Making the Right Move, Together.
Our team is well-known for our success with working with buyers – a fact we are especially proud of given that we’ve done so in one of the toughest sellers’ markets in history.
We attribute this success to our strategic approach to homebuying, which gives our clients an advantage in this highly competitive market.
Below is a summary of our approach, but please contact us to schedule a no obligation meeting, where we’d be happy to discuss this with you in detail.
Preparation:
“Opportunity does not waste time with those who are unprepared.”
- Idowu Koynikan, author
The first (and perhaps most important) step of our process is getting our clients well-prepared before they even start looking at properties. This involves getting an underwritten pre-approval (not just a pre-qualification) from a highly reputable, local lender, who will personally attest to your financial strength in a competitive offer situation.
We also take the time to do a deep-dive into the standard real estate disclosures, which are disclosure forms that come with every property on the market (ex: Lead Based Paint Disclosures, Buyers Inspection Advisory, etc). This not only gives our clients the opportunity to really absorb these important documents and potentially do further research if they so choose, but it also saves time and mental energy to carefully analyze the property-specific disclosures (ex: inspection reports, seller’s disclosures, etc) once they’ve identified a property they may like to offer on.
Last but not least, we walk our clients through the purchase contract in detail, including the two optional clauses, so that they may take the time to understand all aspects of the contract and even have time to seek the counsel of their qualified real estate attorney if necessary.
Searching for properties:
“He who would search for pearls must dive below.”
- John Dryden
The majority of our clients are looking at new real estate listings online but we make it a priority to search on our client’s behalf. We don’t just set up auto-searches and expect our busy clients to sort through the rubbish. Auto-searches cast a very wide net and they can’t filter for very important criteria (things such as “no busy roads” or “no t-intersections” or “I want to be close to a park”), so we curate new listings for each of our buyers.
We are also dialed-in to agent networking groups that make us aware of off-market and “coming soon” listings that we will also share with you. In addition to new listings, we also keep tabs on “stale” listings – those that have been on the market a long time and are likely under-marketed or overpriced (or both) and may be willing to sell in your range.
Evaluating properties:
“Fear cannot be banished, but it can be calm and without panic; it can be mitigated by reason and evaluation.”
- Vannevar Bush, American scientist
This is where things get fun for us. The first step is to analyze a property using online tools. Certainly, the marketing materials provided by the listing agent, such as photographs, 3D walk-throughs and floor plans are helpful, but map tools such as satellite view and street view have made online evaluation more thorough than ever.
We can also check school attendance areas, school scores and ratings, and add color commentary regarding our personal knowledge of the school/area/neighborhood to help conclude whether or not a property is worth an in-person visit.
Once that is determined, we encourage our clients to see properties in person as soon as possible. Given the rapid pace of the market, that allows us to return for multiple visits before offers are due. If our buyer is still interested after seeing the property in person, we will review the property-specific disclosures by phone.
As a final tool in the evaluation process, we have a contractor on retainer who will visit any property with us should any questions arise from the disclosures or to provide ballpark costs for potential remodeling.
Making an offer:
“Life doesn’t offer charity; it offers chance.”
- Amit Kalantri, author
As soon as a client shows interest in a property, we stay in close communication with the listing agent to see how much interest it’s getting. We do this right up until offers are due and factor the competition into our offer price. We look at recent comparable sales to see what the market indicates the properties’ value might be (Remember: List price does not equal market value!).
The final step is to finalize the terms of the offer (down payment, contingencies, price, number of days to close escrow, etc). Once we deliver the offer, we proactively communicate with the listing agent to give our clients every opportunity to stay in the running even if we aren’t the highest initial offer.
Once in contract:
“Success is the sum of small efforts – repeated day in and day out.”
- Robert Collier
We’re almost at the finish line! Our team guides our clients through the escrow process – from helping to get the earnest money deposit safely into escrow, to the final walkthrough.
And best of all, once escrow is closed and recorded, someone from our team will meet our client at the property to deliver you the keys to your new home!
After closing:
“Every end is a new beginning.”
- Unknown
The relationship we build with our clients doesn’t end with the close of escrow. Our relationships are life-long and we pride ourselves on being a source of expertise for all things pertaining to real estate, even when our clients aren’t actively buying or selling.
That’s why we prefer to think of ourselves as “consultants” and not salespeople. We’re in the business of advising our clients, not “selling” them. By offering a less “sales-like” experience, we hope to treat our clients like our friends and family.