No Inventory, High Prices, Can You Still Get A "Deal" In Real Estate?

This week has been an interesting one.  Normally I don't "house shop" with buyers, and rarely am I out reviewing properties in person I haven't done a major research on first.  As an investor buyer, I am very comfortable buying properties I have never seen, or have just driven buy.

In this case the buyers are friends who are working with an agent at another office.  They have been house shopping for some time, and it is making everyone crazy including each other.

At the end of the day, major progress was made, and they are down to their last trade off decision.

Buying real estate is always a major tradeoff decision.  You can be one block from water with no view and get a great house with a three car garage, or be up the hill with a two car garage, smaller house and a great view.  So which is it access or view and how much are each worth.

The most difficult part about being a buyers agent is to get those decisions made first.  If you know what you want before you even start looking, you are much more likely to get a deal, and not get emotionally locked to something you might grow tired of quickly.

Many deals fall apart and buyers get cold feet because they "loved the view" and over the course of the next few weeks realize the house won't meet their needs and they aren't willing to adjust.

The app isn't finished yet, but I am working on it.  The app is a way for one or two people to sit down and build a perfect house by "score".  For instance, would you give up a larger bathroom for a gas kitchen?  If you make those decisions up front, the emotion of buying the home is whittled to the core where it needs to be.  That core emotion is what you are going to be living with while you are in that house.

This is how investors buy homes, and believe it or not, it does work for people buying homes. The key for the buyers agent is to understand the buyer first.  Better yet, if you the buyer will admit up front where you are having difficulty making a decision, your agent can be a lot more helpful.

You might think view is important, and find out that being next to a park for your kids really is the winner for you.  When you sit down and make those decisions up front, you will know a deal the minute you see it.

Can You Buy With Zero Down?

Zero down homes are something of a mystery to most people, even most Real Estate Agents.  So you are probably asking, "Are they real?".

The answer is YES.  Homes can be bought with zero down several ways.  The easiest is a VA loan.  VA loans are available to just about anyone who ever served in the US military and was honorably discharged.  Here in California there is an obscure little program called Cal-Vet that can help too.

These days, less than 2.5% of Americans are serving in the US military.  So how does 97.5% of the country get a home with zero down?

There are a couple of ways, one is the Homepath program.  Zero down homes in the Homepath program are rare and will require some digging and patience on your part.

Another option is the way all property used to be sold, owner or seller financing.  The seller of the house gives you a loan to cover the down payment.  These are tougher to do and require some legwork by your Real Estate Agent and loan broker.

Now that home values are starting to creep back up, you have a chance to find a home where the owner might just have enough equity to "carry paper" and get you into that house with little or no money down.

If you aren't sure, always make the offer, the only think that can happen is they say "no", or they say "yes".