Dana Ehrlich

Renting a home or apartment is commonplace. It's clear that some people simply just can't afford to buy their own home because of the down payment required. With FHA financing back in the mainstream, as little as 3.5% down payment can get you into your home! My key mortgage partners have invested a lot of time learning the ropes of FHA financing and have taught me to understand that it represents an unprecedented opportunity for first time homebuyers RIGHT NOW.

Most renters don't realize how easy the cost justification is for owning versus renting. Once I'm able to clear up the down payment challenge by introducing FHA financing, then the next hurdle is to show the $ justification for buying. I recently saw this presented by a 30 year veteran in the business, and it absolutely blew my mind. And now I am pleased to say that I can confidently turn any renter into a homeowner by showing how much more money they are really spending by renting versus owning. Just let me know if you'd like me to take you through this.

Finding a home for rent in the Santa Monica, California area depends on the availability of seasonal as well as year round property. Cheap rent controlled apartments are somewhat scarce, and expect to pay market rents of up to $2500-2800 per month for a 1 bedroom with a one-year lease.

The problem with renting is two-fold: you will never get back what you pay towards your rental property since you don't own it (and you're simply paying the landlord's mortgage) and secondly you will have restrictions imposed on you that you would not have if you owned your own home.

The cost of buying a home isn't cheap. We all know and appreciate this fact. Depending on the location that you choose within the Santa Monica area, the costs can vary. But the market is so soft right now that there are some amazing deals to be had.

When I work with first-time homebuyers, I always try to set a framework for homeownership. It's not uncommon that first-timers that come to me, have it in their heads that the house they buy has to be their ideal house...like the one they grew up in. A house they will live in for a zillion years. Here's the paradigm shift I try to instill: your first property will more than likely be deficient. Buy something you love that's imperfect.

The key is to get in sooner than later so you can enjoy the tangible and intangible benefits of homeownership. Wait out the market cycle. Can you live in it for 3-5 years? Then buy it! In the meantime, save as much money as you can, build equity passively and proactively, and get lots of raises or bonuses at work. What I mean by building proactive equity refers to what I mentioned earlier-buy a place that's imperfect. This way, you have the opportunity to enhance the property's value by making improvements.

Owning your own home is about benefiting from long term personal and financial satisfaction. Ownership means security and having the opportunity of creating the dream home the way you have always wanted it. Home ownership is also about benefitting from the freedom of having your own adult-person investment.
A key point of emphasis lies in being armed with the right kind of help to assist you in choosing which home is right for you. Talking to someone who can help you know what your options of owning are, without a doubt, is the right step to take.

In the Santa Monica California Real Estate area there is an abundance of houses and condos to choose from. Property prices during '08 have steadily dropped, and it's truly an ideal time to buy your dream home. Normally the best thing to do is to talk to a Santa Monica, California real estate agent who can give you a realistic idea of what's possible for you.

Naturally, what's most important are your own needs and wants. Let's see if it's realistic for you to be a homeowner! Give me a call or drop me an email! The type of lifestyle you envision will help us determine if buying is a feasible option.

This article was originally published in category: Home Buying Tips, Santa Monica Real Estate At BestSideOfTheWestSide Titled: Home Ownership in Santa Monica | The Rent Versus Buy Conversation

Hello Everyone,

I'll be hosting a new first time home buyers seminar called The First Time Home Buyers Experience. Please watch the video for more information about this exciting experience.

To Register Click Here

Attend this Special Event to Learn the 7 Critical Concepts You Need to Know Before Buying Your First Home...Especially in Today's New Economy.

1. How do I determine my price range for buying a home?
Every home buyer has their own unique set of financial circumstances. The amount of money you make each month is used to calculate the size of mortgage, or money loaned to you to purchase a home. This calculation also takes into consideration how much money you owe each month in expenses and overhead.

It's imperative that you make contact with a mortgage broker or banker to help determine how much you can spend on your home. Nowadays, you will need to come up with a down payment. This is a percentage of the purchase price of the home. For instance, if a home costs $500,000, and you qualify for a loan that requires you to put down 3% at least. You can expect to put down $15,000. This number does not include the loan fee and other transaction costs that are sometimes associated with purchasing a house. You should shop around and find the best rate, the best costs, and get a good faith estimate each time. If you would like the names and numbers of some great people to help you with your home loan, call us at 310.392-0096 or email us at dana@bestsideofthewestside.com

2. How do I find homes for sale in my price range?
The best way to locate homes for sale within your price range is to work with a real estate professional....TAAAADAAAH! You can also check out local publications, drive around looking for signs, or use the Internet to help your search. However, for the best results, call a real estate agent and ask them to send you all the current listings within a specific price range, in the areas you desire.

Call me today and you will receive an email with listings that meet your needs within 4 hours.

3. How does the real estate cycle work?
The real estate cycle begins with you, the Buyer. Once you have made the decision to purchase a home, condo, townhome or some vacant land to build your dream home on, you need to get pre-approved for a loan amount. After you know how much you can afford, it's time to find the right property. Now you're ready for some real help. Your real estate agent will provide you with all the current listings that meet your needs. Once you find what you want, it's time to make an offer. The offer reflects the purchase price, the closing date, what is included in the sale, i.e. washer / dryer / etc., not to mention a number of other items that your real estate agent will explain to you while putting the Purchase Agreement together. Once the offer is written, your agent will present your offer to the listing agent or the owners of the property.
Once you reach an agreement, it is time to have an inspection, review the title report, review the neighborhood, get to work with your lender to prepare your loan package, and review any disclosures that the seller has made. The seller will fill out a Transfer Disclosure Statement, a Supplemental Statutory disclosure, and various state mandate disclosures for natural hazards, lead based paint, retrofitting compliance, mold, and lead based paint. An escrow will most likely be chosen by the seller or the seller's agent. I go into much greater detail on the escrow process in my article called X

4. How do I negotiate a fair price when we find the perfect home?
When negotiating a fair price for a home, you must consider a number of factors. First, other homes that have sold in the area. What they sold for. How long they were on the market. How comparable they are or are not to this property. It is important to give and take while negotiating the final price for your home. The current owners, sometimes have an emotional attachment to the home, you will understand this better after being a home owner for a few years! Everything is negotiable, including increasing the purchase price and asking the home owners to credit you for closing costs. Your agent, should be able to provide you with a comparable market analysis of homes that have sold in the area.

5. Who should I call to help me find a home?
If you are looking to live in the Santa Monica Real Estate or Westside Los Angeles Real Estate Market, call me at 310-392-0096 or send me an email to get more information. If you live outside the area and would like a personal referral from us, we can find the best agent for you in your area. Call us today for an agent in your area!

This article was originally published in category: Los Angeles Real Estate At BestSideOfTheWestSide Titled: 5 of the Hottest Questions I Get from First-time Santa Monica Homebuyers in Today's Buyer's Market

I really want to help buyers understand the flow of what happens from the time they get pre-approved and the time the escrow actually closes.

The following does a pretty good job of explaining. There is once caveat to all of this: timelines depend on you, the borrower, just as much as they depend on the lender.

1. You get pre approved by providing income/asset documentation to your lender. They review this along with a current tri-merged credit report for approval (average score of the three is what the lender uses) Pre-Approval can be completed in as quickly as 24 hours.

2. Once there is an accepted offer, you must immediately provide any additional items that are needed for the loan. The lender will request a fully executed purchase contract, escrow instructions, preliminary title report and HOA documentation (if property is a condo) and order the appraisal report. Once they have everything, they submit the file to the investor. It typically takes 3 business days for your lender to receive all of the above.

3. Submit to investor and get a conditional approval. This means that the loan is approved but conditions are needed by the underwriter to move forward in the final approval process. It depends on the investor, but conditional approval can be as quick as 2-3 business days and as long as 25 business days.

4. Your lender gathers the conditions from you/escrow/agents etc. The quicker they get these items, the better so they can submit to investor. The investor reviews and signs off on conditions. Time frame can be 1-3 business days.

5. After conditions are satisfied and signed off, the investor is ready for your lender to order loan documents. Loan documents are legal documents that you will sign. Loan documents include pertinent information on the financing of the home. Two main ingredients of the loan documents are the Note, which gives the loan amount, interest rate, terms of the loan, and monthly payment, and the Deed of Trust, which shows how will hold title on the property. Time frame to order loan documents and have them sent from investor directly to escrow is about 2-4 business days.

6. Once loan documents are with escrow, the escrow company prepares them and contacts you so you can either come in and sign the loan documents at escrow's office, or escrow can set you up with a mobile notary to come to you, if need be. Time frame is usually quick as escrow can have docs prepared within 1 day but it also depends on when you sign.

7. After loan documents are signed, escrow reviews and packages them. Escrow then sends loan documents back to investor. Time frame is usually 1 day.

8. Investor receives loan documents back. The investor will review them to make sure everything was done according to instructions (signed/notarized correctly, etc). They also check the file (and contact your lender and escrow) to make sure insurance is in and any remaining conditions that are outstanding (i.e. confirmation of escrow's receipt of downpayment funds). Once your funds are confirmed to be in, the investor will fund the loan. Time frame for all this can be 2-4 business days.

9. Once the loan funds, the grant deed will be recorded with the title company.

10. Yahoo! The loan and purchase transaction is closed and recorded with the County and you become a proud and happy homeowner!

This article was originally published in categories: Home Buying Tips, Los Angeles Real Estate, Santa Monica Real Estate, Venice Real Estate At BestSideOfTheWestSide Titled: 10 Easy Steps to Understanding the Loan Approval Process in California

The California Escrow Process - Explained

I work with so many first-time homebuyers and clients buying real estate in Los Angeles for the first time, I thought this article might really help inform and educate people on what the process looks like.

The first step in the home buying process is to get approved for your mortgage financing. In light of today's credit crunch, this is now somewhat of a lengthy process, and can take some time. No more are the days when you could call up your mortgage broker and get prequalified over the phone. Nowadays, you need to be what's called ‘conditionally pre-approved' before you're even ready to submit an offer.

