So I am looking to buy property in the OC
 

I am looking into buying property as a first time buyer. I still have my job and I have a good 10% available for a downpayment. My apt lease is up in 4 months and want to make the best decisions. I am looking at condos or single family detached and trying to stay below $300k in the Orange County area. Does anyone have a lender/broker that they trust or can provide a referral or are any of you in this business. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Find the house first. Then find a good Realtor in that specific area.

Here's a site: http://www.househunt.com/a-orange.htm

It would be great if these people got going in OC: http://losangeles.blockshopper.com/

Got a great guy here in TX for financing. Don't know if he can do CA. Got his name from another board member and it was an awesome referral.

Realtor's work for the sellors
why would any buyer want to pay 6% extra for a house
esp as the Realtor will not do much for you

the deals are from FSBO sellors or the damm banks
in this crazy market I would deal directly with a bank
offer to buy only if they finance a property they own
that should be a win win for the bank
as they get rid of the house
and get money coming in at the same time

You would think? But, It doesn't always work that way.

That's not a very bright way to look at it. Total commission "may" be 6%. If one has a buyer's representative, they split it. Even if one Realtor from the same brokerage shows another's listing, and it sells, they split. Splitting is more common than a home run.

I is unwise to let the listing Realtor represent both parties, don't you think? Get you own. But, as I said, if you retain a buyer's representative too soon, they will tire of showing you houses after the first couple of days. However, they are still entitled to share in the commission should you buy a house that YOU found.

I like to work with the top sellers in the local community where they farm. They know the lay of the land better than an out-of-region Realtor. That why I say find at least the area you want to live in before working with the Realtors' offices.

In my experience every single FSBO I have looked at has been WAAAAAAYYYYY overpriced. Most of them had major issues, read structural. Then again, my experience has been with looking at homes with 10 or more acres that were built prior to 1970.

A good Buyers Agent will help you avoid MANY pitfalls in the purchase of your first home. We have come out better using Buyer's Agents (and the two we have used have become personal friends). They did work very hard for us and kept us from some properties that would not have met our requirements (zoning issues).

All that said, go to the store and buy an electrical test kit. At a minimum, have a plug tester. Test plugs in every room of the house. You will find many electrical issues that way. A phone plug tester will do the same for your phone lines. Insist on looking in the attic. A good Buyer's Agent will know how to review the structure of the home, you should educate yourself first. You will see MANY major issues with the structure of homes, more in homes built after about 1978. Some of the worst homes we saw were less than 10 years old. Shoddy building practices!!!!

Older homes generally have quality of workmanship evident. You are mainly looking at issues with how the owners maintained the homes. Older homes might have issues with insulation and single pane windows. These can be addressed. There might also be earthquake questions with older homes and a local can give better advice on earthquake proof builds and the time frames when local homes were better built.

Who came up with this douchery of putting the indefinite article in front of place names? You wouldn't say "I'm going to buy property in the Sacramento."

I guess it's sort of like saying I'm looking to buy in the Hamptons.

As far as condos, be careful you only want to buy one in a desirable place where they can't build them anymore. You buy in a new place in Phase II and in five years you're competing with the developer who is now building Phase V and he's carrying low interest paper. I suppose the same could be said for Phase II and Phase V of tract houses as well.

"The OC" has been around a long time.

I don't have a local loan broker but have a local realtor/broker. He is a friend. He's awsome.

At the biggining, I thought the same as Nota, why pay extra for a realtor. I can do the search myself. I know some basic stuff and can read the advances... but he didn't charge he at all. If I get the house, he charges the seller, and offer me all his knowledges and tricks. Why not give him a try. It turns out that he knows a lot more than I thought. All I knew were a lot less than basic. He has been teaching me not only on how to look/search, but also how to evaluate the house/property, pointing out tricks other sellers/realtors are doing, suggesting on managing money/fund. I know you are smart and don't need all that but sometimes a pin point/reminding helps. If you interested in talking to him, PM me.

I donot buy cars from dealers
or houses from realtors

both do know the market
and will try to get all the market will bear

the best deals on cars are always private sellers
as many have no idea of the value or market
same on houses
sure some over price or willnot deal
there are always others
you want to buy from a fool not a pro
if the fool wants way tooo little
the realtor will buy the house themselfs
and flip it

home inspectors charge a few hundred
realtors charge thousands
sure use an inspector and a lawyer to be safe
but remember the realtor any realtor works for
and gets paid by the seller


in the current mess
banks have way tooo many homes they have repoed
they need to move them yesterday
and I think thats where the deals are now
plus as the bank needs to unload the houses
they should be willing to deal on the loans too
to make the deal happen
and dollars saved do not matter where they come from
price or points or interest

1. Realtors represent both parties, and some do so for each side exclusively (either buyer's agents or listing/selling agents).

2. Buyers do not pay the Realtor's commission. It comes out of the seller's proceeds. So, why would you want to go into a transaction representing yourself (fool for a client) when buyer representation is essentially free? That is a no-brainer to me.

