Hans Bruhner - Sonoma County Home Loans

Caveat emptor - Let the buyer beware!

I have just read a bunch of blog posts here in Active rain discussing how people choose their real estate or mortgage professional. These seem to have been from peer to peer blogs and I wanted to write this one to the public. All of the blogs had one thing in common - passion. I think that if you take the time to write about how to choose a professional and you are frustrated with how people choose then you are passionaate and you care about your business and that is the person I want on my team.

First of all, to put it in perspective, think of my good friend Ernie "Spaghetti" Buletti down at red Spaghetti tattoo in Forestville (where I get ALL my work done). Before you ask, YES! I am comparing choosing a tattoo artist to choosing a Realtor or Loan Professional. Think of the ultimate cost of getting a cheap tattoo.... Yes you saved fifty bucks today but you are stuck with a bad tattoo for the rest of your life. Think of your own business and how that works and how people choose you. Think about calling around to different brain surgeons and comparing costs when deciding on that upcoming surgery you need.

People do not necessarily understand how our business works and what they get for their money. There are some differences between mortgage companies for sure but we all sell our loans to the same places at relatively the same prices so you need to choose based on service, honesty, integrity and knowledge. Here is a real simple example: If your Realtor suggests you call a certain lender because they have been working with them for the last 15 years and this person is a full time professional who has an office near you and does what they say and has a long list of satisfied clients who also refer them on a regular basis...... but your half sister's, babysitter's cousin has a son who just got into the business and really needs the business so he can pay his rent this month...... which one do you choose? The really scary part is that you will pay about the same fees and get about the same rate but you just won't get good advice from the part timer or newbie.

It works the same way with a Realtor, you want to hire an agent who will work on your behalf and have your best interests at heart and you want someone with local expertise and knowledge. A full time agent networks with other agents and has a good relationship with their peers, they know the inventory and can tell you how to price your home for sale or what to offer on your next home and they will have your back when negotiating a contract.

The way that good loan professionals and Realtors work is that they give you all of their time and expertise up front and they get paid when you finally find the right home and navigate you through the escrow and the loan process and get you to a successful closing. We get paid nothing until you get what you want. For this reason, it is important for you to give 100% commitment to that professional if you want 100% devotion in return. It is fine to shop around for the right person and ask questions but it is not OK to work with several Realtors or lenders at the same time, you will not get the attention you deserve.

Ultimately, if you the home buyer or seller are wary of who you choose in the first place, you will be represented well and be taken care of now and well into the future.

I am fortunate to have worked in Sonoma County since 1995 and getting to know the best agents in the county. If you want a referral of a good Realtor, I can listen to your needs and give you a good match. If you need a mortgage professional, I have some ideas there too...........

Please email or call me with any real estate and mortgage related questions. I am happy to answer you and it may become the topic of a future article.

Earth day is here today (for 32 more minutes) and being green is a hot topic these days. Since I am in the mortgage banking industry, I will speak about what can be done in and around home loans and real estate to be a little greener. I have always done what I could to make my business as earth friendly as possible but I have always been a little leery of trying to say I was in fact a green business because there is no specific certification in my industry and I did not want to come across as someone simply trying to look good (known as greenwashing).

My business is a paper intensive business and so I buy recycled paper and I have contributed to American Forests Global ReLeaf program (www.americanforests.org) where every $1 donated plants a tree. It is a way to "replant" a mortgage. For years I wanted to use an electronic signature program but the industry would not let me. Last year, I found a few places that would accept these documents and I made the switch completely. This year I am sad to say that I have stopped using the program as many key players do not accept these electronic signatures anymore. We have one major player in our industry that uses electronic documents at the closing table but they require the escrow officer to print out about 80% of the documents and have them signed in person as well so it is not very effective (and really irks the escrow officers). As an industry, we seem to be moving 1 step forward and two steps backwards in this area.

I do everything I can to keep all documents electronic and not print them unless I absolutely have to. I use an Efax service and have for at least 12 years. I scan all documents instead of copying and I encourage clients to fax or scan and email their documents to me. As an industry, for the most part, our files are electronic now and not paper so we are doing well there. For the last 3 years I have used the web and videos and email to communicate with clients almost exclusively. I regularly have web meetings with clients to save on gas (and time).

There is a program for local real estate agents in Sonoma County to become EcoGreen Certified and you can find out more at www.ecogreenrec.com . I honestly don't know much about this program but I intend to find out more. A lot of great local agents have become certified and it seems to be run with integrity and for all of the right reasons.

One of my favorite loan programs has had a very green element available since 1995. If you are getting an FHA home loan, you can obtain an EEM (Energy Efficient Mortgage) on top of the regular loan to pay for items that are..... you guessed it, energy efficient. Since it is a government program, it is rich with acronyms and you need to get a HERS report from a certified CHEERS participant to qualify. Basically, you can get an additional $8,000 on top of your regular mortgage if your improvements will save you more in energy costs than it will cost you in the mortgage. You can also get up to $2,000 for weatherization as well in some cases on this program.

