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A few weeks ago, I went to Seattle and met with a few different builders and real estate investors, which I do at least once a quarter so that I can hone my skills, gain more knowledge, and use that knowledge to serve my clients better. 

Today I want to take you on part of that journey to give you a quick glimpse at what these builders are doing and how they are capitalizing on their investments.

One investor took a home in the Beacon Hill area of Seattle, invested $130,000 into renovations, and then ended up keeping it as a rental property. You can hear more of his story in the video above. Essentially, he found a home in a great area, which equals great tenants and great rents.  

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Whether you are interested in building a new home, buying a new home, or rehabbing a home and turning it into a rental property, we can help. If you have any questions for me about anything in the video above or anything else related to your real estate goals, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email today.

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Recently I was asked an interesting question: Should lines of credit be closed once they’re paid off?

In general, no. If you’re searching for a home, this is especially important. One of the main ways lenders will judge your status will be by looking at your credit ratio. 

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One of the main ways lenders will judge your status will be by looking at your credit ratio.

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For example, if you’ve got a debt of $2,500 on an account with a $5,000 credit limit, your ratio is 50%. Even if you were to pay this amount off, the $5,000 credit would still be recorded so long as the account remained open. This will make your ratio look better than if you were to close down the account. 

If you have any other questions or would like more information about this topic or about building wealth through real estate in general, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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There are three reasons that you shouldn’t wait until summer to list your home for sale:

1. Less inventory. Less inventory means less competition. There are more buyers in the marketplace with less to choose from.

2. Multiple offers. As a seller, multiple offers result in higher bids and stronger terms on the sale contract.

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You can either list now in these conditions or wait until the summer.

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3. Higher sale price. With limited inventory, buyers only have a handful of homes to choose from. They don’t have a choice but to pay what it takes to get them the home.

You can either list your home now in these conditions or wait until summer when competition is more fierce and there are many more homes on the market. If you have any questions in the meantime, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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A couple weeks of ago, I talked about how to set your goals for 2018 so you could achieve them, and now I want to talk about one of my goals: answering your real estate questions. 

Right now, I’m at a Mike Ferry event in San Diego. This is the first of four events I plan on attending this year to make sure I’m growing as a person and as a real estate broker for my clients. When it comes to real estate brokers, you always want to work with one who’s on top of their game and knows what’s working, whether you’re trying to buy, sell, or invest in real estate. 

I want to transfer some of the knowledge I’ve learned from previous experience and from attending these quarterly learning events to you, which is why I’m asking this question: What are some of the topics you’d like to know about regarding real estate? 

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I want to transfer my real estate knowledge to you.

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For example, if you’re curious about how to increase your cash flow or appreciation holdings in your portfolio regarding real estate, we can put a plan together or a series of videos you can learn from without attending a seminar. 

These videos are made for you, so I want to make sure they’re all beneficial. If you have a question, other people likely have the same question too, and I want to be able to answer all of them.

If you have any real estate questions at all, don’t hesitate to give me a call or shoot me an email. I’d love to help you.

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I have a nine-step goal-setting process to share with you that can help you set your goals for 2018 and achieve them. 

I myself use this goal-setting guide with my family. I got these steps from one of my mentors, Jim Rome. He made the process very simple, but also very effective. Remember—don’t complicate your goal-setting so much that you end up not setting any goals at all. Let your mind be open and free-flowing when following these nine steps:

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Don’t complicate your goal-setting so much that you end up not setting any goals at all.

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1. Ask yourself what you want to do in the next one to 10 years. Jot down on a piece of paper what you want to accomplish and what you want to have. Write as much as you can as fast as you can for, say, five minutes. There is no wrong answer. If something pops into your head, jot it down. 

2. Next to each goal, write the number of years you want to take to accomplish that goal. For example, if the first thing you wrote was something like “lose 10 pounds” or “make x amount of money” or “have better relationships,” write down next to that goal whether you want to make it happen in one year, three years, five years, or 10 years. Do that for each goal you set. 

3. Sort each goal into five different categories: physical and health, family and relationships, business and/or finance, spiritual development, and mental development. This way, you can make sure you’re making progress in all aspects of your life. 

4. Pick out the four most important goals. Look at the goals that you want to make happen in one year, and identify the four most important of them. 

5. Describe your four most important goals in detail. For example, if one of these goals is to buy a car, what color will that car be? What size? What kind? 

6. Describe why each goal is important to you. If you want a new car, why is buying a new car important to you? Whatever your goal is, make sure you go in depth as to why you want it. The reason you want to achieve this goal will keep you engaged with making it a reality. 

