as much time doing something as reading about it. Some of us let the interest and enjoyment of reading about investing get in the way of actually investing. Good information is crucial, but it should lead to good real estate investing.

1. Foreclosure listings can be found online in two distinct places. The first place you can check is on a free website that offers foreclosure listings. The good thing about these services is that they do not cost you any money to get started. On the other hand, the information that they offer is usually not as comprehensive as paid sites, which is the other option available. The foreclosure listings on paid sites offer top notch service to customers, as well as a detailed list of properties.

2. Another great way to find foreclosure listings is by compiling your own. You can compile your own foreclosure listings by scouring the courts, checking the internet, and reading the real estate classifieds. Finding foreclosure listings this way is sometimes difficult because it can take up a lot of your time. But then again, you will not have to pay for your listings if you decide to exercise this option.

3. Finding foreclosure listings can also be done by calling lenders direct. By doing this, you will be able to get up to date foreclosure listings that you can use right there on the spot. The main advantage of foreclosure listings obtained this way is that you know they are quality because they are coming straight from the source. The difficult part about obtaining listings this way is that you will have to locate the lender, and then find the right person within the company. This can sometimes be very difficult the first time you try it.

Foreclosure listings are very important if you are serious about investing in real estate. By having these lists, you will be able to find all of the properties in your area without having to spend too much time and money. Even though it may take some effort to obtain foreclosure listings, it is well worth it. You will be sure to agree the first time that you make a large profit on a home that you found on a list!

Why You Should Ignore Trends In Real Estate

In this modern information age, you can learn just about anything on a particular subject. While access to information is usually a positive development, things can get a bit crazy if you get overloaded with it. Look long enough and you can find two pieces of information offering exactly the opposite views on a subject. Obviously, that doesn’t really help you make a choice.

In real estate, the information offered in the media is usually uniform. For the last six or seven years, everyone with any brains at all has reported the real estate market has been hot. Now, many of these same pundits are suggesting the market is cooling off. Some are even predicting a crash in the market.

As a potential buyer or seller, how should you evaluate the information being produce in the media? The simple answer is you should ignore it. The problem with these reports is not the accuracy. Instead, the problem is they are reporting national trends in real estate.

National trends are great and all, but they have little or no application to your specific area. Consider the following if you do not believe me. The real estate market for the last few years has been reported as hot, hot, hot. In Colorado, however, the market has been flat throughout this time. If you were considering buying or selling in Colorado, the information being provided for national trends simply did not apply to you.
If you think Colorado is the exception, it is not. The state with one of the worst appreciation rates over the last four or five years, for instance, has been Texas. Put in practical terms, this means homes in Dallas, Houston, Denver, San Antonio and Houston have not followed national trends. The only real estate trends that matter are those in your local markets. Never rely on national data.
If you are considering buying, you have to be very careful when considering real estate trends. If it looks like a seller’s market in your area, you may make the mistake of not buying. Even in a seller’s market, buying a home is better than renting. Every day you are in the home is a day you are growing your personal wealth through equity accumulation. Don’t stay out of the market simply because you feel it isn’t the right time.

It is easy to get caught up in real estate trends since they are plastered in front of your face on a daily basis. In truth, they really should not play much of a role in your decision making process.

The most important PRO for selling your home yourself is MONEY.  Selling your home without the help of an agent means more Money in your pocket!

By selling it yourself you save the commissions and fees. - We are not talking about pennys, we are talking about THOUSANDS of dollars which you would have to pay an agent.

Another advantage is that you are able to decide the times for open houses and showings. It is also completely up to you where and when you want to advertise.
Unlike a real estate agent who is selling many houses, you can focus on YOUR house, because you are only selling your own house. It is obvious that you will have more interest in the sale than an agent..

But as mentioned above there are also disadvantages selling your house yourself. Real estate agents are paid a lot of  money for a reason. Selling a home takes a lot of energy and time. Dealing with potential buyers, open houses, closing sales and of course dealing with legal issues. Real estate agents are familiar with all the above and their experience can impact the sale.

Be realistic when making a decision! Will you drop everything  to make a showing? Do you think you are indeed a good negotatior and ask for an offer? Are you 100% sure you are able to close a deal?  Selling a home is a big project! It is not everyone who can take on such a big project and can stay calm and professional when dealing with buyers.
Selling your home is not impossible, but it is a challenge. If this challenge excites you and if you are willing to learn  then it is not impossible managing selling your home without the help of an agent. With some know-how and a lot of energy you can sell your house without the help of a real estate agent and save thousands.

So how to start? Sit down and start evaluating your house. Finding the right price is the first and most important step when selling your home yourself.

