About The Author
Troy Swezey is a professional, full time Realtor with Century 21 Paul & Associates in Burbank, California, and has much experience bringing buyers and sellers together. Whether you are a first time buyer or a seasoned seller, if you are buying a fixer-upper or investing in your dream home or condominium, have a probate, foreclosure or 1031 exchange, dealing in commercial or equestrian property or land, Troy can help!
A rare Southern California native, Troy has lived in the San Fernando Valley since 1977. Raised in Burbank, he is a 1986 graduate of Burbank High School. From 1990-1996 he served as a flight engineer on UH-60 Helicopters in Germany. Upon his return to Los Angeles, he spent a short period of time in the film industry while he studied for his real estate exam. Having served in the military and purchasing his own first home with a V.A. loan, he knows all the ins and outs to help his fellow Veterans with their purchase
Troy, as one of the top real estate professionals in the Burbank / Los Angeles / Foothills area, prides himself with providing excellent service to his clients. His commitment to life-long learning to sharpen his professional, personal and interpersonal skills has allowed him to remain a leader in today’s real estate market.
Although his office is in Burbank, Troy is extremely familiar with the surrounding neighborhoods. Whether you like the south side of The Valley including Toluca Lake, Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Tarzana and Woodland Hills, or if you prefer to own in the northern part where you will find North Hills, Granada Hills, Northridge, Chatsworth and Mission Hills, Troy knows the area. Let's not forget right down the middle with Van Nuys, North Hollywood, Reseda, Valley Glen and Valley Village. If you need to be near a college, he also knows Glendale and Northridge. For his special clients, he will go to the Santa Clarita towns of Newhall, Saugus, Canyon Country and Valencia.
His award-winning relocation service is top notch when it comes to moving in or out of the area, whether across town, across the country, even internationally!He is actively involved within the Burbank community. He is a graduate of the Burbank Citizens Police Academy and a member of the Magnolia Park Citizens Advisory Committee. He worked on the successful election campaign of Burbank City Councilman Jef Vander Borght.
Troy was President and Treasurer, and is currently Vice President of Public Relations for Burbank Media Center Toastmasters #125. He was a founding member of the Studio City Leads Club and served as Treasurer and President. He is also a Wishgranter and Ambassador for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and is active with the Tony Robbins Foundation and their Basket Brigade.
Troy’s involvement within the community, his listening and negotiating skills, his professional designations, being a member of four real estate boards and their respective multiple listing services (MLS), his solid relationships with the area's best mortgage lenders, escrow officers and title insurers, as well as his state-of-the-art computer equipment, enable him to provide his clients with that extra level of professionalism.
Acknowledgments There are many people who helped in their own ways with the completion of this book. Their input was invaluable to me and I thank them here for their support.
Very special thank you’s to:
My wife, Leslie, for her support and kind words over the years.
Nonna Fridman for having the confidence in me to let me handle her home purchase as my very first transaction.
Will Fowler for his inspiration and support and for all his love and teachings. (You should buy and read his books. He is a great author. )
Paul Kyriazi, another favorite author and friend of mine, for inspiring me to write this book and for helping me with the “lifestyle.”
Trixie, Shea, Mika and K.C. for allowing me to live in their home in exchange for the occasional back rubbing and cans of tuna.
Thank you to the following individuals who have touched my world at some point in time and without whose help I would not be here sharing this knowledge with you today:
Anngel Benoun; Claudia Bonis; Larry Cotton; Cecelia Davidson; Janet Dubrasky at Fidelity Home Warranty; Pam Gerrard; Marla Gilbert at Sail North Hollywood Escrow, Studio City, CA; Mike DeGrandis at Chicago Title, Glendale, CA; Jerry Guffey; Clarence and Alice Hawkins; Art and Patti Hawkins and their family; Tom and Sharon Hartz and their family; Bob and Sandy Krauthamer; Lisa Martinez and Lisa Matzner at Old Republic Title, Glendale, CA; Jim Paul; Tom Paul; Kim Schulke; Tom Shea; Dorothy and William A. Swezey, Sr.; June and William A. Swezey, Jr.; Andy and Robyn Tourville; Spencer Walch
The many people who do not know me but I definitely know them and look to them for inspiration- James Bond; Garth Brooks; Kenrick Cleveland; Marshal Sylver; Donald Trump; Dan Kennedy; Peter Lowe; Jimmy Mattingly; Casey Wasserman; Zig Ziglar
Proofreading: Leslie Anne and Kaye Mallory
Content guidance: Karen Berry and Carrie Dillard
Web site creation: Kaye Mallory
Web site development and support: Paul Mananian
Technical support: Paul Mananian
Book cover design and creation: Gene Homan
Legal: Spencer Walch at Law Offices of Walch and Walch, Pasadena, California
You comments and thoughts are important to us. Please let us know what you think at Troyc21@usa.net.