This pre-approval process involves providing the lender with a variety of documents - everything from income statements, bank records, tax returns, expense verification, etc. Your lender will give you a complete checklist of what they'll need from you, depending on the type of financing you need.And, by the way, I work with the very best mortgage brokers, so please let me know if you need an immediate referral to one.

After finding the property you'd like to purchase, I can review the comparable sales with you to help determine the value range of the property. The best comparable properties are going to be within the closest proximity to the subject property. Even within Santa Monica real estate, for example, I would not compare a property in zip code 90405 (Sunset Park) with a property north of Wilshire in 90402. When the bank sends out the appraiser, they will generally go back no more than 6 months when reviewing past sales, so my approach will be the same in order to verify the property's value range.

Once you are ready to make your initial bid, we will prepare your offer, which is made up of 5 items:
1. The purchase contract: Generally speaking, this is a standard boilerplate California Association of Realtors contract. In the case of new construction, this may be a Department of Real Estate approved builder's contract. In either case, I fill in the blanks and then review with you in person or over the phone.
2. A pre-approval letter from your lender: As I described earlier, it's critical that your financing be lined up before your offer is submitted.
3. A letter of introduction: This is a letter that I draft that explains who you are and what you like about the property. It will go to you for final editing and approval.
4. Earnest money deposit (3% of the offering price) - this is applied toward your purchase price. This deposit will be placed into escrow once your offer is accepted.
5. Verification of your funds for to cover your full down payment & closing costs: This can come in the form of bank or investment account statements or a letter from your CPA.

I present the offer to the sellers (usually via the sellers agent, unless I am representing both parties), and we wait for a response - generally 24-72 hours is a typical timeframe. More often than not, sellers will reject your initial written offer, but instead will respond with a written counter offer. The counter offer will address items in the contract that the seller would like to be different. In case you couldn't guess, price is the item that is countered most often! But a seller might also request different terms - shorter escrow period, different contingency periods, etc.

Once buyer and seller negotiate price and terms, and the offer is finally accepted, then escrow is opened. Escrow is a neutral 3rd party and their job is to make sure all obligations in the contract are fulfilled before the seller gets their money and the buyer gets keys to the property. Escrow length ranges from 15 days (in cases of all-cash purchases) to as much as 30-60 days, depending on the speed of the lending institution.

I then send a copy of the contract to your lender and you will promptly provide them with any additional information and/or paperwork that they need. The lender will schedule an appraisal directly with the listing agent.

Your next step is to schedule a general inspection with an inspector of your choice. I am happy to provide my short list of professional inspectors/inspection. The inspector checks all the major systems-plumbing, electrical, heating, etc., and also looks for cosmetic damage and problems (sloping floors, doors that stick, cracks in walls/ceilings, etc.). A condo/townhome inspection will only include the unit and not the common areas (building, hallways, pool, etc.).

If you are purchasing a single family home, the inspector will also check the exterior (roof, foundation, etc.). You may also choose to set up specialty inspections - mold, fireplace, roof, electrical, etc. I always recommend a sewer inspection whenever a client is purchasing a single family home,. Geological inspections are important if you are buying a home on a hillside or in a hilly area.

After reviewing the complete inspection report(s) we may complete a Request for Repairs form (asking for a credit and/or repairs) - depending on what was found in the inspections.

You will need to call an insurance company to verify that the property is insurable and get quotes for the cost of insuring the property. Insurance for a standard condo/townhome is very simple as you are just insuring your personal contents - the building is almost always insured by the Homeowners Association.

The other inspections that take place during escrow include the termite inspection, which is usually paid for by the seller. A retrofitting inspection will make sure the property is up to California state code for smoke detectors, low-flow toilets & shower heads, water heater strapping and the gas shut-off valve.

If the property you are purchasing is a condo/townhome, you'll receive copies of all the homeowners documents.to review along with the standard required seller disclosures. You generally have 5 days to review this paperwork which includes copies of the meeting minutes for the past year, budget and financial information (including the amount currently in the HOA reserves) and a copy of the CC&R's (Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions).

You'll sign your loan documents as soon as they arrive at escrow from your lender, or no later than within 5-7days prior to escrow closing. For out-of-area buyers, escrow will arrange for a traveling notary (for out-of-country buyers, you will go to your local US Embassy for notarization).

Five days or less prior to closing, you may do a final walk-thru of the property, just to give you a chance to verify that any seller repairs were completed. We also make sure the property is in the same condition as is was when we initially wrote our offer.

Two to three days prior to closing you will wire the additional balance of your down payment & closing costs to escrow. Once escrow confirms receipt of your funds, they notify the bank, and the bank funds the mortgage loan and wires the proceeds to escrow one or two days prior to closing.

Closing day is somewhat uneventful. We sit and wait to hear from the title company that they have recorded the new grant deed in your name with the LA County Recorders Office.

Then, you get keys to your new home!

Then we celebrate at The Lobster.

This article was originally published in category : Home Buying Tips, Los Angeles Real Estate, Santa Monica Real Estate, Venice Real Estate AT BestSideOfTheWestSide Titled: The Real Estate Escrow Process - California