LEARN
HOW TO SEARCH FOR PROPERTIES AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE SAVINGS POSSIBLE WHEN YOU PARTNER WITH U.S. REAL ESTATE
DEPOT ON YOUR NEXT REAL ESTATE
TRANSACTION.
MAKING AN OFFER:
Learning Market
Dynamics
Steps To Take (quick
reference)
What Is The Best
Offer
What Really Determines
A Property's Value
SEARCHING FOR A HOME:
Drive By
Online
Previewing
Who Should Show The Property?
Steps To
Take (quick reference)
Traditional Methods (newspapers, home magazines, mailers,
etc.)
THE INTERNET AND
REAL ESTATE
DEFINITIONS - COMMON REAL ESTATE TERMS - CLOSING
EXPLANATIONS
One of the best ways for you
to learn about the market is to simply watch and catalog
properties that are located in the area of your interest
and track the prices. You will want to start
doing this as early as possible in your property search
process. There is no time too soon to start watching the
market. The market is constantly changing from buyer's market to
seller's market to neutral and back again. The only way to
be informed is to continuously monitor what is happening
to properties on your own. We are in no hurry to rush you into
a purchase so if it takes two years for your search and you end up
with your dream home that is what we
want!
With so many sites available with real estate
information, (we wish there was only one) you will have to spend some
time weeding out the useless and saving the useful in your favorites.
Any true MLS will be of great value because they have standards
and criteria the agents are held accountable to and must follow. It is
monitored by the members and there are violations that are reported
to keep those standards possible. Many of these other rogue
sites that are just aggregating information already available are
just a third party adding no real value to your search. They
aren't going to provide you with anymore information than
the agents in control of the MLS board will allow or the agent that
loads the information initially. Unfortunately, the information agents will
allow will not always be what is in the best interest
of the consumer. But, you can contact us via email for any
information you may need to help you. Not only that, but on those third
party sites there is no policing of the information you will be viewing
so it may be completely wrong, or it may be outdated, or it may be
an unscrupulous brokerage trying to get their name out there by claiming
a listing is theirs when it never was. This cannot happen with the
MLS because agents can click a violation button that is on
every listing and report any listing that they believe may be
violating MLS rules. This is good because it keeps the integrity of
the information as clean as possible. All the other rogue
sites that agents use as marketing gimmicks do not have this
capability.
1)
Study the
market
dynamics for the neighborhood and surrounding areas that the property
you are interested in is
located.
2) Based on those
dynamics
and information that you can get from us you will consider what
price to have in mind for your
offer.
3)
Be financially prepared and ready to purchase within the
shortest time period
possible.
4)
We will need you to get us a pre-approval
(not pre-qualified) letter, proof of down payment
funds or pre-approval letter if financing 100%, proof of down
payment (if not financing it) and closing cost funds and a
minimum 1% good faith deposit check to place the
offer.
5)
Once we have your information you will be
able to log onto our online transaction management system and review a blank purchase
contract that will be used for your
offer so you can consider the contingencies and other
items you want included in the
offer.
6)
Contact us for help or guidance with any contractual question or
concern you may
have.
7)
We will use the details from our discussions
about the property and write up the contract with your
specifications.
8) Once they documents are ready for
signatures they will be sent to you via a secured electronic
signature site where you will review the documents, contact us with
any questions or concerns, and if all is acceptable then sign
them and you only need an email address and web browser. You do not
need to install or buy any
software.
9) We will review the documents and then fax
them over to the listing agent for review with their clients (the
sellers).
10) If we receive a counter offer we will contact
you to review it and decide how to proceed. This will continue
until the offer is accepted or
declined.
11)
We include 5 different and separate offers in the $5000
flat fee. After 5 offers there is a $250 charge per
separate offer to be prepaid before offer is presented. This is
to keep the cost down and preserve the flat fee commission. An offer
consists of the CMA, the initial documentation and all counter
offers involved until the offer is accepted or rejected. If the
offer is accepted we handle everything else through the close of
escrow just like a normal transaction.