Also check out my interview with Steve from Pipedreams Plumbing about FREE water saving toilets at www.AsktheLoanMan.com and clicking on the FREE toilets video.

There is a lot we can do now and I am sure there is much more that I could be doing. I am going to continue to do what I can and look into getting eco green certified myself this year. My wife drives a Prius that gets 50 MPG and I drive a diesel Jetta that gets 40 MPG. Hers is a more obvious green vehicle but I am happy to be doing my part and I am always pleased at the pumps and I am looking into bio diesel as well.

Please email or call me with any real estate and mortgage related questions. I am happy to answer you and it may become the topic of a future article.

Financial Spring cleaning is here. You may be asking what a shredding party is and I am here to tell you that we bring a mobile shredding truck to my back parking lot at 6550 Front Street in downtown Forestville and you bring in anything that you need to get rid of and shred and recycle it. If you have tax returns older than some world wars or you have been hanging onto all of your credit card receipts and decide you don't need to any more, this is the place to be. You can look around on the web and ask your financial advisors how long you should keep something. There are some documents that you should keep for 3 years and others that you should keep for 7 years.

You do not need to worry about staples and paper clips, this shredding machine is seriously powerful. This is not the home office version of shredding, we have hired Integrity Shred who we have been using for years for all of our shredding needs. They are local, honest, reliable and they have given us great service for years. We do ask that you not bring more than 10 boxes per person. We simply don't want one person using a free community service to take care of their professional needs here.

As a mortgage professional, I shred everything that has any personal information on it just to protect my clients. Plus, it makes life a whole lot easier when you are not getting sued. I was speaking with a client of mine who had several boxes of old tax returns that he needed shredded and he asked where to go and I could not find a good place to go so that hatched the idea of having a shredding party in the community. I will be there to chat and answer questions about real estate and home loans. We can talk about ancient Egypt as well but I am not an expert in anything but real estate.

The timing is perfect as it is right after tax time. We are going to try and make the event fun and have a hot dog cart etc. We really just wanted to give back to the community where live and work. Come and meet your neighbors and have some fun and get some financial spring cleaning done.

We will be holding a similar event in Monte Rio at the community center from 11-2 on 4/17/10

Financial Spring cleaning is here. You may be asking what a shredding party is and I am here to tell you that we bring a mobile shredding truck to the Monte Rio community center and you bring in anything that you need to get rid of and shred and recycle it. If you have tax returns older than some world wars or you have been hanging onto all of your credit card receipts and decide you don't need to any more, this is the place to be. You can look around on the web and ask your financial advisors how long you should keep something. There are some documents that you should keep for 3 years and others that you should keep for 7 years.

You do not need to worry about staples and paper clips, this shredding machine is seriously powerful. This is not the home office version of shredding, we have hired Integrity Shred who we have been using for years for all of our shredding needs. They are local, honest, reliable and they have given us great service for years. We do ask that you not bring more than 10 boxes per person. We simply don't want one person using a free community service to take care of their professional needs here.

As a mortgage professional, I shred everything that has any personal information on it just to protect my clients. Plus, it makes life a whole lot easier when you are not getting sued. I was speaking with a client of mine who had several boxes of old tax returns that he needed shredded and he asked where to go and I could not find a good place to go so that hatched the idea of having a shredding party in the community.

Hans Bruhner from First Priority Financial (mortgage banker/broker) and Don Fulkerson with RE/MAX and West Coast Solar have teamed up to bring you this event. We will be there all day to just say hello and to answer questions in our respective fields of expertise.

The timing is perfect as it is right after tax time. We are going to try and make the event fun and have a hot dog cart etc. We really just wanted to give back to the community where live and work. Come and meet your neighbors and have some fun and get some financial spring cleaning done.

We will be holding a similar event in Forestville at 6550 Front Street from 1-4 on 4/24/10

So.... are you talkiing about that little town between Sebastopol and Guerneville? YES! that's the place!

Forestville is a lovely and diverse spot along the Russin River in western Sonoma County. It is truly in the heart of wine country and on the way to the redwoods and the rugged northern CA coast. Today I just wanted to share a little about some of the diverse places for every day eating in this quaint little town.

You may have heard that Mosaic is a great spot and you would be correct. Some of you may have even heard about a nice meal at the Farmhouse Inn and again, you would be correct but there is way more to Forestville eating than theese2 fine dining restaraunts and as somebody whose office is in downtown Forestville, I think I am well qualified to write this article.

