Sunday, May 29, 2011

50 Reasons to Use a Buyer's Agent (Pre-existing & New Construction)

Did you know that the listing agent or the builder's sales agent represents the seller, not you?  Rather you're buying a pre-existing or new construction home, there is no direct expense to you for having a buyer's agent represent you.  A good buyer's agent can prove to be priceless because of the countless number of tasks they handle for you and because they can help you avoid irreversible pitfalls.  Listed below are just some of the valuable functions a good buyer's agent will perform for you:

1. Analysis of your real estate needs and determine housing criteria

2. Research properties

3. Send you listings that match your needs

4. Provide information pertaining to your move or relocation and short-term stay options

5. Educate you about home buying processes

6. Provide information on market conditions, schools, communities, employment, and more

7. Discuss your financing needs

8. Recommend qualified mortgage brokers

9. Make appointments and show properties

10. Provide timely and professional disclosure and research

11. In car review: pros & cons of each property

12. Point out “Hot Buttons” while showing

13. Help with loan application questions

14. Follow up of loan application with your selected mortgage broker

15. Help cleaning up your credit if needed

16. Analyze purchasing timeline and needs once property is located

17. Free Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) of a property in order to make an educated offer

18. Call listing agent to get sellers disclosure

19. Draft the offer and prepare paperwork

20. Research tax records

21. Get information on utilities

22. Explain all paperwork before signing

23. Generate net sheet

24. Write offer, collect, deposit escrow and provide verification to listing agent

25. Submit contract and follow up

26. Negotiate contract until mutually agreeable

27. Review and explain final contract

28. Send the title company the executed contract

29. Schedule and attend the home inspection

30. Schedule and attend the termite inspection

31. Recommend insurance agents to you

32. Verify loan process has begun

33. Review home inspection findings with you

34. Re-negotiate repairs if needed

35. Order survey/appraisal

36. Assist to meet finance deadline

37. Monitor contingencies – financing, home inspection, etc.

38. Check on homeowners insurance

39. Verify that the title agency has all necessary documentations

40. Follow up with the lender on all aspects of closing process

41. Schedule closing: time and place

42. Review HUD (closing statement)

43. Perform a final walk-through

44. Determine the funds to be brought to closing

45. Coordinate between lenders and title company to determine amount needed

46. Release escrow to title company

47. Explain everything needed at closing

48. Attend your closing to check for errors and omissions

49. Give you the keys to your new home!

50. Follow up after closing – homestead info and insuring that everything is going fine in your new home

Friday, May 27, 2011

The Six Ways Real Estate Investing Makes You Money

Six Ways to Make Money is Better Than One

Real estate investing is the most powerful wealth-building tool available to the average person.

The reason it’s so powerful is: there are six ways it makes you money.

Stocks, by contrast, only share one of these sources (two if you’re getting dividends).

Once you understand how all six of these income sources work, you will begin to see the tremendous wealth-building power of real estate bought and managed correctly.

Quick Disclaimer: These six income sources only apply to real estate bought and managed properly:
A) with equity
B) with cash flow
C) in “bread and butter” neighborhoods
D) managed with best practices

If your knee-jerk reaction is that real estate investing is too risky, you have not yet been taught how to minimize the risk. The way I was taught to invest in real estate is not the same way that many of the “gurus” teach. Most of those programs are far to risky for my taste.


Multiple Streams of Income
One neat thing about having so many different income streams is that real estate can be forgiving. Many people I know (including myself) screwed up on their first deal, but still made money. That’s because one income stream can make up for a lack of another.

Now, I don’t recommend screwing it up. You might as well do it right as long as you’re getting in the business. That way you won’t ruin your taste for the most powerful wealth-building tool available to the average person.


Let’s run down the list of the six ways:
1. Cash Flow
Cashflow is the reason we seek passive income-producing assets. Without cash flow, you don’t have income… meaning: you can’t quit your job without cash flow.

All of the assets on my comparison chart have cash flow (I’m assuming your stocks have dividends). If it doesn’t cash flow, I don’t consider it.

