I helped my clients purchase their first home in Pasadena.

944 N. Marengo Ave. Pasadena, Ca 91103

I helped my clients compete against multiple offers

to successfully purchase their first home for $885,000.

If you're thinking of making a move, I would love to provide you with the same successful results.

(310)927.9166

To Find Your Dream Home, click on this Home-Search

Your Los Angeles Home-Buyers Road Map!

On the road to home-ownership,their are many stops and usually the home search is the fun part in many people’s minds, but their are several steps that take place before and after the home tours. 

The Ten basic Steps To Buying A Home In L.A. : 

1) Consult A Realtor (Me)  – Starting your journey with a Realtor is a wise beginning. An experienced local Realtor not only knows the neighborhoods and values, but can bring together a team of real estate professionals that can give you expert service. Your real estate agent will help you find the lender and loan product that works for your specific needs. A real estate agent will have a team of inspectors, title attorney, and service specialists to make sure all the pieces of the puzzle are there.

2) Pre-Qualification – With the recommendation of your Realtor, a credible, local lender will be your first stop on the road. Often with just a phone call, your lender can pre-qualify you for an amount that will guide you in your home search. Not knowing how much you can afford often leads buyers down an “imaginary road”, where they get their hopes set on something that they may not be able to afford, only to find disappointment. Equally important, the lender issues a Pre-Qualification Letter that is of "utmost value" when a buyer makes an offer. Without it, the sellers will not take the offer seriously.

3) House Hunting – Your local real estate expert will be invaluable in helping you navigate the local neighborhoods. An experienced buyer’s agent can listen to your wants and needs, and guide you to the neighborhood and the home that is right for you.

4) Making an Offer – A buyer’s agent will do an analysis of the current values, helping you know what the home is worth in the present market, with the level of interest and conditions. This will guide you to make an offer that will stand the best chance of acceptance, while keeping your best interests in mind.

5) There are many parts to a good, strong offer:
a. Market Value
b. Contingencies – Financing, Home Inspection, Appraisal, Time frames… these are just a few.
c. Time Frames
d. Seller’s Motivations
e. Loan Product
f. Strategies – Many people don’t realize that there is a strategy involved in reaching a “win-win” in the home buying process.

6) Negotiations & Re-negotiations

7) Formal Loan Application

8) Inspections

9) Appraisal – “The Second Sale”

10) Closing! - Your Realtor can help you coordinate the paperwork and all the moving parts of the transaction.

Most home buyers will purchase a home an average of one time every 7 to 10 years. Your local real estate agent helps buyers and sellers every day, 365 days a year, Let that experience work for you as you embark on your home buyer’s journey by giving me a call. I would love to make your dream of homeownership a reality! 

Stefen Lee Liberti

Exclusive Representation Exceptional Results

Buying/ Selling/ Leasing/ Investing
Call me today if I can be of assistance.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
I welcome your referrals. :)

Advantages a homeowner has when they use a real estate professional to help sell their home.

Their are many advantages a homeowner has when they use a real estate professional to help sell their home. It’s good to know that FannieMae agrees.

Listed below are a few of the advantages a Realtor will help with in the sale of your home.

★Selling Your Home.

Maybe you've outgrown your current space…or you want to move into a better neighborhood…or you simply want to move closer to your work. Whatever the reason for moving, there are a few to-do's before the "For Sale" sign goes up:

★Determine Affordability

Look at what you owe on your current home (your unpaid principal balance) and what your home is worth today (see below for help estimating). Then factor in other costs associated with selling your home, such as: any needed home improvement costs; closing costs; moving costs, etc. Make sure you are aware of the financial consequences of selling your home (and moving to a new one) before you take the next step.

★Review Market Conditions

Analyze your local market, including the current inventory of homes for sale, recent sales, and housing prices. Are homes moving quickly, or are they staying on the market for a long time? Are you prepared for a quick sale or do you need time to find a new home?

★Decide How to List

Select how you'll market and list the home (e.g., with a real estate agent).Unless you are experienced at selling homes, it usually makes financial sense to get professional help—homes sold by agents typically sell at a higher price and spend less time on the market. An agent will also help you determine the best pricing for the house, they'll market the home, and they'll be your advocate throughout the process.