You’ve Made The Right Decision Page8 Pre-qualifying For A Home Loan Page9 Why You Need A Buyer’s Agent Page 10 Looking For A Home Page11 The Importance Of Having Your Home Listed In The Correct MLS Page 14 The Difference Between A Condominium And A Townhouse Page 15 If The Seller Is Not Home, How Will We See The Inside? Page 15 The Offer Page17 Escrow Page19 The Physical Inspection Page20 Title Insurance Page22 Home Warranty Page22 80 Things That Can Go Wrong Between Contract And Closing Page 23 How do Realtors Get Paid? Page27 Discount Agents: Who Needs Them? Page27 Buyers and Open Houses Page30 Sellers and Open Houses Page30 Avoid Small Real Estate Offices Page31 Avoid Part Time Agents Page32 Tricks Agents Play Page32 Overpricing Listings Page32 There Are Always Multiple Offers Page33 The Showing Order Page34 The Local “Specialist” Page34 Seller Selects Services Page35 I Have A Favor To Ask You Page35
The purpose of this book is to shed some light on the often mysterious and sometimes daunting world of real estate.
With the proper guidance and education, real estate can not only be fun but it can be very lucrative for you.
In this book, I will explain some often confusing aspects of buying and selling real estate and expose some of the tricks of the trade some of those other real estate agents don’t want you to know.
I will preface this by saying that I practice real estate full time in Southern California. Some things that you read here may not pertain to you in your part of the world, but most of it will.
For the purpose of this book, the term “house” is interchangeable with “condominium” and “townhouse.” We will discuss the differences between the three later.
I trust that you will find this book educational, informative and maybe even a little humorous at times. I have included some stories of what I have seen and experienced working with many buyers and sellers just like you. I know that my knowledge and experience will help you make a wise decision where, you can see yourself sometime in the future looking back on today knowing that this was the day that changed your life for the better.
Congratulations on making the decision to invest in your future. Whether this is your first home or you are an experienced investor, you are sure to find this an exciting experience. Even with the many transactions I have been involved in, I never seem to get over the wonderful feeling of handing a buyer the keys to their new home.
There are many different reasons to invest in a new home:
A greater sense of belonging to the community: Once you own a home, you feel more attached to the city in which you live. You’re more interested in what happens in town, to the roads, schools, and shopping areas. Some people even become involved in local politics, which you seldom see a renter do.
A commitment to something, a sense of stability: Home ownership is an anchor, something that cannot be pulled out from under you. You’ll never get a notice that you have to move. You’re kids will never have to change schools. It gives you freedom to plan years ahead.
You can change things, a feeling of being in control: It’s your home. You can add to it, remodel it, change the landscaping, do whatever projects you want. You have a feeling of being in control of something in your life. At work we don’t always have control of what happens, but your home is your castle which you have dominion over. You can see what you’re building take shape before your eyes. When I lived in an apartment, I never painted the walls any color other than white and never hung any artwork in fear of having the landlord yell at me.
More control over the children than in an apartment complex: In a neighborhood, kids usually play in the yards or go to friend’s houses a few doors away. My clients have told me that in an apartment complex they never knew where the kids were. They could be in any of hundreds of apartments, doing who knows what. In a home you get to know the neighbors and watch out for each other’s kids.
