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Unlike many Mission Viejo Realtors, I enjoy working with first-time buyers. I love the excitement of seeing a young couple move into their first home.  I enjoy explaining the process and taking the extra time required to help first time buyers through all the steps of buying a Mission Viejo home. Here are some tips first time homeowners should remember when they start looking for a Mission Viejo home:  

1. New FHA guidelines make it easier for first time home buyers to get loans. Get pre-approved for your mortgage before you choose a Mission Viejo house. You may have more buying power than you think.  Choose a lender who can do FHA loans. Don't just talk to the bank or get pre-qualified online. Get a Pre-Approval letter that demonstrates the lender has thoroughly investigated your ability to get a loan and what amount you can afford! Your lender should be able to tell you about all your mortgage options, including first-time home-buyer programs which may save you money or make it easier for you to get approved. If you have not already worked with a lender, ask your Realtor for a referral to one. Good Realtors gravitate toward lenders who are efficient, professional and who can get the job done as it makes their job easier.  I do not recommend using a Realtor who also functions as a loan officer. Selling real estate and making loans are two separate careers.  Those who try to do both are compromising somewhere.  Always use full-time professionals for each task. When first-time home buying--or whenever you are buying a home--two things need to be approved by your lender. One is your ability to pay and the other is the house you want to purchase. Your mortgage lender approves you by verifying your credit scores, your income, your source of down payment, etc. The Mission Viejo home you buy gets approved by your lender through having an appraisal done. Most lenders can usually go ahead and request all of the items needed to verify your credit worthiness before you choose your Mission Viejo home.

Once the lender has completed your approval process, he will then be able to issue a loan commitment letter stating that you are approved for a loan, provided the Mission Viejo house appraises for the selling price and it passes any lender required inspections.

A benefit of getting your credit report first is that you will know if there are any mistakes  or other items that need to be corrected. Waiting to find out you have an incorrect credit glitch may take as much as eight weeks to fix. If this happens just when you find the perfect Mission Viejo house, you could lose out on the purchase because of delays caused by a problem credit report.

The main reason to get pre-approved is that it gives you a great bargaining position when negotiating with a seller. Your lender can provide you or your Realtor a commitment letter stating that the lender has committed to make you a loan in an amount consistent with the terms of your offer. (Provided you actually qualify up to the amount of your offer of course.) Your Realtor will then present the commitment letter along with your offer to the seller. When you make your offer this way, you will be making a "good as cash" offer. The seller will feel more confident that your offer will go through to a closed deal.  Many homebuyers are able to buy their house for less using this strategy.

2. When first-time Mission Viejo home buying, always use a Realtor and if you haven't already been pre-approved, ask your Realtor to recommend a lender.  Some of the biggest problems that occur in buying a home are the result of buyers not getting the professional advice they need. If you think you will save money by not using a Realtor, you probably won"t. Look for an agent who specializes in first-time home buying, and ask for references from previous buyer clients. Using a Buyer"s agent will usually be at no extra cost to you because the seller pays the total commission. Make sure your agent fully explains how they will be compensated before you enter into an arrangement with them. If you want an agent to make you a priority client, sign a Buyer's Agreement. This assures the agent that you are serious about doing business with her and puts that committment to you in writing. Let her know that you want to be represented by her. The Buyer's Agreement will let her know you are serious about using her services and that she is expected to work very hard for you.  The form states that if she is instrumental in finding a house that your decide to purchase, you will purchase it through her.

3. Always hire a professional home inspector when buying your Mission Viejo home. A professional home inspector will know what to check and be able to document the problems to show the seller. Your Realtor should be able to give you the names of several home inspectors to consider when buying Mission Viejo homes.

4.  To obtain a concise, well-organized home buying guide that will teach you about more fantastic money saving strategies, contact April Hay  

 

With approximately half of the homes for sale in Mission Viejo being short sales or foreclosures, you may be wondering what is the process for buying one.  It is similar in many ways to buying a regular for-sale home, except you will not know if your offer has been accepted for an extended period of time--usually one to four months.  Other offers may be tendered by other buyers in the mean time.  You may provide an initial  deposit check to your agent, but it is normally not deposited until the offer has been accepted and you have approved the acceptance.  If your offer is accepted, the escrow period begins and your check is deposited. You will have an inspection period. During this period, you can hire third party inspectors look at the home and provide you with inspection reports. You will also receive a termite inspection report.  Typically, there are no repairs done by the seller on a short sale, so if you are not satisfied with the condition of the house at the price you have offered, you can cancel the transaction. It is recommended that you have the inspections done immediately to avoid incurring further charges by escrow. 

 

YOU'VE SEEN Mission Viejo homes with curb appeal. They look like everything is beautiful and is in its correct place. For some Mission Viejo homes, curb appeal comes naturally because of the way the house is set on the lot. But true curb appeal requires more than just where the house sits.

 

Other things that add to the curb appeal of Mission Viejo homes are: The yard looks meticulously manicured, the curbs are not scuffed with black tire marks, the numbers on the curb are clearly painted, the gutters and sidewalks are swept and clean, there are no cobwebs or dust on the front of the house or the front porch, the windows are sparkling clean and you can see portions of the inside of the house through open curtains. The garage door is down, and no cars are parked on the driveway. The house has been painted within the past few years, and special attention to the front door area has been taken, with new door handles and a new doorbell button. The front door has a fresh coat of semigloss. If the house has shutters, they are freshly painted, too.