★Be Prepared

Inspect your home—inside and out—for needed repairs, cosmetic updates, and general maintenance. Don't make the mistake of not thoroughly inspecting your home to look for areas of improvement.

Finally, you might consider talking to a staging specialist, or staging the home yourself, to maximize your home's appeal to buyers.

If you're thinking of putting your home up for sale, I would love to discuss all of these with you. 

★5 FINANCIAL REASONS TO BUY A HOUSE TODAY★

1.) Housing is typically the one leveraged investment available. 

“Few households are interested in borrowing money to buy stocks and bonds and few lenders are willing to lend them the money. As a result, homeownership allows households to amplify any appreciation on the value of their homes by a leverage factor. Even a hefty 20 percent down payment results in a leverage factor of five so that every percentage point rise in the value of the home is a 5 percent return on their equity. With many buyers putting 10 percent or less down, their leverage factor is 10 or more.”

2.) You're paying for housing whether you own or rent. 

“Homeowners pay debt service to pay down their own principal while households that rent pay down the principal of a landlord.”

3.) Owning is usually a form of “forced savings”.

“Since many people have trouble saving and have to make a housing payment one way or the other, owning a home can overcome people’s tendency to defer savings to another day.”

4.) There are substantial tax benefits to owning. 

“Homeowners are able to deduct mortgage interest and property taxes from income...On top of all this, capital gains up to $250,000 are excluded from income for single filers and up to $500,000 for married couples if they sell their homes for a gain.”

5.) Owning is a hedge against inflation.

“Housing costs and rents have tended over most time periods to go up at or higher than the rate of inflation, making owning an attractive proposition.”

★Bottom Line★

Homeownership makes sense for many Americans for many social and family reasons. It also makes sense financially. If you're thinking of buying a home, give me a call. I would love to help you find the perfect home.

8 TERMS TO KNOW BEFORE BECOMING A HOMEOWNER

The financial jargon that comes with buying a home can be downright mystifying to first-time purchasers. To help make the process of buying that dream home less daunting, here is a primer on the important terms to know. 

1. Debt-to-Income Ratio (DTI)
The percentage of your monthly gross income (that is, income before taxes) that goes toward paying debts, such as credit cards and loans. Not surprising, the lower your DTI, the better your chances of qualifying for a mortgage. As a general rule of thumb, you want to target a DTI of 36 percent or less.

2. Monthly Payment
Your monthly payment includes a portion of principal (amount of money borrowed or the outstanding balance on a loan) and interest. It also may include amounts for the escrow of taxes and insurance.

3. Interest Rate
Your interest rate is the cost of borrowing money expressed as a percentage. For example, if you borrow money at a 5 percent fixed interest rate for a year, the interest charged will be 5 percent of the total amount borrowed. Your interest rate, along with the term and loan amount, determines the size of your monthly principal and interest payment.

4. Fixed Rate Mortgages
With a fixed rate mortgage, your interest rate never increases. Even if rates go up, your rate will remain the same. This makes budgeting easier. Lenders generally offer fixed rate mortgages for 10, 15 and 30 years. The longer the term of your loan, the lower your monthly payment will be. With a shorter term, though your payment may be higher, you're likely to build equity faster. Fixed rate mortgages are one of the most popular choices for homeowners, especially those who plan to stay in their home for many years.

5. Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARM)
With an ARM, you pay a lower, fixed interest rate for a set period of time. Then, the rate adjusts based on financial markets for the remainder of the loan term. As a result, your monthly payment could change as the interest rate changes. For example, a 5/1 ARM is fixed for the first five years, then adjusts every year thereafter. An adjustable rate mortgage may be a good choice if you're confident that interest rates are likely to remain stable or go down in the future.

6. Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
APR represents the total cost of borrowing money for a mortgage - including certain closing costs, interest, finance charges and points - over the full term of the loan, expressed as an annual rate. By helping you determine the true cost of your mortgage, the APR lets you compare different types of mortgages offered by different lenders. All lenders calculate the APR according to federal requirements and are required by law to provide the specific APR for your mortgage in the Truth in Lending disclosure.

