How We Deliver Exactly What You Want Plus 1%

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I want to take the opportunity today to tell you the top three reasons you should hire my staff and me. We are COMMITTED to the following three things:

1. Closing your loan on time
2. Communication
3. Exceptional customer service

The Alex Caragiannides Lending Team and New American Funding believe in a team business philosophy based off a book called The Raving Fans. This book taught me to find out what clients want and expect, and then deliver that plus 1%. In the process, we make three promises:

1. We will close your loan quickly and accurately: We know how to get your loan from the start line to the finish line in the quickest amount of time, with the least amount of headaches.

2. We excel in communication: We proactively communicate with every party in the transaction with a loan status report every Tuesday and Thursday.

3. We will deliver exceptional customer service: This starts from the beginning of the process, where we get you a thorough pre-approval; understand your wants, needs, and goals; and get you in the best loan for your situation now and in the future.

In closing, if you're a potential home buyer looking to purchase, a current homeowner looking to refinance, or a real estate professional looking to refer your clients to a great mortgage team, we would love the opportunity to work with you!

10 Tips for Throwing a Great Tailgate or Labor Day Party!

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Today, we're going to do something a little different. With football season just around the corner, we thought we'd share a video that I found on HGTV featuring 10 tips for throwing a great tailgate party!

1.    Be literal. If you or your friend has a truck, use a tailgate as the serving station.

2.    For lighting, use paper lanterns in team colors. It's easiest to hang them with zip ties. They are better than balloons, and they're reusable!

3.    Paint a plain cooler with your team colors. For best results, be sure to use spray paint designed for plastic.

4.    Use a silverware caddy. Use an easy-to-transport toolbox caddy for silverware and sauces.

5.    Make chip bag tacos. You want to have a simple menu, and walking tacos are delicious and easy to handle.

6.    Or, try chili and cornbread mason jars. These are a great alternative to the chip bag tacos!

7.    Don't forget the drinks! Bourbon-spiked hot chocolate is perfect for a cool fall day. Make sure you bring along unbreakable mugs.

8.    Serve a unique dessert. We recommend pennant cookies. Simply cut cookie bars into pennants.

9.    Create a hand washing station. Bring paper towels, soap, and water.

10.  Pre-game activities. Create a DIY ball toss using a drop cloth.

Even using just a few of these will make for a memorable tailgate party! We hope you found some of these ideas helpful. As always, if you have any questions about real estate, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Free Summer Buying and Selling Guides Now Available!

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Hello, and happy summer! I just wanted to let you know that the buying and selling guides have been updated for summer, and I want to share them with you. You can find them by clicking through these links:

Click here for the Summer Home Selling Guide!

Click here for the Summer Home Buying Guide!

Use them as you need to, and if you know any family that could use this information, I would appreciate it if you would pass it on to them. I'm positive they will find this information very valuable.

We have a few more months of beautiful weather here in Southern California, so I hope you enjoy it! As always, if you have any questions for me, feel free to reach out at any time. I always love to hear from you!

Summer Buying and Selling Guides Now Available!

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? Get an application here

Today, I just wanted to share a few updated documents with you. Both the buying and selling summer guides have arrived, and I just wanted to make sure everyone has a copy.

Click here for the Summer Home Selling Guide!

Click here for the Summer Home Buying Guide!

I highly recommend that you blog about these, send them to prospective clients, and share them with your colleagues. There is a lot of great content here from Keeping Current Matters and I think that everyone you share it with will find value in it.

Every time I get a new prospect who is looking to buy and gets pre-approved with my team, I give them a buying guide. Every time I work with someone who is thinking about selling, they get the selling guide.

Feel free to make it your own by taking my information out of the last page, putting your email address at the bottom of each page, and just use it as you see fit.

I hope all is well in your business right now, and look forward to talking to you soon!

Why Buyers Are on the Fence

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Today, real estate extraordinaire Jeremy Katz joins us discuss buyers who are on the fence. Why are they waiting? Are they missing out on a wonderful opportunity to buy in Southern California? We'll tackle these questions and more.

