Why It’s Important to Get Pre-Qualified Through a Lender

It’s important to talk to a lender before even considering a home purchase.

Buying a home? Search all Greater McAllen Area homes for sale

Selling your Greater McAllen Area home? Get a free home value report

One of the first things we ask homebuyers is where they’re looking to buy a home. Next, we ask what their price point is. The best way to figure out your price point is to talk to a lender first; they’ll figure out if you’ll be paying cash or financing. Most people choose the financing route.

Even if you’ve already spoken with your lender, you should always get a second opinion. I’ve brought in Ricardo Torres of Willow Bend Mortgage to explain more about why it’s important to talk to lenders.

You won’t know if you can buy your dream home until you get pre-qualified. A lender makes sure you’re pre-qualified so when you’re ready to buy your home, it’ll happen without a hitch. Willow Bend Mortgage has an app where buyers can check price points, get ideas on pricing, and apply for a mortgage loan. This application takes around five to 10 minutes and allows you to upload paycheck stubs, W-2s, and bank statements: the meat and potatoes of applying for a loan. It also integrates your real estate agent’s information throughout the process.

Even if you’ve already spoken with your lender, you should always get a second opinion.

If you’d like to contact Ricardo, you can reach him at 956-739-5440. If you’re looking to buy or sell a home, have any questions, or are looking for more information, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Don’t Miss This Insightful Interview With Expert Lender Ricardo Torres

During a recent interview with expert lender Ricardo Torres, we unveiled a few interesting facts about the lending process that today’s homebuyers may be interested to know.

Buying a home? Search all Greater McAllen Area homes for sale

Selling your Greater McAllen Area home? Get a free home value report

Before buyers do anything else in their home search, the first thing they need to do is to connect with a great local lender. To help us illustrate why this is so important, we recently interviewed Ricardo Torres of Willow Bend Mortgage, who is an expert on the subject. Beyond the service lenders provide in terms of orchestrating the mortgage process, they can also offer buyers a wealth of information on topics related to home financing. Between worrying about their credit score and wondering how much money it will actually take to purchase a house to begin with, buyers tend to enter the lending process with a lot on their mind. Thankfully, these issues are exactly the sort of thing lenders like Ricardo deal with every day. The first matter Ricardo tackled during our brief interview was the issue of cost. According to Ricardo, buyers no longer need to put 20% down to secure a mortgage. These days, there are a number of loan programs out there that, depending on a buyer’s credit score, income, and certain other factors, allow them to put as little as 5%, 3.5%, or even $0 down.

The best way to determine what loan product will work best for your needs is to meet with a lender and get pre-qualified.

And, speaking of credit, Ricardo also tells us that lending standards are less strict than you might think in this regard, as well. Some loan programs allow buyers to qualify with scores as low as 580.

With this information in mind, remember that the only way to understand how it might apply to your specific circumstances is to meet with a lender and get pre-qualified. So if you’d like to meet with Ricardo and get started, please give him a call at (956) 739-5440 or visit www.rmtorres.com.

And, as always, if you have any other questions or would like more information about this or another real estate related topic, feel free to give our team a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

What Needs to Align for a Successful Home Purchase?

Are you ready to buy a home? If so, here are three steps that will get you closer to your goal.

Buying a home? Search all Greater McAllen Area homes for sale

Selling your Greater McAllen Area home? Get a free home value report

We’re reaching out to you today since you’ve kept in touch with us because you were looking to buy property and we want to know where you’re at. In order to make your move, there are three things that need to align:

1. Desire. You have to want to move. Maybe you’re sick of paying rent or you're crammed in with family or roommates. If your desire is high enough to take the next steps, it’s time to look at the second thing.

2. Income and credit. For this step, you’ll need to talk to a financial professional like Ricardo Torres with Willow Bend Mortgage. He can help you find out whether your credit is good enough and what kind of home you can afford right now. You can start the process right here, and he can help you get a pre-qualification. He will take a look at your credit, employment history, and income to let you know exactly what you can afford.

A pre-qualification will let you know what you can afford.

3. The house. This is the fun part. When you have the desire and you’re pre-qualified, that’s where our team steps in to help guide you through the process and find the perfect house.

If you have any questions for us, please feel free to reach out and give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

3 Tips to Ensure a Quick Home Sale

Today I want to share three tips that will help your home sell as quickly as possible. 

Buying a home? Search all Greater McAllen Area homes for sale

Selling your Greater McAllen Area home? Get a free home value report

How can you sell your home as fast as possible in 2018?

While many factors that affect how long it takes to sell a home are beyond your control, there are some things you can do to speed up the sale.