3. FSBO's can be a nightmare, even if just one of the parties doesn't know what they're doing. If an FSBO seller doesn't allow agent-represented buyers, then both parties generally don't have a clue about the process. That is a huge invitation for problems and/or lawsuits. Real estate as an industry is one of the most litigious out there. Most FSBO's never sell without at least one agent in the mix anyhow (like around 80+%).

4. Nearly all Bank-owned (REO) properties are listed with agents. Banks wouldn't sell any properties if they weren't advertised and marketed properly. In most cases, you can't just "deal directly" with a bank to make an offer on a property. Banks are not in the real estate business. They are in the lending and loan-servicing business. They utilize agents to list their inventory, just as traditional sellers do.

Well, a good buyer's agent can actually save you $$$, as they do know the market/area, and can substantiate a below-asking offer on an over-priced home. They can also save you from your own ignorance, negligence, and/or lack of due diligence.
Yes and no. Once a bank has taken a property back, they have incurred additional expenses and carrying costs associated with REO. Banks have loss-mitigation departments to reduce that very thing. They spend plenty of time and effort to make sure they get the most they can out of each property. After all is said and done, the cost of taking back the average $300k property is about $30k-$40k above and beyond what is lost on the note (remember, they pay listing fees too just like any other seller). All of that translates into minimum lender-net formulas. Around here, turn-key REOs in desirable areas are going for 5-10% over asking with multiple offers on each, and they go quick.

1 very minimal gain to buyers for high costs
I fail to see any thing a good inspection and lawyer can't do for about 10% of the agents fee or less

2 buyers pay the whole cost inc agents over priced and mostly non-negotiable fee
6% is not free and at home prices today it is thousands
if the seller was willing to sell at "X" price is ''X'' plus 6% to the buyers
to pretend otherwise is fraud BUYERS PAY EVERYTHING ON A HOME SALE

3 the main reason FSBO's have a hard time selling is the agents boycotting them
I offered every lieing piece of trash ''agent" who claimed to have a willing buyer
the 3% buyers fee but not one ever showed up with a buyer
the liers were just trolling for listings
I paid for my own ad's and marketing and saved thousands
so wouldnot list esp a exclusive list with any one
why any one agrees to an exclusive listing is a mystery to me

realtors have conned the banks into not dealing with the public
banks need to wake up and see they sure are in the real estate biz today
with the massive numbers of repo's they are sitting on now
and they need to turn the property's over as quick as they can
to anyone they can esp as prices are still droping like a rock

Irvine is great, but you pay a premium for the schools. Since this is not a concern, I would consider other South OC areas.
You are welcome to join me and Alex in Aliso; Richard was from Laguna Niguel, and Scott is in Mission Viejo.
I have a few loan guys that I have received from friends, and I was hoping to contact them for a refi. I will send you both of them, and you can compare them if you wish.

Good deals: Aliso Viejo examples:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Aliso-Viejo/31-Mayfair-92656/home/5257944

http://www.redfin.com/CA/Aliso-Viejo/151-Matisse-Cir-92656/home/21629706

Realtors represent themselves exclusively. they get paid when a property sells so that is typically their only concern.
Most of them will not say jack to either a seller or buyer if it could squash the deal.
The ones I've dealt with only want one thing, for the deal to go through so they can get paid. Even if it is a bad deal.
They didn't care if someone got screwed as long as they got their commission.

To think a realtor or agent actually has your best interests in mind is more often than not foolish IMO.

Why do you use realtors you don't like or even trust? Would you use a mechanic, contractor or lawyer you felt that way about?

Like any other business, there are good and bad. If you consistently get the bad ones, than maybe you should be more careful about who you deal with.

I don't believe that for a second. Most of the FSBOs that sit on the market are overpriced or have flaws that make buyers skip over them.

Problem with selling the FSBO route is that it's very difficult to get buyer feedback about why your place isn't selling. Buyers don't want to tell the seller directly that their house is overpriced, ugly or has serious issues. They'll just look, pretend to like it and then never call. Leaves the seller wondering WTF is going on.

If a FSBO is well priced, well advertised and has an astute seller who can solicit feedback from potential buyers, then they usually sell pretty quick... around here anyway.

I've dealt with FSBO sellers, but only when I really do have a serious buyer. I'll usually call to explain, then screen the place for my buyer. If it seems suitable, then I'll sign the seller up on a 24hr. Sometimes they sell, sometimes they don't. Sometimes I end up getting a listing, most times I don't.

I'm yet to find a realtor that adds any value to the process. In all cases I have known more about the neighborhood, comps, the home itself, etc. If I ever do find a knowledgeable and professional realtor that will give me high quality advice (not BS), I will deal with him for life.

My first home was a FSBO, the sale was brokered by a lawyer. Zero fuss. Remember that most realtors are not brokers, they have to deal with a 3rd party broker to actually close the deal.