My Realtor
So, let me just start off saying not all realtors are good. Some are good, and others are just terrible. Originally, I was going to buy a house in North Carolina if I was going to be staying there for another few years. However, that idea changed when I moved to sunny California. Once I knew I was coming here to California I decided to start house hunting as soon as possible. I reached out to multiple different realtors throughout our time in North Carolina and once we got to California too.
Meet Heather, my realtor! She is the most amazing realtor we have worked with. Throughout the whole process she always worked with my schedule. She spent most weekends with me looking at houses that she lived like 2 hours away from. Heather also created offers for me based on what I wanted to offer. Even if the offers were below the asking price. All offers were submitted as soon as possible, and I always received an answer back within 24 hours. There was not a lot of waiting. In the end, my last offer she turned in I received a counter offer back which I accepted. She was able to get us $9,000 in closing.
She also broke down the cost of Buying vs Renting. Basically how much money is wasted in renting, and how much money I invest in buying plus what I get to put on our taxes when it comes to tax season. Below is the example she did for me:
In the long run Heather did so much more than any other realtor has done for me. She did not complain about the prices I wanted to offer. However, she did keep things real with me. She would let me know if she thought I should offer a little more if there were others interested in the same house. Or if the offer was too low in her opinion. Even if it was somewhat too low, she would still make the offer for me. She also did not suggest houses that were not what I was looking for. Most other realtors tried to show me houses that had almost nothing of what I wanted.
The house I bought is almost exactly what I wanted, of course nothing can be exact especially in California. The only thing missing is vaulted ceilings and being a two-story house. But that was okay because I am planning to build on to it and I can make it a two-story, and I can also make vaulted ceilings at that time to. My house is a 3 big bedroom 2 bath house with an open concept. It was all recently renovated, and the .25-acre lot is all fenced in. It also has a double car garage, RV parking area if need, dishwasher, stove, microwave, washer and dryer, and so much more that was left behind.
When you buy a house with Heather there is also a buy back guarantee. If for some reason within the first 18 months, YES, A YEAR AND A HALF, of owning the home you no longer satisfied with it they will buy it back from you. AND there is a ONE YEAR HOME WARRANTY that comes with every house you purchase with her.
Heather also has access to homes that have not hit the market yet, which was really nice because before when I looked with other realtors as soon as I saw a house I liked I would want to see it but it would already be taken. Therefore, with Heather you can see the houses before they even hit the market system allowing you to basically have first dibs. She also has a good home inspector that is the cheapest one in the area that I have noticed, and he did his job and nitpick on every little thing.
After the home inspection there was a few things that needed to be fixed even though the VA Appraisal did not pick up on them. With that being said, Heather was able to get the Seller’s to fix all the electrical issues (GFCI’s missing, outlets not grounded, exposed wires, missing cover plates and boxes), tubes that were left in the attic that needed to be disposed of properly, and a few plumbing issues.
Tip #1 – SHOP AROUND FOR YOUR REALTOR!!!
I cannot tell you how many realtors I have talked to over the course of a year and a half that sucked. There were so many. Each had their own issues I did not like. Some would take a long time to respond back while others would try to talk us out of our price range to a higher amount of a house. For all those who know me know I am a financial coach. I budget everything, I stick to the budget, I like knowing where my money is going and being able to save money too. These realtors did not care what so ever about what I wanted.
Tip #2 READ THE REALTORS REVIEWS
Reviews speak a thousand words. If the realtor does not have good reviews, then I would highly tell you to proceed with caution if you chose to use them. Our realtor worked for a team who had nothing but 5 Star Reviews. Literally all 5 Star Reviews not a single 1,2,3, or 4 Star. ALL 5 STARS! Every review had not a single bad thing to say which I appreciated a lot.
Tip #3 SHOP AROUND FOR YOUR LENDER
I was told by my realtor that she had a lender she uses and recommends. After contacting him I allowed him to run our credit, but also I did shop around with banks and other private lenders. In the end Cross Country Mortgages was the BEST to use, and the FASTEST TO CLOSE ESCROW! We CLOSED ESCROW in less than 17 DAYS! Interest rates also kept changing and climbing however Jacob was always more than helpful when I constantly asked him to create new estimates for different prices and situations. In the end I paid roughly $7,000 in points to get a 4.75% interest rate – rates were at a 5.25% so if I bought mine down it would be cheaper in the long run for me.
For those who have not heard of Cross-Country Mortgages they are the #1 VA Lender in the Southern California area. I highly suggest if you are buying a house to use them. They will keep an eye on interest rates and try to get you the lowest one possible. I will leave Scott and Jacob’s info below, so you can contact them if you would like. Feel free to let them know I sent you to them we just finished closing with them. P.S. they also had no Lender Fees for the loan itself through them.
Jacob Lowery – Loan Officer – (619)-764 -1176 OR 858-252-1441
Scott Evans – Branch Manager – (858)-252-1440 OR 619-723-7289
Address: 225 Broadway Suite 160 San Diego CA 92101
Heather Wedmore – Realtor – (951)-733-0017