Full price, all cash and no contingencies, but
that is where negotiations come in because offers like that are
few and far between. Real estate is worth what someone is
willing to pay. Everyone has their own opinion of
what the value of a property is. All you can
do is try to analyze the dynamics of the properties that
are similar to the one you are interested in and use that information along with the
competition (other similar properties for sale within the same area). Next it
depends on how much you like the property. If you really like it,
the money is not going to be as important
as it would if you do not care much for the property
or its location. Saving $10k-$20k on a property is meaningless
if your next door neighbor parks old cars on blocks in his front yard and
doesn't take good care of his property. This is why the
drive preview is so important. So, you liking the neighborhood and
the location of the property are certainly one of the most
important things to consider. Our service is
there to save you money. We do not want you paying high commissions and
junk fees that most real estate brokers charge because uninformed consumers
will pay it. We want you informed. With our client being informed
and taking a more pro-active role in the their
purchase we feel confident that the
decision our client makes will be without any regrets and
at a price they are happy with.
This is a million dollar question and no one has
the answer. If they did have the answer then they should be living it up
in Belize instead of working as an agent. The best anyone can
do is watch the activity of the market in that area and by using
comps and the prices of the competition (other homes for sale in
the area) get an approximate value of the property. Other details like condition,
upgrades, size, number of rooms etc. will affect the
value and will have to be taken into consideration. However, one property may be
worth more to one person than another and that is the
last thing that really determines the value and how much you would
pay for it; how much you truly like the home and/or its
location.
SEARCHING
FOR A HOME:
After you have decided on the neighborhood you
are interested in, searched online and found 5
or so properties that are near each other you will want to
drive by them and make sure you want to pursue them further. Here is a
property profile
sheet that you can download and
print out what pages you think
you will need to keep track of each one. If you can include pictures
it will help for reviewing the properties later. Some people see a
property online, they like the pictures and want to make an
appointment to see the inside without knowing what the neighborhood
is like. If there is a run down house two doors down are you
really going to care what the house looks like on the inside?
It is not very likely so you will be able to cross it off your list.
Whatever the reason, once you drive by the properties you will
know whether you still want it on you list or not. As you drive
by and preview the properties you will want to take notes about it.
Anything you like or dislike so you won't waste time looking on the
inside if it isn't going to be a keeper from the outside. You should
also drive by at different times and different days. A few good days
and times would be during the week in the morning which will
probably be the most quiet. Then on the weekend in the afternoon and
also in the evenings after or near 10pm so you can see if it is
quiet or a party place. All these options are up to you, but the
more you find out early on the better choice you'll make and be
satisfied with. If there is a sign in the front yard you will
want to get all the phone numbers on it for future reference
when you are ready to see the inside.
Searching online is getting more
and more popular. It is becoming the future of real estate searches
and 80% of home buyers are starting their searches online without an
agent. With all the information you can get including pictures,
location, and most of the other pertinent details it is the
staple of the U.S. Real Estate Depot business model and
the savings it
provides consumers in their real estate transaction. Unfortunately, there are a
lot of opponents in
this business of providing information about properties
for sale or that have been sold to the consumers. These
opponents
believe it takes
away their value and they are right. So, searching online
will take
some work on your part. We are trying to
provide as much information as possible for free while
absorbing
the cost of providing
some of that information. Regardless we do not require that
you sign up or
commit
to us for anything. You have complete free unlimited access to all property search
sites we can provide.
The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) was first created
so that agents that had a listing could
let
other agents know about
that listing and then be offered a percentage of the sale typically
3% to represent the
buyer
in the transaction. This information was first in books, kept in agent's
offices and now it is
online. However, the MLS is regional and some are very
protective of the information. The fear of a Microsoft
creating
a private online MLS
to compete with the current system as they did with Expedia and
the travel industry has
opened up
a few of the MLS boards to provide a larger region of accessibility for
agents. We hope this move
will also benefit the accessibility of information for the
consumer and we are pushing for that also.
We
want every property to have
an equal chance of being seen by you. Every property is equal in
value to
us so we want
you to have the property that you like best. The problem is the convoluted
method of providing information
to the consumers. Some sites will
place properties higher in the search rank because an agent paid
a
fee for that placement. That
agent may use the expense of that fee to justify the higher commission they
will receive
if the
property sells. When agents show clients properties based on the
amount of commission they will receive, the
consumer's best interests are compromised.
Tips for your
online search
Remember that searching online will require thinking a bit outside
the box. If there are options to edit or modify the search take
advantage of that to make changes and see if your results are
better. Try different methods of searching. MLS's are
regional and they overlap cities and counties
so when you are searching we suggest that you use
city and then zip code separately in your search criteria. If one of
those two things were entered wrong you may not see that one
property that would have been "perfect". Also, it would be most
efficient to check a few different places. We have supplied as many
as we can for our coverage area. The
MLS search sites we supply have all properties with special
preferences given to none of them. If they are on the MLS you
will see them just like an agent would. Right now most cities
have over 250 properties total listed so if you visit
a rogue site and it shows only 30 properties for sale
it is possible that they don't subscribe to the MLS that covers
that particular area and they have just the spillover properties that overlap
into it. If you are searching an MLS site that is only showing
a few properties in that city it may
not be the main site for that area, but only overlapping it. Check
another site until you find one that you like. Here
are a few links to properties that are on the MLS by county and
area, take enough time to search so you are happy with your choices. Some are
easier to use than others, but experiment with different criteria and use the
links that work best for you. The first link is our IDX
feed which is probably the nicest to use. It needs less keystrokes
to get the information you need. You can even
sign up for the latest listings entered matching your criteria to
be emailed to you as they come up. Don't worry about being
bothered, we are no pressure and won't bother you with
high pressure tactics that many traditional agents employ. Just call or email us when
you are ready or if you have any questions or problems with
the search. If the area you are searching in has only a few
listings then you may need to use the second link which covers a larger
area but requires more clicks deeper into each page to get the
details about the property. We hope that in the future we will be
able to supply a single online source for all areas, giving every property
equal placement so your search will be easier and we will keep
working on that. In the mean time, you may have to make
a few more mouse clicks to save all
that money!
ORANGE,
SAN BERNARDINO, RIVERSIDE COUNTIES AND PASADENA, GLENDALE,
BURBANK, SAN FERNANDO VALLEY
ORANGE, LOS
ANGELES, SAN BERNARDINO AND RIVERSIDE COUNTIES
VENTURA,
SANTA BARBARA COUNTIES
REALTOR.COM FOR OTHER AREAS IN SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
Alright, here is where your personality will probably determine
which route you will take in your previewing of properties for
sale. You have two choices; have the listing agent show you
the
property if you can be assertive enough or
have U.S. Real Estate Depot show you for an up front
flat fee. Let's start with the way to save you the
most money; assertiveness. At this point you should have completed all the steps
necessary to be qualified or ready to buy a property. You should also have taken
down the phone number of the listing agent on the sign. You
will then call that number and ask specifically for the listing agent. Tell the
listing agent your situation, that you have seen the pictures online, driven
by the property, that you have been pre-approved, have the down payment funds
ready, you are already represented on the buyer's side by
U.S. Real Estate Depot which is your legal right and that
you'd like to know if he/she could get you inside
to preview the property. Most agents will be very cooperative and
get you inside the property somehow. However, some agents will make excuses because
they don't want to do any extra work and some agents will
flat out lie to you, (oh no, did I say
an agent might lie?) about showing you the property. I have
heard them all, but I don't know if the agent is
just ignorant or really just greedy. There is the agent with the audacity to say
he/she does not want to do any more work for their 2-3%+
commission, to the agent that will flat out lie and tell you
they have to write the offer if they show you the
property. You must decide if you have the assertive type of
personality to deal with these types of agents. Either way we can get you
into the property one way or another.
We believe the listing
agent has a fiduciary duty to do anything necessary to get their
client's property sold including showing it to a qualified buyer
that may already have representation for their side of
the purchase. We will show our properties to pre-approved prospective
buyers and they should too. Here are the facts directly
from the Appendix ll to Part 10 of the N.A.R. Code of Ethics
and Arbitration Manual. It give a basic definition of "procuring
cause" which is what agents claim is the basis for being paid
a commission. The definition is "the uninterrupted series of casual
events which result in the successful transaction." Neither showing
the property nor having a buyer's representation agreement with
the purchaser automatically demonstrates procuring cause. I just
wonder if the listing agent's clients were told that
someone qualified to buy their property wanted to see the inside
of the house and their agent wouldn't show it because they don't want
to do extra work unless they get another 2-3% of the purchase price
of the house, would the seller keep the listing with that agent? Do
you think opening a door and showing someone the inside of the
property is worth 2-3% of the purchase price? We sure don't.