Children do better in school and feel more secure: This one surprised me, but buyers have told me that their kids calmed down in school after they bought a house. I don’t know why, but it seems to work that way. I remember a single mom watching her son play in the yard and building things. She didn’t have to tell him to leave everything alone, like she did at the apartment complex. I guess kids feel the same need for control we adults do.
Time and money saved by not going to the Laundromat: A small point, but if you have kids, you know the value of this one. You gain a whole evening a week when you buy a house! The wash gets done in between other things, or while you’re at work. What would you do with the extra evening you’ll have? How about going out for dessert with all those quarters?
Once you have decided to invest in a new home, before you actually go out looking, you should call the mortgage lender. Let me tell you a story from my personal experience. When I started to look for my first home, I assumed that I could certainly afford to live in the same neighborhood that my folks lived in and where they raised me so I started looking at open houses in that area. I spent a good deal of time researching the available properties and finding exactly the types of homes I was looking for. When I felt I had all the information I needed, I met with a Realtor who advised me to talk to a mortgage lender. I spent a few moments with the lender who asked me questions about my income and my debts and assets. We also talked about, based on my income, the size of my monthly mortgage payments and how much I could comfortably invest every month in a home. She was then able to tell me the price range of homes that would be affordable for me. To my surprise, the price range the mortgage lender suggested to me was a bit lower than the neighborhood I was looking in. Actually, it was substantially lower! All the time I had spent going to open houses, driving around neighborhoods and reading the newspaper was wasted. I was able to regroup and start looking in different areas for my new home, but I wonder how many great homes were bought up by people who knew what they were looking for while I was out spinning my wheels?
On the other side of the coin, there once was a client that was the exact opposite. He was looking in neighborhoods that his coworkers lived in. His logic was that they all made about the same amount of money so they should all be able to afford the same area.
What he didn’t count on was his wife’s income. When they sat down with the mortgage lender and answered just a few questions, they were surprised that they could move into a much nicer neighborhood than they had originally thought. Their children are in a better school district and they are very happy in their new home.
In today’s real estate market, many of the homes that become available are sold in the first few days they are on the market and sometimes even sooner. It is truly in the new home owner’s best interest to have a loan pre-approval letter before even starting the home search. In fact, I always submit my client’s purchase offer with a copy of their preapproval letter. It proves to the seller that you are really serious about purchasing the home and that you will have no problems qualifying for a loan. That alone could help you win out over another person who wants to buy the same house.
Often when a buyer is driving around the neighborhood calling the names they see on the yard signs, they do not realize that they are calling the agent who is representing the seller. That agent is employed by the seller to get them the highest price possible for the home. Obviously, you as the buyer do not want to pay the highest possible price for the house. You want to get the best possible deal for the house.
It would be similar to being on trial and having the same lawyer representing the plaintiff and the defendant.
A little later, I will explain how I work for you as a buyer’s agent and the steps I will take to help you find just the right home for you in the least amount of time and to get you the best possible price.
Also, keep in mind too, that it is not always just about the price. Often there are other items and terms that need to be negotiated on behalf of the buyer. It is truly imperative to the buyer to have an agent representing him exclusively.
One thing that I tell my buyers is that it makes perfect sense for them to let me search the inventory for them. That way, I can be sure they have access to everything that comes on the market which meets their criteria as soon as it comes on the market. This means no more running around town and calling the listing agents, getting the hard sell, just to find out the house doesn’t meet your needs
There are several ways you can look for your new
home. One way is to drive around and stop at open houses.
This is a good way if you don’t have anything special that you are
looking for. More often than not, however, there will be at least one
thing that is not what you were interested in with a new home. Maybe there is a pool and you would rather have a big, grassy yard. Maybe there are two bedrooms when you need three. Or maybe the house isn’t even in your price range. There is not much you can tell about the house simply by looking at the outside. If you decide to call the agent whose name is on the yard sign, it might take a while for them to return your call. The time you spend driving around looking for yard signs can better be used going into houses that actually meet your needs.