The first step in getting your lender to work with you, to avoid foreclosure, is speaking with them.  You will get nowhere by avoiding them.  Whenever you receive a warning or an intent of foreclosure notice or a phone call, start making plans to contact your lender.  While you may want to head straight to your local bank branch, you may want to take a few hours or a day to reflect on the situation.  This will allow you to develop a plan of action, a plan of action that will be successful.

Before meeting with an official at your bank, it is important to know what you will say and how you will say it.  This is key to keeping your home out of foreclosure.  Although financial lenders want to avoid foreclosures at all costs, they don’t want to keep on losing money.  Lenders are usually unwilling to work with those who don’t show true interest in rectifying the situation. That is why a plan of action is required.

As for that plan of action, collect as much information as you can about your current financial situation and the cause of it.  For example, are you currently laid off, but looking for a new job?  Take your updated resume to with you.  It can help to show that you are actively looking for a job and trying to save your home.  Let them know of any upcoming interviews you may have scheduled as well.

If you are out of work due to an injury and that injury is only temporary, get notices from your doctor and your place of employment.  This will prove to your lender that you still have a job waiting for you and will be able to return to work soon.  Proving that you do intend to make your mortgage payment in full and as soon is possible is key to avoiding foreclosure or stopping it.

Next, it is important to consider your appearance and your attitude.  Starting with your appearance, it is important to walk into the bank with your head held high.  You will also want to dress professionally.  Women should wear dresses or pantsuits.  For men, pantsuits are also recommended.  Avoid casual clothing.  For many financial lenders, a borrower who carries himself or herself in a professional manner shows responsibility.  Responsibility is another important key to getting your lender to work with you.

As for your attitude, make sure that you don’t have one.  As previously stated, financial lenders often become the bad guys when foreclosure is threatened or when the process gets started.  No matter how angry you are with your lender, do not let your anger show.

If you learn that your financial lender is willing to work with you, to help you avoid foreclosure, they may offer their own suggestions.  You can take these suggestions, but don’t get in over your head.  Reduced mortgage payments are nice, even if they are only temporary, but make sure that you can pay them.  If a strict deadline is set for the return of the originally agreed upon payments, make sure you can make those payments too.  If not, the whole foreclosure warning process will start again.

In short, always approach your financial lender if you suspect foreclosure is on the horizon or as soon as the proceedings start.  Since lenders lose money on foreclosed properties, they want to avoid foreclosure just as much as you do.

Common Home Owner Myth: I can’t buy a “new” house without first selling my “old” one.

That is the way it is supposed work…right? You can’t have a new house without getting rid of the “old” one.

Not so.

Take for example, the story of one of our clients. They had a house (beautiful house, worth about $600,000) and had no intention of leaving.

However, one day this house in their neighborhood went on the market. You know the house. It is the one where every time you go by, you wish it was yours. Unfortunately, this house would never be for sale.

Out of the blue, the unbelievable happens: the house goes up for sale.

Now most would call this a stroke of luck, then it would dawn on them…

“We can’t have that house. Obviously, something unforeseen as happened, and they’ll want a quick sale. Waiting for us to sell our house first, won’t be acceptable to them. I guess we are out of luck.”

Luckily, this client called us to structure a safe way for him to get his dream home today, buy some time to get his “old” house sold, make both homes affordable during the marketing period, and leave him the exact same long term financing on the “new” home he otherwise would have had.

Now that’s a tall order! But we did it. And, so can you!

Here are 2 ways to buy a new house without selling your “old” one first.

Pull the equity out of your existing house using a Home Equity Line of Credit or a 2nd mortgage. If you could snap your fingers and sell your home, this would be what you’d use to buy the “new” home anyway. So just get it out now. Now, reserve enough of this money to make your “old” house payment for 6-12 months. Your house will take this long to market and with the money set aside you won’t be tempted to take a low-ball offer. Use the remainder as down payment and get your new first mortgage to complete the purchase. When the “old” house sells, both mortgages are liquidated and you are left with one house and one mortgage…the exact same situation you’d have had if you sold your “old” home before you bought the “new” one. But you accomplished it without the wait and the missed opportunity!

Another way to achieve the same result minus the “old” house payment reserve is to use an 80% first mortgage and a 20% 2nd mortgage also called 100% financing, to buy the new house. You won’t have to put any money down and when your “old” house sells, you use the proceeds to pay off the 2nd. The only difference is you don’t get any “extra” money to use to offset two house payments during the marketing period. Many of you, have existing lines of credit or other sources, so this may not be necessary.

Both scenarios leave you with great permanent financing on the new house.

The 80/20 or 100% financing scenario costs a little more in discount points than a traditional structure, but it’s only to the costs and not the rate. Refer to our website to learn more about 100% financing in our free report called, “Buy With Zero Down!”.

The biggest hurdles you’ll need to clear are 1) making two housing payments and 2) getting loan approval with two housing payments.