Most buyers begin the home search online, and a lot of times they only see active properties listed on various websites. They don't get to see pending homes or homes that are sold. As a buyer, which properties would you rather see, desirable homes that are selling or homes that have sat on the market for an extended period of time? If you're a buyer on the fence, the only homes you're seeing are the ones that no one picked!

When you get with the right lending partner and the right Realtor, we can get you on the cutting edge of the market. This means you'll be introduced to properties as soon as they get on the marker or, sometimes, we'll show you homes not yet listed and For Sale By Owner properties. 

The Southern California market is pretty balanced right now, depending on the area you live in. Regardless of conditions in your neighborhood, it never hurts to have an aggressive agent who can tell what is and what isn't happening in a given market to give you the best shot of accomplishing your buying goals. Buyers who work with our team are getting about a 4% discount off asking, while the average MLS buyer is only getting a discount of 2%. These outcomes for our clients are the result of an active approach to the market.

If you have questions about getting pre-approved and finding great homes in our strong market, give me a call or shoot me a quick email. You can reach Jeremy for all your real estate-specific needs at (619) 497-1834 orJKatz@SDHouseHunting.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon!

Is Zillow Wrong More Often Than Right?

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Today, we want to elaborate on an unfortunate fact: Zillow is wrong more often than they're right. 

When you're thinking about buying a house in San Diego or anywhere in Southern California, you're likely to start the process online. Many people use Zillow's Zestimate feature to determine whether a home is priced correctly, but it's not the most reliable tool. 

In San Diego, Zestimates are wrong 55% of the time! When looking closely at Zillow's numbers, we found Zestimates are only within 5% of a home's true value 42.8% of the time! Additionally, Zestimates in San Diego are off by 20% in value nearly 20% of the time. Would you consider that to be a good estimate?

If you have certain selling goals you want to accomplish, or if you're trying to determine how much you should offer on a home, you are likely using the wrong numbers if you're basing your decisions on a Zillow Zestimate. The best way to accomplish your buying, selling, or investing goals is to work with a real estate professional who knows the market inside and out.

If you have questions about this topic, or if you would like us to put you in contact with an agent you can trust, give us a call or shoot us an email. We would love to give you a hand! 

What 5 Things Should You Look for in a Home?

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Searching for a new home can be a stressful endeavor, but it doesn't have to be. Today, we're going to talk about the 5 things to look for when viewing a home, so you don't make any costly mistakes when buying this summer.

• Location: Is the house next to a busy street? Is it next to a freeway? What are the schools like? Is traffic congested near your home?
• Size: Are the rooms going to fit all of your furniture? Are they big enough, or are they too big? Make sure there is enough room for all your amenities!
• Windows: These tend to get expensive, so you want to determine whether the windows will need to be upgraded. 
• Situation of house: Is your home close to your neighbors? Is the home west facing or east facing? Does the home get much natural light? 
• Roof: Like the windows, if the roof needs to be repaired, it will be awfully expensive. Make sure it is in good shape!

If you have any questions about the home buying process, don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to share some tips and tricks to help ease your buying experience! 

What Are the ABC's of Life?

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In today's video I'm going to get away from real estate and focus on personal development for a little bit. A long time ago I was told that you could dictate where you went in life by reading more books and choosing the type of people that you surround yourself with. My life has been improving more and more as I've read more good books and surrounded myself with intelligent, successful people.

The 'A' stands for accepting all the things that you cannot change. This is part of the serenity prayer and I try to recite it every morning. This is a great philosophy to live by in my own opinion.

'B' stands for being grateful for everything that you have. Every morning when I wake up, I journal for about fifteen minutes about things that I am grateful for. It really helps me determine what's important in my life and what is not.

The 'C' that I'm talking about is creating daily progress towards your goals. When I journal in the morning, I write down my goals for the day and keep track of them. I think I can hold myself more accountable for doing the things that I need to do when I have written them down. I write down anything from daily goals to weekly goals to yearly goals. I think it really helps me attack my dreams and make them come to fruition. 