1. Price your home competitively. Your home is going to sell much faster if you price on the lower end of the average prices in your area. Additionally, pricing your home competitively could spark a bidding war, ultimately driving up your sale prices.

2. Complete any repairs that need to be done. This is also going to help keep your home from sitting on the market too long. Sprucing up your home prior to putting it on the market is just as important as actually listing it. Finish up all those little projects you’ve been procrastinating on for years. Buyers are going to be able to tell if you let a few projects go unfinished.

Complete any repairs that need to be done prior to listing.

3. Make sure the home is staged and decluttered. On average, staged homes sell 88% faster and for more money than non-staged homes.

These are the three tips that you need to make sure get done before getting your home sold. The other tip I would add is giving us a call.

If you have any questions for us in the meantime or you’re looking to buy, sell, or invest in McAllen real estate, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

5 Habits of a Successful Home Buyer

If you’re looking to buy a home this year, you need to start these five habits right now. 

Buying a home? Search all Greater McAllen Area homes for sale

Selling your Greater McAllen Area home? Get a free home value report

If you vowed to buy a home this year, it’s time to get moving. Even if you’re months away from hiring an agent and looking at houses, there are things you need to do right now to make your dream of homeownership come true. In fact, there are five habits you need to start now to ensure a smooth transition from renting to owning a home.

Always be ready when you have the opportunity to lock down that perfect home.

     1. Automate your down payment savings.

     2. Build your credit and keep it clear.

     3. Practice living on a budget.

     4. Get your tools and make repairs.

     5. Prepare to pounce on a great deal.

As always, if you’re looking to buy, sell, or invest in real estate, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you! 

9 Silly Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Listing's Potential

There are nine crucial mistakes all sellers should avoid when putting their home on the market.

Buying a home? Search all Greater McAllen Area homes for sale

Selling your Greater McAllen Area home? Get a free home value report

Putting a home on the market is a complex ordeal. As such, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. Today we would like to highlight nine silly things that can sabotage your home sale so that you can avoid making these mistakes when it comes time to sell, yourself:

1. Cords hanging from your mounted television. 

2. An unkept yard. Curb appeal is a real thing. This is why we encourage our buyers to drive by any home they’re interested in before we schedule a showing. If your yard is not mowed and is full of weeds, that can send a strong message to the buyer about the inside of the home.

3. A dingy front door. On average, it takes a Realtor about 30 seconds to retrieve the key and unlock the door to your home. During that time, the buyer is taking it all in. Painting your front door and adding a wreath, welcome mat, or pot of flowers can go a long way in sending a message to the buyers that you care.

4. Pet odor. Pet owners often become so used to the smell of their animal that they do not notice it at all. However, potential buyers will absolutely take note of any unpleasant odors that may persist in a home. If you have pets, make sure to clean your carpets and furniture before putting your property on the market.

When buyers enter a property for the first time, they need to be able to visualize the home’s potential.

5. Cobwebs around the home. 

6. Poorly arranged furniture. When buyers enter a property for the first time, they need to be able to visualize the home’s potential. They should be able to imagine what their furniture will look like within the space, and poorly arranged furniture will make this difficult.


7. Multiple junk drawers and crammed cabinets. Buyers love storage space. So while you can get away with one junk drawer, it is important to make sure that you are exhibiting your home’s storage potential to the fullest capacity. Buyers want to make sure there is enough room for their things


8. Overfilled closets. Once again, it is critical to make buyers feel as if your home has a lot of available storage. A packed, messy closet will do the opposite of this.


9. Cluttered countertops. You need to show all potential counter space that your home has to offer. The kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the house.

It’s the littlest things that make the biggest difference to homebuyers. This is why we give our clients a thorough consultation, information about staging, storage, and cleaning to help you get more money for your home. If you have any other questions or you’re interested in buying or selling a home yourself, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

The 5 Steps to Buying a Home in Your 20s

Are you a part of the millennial generation who’s ready to buy their first home? Here are the five steps you need to take.

Buying a home? Search all Greater McAllen Area homes for sale

Selling your Greater McAllen Area home? Get a free home value report

We have to hand it to the millennial generation—they’re an educated, tech-savvy bunch who typically know what they want. Lately, we’ve found that many twenty-somethings in this group have decided that what they want is to buy their first home.

If you count yourself as one among these twenty-somethings, there are the five steps you need to take to make sure you find the right home.

First, decide that you’re ready to commit. Buying a home may be the largest purchase you’ll make in your entire life, so you have to know you’re ready for that type of commitment. Millennials have been deemed a nomadic bunch, so it’s important to note that most homebuyers stay in their homes for at least three to five years, and that’s just so they can recoup the cost of their purchase.