 

Most Mission Viejo homes can have curb appeal. Regular maintenance and gardening are the biggest factors contributing to curb appeal. The biggest turn-offs are: dirty exterior, peeling paint, oil stains and old cars in the driveway, basketball hoops in the street, skateboard ramps in front of the house, garage doors left open, plant overgrowth, dirty walkways with toys strewn along them, too many potted plants on the porch, rusty/tarnished hardware on the front doors, closed drapes at every window, torn window screens. You can see how inexpensive it is to get good curb appeal. Clean, Clean, Clean. Unclutter. Stash the toys and sports gear. Paint a little. Replace a few worn items. And clean some more.

 

Those who have Mission Viejo homes with curb appeal can get a higher price for their homes. If you would like more information about selling your Mission Viejo home, call April Hay, (949) 525-1575 

 

Have you even stood over the sink, washing out your paint brush, and it seemed like the paint just kept on coming out of the bristles. You rub it and paint gets all over your hands. It's a mess! When I painted my Mission Viejo home recently, I discovered a way to clean brushes fast.

First, wipe as much of the paint as possible on the wall you are painting. Take the brush to the sink and wet it. Pour a large amount of baking soda on the brush and work it through the bristles thoroughly. Rinse the brush and you will see most of the paint come out of the brush. Pour another dose of backing soda onto the bristles and handle and work it into a paste. Let it remain on the brush for a minute and then rinse. The brush is clean and there is no paint remaining on your fingers. Let the brush dry. The next time you paint  one of your Mission Viejo homes, the bristles will be soft and ready for the job!

I have owned older Mission Viejo homes for the past 25 years have always dreaded painting. Discovering this technique of brush cleanup really makes the job a lot easier. The manager of the store in Mission Viejo where I purchased the paint had never heard of my technique, so I am assuming it is something new. If not, then maybe it's one you haven't heard about. I like it because you don't need to waste as much water and it's environmentally safe.

When painting my Mission Viejo homes, I found that the cleanup of the paint tray also was made easier using baking soda. I like to use the plastic trays that are a little smaller than the big metal ones. They have hooks that attach to the ladder I use as a paint stand.

As money gets tighter due to increased fuel prices, painting your own Mission Viejo home may become more popular. Owners of Orange County homes are really feeling the sting of higher fuel prices, so do-it-yourself projects may become more of a necessity than ever. Make your Mission Viejo homes look beautiful with a new coat of paint. Lift your spirits with a lighter, brighter shade. Mission Viejo homes that are freshly painted sell for more.

 

 

Often I am asked what can be done to a home to make it sell quickly and for a better price. As we all know, home prices have dipped due to more short sales and foreclosures being on the market. If you want to sell your home, you must compete with those listings by having your home stand out in a very positive way.

Sparkling move-in condition may put Mission Viejo homes ahead of those foreclosures that are not nearly as pristine. Not all buyers want to paint and make repairs when they buy Mission Viejo homes; many are inspired to put in offers on homes that they can imagine moving into immediately. Some sellers make the mistake of thinking their collection of stuff is going to be appreciated by buyers. This in not usually the case. Personal items and knick-knacks are very distracting to buyers; they start wondering about the seller more than thinking about living there themselves. So what can you do to make your Mission Viejo home make the very best impression on the greatest number of buyers? There are several things you can do that can make a real difference.

The most common advice is to remove all knick-knacks, personal photos, excessive furniture, etc. This is great advice, and I completely agree with it, but I have found that most of us have a hard time discerning how much stuff is too much and what stuff if a turn-off to buyers. Often sellers benefit by a professional staging consultation to identify items that should be removed.

Try this mental excercise:
Imagine walking into a 4-star hotel suite and looking around. You would expect to see only the basics in the way of furniture, minimal yet tasteful decorations, impeccable cleanliness, no evidence of personal items or trash, beds made neatly, everything in its functional place. You know others have stayed in the room, but there is no obvious evidence of it. Imagine the suite has tasteful decor, only a few pictures on the wall, the curtains are clean and open, and there aren't any personal items of someone else sitting around. Take a deep breath and you expect that clean smell of fresh linen and fragrant cleaning solutions. You also expect the glasses (dishes) to be clean and put away, the kitchen sink clean, the bathroom to be spotless with the toilet lid down, sparkling sink, a clean shower curtain or door, and no wet towels hanging on the rod. You expect the walls to be clean and fairly recently painted. You don't expect to see fingerprints on doorways or by light switches. The closet doors are closed, and so we cannot see whether there are clothes in them.

Now see how close you can make your home match this image.

It's true, our Mission Viejo homes are not hotel suites and this may seem like an extreme staging goal. We all have normal lives with the need for normal personal items in our homes. Nonetheless, during the selling period, you will benefit greatly by making the sacrifice of trimming down your possessions, by moving them to storage, by packing them for the move, or by selling them or giving them away to charity. The 4-Star Hotel Suite image may be extremely difficult or impossible to achieve, but keep it in your mind as a do-your-best goal to attract the greatest number of buyers. Don't beat yourself up if you can't quite get the look, but aim for the uncluttered, ultra-neat-and-clean look for your home and buyers will be impressed and more willing to put in offers.

The three most important factors in getting a home sold are: Price, location, and condition. You may not be able to fully control the price or market value, and you can't control the location of your home, but you do have control over the showing condition which can affect the price and the length of time on the market.