1)
Narrow down your area to a few local
neighborhoods.
2)
Look for properties online in these areas in your price
range.
3) Make a list of at
least 5 properties near
each other that you can drive by and preview from the outside,
including the surrounding
neighborhood.
4) Drive by, stop
and take notes and/or pictures and decide which properties will make your
list to previewing of the
inside.
5)
Take down the listing agent's phone numbers from sign so you can
make contact to
preview.
6) Once you
are pre-approved, have seen all the pictures online and driven
by the property you are qualified and ready to be considered a
serious buyer and you should have no problems making appointments to
see the inside of these properties. Unless you are using an
agent that will receive the full buyer's agent's commission you do not
want to take their time unless you are ready to buy. There is enough
information online and with drive by's to get to know the market
without taking someone's time to see the inside unless you are
prepared and ready to buy now. Sorry, but that is a fact. Everyone's time
has some value so taking someone's time to see a property
when you aren't ready to buy just isn't
right.
7) You will call the
number from the listing agent's sign and ask specifically for the
listing agent. The number may go right to a buyer's agent or they
may try to hook you up with a buyer's agent from the same office.
This will benefit
the broker as he will get a piece of both sides of
the commission called "dual
agency".
8)
Ask the agent if they will be holding an open house or if they can
get you into see the
property.
9)
They may be very cooperative, this is the usual case, or they may
be uncooperative and you will have to be assertive to see the
property. If they give you any problems and you have supplied us
with your pre-approval letter, proof of down payment funds and you
don't have a house to sell we will call the agent to get you
inside.
10)
Here is a
letter
that you can print out
to give to agents
that show you properties to assure them we do our share of the
transaction and that you are being represented by
professionals.
11)
If you are not very assertive, enough to deal with some of the
less cooperative agents, U.S. Real Estate Depot will take you
to preview properties. However, this service must be prepaid
under these conditions in order for you to still qualify for the
flat fee $5000.00
commission.
a)
The first property will be $175 and each property within a 5
mile radius of the first will be $25 starting over each new day of
previewing. This fee is to be paid right after service is
rendered.
b)
The charge will be levied only if you get to preview the
property, so you will have to get us the list so we can arrange for
the times and make the most of your previewing
expenses.
c)
The agent showing you properties
may be a newly licensed agent, rather than a more experienced agent
that will be involved in the transaction. The showing
agents may
vary.
12)
In order to keep our commission a flat fee instead of
a fraction
of or percentage of the value of your home we
have implemented these cost saving measures to benefit our
clients and their assets. It also helps keep buyers a
little more serious and aware of their property
previewing activities.
We believe the
traditional methods of advertising mentioned above are used by agents to
advertise themselves more than the property. This is especially true if
the most important aspects of the property are not included in the
ad, like location, price etc. We do not believe these methods are effective
in selling properties. We believe the extra costs are already factored into
the price of the property getting all of this extra advertising.
Just ask around and see if any one you know has purchased a property
because they found it through any of these methods. The percentage
of people you will find will most likely be in the single digits if
not just zero.
If you are here reading this you do not need to be convinced that the internet is changing commerce including
the real estate business. It will be your decision whether
or not to take advantage of the savings the internet and U.S. Real
Estate Depot can provide you. You will have to decide
if you want to do the search on your
own although most people are doing themselves anyhow. You will have to decide if
you want to deal with agents that are arrogant and are offended
that you dare to become pro-active and involved
in your own real estate transaction. You will have to decide that you
want to do the work that is in your best
interest and not that of an agent with a different
incentive, like a big commission, than
you have. With our company and your pro-active involvement in the
transaction we can create a partnership where everyone will benefit,
where there are no incentives other than the most important one, you
getting what you want, and where your best interest is paramount. If
buyers or sellers don't want to participate in their transaction
then they should pay the full commission agreed to whatever amount
it may be. We know there are people out there that won't be a match
for our company's business model, but there has to be options out
there for those that want choice and the freedom to make that
choice.
U.S. REAL ESTATE DEPOT, INC. IS A LICENSED CORPORATION BY
THE
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE LICENSE NUMBER
#01522735
Copyright © 2005-2008 US Real Estate Depot.
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