I could speak about this for hours, but I'll leave you with this. I cannot express how important I believe personal development is. The only way to improve your life is to improve yourself.

As always, please contact me with any questions you have about real estate in Southern California!

I'm always here to help you!

Borrow up to $6,000 to make energy efficient improvements

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Can you borrow extra money if you want to make home improvements?

VA borrowers can add up to $6,000 to their loan to make energy-efficient improvements to their home. Known as an Energy Efficient Mortgage, or an EEM, these unique loan products allow homeowners to make select upgrades and repairs to their property in order to maximize energy efficiency.

Spending money on energy improvements can lessen your heating, cooling, and other related energy costs for years to come. Those monthly savings on energy costs can be funneled into additional payments to the mortgage principle, or it can be used on dozens of other household necessities. 

Veterans interested in EEM should consult with their lender and be sure to arrange a home-energy audit from a professional firm! Call the Alex Caragiannides Lending Team today to speak with a knowledgeable mortgage specialist! 

Should You Buy Now or Save for Later?

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Affordability is extremely high right now, and conditions are just right to purchase a home right now. In times such as these, why not let the market build up equity for you naturally? Owning a home in an appreciating market can build up equity faster than you can save money.

For example, a $400,000 home that appreciates by 6% gains $2,000 a month in equity. Could you save that much money every month?

One of the best reasons to buy a home now is to get ahead of rising prices and interest rates. Even though when you purchase a home with 3% down and pay private mortgage insurance, you can rest easy knowing that the rates for PMI are substantially lower than they have been in the past. 

Another reason to buy now is that if you're renting, you can immediately turn your monthly payments into equity. The rent you're currently paying is probably similar to what you would be paying for a monthly mortgage. Also, when you own a home, you gain many different tax advantages. 

Buying a home is a temporary cost that may sting a bit at first, but this investment will pay for itself over and over again. 

If you're looking to buy a home in Southern California, let's set up a time to talk soon, because these low rates and high affordability will not last forever. Contact me at your convenience!

Why Should You Get Pre-Approved When Buying in Southern California?

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In recent years, mortgage guidelines have been tightened and documentation requirements have been expanded and followed more closely. But does this mean it's more difficult to secure a mortgage? Getting a pre-approval can help you avoid the potential pitfalls long before you become obligated by a contract of purchase. 

There are a handful of specific advantages once you're pre-approved. Once you have a pre-approval in hand, you'll be certain about the price range that's right for you, how much cash you'll need to close, and what your maximum monthly payment will be. Understanding your limits will help you negotiate with confidence - plus, since sellers like a sure thing, you'll have an advantage over other buyers in the marketplace. 

Your approval is typically valid for the shelf life of the documents used to obtain it. These include a credit report, pay stubs, bank statements, W-2s, tax returns, etc. The usable life of these documents will vary, but it's usually safe to say your approval is good for up to four months. During this time, it pays to file all the important financial documents so they're readily available for future updates.

It's completely acceptable to change your mind. There's no obligation to purchase a home or use a particular loan program once you've been pre-approved. In fact, pre-approval simply helps you to know exactly what's involved in the buying process. Purchasing a home is much easier if you have financing in place before you make an offer.

We're always here to help you get started, and it's never too early to do just that. Give the Alex Caragiannides Team a call whenever you're ready!

How to Reap the Benefits of Your VA Loan

Are you looking to apply for a mortgage? You can simply apply by clicking this link to take you to the application. If you have any friends, family, or co-workers who are purchasing a new home or refinancing their existing home, please forward  this email to them or reply back to this email with their contact information. I very much appreciate your referrals. I'll take excellent care of them!

If you're considering buying a home with your Veteran's Association loan, then you will want to tune in to this video blog because I will be discussing the best ways to take advantage of this incredible offer. My team and I are willing to answer all the questions you might have surrounding a VA loan, because we specialize in helping veterans find great homes at great prices. 

Our mission is to educate and serve military families. We want to help you, and we invite you to come to our free VA loan workshops which we hold twice per month.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. You have served us faithfully, and we would love the opportunity to serve you!