Here’s how you do both:

When you pull the money from your existing house, reserve enough to cover up to 12 months mortgage payments for the “old” house while it is on the market. That way you don’t have to come out of pocket for the payment. Gee, that was easy! Hurdle 1 cleared!

Since most loans are approved through a computer these days, you’ll need a mortgage broker who knows how to use the automated approval computer systems that FNMA and other agencies and lenders use. These approval systems are a Godsend when it comes to creative financing in today’s modern mortgage arena. It may seem strange to you, but to the computer, your financial picture and your need for financing, are simply numbers. It doesn’t care that some of those numbers include 2 housing payments. The new systems are allowing many of our clients an approval with abnormally high debt ratios, sometimes as high as 60%! This is very prevalent, especially with clients who have strong credit and assets after closing…like a 401K. This is your window for approval. Now, you know you’ll not be spending 60% of your income on debt, because you put the money aside in Step 1 to cover the “old” house payment, but the computer doesn’t know that or care. If done right, you’ll get the approval even with very high debt ratios.

Note: Beware! Don’t let an unscrupulous mortgage broker get you to commit mortgage fraud just so you can buy before you sell. Stick with our plan. If you get approved fine. If you don’t, live with it. One way they’d break the rules to get you approved is to “doctor up” a lease agreement on your “old” home to offset the payment and show the computer a lower debt ratio. Don’t do it…it’s a Federal crime!

How do you start?

1) Get approved through the computer system
2) If you need to pull equity out of existing house; start it now
3) Write offer on new house
4) When offer is accepted, put existing house up for sale; not before

At Integrity First Mortgage, we use these strategies to get our clients into houses every day. So don’t worry. It is ok to step out of the box sometimes and put away some of the outdated concepts about financing a house.

Lastly, don’t forget you can net a lot more for your “old” home with our revolutionary way to sell your house without paying a real estate commission, (6% commission on a 600,000 house is $36,000!). Look below in my resource box for more information.

Happy House Hunting!

What Is The Difference Between An “Agent” and a “Realtor?”

The words ‘real estate agent’ and ‘realtor’ are used interchangeably but there is actually a difference between the two.  A real estate agent is salesperson licensed by the state, and given legal permission to represent consumers in the sale of, or purchase of homes on the open real estate market.

A Realtor is a real estate professional who is an active member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) - a key supporting real estate organization.  The NAR offers ongoing education, legal information, contractual updates, information on governmental regulations affecting the real estate industry, etc.  Realtors might consist of appraisers, property managers, loan officers, and brokers. Therefore, not all Realtors are real estate agents.

Is One Better Than The Other?

Some Realtors have lots of success in helping consumers, while some Agents struggle to satisfy their clients.  At the same time, many Agents can be extremely efficient, while some Realtors can find themselves unsuccessful.  Association with any national organization can’t guarantee anything.  Some people prefer Realtors because they have a preference due to the national accreditation of NAR.  Also, all Realtors must comply with the standard set by NAR, which in part gives the client some additional assurance of ethical conduct.

What Are The Qualities Of A Great Real Estate Professional?

It’s important that you select a qualified agent that you feel comfortable working with.  Choose a person who has worked with someone you know, or a person who has a positive reputation within the community.  A high quality real estate professional will make your transaction as smooth as possible and be forthcoming and honest about the details.  That person will ask you questions, listen to your answers and recognize what you’d like to accomplish.  Then will guide you towards obtaining your goal in a strategic, organized and successful way.

If you’re reading this article, chances are you know exactly what we’re talking about. And you’re packed and ready for the journey towards home ownership. So travel along with us as we explore what’s new, what’s growing in popularity, what’s hip and hot, and
what’s up ahead in the not-so-distant future. Consider this article a road map. Keep in mind that it won’t tell you where to head, though. No side streets, off-the-beaten-tracks or cul-de-sacs are shown. But when it comes to making a home your very own, it’s sometimes as much as about how you got there as it is reaching that final destination. Bon Voyage!

Currently, the most popular architectural look for new homes in South Texas is, without a doubt, right out of the Old World. More specifically, it’s the Italianate look of Tuscany and the sunny Mediterranean. With a little bit of Mexico and the Texas Hill Country thrown in for good measure. Which certainly makes a lot of sense, since South and Central Texas and the Rio Grande Valley have a lot in common, climate-wise, with that part of Europe.

What are the signatures of this trendy style in a home? Instead of brick, look for stone and stucco. Preferably done with rustic finishes that have the patina of age—even antiquity. Another element you’ll frequently see is a tile or metal roof—both of which are very sensible for our region. The optimum effect is one of the luxury of handcraftsmanship and things made to last—well, practically forever. Perfect for a more gentle, gracious way of life.