Roasters Espresso Bar serves great coffee and pastries and they are open from 6 AM to 5 PM. True to the name, they roast their own coffee and they sell it to many local establishments. They are located downtown next to El Molino Pharmacy and they have a shop in Sebastopol on the south side and at Andy's market as well (new location)

Off the Track Cafe is opening 3/27. They serve the morning coffee crowd and they have a more expanded breakfast and lunch fare. They are not open as I write this but they seem to know how to get a restaraunt ready and the menu in the window looks great! This is in the spot where Front Street Coffee was until last month. They are on the other block of the 2 block downtown.

Carr's Drive In for great burgers and fries and excellent shakes. located right at the entrance to town next to Forestille School and right down the street from the high school. It is a good time old fashioned burger drive in like you saw on Happy Days. The kids hang out there after school as it is the unofficial meeting spot for kids and parents and 2nd parking lot to the school when there is a play or event.

La Rosa Market and Taqueria is across from Off the Track in between the gym and the dog groomers. It seems that this is the spot for the kids from El Molino High to hang out and I have been known to eat there once or twice since it is across the street from my office. They have big burritos like I am used to getting in the mission district in San Francisco but my absolte favorite are the fish tacos. They do not use cabbage and the fish is not deep fried. The fish is a nice fresh talapia and the sauce they use is the best I have ever had.

Aioli Deli right next to the barbershop near the Forestville club is not your typical deli. You can get a nice frsh panini sandwich and choose from a plethora of fresh home made salads and specialty take out food. The owners are classically trained in the culinary arts. I don't know too many deli's where duck confit is on the daily menu. I absolutely love the food here and you can eat on the patio or take it to go.

There is a new restaraunt coming that will be right across from Ideal hardware and I understand it is to be called Sarah's restaraunt. It has been coming for a while but there is work happening daily and from what I understand it will be a breakfast/lunch spot and they won't be doing dinners. There have been some changes so this could have changed also. This one is being broought top you in part by Greg Hallinan who brought us Stella's and the El Mo Steakhouse. These other restaraunts were more of a fine dining experience so it will be interesting to see wht Greg brings us here.

Next up we have Mosaic. My goal with this post was really to highlight all of the daily spots to eat in Forestville and not the fine dining nightlife spots but Mosaic fits in both actually. It is a lovely place to go for a special evening of fine dining and it is also really nice for appetizers and wine on the back patio AND there is a really great, well priced lunch menu as well. If you want an excellent burger or fish and chips and you have the time for a sit down meal, this is the place.

At the top of the hill by the post office, we have 2 more spots for you and I will start with Andorno's Pizza. This is your basic pizza parlor and I mean that in the best way. Bring the little league team here for a team celebration or get it to go. With a full salad bar, the freshest ingredients and wine and beer, you can't go wrong. I once complimented Jim the owner about his linguica and I got a little more backgorund on linguica than I really wanted but the man is passionate about his pizza. He also owns the original Andorno's pizza in downtown Guerneville.

Tahoe Chinese is also at the top of Mirabel Road by the post office and they serve traditional chinese fare. This is a great place for lunch as it is quick and well priced lunch packages to get you in and out while still having the luxury of a sit down meal. Bing & Lisa really make you feel at home and it is really nice for take out as well.

I really wanted to focus primarily on downtown restaraunts but there area few more that deserve honorable mention.

I am ashamed to say that I have not ever eaten at the Farmhouse Inn. I have heard nothing but rave reviews from everyone I have ever spoken to. I have friends who live in Sacramento who have come back year after year to the Farmhouse Inn (I guess they lost my number). It is a local favorite and a destination as well. Maybe they will read this and send me a gift certificate so I can properly reccomend it to my friends & clients. The Farmhouse Inn is located at 7871 River Road near Wohler Road.

At the edge of town on HWY 116 just past the welcome to Forestville sign is Mom's Apple Pie and the Henweigh Cafe. Mom's serves tons of apple and other fresh pies as you might have guessed but they also have an excellent deli and I had a turkey & Bacon sandwich there this afternoon. The problem with Mom's is that I also had a piece of Pecan Pie with vanilla ice cream.

The Henweigh Cafe is currently in the spot that used to house Stella's and the the El Mo Steakhouse. This is good comfort food/fine dining and the one meal I had there was excellent. The menu was well thought out and prepared and served in an extremely confortable setting. We were there sort of in between lunch and dinner so we dined pretty much alone so we got lots of attention and we felt like we were in our dream home with servants.

Start with coffee and end with coffee..... I just have to mention Full Throttle Cafe down by the Hacienda bridge on River road on your way to Guerneville. This is a unique spot with good coffee and espresso drinks and pastries. They are only open from 6 AM to 2 or 3 in the afternoon so it is a great spot mto stop at on your way to the beach and check out their unique decor.

So......... lots of choices to eat in the little burg of Forestville. If you are passing thorugh or just need a change of pace from another little burg, stop on by and tell them that Hans sent you.