Real Estate in Long Beach and Hawaii

Information For Buyers

In the Long Beach real estate market, there are a lot of things you need to consider when you're purchasing a home or condo. Hiring a Long Beach Realtor can make everything a whole lot easier, but you still need to know where that Realtor is coming from. Will he/she represent YOUR interests? And will they be effective in helping you get the best home for the best price? Read on to see how West Coast Island Properties can answer both questions with confidence.

Your Agent's Ethical Responsibilities

It's not uncommon for real estate agents to represent more than one buyer when making an offer on the same home. This is especially true when there aren't a lot of available homes for sale. This is one aspect of agency relationships that a buyer and/or seller will enter into with their real estate agent. California and Hawaii real estate laws demand that the real estate agent uses discretion and maintains integrity on the behalf of all their clients.

You may hear the term "fiduciary." Basically, this means that your real estate agent is responsible for protecting your financial interest as it relates to the purchase and/or sale of a home.

Our "3P Approach"

We have an effective strategy for helping you buy your dream home - we call it the 3P Approach. Read on to find out about the concept of Bundled Services and their benefits to You, the BUYER!

Pre-Approval

Whether you're a seasoned buyer or a first-time home buyer in California or Hawaii, you should have a good idea of what your purchasing power is before you delve into the market. This is not only to guide yourself, but it also helps your Realtor search the area's MLS more efficiently (you can search the SoCal MLS or the Hawaii MLS on our site).

The process of Pre-Approval can be done in less than 20 minutes. Pre-Approval is the first step towards making an offer. The first question a seller wants to know is, are these people in the financial position to purchase my home?

Pre-Viewing

Once you are pre-approved, you can pre-view from the security of you own home, via our MLS Search option. You won’t be alone in your searching, together after our interview and questionnaire we will employ exclusive personal, and automated techniques to find exactly what you are looking in a home.
We cannot stress enough the importance of a Buyer Representative, such as ourselves. We bring to you specific negotiation training: why not have someone represent 100 percent of your interests. Remember the listing agent by law responsibility is to the seller whom he or she has that listing agreement with.

Purchasing

Now you have reached the third P and have progressed to the point of making your purchase. We pride ourselves on our personal, one-on-one attention throughout your California or Hawaii home buying experience. We have divided this further into seven steps to keep in mind:

1.The Relationship with your Agent / Realtor

Not all agents are Realtors and not all Realtors are fulltime professionals. Working with fulltime professionals -like ourselves- brings to you the benefit of gaining full market knowledge. When you make a commitment with an agent you trust, they in turn trust you, and work for you 110 percent. Trying to get a number of agents looking for you doesn’t work, because each one of them knows that, so they won’t try hard - there’s no commitment.

2. Initial Consultation

While gathering information for your loan approval, we will be taking note and filling in categories in our questionnaire to find out what you are really looking for in a home. Once your needs have been established, our team of professionals will be hard at work, with the bundled service of staying on top of your home search and loan progress.

3. Identifying your Property

Our team will be showing you homes based on the criteria that you have established. Remember, the more precise and direct you are, the more efficient the home search will be.

4. Determining what motivates the seller

Now you have reached the point where you've found the home you would like to purchase. This is better left to us. We use our experience and techniques to answer the important question of what motivates the seller, and this will benefit you, the Buyer.

5. Writing your Offer

At this point we will sit down together and coordinate your Purchase agreement (The offer). We will advise you on the protective contingencies, customary practices, and area regulations. At this point you will be organizing your earnest money deposit, customarily from 1%-3% of the purchase price. Remember, your initial deposit is not cashed until your offer is accepted.

6. Presentation of the offer to the Seller

We should try to personally deliver the offer to the seller, unless the listing agent has something in writing to exclude this from happening. You can expect approximately three responses. The seller will accept your offer; counter your offer, or reject the offer. Keep in mind that with our bundled service concept, our knowledge of your personal needs and financial qualification will enable us to represent you in the best possible way.

7. Seller's Response

We will personally review the seller’s response together. Our negotiation skills and knowledge will benefit you in reaching a final agreement.

In today’s market it takes teamwork between yourself and your Realtor to find the best, most appropriate properties for your needs. Your ability to search the MLS, just like your Realtor, makes you an informed and productive member of that team.

Yes, it’s all about Teamwork. Together with our sister company Progressive Loan Funding, from loan approval to the funding of your loan, the process is fully automated. BUT! With our bundled service concept we are with you personally through the whole deal, House to Loan. This saves you time and money!

SoCal MLS and Hawaii MLS

Finding the right home and community can be a daunting task at times, for many reasons. Buyers often find themselves driving around aimlessly because they are not familiar with the many neighborhoods in our city. (If you don't know which neighborhoods are which, check out our areas sections: Hawaii real estate communities and Long Beach real estate communities.) You can save yourself a lot of time by narrowing down your choices by region while browsing the SoCal MLS (California) or the Hawaii MLS. It's easy and efficient and free, and it keeps you updated on what's out there, as it becomes available!