Buying a home also means you’re ready to get your hands dirty, both literally and figuratively. In order to maintain your home, there’s handiwork that needs to be done that’s typically your responsibility.

Second, understand your finances. When the time comes for you to buy a home, your lender will consider every part of your financial picture, from your current job salary to your bills and spending habits. Since the bank will review your financial information, you’d better do the same. Find out how much money you’ve got coming in and going out and calculate how much you’ll be able to devote to your monthly mortgage payment.

When considering your finances and budget, also consider the fact that homeownership fees don’t end with your monthly mortgage payment. You’re also responsible for insurance, property taxes, and any money that’s needed to cover routine maintenance and unexpected home repairs. After gathering all of this information, ask yourself once more if buying a home is in your future.

Work with an agent you trust.

Third, consider credit and savings. Your first brush with credit may have been when you were inundated with credit card offers on your first day of college. By the latter part of your 20s, hopefully you’ve established some type of credit. Lenders will closely consider your credit score when deciding on approving your mortgage, so remember—the better your credit score, the better the interest rate you’ll be offered.

As far as savings go, you’ll need to have money in-hand up front to cover fees like your down payment and closing costs. Have you saved the money you’ll need to buy a home?

Fourth, find a lender and get pre-approved. Buying a home is largely a financial process, so it makes sense that the mortgage process is a long one. Seek out several lending institutions before you settle on the one you’d like to use. Just like every buyer is different, every lender is different too. Some may be more lenient when it comes to your credit history. Some credit unions or banks you’ve used for years may offer lower rates than other lenders. The federal government also offers FHA and VA loan options that may be perfect for first-time homebuyers such as yourself.

Lastly, work with an agent you trust. This is an area where we would not advise a “do-it-yourself” mentality. Professional agents have the training and know-how to lead any first-time homebuyer to a home that’s right for them. Your agent will make your “needs” and “wants” lists and help you consider your long-term goals for a new home. They’ll also help you search for homes, negotiate for you, and walk you through the entire offer and closing process, right down to the point where the keys are finally in your hands.

So if you’re a twenty-something who’s decided that now’s the right time to buy, give us a call and we’d be glad to represent you and help you through the entire process.

As always, if you have any other questions or real estate needs, feel free to reach out to us any way you can. We look forward to speaking with you.

The Ins and Outs of Counteroffers and the Option Period

Today I have everything that you need to know about counteroffers and negotiations whether you are a seller or a buyer. 

Buying a home? Search all Greater McAllen Area homes for sale

Selling your Greater McAllen Area home? Get a free home value report

You've put your house up for sale, potential buyers have come to look at it, and now you’ve received an offer. Congratulations! At this point you can do one of three things: accept it, deny it, or make a counteroffer and negotiate.

When making a counteroffer, you draft an offer with your agent that states you will sell your property to the buyer with the terms you have outlined. The two most commonly renegotiated points made in counteroffers are prices and dates.

In terms of the price, sellers always want to sell at a higher price while buyers always want to buy at a lower price. The key is to find a happy medium that satisfies both parties. As far as the dates go, the best way to resolve any issues is to have both parties' agents discuss the issue before any offer is written. Doing this can also determine if there are any other issues that need to be dealt with before a pen is put to the paper. The more information each side has, the simpler the transaction will be.

For example, the seller might need the funds from the sale to purchase their next property. Or, the buyer might have already sold their home and now they have a date in mind when they need to transfer the funds to purchase the property in question.

When making a counteroffer, you draft an offer with your agent that states you will sell your property to the buyer with the terms you have outlined.

You might also have to counteroffer what appliances or other attachments are included in the deal. If an agreement is reached, another renegotiation typically happens after the inspection. When an inspector has looked at the property, there may be issues with the home that the buyer was not aware of beforehand. They are still buying the property, but if they are fixing any of the repairs themselves, they want that reflected in the final sales price.

If the buyer is getting a mortgage loan to buy your house, the bank will also hire an appraiser to evaluate the property. If there is any discrepancy between the price you and the buyer agreed to and what the appraiser values the house at, there will be a renegotiation over how to bridge the gap between the two numbers.

During the counteroffer and renegotiation period, the key is to establish a baseline for what you are looking for. If you are a buyer, you do not want to spend all your money on the sale and have nothing left over for repairs or renovations. As for the seller, they have an idea of what they need to take away from the property. They will need to communicate that early and often with their Realtor. The more we know, the more we can help you.

If you have any questions about counteroffers or renegotiations that either my team or I can assist you with, please feel free to reach out to us. We look forward to your calls and emails.