Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? Get an application here

Hello, and happy summer! I just wanted to let you know that the buying and selling guides have been updated for summer, and I want to share them with you. You can find them by clicking through these links:

Use them as you need to, and if you know any family that could use this information, I would appreciate it if you would pass it on to them. I'm positive they will find this information very valuable.

We have a few more months of beautiful weather here in Southern California, so I hope you enjoy it! As always, if you have any questions for me, feel free to reach out at any time. I always love to hear from you!

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? Get an application here

Today, I just wanted to share a few updated documents with you. Both the buying and selling summer guides have arrived, and I just wanted to make sure everyone has a copy.

I highly recommend that you blog about these, send them to prospective clients, and share them with your colleagues. There is a lot of great content here from Keeping Current Matters and I think that everyone you share it with will find value in it.

Every time I get a new prospect who is looking to buy and gets pre-approved with my team, I give them a buying guide. Every time I work with someone who is thinking about selling, they get the selling guide.

Feel free to make it your own by taking my information out of the last page, putting your email address at the bottom of each page, and just use it as you see fit.

I hope all is well in your business right now, and look forward to talking to you soon!

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? Get an application here

Today I am joined by a special guest, Angela Hamann from Carrington Real Estate Services. Angie will help answer a question that I get all the time: What are the three essential tips when selling your home?

The three most important things are pricing your home right, staging it, and making a good first impression with professional photography.

Pricing your home is extremely important. Angie recommends pricing your home a hair below market value. You will get a stampede of buyers and multiple offers. Another option would be range pricing, where you have the buyer's wish low price and the seller's hopeful high price. That way, you can negotiate the price to somewhere in between.

Staging your home is crucial. You're going to move, so you may as well start packing. Start depersonalizing your home. Put everything away, and reduce items in your closets and cabinets by 50%.

The second step in home staging is to walk through your home with a Realtor and a handyman. Have them give you a list of things that will help get your home sold. There could be quite a few things you don't know about that would be simple, cost effective ways of fixing your home, including getting higher wattage light bulbs to make your home as bright and cheery as possible.

When it comes to first impressions, photography is key. 95% of buyers are starting their home search online. If you don't have great photos or a video, they will just move on to the next one. You want to have professional photos of your home online in order to entice buyers. If you have any other questions about today's topic, you can contact Angie at 619-813-6602 or email [email protected]. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. We would love to hear from you.

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? Get an application here

Today, real estate extraordinaire Jeremy Katz joins us discuss buyers who are on the fence. Why are they waiting? Are they missing out on a wonderful opportunity to buy in Southern California? We'll tackle these questions and more.

Most buyers begin the home search online, and a lot of times they only see active properties listed on various websites. They don't get to see pending homes or homes that are sold. As a buyer, which properties would you rather see, desirable homes that are selling or homes that have sat on the market for an extended period of time? If you're a buyer on the fence, the only homes you're seeing are the ones that no one picked!

When you get with the right lending partner and the right Realtor, we can get you on the cutting edge of the market. This means you'll be introduced to properties as soon as they get on the marker or, sometimes, we'll show you homes not yet listed and For Sale By Owner properties. 

The Southern California market is pretty balanced right now, depending on the area you live in. Regardless of conditions in your neighborhood, it never hurts to have an aggressive agent who can tell what is and what isn't happening in a given market to give you the best shot of accomplishing your buying goals. Buyers who work with our team are getting about a 4% discount off asking, while the average MLS buyer is only getting a discount of 2%. These outcomes for our clients are the result of an active approach to the market.

If you have questions about getting pre-approved and finding great homes in our strong market, give me a call or shoot me a quick email. You can reach Jeremy for all your real estate-specific needs at (619) 497-1834 or[email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? Get an application here

Today, we want to elaborate on an unfortunate fact: Zillow is wrong more often than they're right. 

When you're thinking about buying a house in San Diego or anywhere in Southern California, you're likely to start the process online. Many people use Zillow's Zestimate feature to determine whether a home is priced correctly, but it's not the most reliable tool. 

In San Diego, Zestimates are wrong 55% of the time! When looking closely at Zillow's numbers, we found Zestimates are only within 5% of a home's true value 42.8% of the time! Additionally, Zestimates in San Diego are off by 20% in value nearly 20% of the time. Would you consider that to be a good estimate?

If you have certain selling goals you want to accomplish, or if you're trying to determine how much you should offer on a home, you are likely using the wrong numbers if you're basing your decisions on a Zillow Zestimate. The best way to accomplish your buying, selling, or investing goals is to work with a real estate professional who knows the market inside and out.

If you have questions about this topic, or if you would like us to put you in contact with an agent you can trust, give us a call or shoot us an email. We would love to give you a hand! 

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? Get an application here

Searching for a new home can be a stressful endeavor, but it doesn't have to be. Today, we're going to talk about the 5 things to look for when viewing a home, so you don't make any costly mistakes when buying this summer.

If you have any questions about the home buying process, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to share some tips and tricks to help ease your buying experience! 

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? Get an application here

Today, a very special guest and good friend of mine joins us to discuss real estate tips for buyers. Miguel Saenz is an entrepreneur, investor, house flipper, and expert real estate agent, and he wants to share the top five things to look for when purchasing a home in Southern California.

There you have it: 5 tips from an expert in the home buying business. If you have any questions for Miguel, or if you want more information about available mortgage packages, don't hesitate to reach out to me. I would love to hear from you!

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? Get an application here 

In today's video I'm going to get away from real estate and focus on personal development for a little bit. A long time ago I was told that you could dictate where you went in life by reading more books and choosing the type of people that you surround yourself with. My life has been improving more and more as I've read more good books and surrounded myself with intelligent, successful people.

The 'A' stands for accepting all the things that you cannot change. This is part of the serenity prayer and I try to recite it every morning. This is a great philosophy to live by in my own opinion.

'B' stands for being grateful for everything that you have. Every morning when I wake up, I journal for about fifteen minutes about things that I am grateful for. It really helps me determine what's important in my life and what is not.

The 'C' that I'm talking about is creating daily progress towards your goals. When I journal in the morning, I write down my goals for the day and keep track of them. I think I can hold myself more accountable for doing the things that I need to do when I have written them down. I write down anything from daily goals to weekly goals to yearly goals. I think it really helps me attack my dreams and make them come to fruition. 

I could speak about this for hours, but I'll leave you with this. I cannot express how important I believe personal development is. The only way to improve your life is to improve yourself.

As always, please contact me with any questions you have about real estate in Southern California!

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? Get an application here 

Today, we answer the question of whether it's possible to pay off a VA loan early. Let's jump right in...

VA loans do not have any kind of prepayment policies. This means that borrowers can pay off their home loans early, without penalty. This is a significant advantage to homeowners who want to cut down on interest costs over time.

As always, if you have any questions about VA loans, or if you need lending assistance of any kind, give us a call or shoot us a quick email. We would love to help! 

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? Get an application here 

Can someone else sign on a VA loan with you? This is another great question, and one we'll answer here today.

Veterans and active-duty service members can have someone sign on the home loan with them, but there are some restrictions. The co-borrower must be a spouse or an eligible veteran. Parents, friends and significant others who do not fall under one of those two headings cannot be a co-borrower on a VA loan. Married veterans can obtain a VA loan on their own, but if they live in a community property state, their spouse's active debt and and income will be factored into the loan application.  

If you have any questions about this topic, or if you need lending help of any kind, give us a call to speak with a mortgage specialist. We would truly love to give you a hand!