7. Points
A point is a fee equal to 1 percent of your loan amount. You may be able to pay points, depending on the mortgage option selected, to lower your interest rate - these also are referred to asdiscount points. Alternately, you may be able to select a higher interest rate and receive a credit against closing costs. These are known as rebate points. The longer you plan on staying in your home, the more likely you are to benefit from paying points. To determine if paying points is right for you, you should calculate how long it will take for the initial cost to equal the savings you'll realize through the reduction in your monthly payments. This is sometimes called a "break-even point."

8. Amortization Schedule
This is a snapshot of how the interest and principal components of your loan change over time as payments are made. In the beginning, your interest component typically will exceed the principal repayment component. If you have a fixed rate mortgage, your monthly payment stays the same, but the portion of the payment that goes toward principal will increase over time. The interest portion of the payment is calculated on the scheduled amount owed each month. 

HOPE THIS WAS HELPFUL!

★ATTENTION LOS ANGELES BUYERS★

House Hunting? Print out this Checklist!

If you’re house-hunting and want to do it Stefen-style, here is what you’ll need:

1) A good agent (me) who will let you control the pace

2) A digital camera or smart phone for taking photos/short videos.

3) My handy-dandy house hunting checklist. Print a stack of them so you have one for each house you plan to visit. Print out a few extras in case you tour an open house or add a last minute one to the list.

4) A stapler. Attach the completed checklist to the listing provided by the agent as well as any flyers or information you pick up for each house.

*To help ensure the success, here is the process you will want to implement:

1.) Examine the neighborhood. If good, tour the home.

2.) Take photos to help jar our memory if it ended up a front runner.

3.) Make notes on the spreadsheet about pros and cons.

4.) Rate each house on a scale of 1 to 10.

5.) Revisit the front runners for follow-up walk-thrus; talk to some of the neighbors, if possible.

6.) Go to the house AT NIGHT. You learn so much about a neighborhood when people should be home and sleeping. In a neighborhood with garages, seeing a lot of cars parked in the street isn’t a good sign. How about noise levels? You may notice there is poor lighting or even see street lights that beam into your house that you wouldn’t have noticed otherwise.

7.) Make an offer

8.) Become owner of a new home.

How important is the asking price when selling a house?

How important is the asking price when selling a house?   

When it comes to selling a home, one of the most difficult pieces of the puzzle is pricing. And as a Realtor, it can be one of the most difficult conversations to have with clients.

When you sell a house, the thing that will attract buyers more than anything else is the price. Buyers and Realtors use the price to sort out potential properties when they search MLS.

Many buyers want to be in a certain neighborhood or a certain area for a certain price. If your home is priced higher than all the other homes in the neighborhood it can be very difficult to sell.

Most buyers have expectations for what certain areas cost and if a home is significantly more than that expectation, many buyers may never consider that home or even see it. You may also run into an appraisal issue if the house is priced to high above market value.

Different types of markets will change how you sell a house. In a seller’s market (which we're in now) there is much more flexibility with asking price. I may actually price homes a little high in a seller’s market because there is very little competition. In a seller’s market, many buyers are looking for homes, but there are only a few homes for sale. Even if I price a home a little high, buyers will still look at the home and may offer less than asking, but still make an offer.

In a buyer’s market everything changes when you sell a house.I may price a home slightly below what I think market value is. I may do this because I don’t want to get caught chasing a decreasing market. When chasing a decreasing market, you may try to lower your price to get buyers, but you can’t seem to lower it enough to catch the decreasing prices.

Your home ends up on the market 3 months or more and it becomes stigmatized. Whenever a house is in the market for an extended period, buyers automatically think something is wrong with it. Even if the price is great and the home is perfect, buyers will think there must be some reason no one else has bought it.

If you have thought about listing your home, I would love to offer you a free market analysis on your property. Give me a call and we can discuss your options!
Hope this was helpful.