Another way is to use a web-based search site. Some of these sites are pretty simple to use and can offer you a lot of information. The problem with them is that quite often, they are out of date. You may find that you call the listing agent of a certain property only to find out it was sold months ago. This results in more wasted time and aggravation to you. Why are these sites using out-dated information? It is because they get all their information second-hand. They are getting their information from something called the Multiple Listing Service. (MLS) The MLS is the database program all Realtors use. You need to be getting your information directly from the MLS. When I take a listing, my assistant inputs the information about the property into the MLS. At that precise moment, all Realtors have access to the property via MLS and can show the property to their buyers. One of the inputs my assistant makes is whether the seller wants to have the listing published on the Internet. Eventually, it will find its’ way on to the Internet and by then it may have already been shown by several agents with interested buyers. The other problem with these Internet “house search” sites is that there is not an urgency to take the sold listings off their sites or to change the status from available to sold. Part of the problem is that after an agent sells a home, there is no form to fill out to send to anyone saying that the home is no longer available. With all the different sites out there that claim to have the latest information, it would be nearly impossible for them all to be up to date. With the MLS it is very different. If I do not tell the MLS that a status has changed from available to sold, they will fine me. I take that pretty seriously as most other agents do, so we make sure that the information is accurate. Wouldn’t you agree that is important to you? You deserve to have the most accurate and up to date information there is.
When I have a client looking for a certain type of property, I sit down with the client and carefully listen to what it is the client is looking for in a new home. Maybe they have a very special need or something they would like but is not really mandatory. I look at what areas they are interested in. I need to know how many bedrooms and bathrooms they need. Do they want a pool? Do they like Spanish or contemporary? Whatever the client wants, I write it down and make note of it. I can then take their information and input it into the search criteria fields on the MLS service. Initially, I may come up with a long list of properties that are available. With this list of properties, we can be sure the home will contain the things they are looking for. Then comes one of the fun parts: I give this list of available properties to my client and they can drive by each of the houses on the list and see if they like the neighborhood and the “curb appeal” of the property. I always sort the list by Thomas Guide Map co-ordinates, which makes it really easy to get from one property to another.
If, after driving by these properties, none of them are appealing enough to go inside of, I continue to check the MLS daily to find the homes that have been inputted since I made the first list. I check the computer daily and email new listings to the client until we find just the right home.
When they find a property that looks good on the outside and the neighborhood is one they like, the home buyer calls me and I make arrangements for us all to go inside. At this point, we already know that the home has the amenities the client needs and is in an area that is desirable to them. Now we just have to check that the inside has a feel or flow that is agreeable to the client.
Many people feel this is the best way to look for a new home. One of the big advantages of my system is that you get the listings right away. As long as you check your email, I get the newest and freshest listings to you as quickly as possible. I remember one time when I found a listing that had just been posted on the MLS. It was just what my client was looking for. The size was perfect. The neighborhood was exactly what she wanted. I emailed her the listing information and she emailed me back right away saying that she wanted to see the inside. I called the listing agent to make an appointment to go inside and she said, “What kind of super agent are you? I only put that house for sale on the MLS five minutes ago!”
Another advantage of working with me as your Buyer’s Agent is that it is a free service to you. I get paid by the seller to help you find your property, but we will discuss that in more detail later. All I ask for from you is loyalty. If I am spending my time looking for properties twice a day for you, and then emailing them as they become available and taking you to the ones that you like, I am sure you agree it would only be fair to me to let me represent you in the purchase?
Here is how the MLS works. (We’ll talk about Realtor.com later). There is something called Crisnet that is SUPPOSED to represent all the properties Burbank and West. There is ITECH that is SUPPOSED to represent all the properties Glendale and East. In order to place a property in either one of these systems, the Realtor has to be a member of that systems Board. Example- If I want to list a property in North Hollywood (which is west of Burbank), I have to be a member of the Crisnet Board. That is basically how it works.
Here in lies the problem- Sometimes, a lazy, unknowledgeable or simply incompetent agent will work in Pasadena (East of Glendale) and take a Burbank listing but only put it in ITECH. That makes no sense because if the system were to work properly, when I want to search for a Burbank listing, I should only have to check in Crisnet.