We don’t buy a piece of real estate unless the rental income is greater than the monthly expenses by a decent margin. For example: when your tenant pays you $1,000 a month and your monthly expenses including principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and maintenance/occupancy reserve are $800 a month. The $200 difference is now income in your pocket.

2. Equity Capture
Equity capture is when you buy an asset for less than it’s worth. In real estate, it’s when you buy a house in a $100k neighborhood for $50k, fix it up for $20k and you’re “all in” for $70k.

You just captured $30k in equity which goes directly towards your net worth. Few other investment vehicles can create wealth so quickly

In fact, of the six assets on my comparison chart, real estate investing is the only one that allows you to capture equity. Stocks are sold to the average person “at market” which, by definition, means there is no captured equity.

Without equity, you are exposing yourself to the risk of a falling market. We always buy assets with equity so that we are never hurt by a down market.

Online businesses, network marketing, and vending can be good sources of cash flow; but they don’t offer an opportunity to buy an asset for less than it’s worth.

3. Forced Appreciation
The ability to change the value of an asset by your own efforts is a very attractive reason for choosing an asset for self-determinists like me. Most of the businesses that I have ever started relied heavily on my creativity and work ethic to gain in value.

In real estate, you have the opportunity to physically change the value of an asset. In single-family investing, we take a distressed asset and raise the value back up to where it supposed to be with a proper rehab.

Multi-family investing lets us take this concept to a new level. While the value of a single-family house is constrained by the comparable sales in the neighborhood, the value of an apartment complex is based on the profits. That means you are only limited by your ability to increase the income and decrease the expenses.

The value of a vending or online business is also based on the profit margin that you can personally control.

Unfortunately, stocks do not allow you to control the value (that’s in the hands of the execs), and network marketing businesses typically can not be sold (so they don’t have a market value).

4. Market Appreciation
Real estate doubles in value every twenty years. It might fluctuate in the short term, but it is forced to rise over the long term with inflation of building materials, labor, and scarcity of land.

The main reason most people buy stocks today is for market appreciation while it’s only the 4th most important reason we buy real estate. Do you see the difference?

While stock investors live and die by market appreciation, real estate investors see it as a nice bonus to pile on top of the other five ways we make money.

5. Principal Pay Down
Here’s a neat way we make money in real estate that most people don’t even think of. We naturally accumulate equity in our houses as the notes get paid down.

Even if you weren’t making money any other way, your tenants would be paying down your mortgage a little bit each month. It starts out small, like fifty or a hundred dollars a month, but it grows over time and adds to your equity in the house.

The other asset classes typically don’t have mortgages, so this wouldn’t apply.

6. Tax Advantage
Real estate investors pay the lowest takes of any for-profit group in the United States. The IRS allows us to reduce our earned income tax on cash flow by taking a depreciation deduction against the house. We can avoid capital gains tax when we sell by using a 1031 tax exchange.

How long can you avoid taxes with a 1031? If you pass the property to your children, they will take over at the new cost basis, which wipes out all of the capital gains over the life of that asset
No of the other assets can claim such a huge tax advantage.


Does it Make Sense?Are you starting to understand why I talk up real estate investing so much? It’s the only asset class that I know of that can create rapid wealth. All the others make money in one or two ways, but not six.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

It May Be a Better Time Than You Thought to Sell Your Eagle Mountain Lake / Saginaw Home

The number of homes listed for sale in the 76179 zip code has hit a two year low.  That is GREAT news if you want to sell your Eagle Mountain Lake, Saginaw, or Northwest Fort Worth Home because you will have less competition. 

Down Payment Assistance Program

TDHCA 70 - Additional Down Payment Assistance!

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) has released additional down payment assistance in conjunction with Mortgage Revenue Bond (MRB) Program 70.

Program highlights include:
• Approximately $14 million in non-targeted funds available
• Fixed Rate of 5.75%
• Down payment grant of up to 4% of first lien amount
• 580 minimum FICO score
• Dallas Income limits: (1 - 2 persons - $67,600); (3-4 persons - $77,740)
• Ft. Worth Income limits: (1 - 2 persons - $66,000); (3-4 persons - $75,900)
• Max. sales price - $258,690
• Home buyer education course required*
 
For more information about the TDHCA 70 program, please contact Nick Windham: (682) 365-6365 or nickw@vipmtg.com


This is being provided for informational purposes only and is not an offer of credit. *Additional requirements apply. Not all borrowers will qualify. V.I.P. Mortgage, 789 Lonesome Dove Tr, Hurst, TX  76054.  Loan Officer License #84048

Thursday, December 31, 2009

How to Buy a Home



Get pre-qualified for your mortgage loan: This will tell you if you qualify to buy a home, how much you qualify for, how much your payments will be, and how much money you'll need to bring to closing. Your friend, Nick Windham with V.I.P. Mortgage, is a licensed mortgage loan officer. When you pre-qualify with Nick he shops finds the best financing available without you having to apply at multiple banks or have your credit pulled multiple times. Nick's Contact info is nickw@vipmtg.com or (682) 365-6365


Find a Great Real Estate Agent: A great Real Estate Agent is priceless because they'll help you find you the best deal on the home meeting your criteria faster. They'll negotiate on your behalf, handle all the paperwork properly for you, and coordinate a smooth closing. Make sure you pick a good REALTOR that you feel communicates well, has a good personality, and that you can trust is looking out for your best interest rather than just trying to make a sale. Brandi Windham is among the best Texas Realtors. You can reach her at (817) 319-8290 or brandi@brandiwindham.com. Check out her website at www.mywindhamrealestate.com


Find the Home You Want: This sounds easy but it's very hard to find the perfect home for the perfect price. A great real estate agent that knows the markets and how to negotiate will be a huge help. They can also provide you with customized searches for homes meeting your exact criteria. They can set up auto email alerts to alert you as soon as a home is listed or reduced in price that meets your criteria. These are just a few of the advanced tools and priceless insights a great REALTOR. Think about important things like location (general and specific), school district (Exemplary is the best), property taxes (they don't go away even if you pay the home off), etc...


Check the Value: Once you've found the home you want, make sure it's a fair deal. You can go online or drive the community and see what other similar homes are available for sale for. Your REALTOR can see what similar homes in nearby area actually sold for recently to make sure you're getting a good deal. Your agent can give your their broker price opinion. You'll also be protected by your mortgage company’s appraisal. The mortgage company will not let you borrow more than what the home's appraisal value comes back at. There are also free sites that are less accurate but very fast and helpful such as Zillow.com


Write Offer: Contracts should be written up on your states promulgated Real Estate forms. If you have an agent, they will handle writing up the offer you want to make, explaining the contract, and showing you where all you need to sign. If it's a new construction home you are buying, then often times the builder write up their own contract and require that it be used. Make sure you understand it before agreeing to it as with any contract. Then your Realtor will deliver the offer to the seller or seller's listing agent. Your offer will be accepted or countered. If it's countered, then you'll have to negotiate. Make sure you get an owner's title policy in the deal to ensure you will own the home free and clear other liens when you close.


Negotiate: For most this is the most stress part of the transactions. Others, including the best Real Estate Agents actually enjoy and thrive in negotiations. Like it or not, this is a critical stage that can be the difference in you getting the home and the deal you want or not. Keep in mind that sometimes this means offering above list price to win out over other bidders on homes that are under priced. Don't get emotional and always keep your real overall goal in mind (getting your home).


When do You Really Have a Deal: Once the seller has signed the contract and it's been delivered to you then you have a deal. Do not settle for verbal agreements. Even during negotiations send back signed paperwork. That way if the seller agrees to it they can't back out.


Deliver the Earnest Money Check: Now that you have a deal you need to deliver the earnest money check to the title company. The earnest money is deposited with the title company that you will close at. If you close, then it will be credited to you. If you withdraw from the contract after you option period, you will lose the money. You also need to deliver the executed contract to your lender so they can open title, order your appraisal, send your loan file to underwriting, etc...


