I understand that when the topic comes up, everybody seems to have "a guy". Everyone knows a tax guy, an insurance guy and a real estate guy. Let me tell you about Ryan and Tracie, who helped us buy our house.
I hate to sound like a salesman, or for you to think that all I am doing is sending him business, but I learned a lot in the 2 years since I started talking to Ryan and Tracie. I met them in 2005, by the way, when nobody had time for us because houses were selling like bread fresh out of the oven, and all I want is to pass it on to whoever is willing to listen. You know me, I rarely talk, but when someone gets me going on a subject, I can't stop.
Ryan at ProFund www.profundrealestate.com is awesome with the numbers. He's not your typical loan agent working interest rates for you. He is of a different mentality. The guy has his MBA and has more of a finance/financial management background. Ryan was able to literally free up about $400 per paycheck by modifying numbers like tax bases and 401k contributions. If you are doubting whether you could afford a house or not, believe me I know you can. All you have to do is get down to dissecting the numbers the old fashioned way...conservatively, but creatively as well.
Tracie helped us find the house. She has a real good eye for properties and was able to quickly understand exactly the type of home we were looking for. She also helped us with the part that most people don't realize is the most important part, the legalities and contract of the purchase. We bought from a "for sale by owner" seller who was pretty close to being under on his house. He owed pretty much what the home is valued at, so Tracie and Ryan were able to find different ways to swing the deal our way.
I think you are making a good choice in considering to buy a home. I am sure most of the sellers you will come across are people who bought too high in 2004-2006, owe the entire purchase price or more (because they refinanced and took too much money out). All of this does nothing but favor you, and of course the fact that a lot of people can't buy anymore because those low-interest rate mortgages that were abused for so long are no longer available. Ryan got us a good CAL-FHA loan that allowed us to afford that house we bought at a fixed 30-year rate with our closing costs and their commission paid by the seller.
Lastly, really, lastly! It was easy to buy a home a couple of years ago (if you could afford it), because it was "put your offer in now, and make sure it is higher than the one the 15 people in front you put down". But the way things are now, in a down market, you really need to pay attention to little details, not only with the loan itself, but with the contract and other legalities. And of course, you need to negotiate and bargain like there is no tomorrow. Anything is negotiable, the price, the appliances, the warranty on the spa and appliances, and even the cash needed for necessary repairs. This, in a large nutshell, is what my experience with Ryan and Tracie was like.
You can email Ryan and/or Tracie at ryan@profundfinancial.com and tracie@profundfinancial.com , or call them at (858) 405-4004, they are here in Mission Valley.
Good luck, home ownership is within reach.
Carlos and Yvette Avila
- NUMBER1EXPERTS™ 