What this means to you- Because I have to check two different systems, you will often get emails of listings from me from two different sources and that is the reason.
Now, my favorite subject- Realtor.com. Basically, Realtor.com and most other search engines are lame. Here is why- When I take a listing, I give the info to my assistant the information and she puts it on the Internet. The problem is that no one ever takes it off of the Internet. Apparently, there are employees at the Internet sites who check with the MLS to see if properties are still available, but by the time they get around to it, the house has been long sold and off the MLS.
The point is, if you want ACCURATE information, you have to get it from the MLS.
More than once I have talked to a seller who asked me
why I thought their house was not selling and I do a little research for
them. The first step was to see how their listing was posted on the
MLS. In one particular case, the seller’s house was in Burbank which,
as you will remember, is supported by Crisnet. This seller’s agent had the house listed in a MLS for the Westside. No wonder no one knew the house was for sale. Agents who were looking for a house in Burbank were using Crisnet and they were not seeing this particular house. Where other houses were selling in a day or a week tops, this one was on the market for several months.
A savvy agent can work this to their advantage though. As I write this, I am in escrow with my buyers who were looking for a home in Burbank. Just to see if there was a house listed in the wrong MLS, I checked different MLS for houses in Burbank. Lo and behold I found one that had been on the market for some time that was listed with an agent in Laguna Beach, almost 70 miles away! She wasn’t a member of the local San Fernando Board so she couldn’t list the house in Crisnet. The house had been sitting on the market for some time as hardly anyone saw it and the seller was getting desperate. Because of all this, I was able to get a discount of almost $15,000 for my clients. The seller’s loss is my client’s gain!
Many people are confused about these two and do not know the difference. A condominium is a unit, sometimes similar to an apartment, where there could be someone living above you, below you and as well as on both sides. A condo is usually only one story and there is a parking lot where everyone parks their cars together.
A townhouse is usually more desirable than a condo and is usually more expensive. At the same time, it would appreciate in value at a faster rate as well. This is because a townhouse is multiple stories where there are only neighbors on the sides. A townhouse can often have an attached private garage with direct access to the home and sometimes even a private yard.
While we are on the subject of condos and townhouses, remember there is what are known as Home Owner Association dues (HOA). These HOA dues are used to take care of the common areas like a community pool, the gym or the laundry room. Sometimes the HOA dues even include things like cable television. Each HOA varies from the next so we always have to check what they include.
When I find a property my client wants to see, I print out a data
sheet from the MLS that explains the showing instructions. It will tell if
we need an appointment or if there is a lockbox or any other special
instructions. Once I had a client who wanted me to drive them around
town and just randomly pick houses for us to go into. I had to explain to him that even though I was able to gain access to the property using my keypad, we could not simply go into the house without reading the MLS data sheet. Perhaps there was a dog inside or a day sleeper or an alarm code that we had to know so that we could turn off the house alarm.
There are several different ways that we can get into the inside the home you want to see. The two basic ways are by using a lockbox and by making an appointment. Let’s talk about lockboxes first.
There are basically two different types of lockboxes. There is the electronic type and there is the combination type. The electronic lockbox is much more secure and safe than the combination. The electronic lockbox works something like this- The savvy listing agent who has the electronic lockbox will secure it to a stationary object like a water pipe by use of a shackle system in such a place that is convenient for other agents to get at. Sometimes they will put it on the front door knob, but I do not do this because the lock box could scratch or dent the front door or the door knob. The agent showing will have a small device known as a keypad. Within the keypad is the agent’s secret code. When the agent wants to show a property, he takes his keypad and docks it to the lockbox. He then punches in his secret code and it opens up the keybox so that the showing agent can access the keys to open the door. The showing agent’s secret code is then implanted into the memory of the lockbox. The listing agent can run a report from the memory of the lockbox to show every time the lockbox has been opened. This gives the seller a very high level of security as he will know everyone that has been in the house. The alternate type of lockbox is the combination type. This type is not as secure in that someone can tell a thief the combination or it can easily be picked.
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