Order the Inspection: If you've negotiated to have an option period, then this is the time to have the home inspected by a 3rd party inspector. The inspector will check the home's mechanical and structural systems such as electrical, plumbing, HVAC, hot water heater, roof, foundation, etc.... The inspection will be done at your expense and usually range from $250-$450. It's a good idea to go to the inspection with you agent and go over it together to make sure you're all on the same page. Even if you don't have an option period, ALWAYS have the home inspected before you close. It's a good idea to meet with your inspector and agent to go over the inspection after they're done.


Get Bids from Contractors: If the home does need significant repairs don't panic. This can actually be an opportunity for you to get an even better deal. If the work is minor, then have 1-2 contractors give you bids on the work. If it's major then get 3-4 bids. Now you'll know exactly how much the repairs will cost.

Renegotiate or Choose Not to Rock the Boat: Now you have a few options. You can have your agent send over an amendment during the option period either for the seller to make the repairs or to reduce the price, or pay more closing costs, or whatever you feel is fair. You get the point. The second option is that you bail out of the deal altogether and get your earnest money back. Just keep in mind you'll be out the cost of your option check, inspect, time, etc... if you bail. Also keep in mind that the real estate world is a small world. If you bail out on a good deal, then you will get a reputation for being a flake buyer that agents will not won't to deal with. Your third option is to not risk losing the great deal you got and just go close. Keep in mind if you send over an amendment to the contract during the option period, then you're out of contract unless the seller signs off on it. If the seller doesn't agree to your requests, then they can continue marketing the home to other buyers. This is a crucial period during the transaction that sets the precedence for the rest of your transaction.

Order the Survey: Most individual sellers already have a survey that you can reuse. However, if they've lost it or made major structural/exterior changes to the property then you'll need to have the title company order a survey. Most buyers don't know it, but you can shop for the best surveyor. You don't have to just let the title company pick their guy. You need to look at the survey to see if there are easements on the property in areas where you might want to build a permanent structure such as a pool or a work shop. You'll also need to make sure that the home isn't in a flood plain. If it is, then the lender will require that you get flood insurance which is in addition to your regularly home owner's insurance policy and is pricey.


Stay in Touch with Your Lender: Stay in communication with your loan officer and their loan processor multiple times per week. They will almost always need more paperwork from you or for you sign and send back paperwork for them. Also, you need to let them know of any changes in the estimated closing date, changes in the price, etc... Lastly, check with them that nothing is changing on their end. Have them send you the written copy of your interest rate lock to ensure they've locked in what they've promised you and that nothing will change at the 11th hour.


Schedule a Final Inspection: Always do a final inspection of the home to confirm it's in proper condition prior to closing. If the seller was supposed to make repairs, then have your inspector confirm that they were done properly. DO NOT close on any new or pre-owned home until the agreed upon repairs are completed. After you close you have a lot less leverage to get the seller to fulfill their promise.  You may also want to get with the seller to learn how things like the thermostat, sprinklers, alarm, etc... work.


Shop for Home Owner's Insurance: Your lender is going to require that you provide them with contact info for that the home owner's insurance agent/company/policy you're going to use. Shop who you are using for your auto insurance because they'll give you a discount for doing both with them. Also shop the other large companies such as Liberty Mutual, Farmers, State Farm, etc...


Schedule an Estimated Closing Date: For this you'll need your agent to coordinate with the listing agent, the title company and your lender to come up with a date that works for everyone. DO NOT try to close on the last Friday of the month. That's the day everybody tries to close on. If any minor problem comes up then everyone will be too slammed with other closings to fix it in time. Also, allow several days or even a couple days before you have to be out of where you're currently living. Closing delays are almost inevitable in today's world of mortgages and you don't want to be homeless or moving twice in and out of a cramped extended stay motel.


Schedule the Movers: If possible, avoid scheduling the movers for the same day as your closing. Try to schedule the movers several days or even a couple weeks after your estimated closing date just in case something comes up. Movers usually charge deposits that are non-refundable after a certain date and sometimes you can't even reschedule them for weeks.  This will prevent the crisis of having the moving truck show up before the seller can give you the keys to your new home.


Look at the HUD-1: The HUD-1 settlement statement shows you what your payment will be and what you need to bring to closing. Your payment should be within a few dollars what your lender promised you. Your cash to bring to closing should be within a few hundred dollars of what was estimated on the GFE.  If it's not, then you need to get with your lender and the title company and see why.  If the lender just over promised and is under delivering then hold their fee to the fire and make them eat the difference.  In 2010 it's the law, not just their promise, that they deliver very close to what the estimates. They give you.  If you good with a good loan officer like Nick Windham with VIP Mortgage, you want have this problem.


Go Close: Closing is where you go to the title company with your Realtor and or Loan Officer and sign all the closing paperwork to put the home into your name. You'll bring your cashier's check for the amount requested. If you can't be present, then you can arrange a courtesy closing or have someone with a power of attorney sign closing papers for you.


Transfer Utilities: Oh yeah, you're probably going to want to have electric, water, gas, TV, phone, etc... at your new place. Most of these service providers have lead times of a few days to a few weeks so you should contact them well before your estimated closing date. Coordinate with them to come out soon after you close. You'll usually have a few days after you close before the utilities are turned off but not all sellers are so generous for financially able.


Start Living Happily Ever After: Make friends with your neighbors, register your kiddos for school, host a house warming party, etc....


This is a brief summary of how to buy a home.  For any detailed questions you may have, feel free to contact Nick or Brandi Windham with VIP Mortgage and Windham Real Estate.

 
Nick (682) 365-6365
nickw@vipmtg.com
www.twitter.com/nickwindham
www.facebook.com/nick.windham1

Brandi (817) 319-8290
brandi@brandiwindham.com
www.mywindhamrealestate.com
www.twitter.com/wrealestate
Find Windham Real Estate on Facebook





Tuesday, December 22, 2009

How to Get the Home Buyer Tax Credit, Best Financing, and Best Deal on Your New Home

   
Nick Windham - Owner of Windham Real Estate and Licensed Loan Officer

     Home buyers, get on the ball and do not use the Holidays as an excuse to get your finances/credit in order to buy your home! Be honest with yourself. If it's not Christmas then it will be New Years. If it's not New Years, it will be the NFL playoffs, or whatever else you can your human nature can come up with. Things that are easy to do are even easier not to do. However be proactive and make your life better in 2010! Take advantage of the home buyer tax credit long before the deadline. Don't wait until it's too late like you may have done last time. There isn't going to be a third chance to get this tax credit and you need to close in January or February so that you don't find yourself in bidding wars with other home buyers. The procrastinators will bum rush the housing market in March & April. At the end of the original tax credit deadline it was common for North Texas Home Buyers to have to submit offers above full price on approximately half a dozen homes before finally winning one of them. That process took several weeks or even a few months and was extremely stressful for everyone involved. Save yourself the heartache by starting now.

     Home prices are at decade lows and fixed mortgage rates are at historic lows but starting to creep up. That plus the $6,500 - $8,000 home buyer tax credit. Seriously, if you can't find the motivation within yourself to at least try to buy a home now, then you may not ever.  Don't let the nay sayers make you think you can't qualify for a mortgage. It's simply not true. All you need is a 620 mid FICO score, the ability to document sufficient income, and to have mere 3.5% for down payment (this can even be gifted from family). If you can do those three things then there's a 99.9% chance that V.I.P. Mortgage (Windham Real Estate's partnered mortgage brokerage) CAN qualify you for the home or investment property you've been dreaming of. Don't know your FICO score? Nick will send you yours for FREE (unlike freecreditreport.com) and help you with all of your mortgage questions.

     Your friends in mortgage and real estate, Nick and Brandi Windham of Windham Real Estate, are ready to help guide you through the entire home buying or investing process from qualifying for the best financing to handing you your keys after closing.  They're real estate investors themselves and they know how to help you find the best deal onyour new home.  Contact them at their local office near Eagle Mountain Lake or go to their North Texas Real Estate and Mortgage Website and start house hunting today.

Nick and Brandi Windham
Windham Real Estate
Real Estate and Mortgage
Cell:  (682) 365-6365
Office:  (817) 319-8290
Email:  npwindham@vipmtg.com
Website:  http://www.mywindhamrealestate.com/
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