8. Review that journal. If you remember an important goal you forgot to write down one week later, you can add it to the journal. This is a working document—don’t be afraid to work with it and reshuffle it. They’re your goals and your life, so make sure they’re right for you. 

9. Check your progress. Make sure you’re looking at your goals on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Try not to go beyond a month. Once you have your goals set, ask yourself what steps you need to take to get closer to them. If you want to buy a home within the next six months or year and the first step is to get pre-qualified, how much down payment do you need? How much do you have in the bank now? Find out the difference and figure out what you need to save until you reach your timeline. 

This is a general overview of this goal-setting process, but if you’d like a more detailed approach or you know anyone whose goal is buying or selling a home, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I'd be happy to help you.

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Merry Christmas!

I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday. 

I just wanted to take a moment to thank you for your continued support throughout the years. I wouldn’t be where I am today without your help! 

It truly brings me joy to help you make your real estate dreams a reality. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I am here to help you in any way I can. 

In the meantime, have a very merry Christmas!

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I’ve got a market housing report to share with you today that will provide you with all the statistics you need to know about the real estate market whether you’re buying, selling, or investing.

If you’re a buyer out there, your competition is fierce. We continue to have very low inventory. The fact that homes are consistently selling in under 60 days puts us into a strong seller’s market throughout Orange County. There are currently 1,077 fewer homes on the market now than there were at this time last year. 

If demand remains strong and inventory continues to drop, we will start to see more and more multiple offer situations with well-priced homes. These homes will sell well above asking price.

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These homes will sell well above asking price.

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The majority of the activity in our market is in the $750,000-and-under range. This portion of the market makes up 40% of our inventory and 61% of our demand. When you combine this market with the $750,000 to $1 million market, that’s where 80% of our demand is. If you’re in a situation where you're selling a home priced under $750,000 and looking for a home in the $1 million plus range, this is a great market to make a move in.

If you have any other questions about your specific area of the market or anything else related to real estate, give me a call or send me an email. I would love to hear from you soon.

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Does it really matter which real estate agent you work with when buying a home, selling a home, or handling your investment properties? 

Let me ask you a different question. If you were out picking a doctor for a surgery, would you hire a part-time doctor who does the surgery every once in a while, or a full-time doctor who has done the surgery successfully every day for many years? 

The answer is obvious. 

The same is true for picking the right real estate agent to represent you and protect one of your largest assets. There are three main things you should look for in an agent: 

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Pick an agent that has many years of experience.

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The bottom line is that you need to deal with someone you can count on when it comes to real estate. 

If you or someone you know needs any help navigating our current real estate market, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

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What’s it like working with our team to find a home? We’ll let Maria Cordova, a former client of ours, tell you her story. 

Maria was hoping to move to a beautiful neighborhood, and with the proceeds from the sale of her previous home we made that possible by finding a house with a view that—in her words—is “to die for.” You can see the view yourself in the video above. 

Maria found the home buying transition to be very smooth and professional, which was something we promised her. The best thing about working with us, in her opinion, was that we were not only professional, but we put on a personal touch. 

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Maria found the home buying transition to be very smooth and professional.

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"I want to thank Alfie for this wonderful home buying experience, and I’m so proud to say that I bought a home for my mom and dad,” she says. 

If you have any questions about how we treat the home buying process or you’re thinking about buying a home, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d be glad to help you.

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There are a few main ways you can add value to your home without spending a lot of money so that when the time comes to sell it, you can do so quickly and for top dollar. 

First, start with the outside. This is where buyers’ first impressions start. Make sure the grass is green and freshly cut and all the planter beds are filled with new mulch. Since all the buyers will be walking through your front door, make sure that front door is clean and the handles are working properly. 

Second, declutter the inside and clear it of any trash or personal belongings. Also, make sure the interior of your home smells good. The last thing you want is a buyer to get turned off by a random odor. 

Third, downscale your interior furniture. You could probably remove 50% of your furniture and personal items and make the house feel much larger. When a buyer walks into your house and sees all of your personal belongings crowding the space, they might assume there’s not enough room to accommodate them. You want to make buyers feel like they’re walking into a model home so they can picture themselves living inside it.

Lastly, market your home aggressively. This is where picking the right agent to work for you is critical. There’s a lot more to the home selling process than just putting your home on the MLS and hoping for the best. You need to market it and prospect it to potential buyers so you can get the most money. 

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Picking the right agent is critical to marketing your home properly.

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If you have any questions about adding value to your home or you’re thinking of buying or selling your home soon, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I’d love to help you.