This is a true story about staying alert, engaged and strategic. These characteristics drive John and I in the work we do for our clients. We hope you will find some education from this story for your real estate journey, and we hope you will let us be a part of that journey with you.
Our story picks up with our clients (we’ll call them Bryan and Jen for privacy) at a loss for finding the house they want inside their budget. We probed into their long term plans for living in this new home and discovered that their goal was to move again in 7-10 years. This opened up the possibility of a loan program John knew about that offered a 7 year fixed rate which created an extra $150,000 in a purchase price while staying inside their monthly mortgage budget, and opened up a new pool of homes to consider. (This can equate to a $1.2 budget expanding to $1,350,000 which allows for looking at $1.4 homes that can be negotiated downwards.) With an offer accepted and in the process of being approved by one lender, John kept his ears open for other loan programs and discovered another bank offering the same loan for ½% lower. He encouraged Bryan and Jen to change lenders. In the end, by structuring their loan to a 7 year fixed (which worked for their plans) and moving to a loan program that was ½% lower, Bryan and Jen not only found a house they loved, but also saved $500/month in their mortgage cost. This is what it looks like to stay alert, engaged and strategic for our clients. This is part of what our job looks like behind the scenes. This is our commitment.
The take-away from this story is the concept that you may need to start off in one direction, and be willing to change that direction based on discoveries along the way. Your Realtor should be key to finding those ‘directions’. Buying and selling a house is not a straight line, and for us it’s never about ‘selling’ you a house, but orchestrating the best picture for you.
In these uncertain times, our HOMES can use a little inspiration. We can make decisions to inspire. Research shows that inspiration can be achieved, captured, and manipulated and it has a major effect on important life outcomes. Here’s a little experiment to try in your HOME for inspiration: