August 13, 2022 • 24 mins
One of the first steps to home ownership is choosing a real estate agent.
I’d like to go over a few ways you can find an agent, and the types of questions you can ask.
Want to get connected with a vetted agent right away? We’ve partnered with Home&Money to help you get connected quickly and easily. Simply head over to https://homeandmoney.com/fthb/ and fill out the simple form to be connected right away with a qualified agent!
I love working with first time home buyers to help them become more educated in the process, and feel confident with their purchase. I love seeing people go from renting to owning a home and building equity. Some clients buy a starter home, others are buying their forever home. Each person is different and each purchase is unique. That’s also what I love about this, our industry is always changing and staying on top of those trends helps you be a better agent.
View the full blog post about Choosing a Real Estate Agent
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Contact Information:
Philip Mastroianni – Loan Officer & Real Estate Agent
(949) 357-5029
Phil@HomeLoansPM.com
NMLS# 2141541
DRE# 02141890
Monica Mastroianni – Real Estate Agent
(951) 395-1848
Monica@HomesMM.com
DRE# 02099257
Legacy Homes Realty
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Phil (00:00):
Welcome to the first Time Home Buyers podcast.
One of the first steps tohome ownership is choosing
a real estate agent.
I'd like to go over a few waysyou can find an agent and the
types of questions you can ask.
I also have with me Monica,who is a real estate agent and
can give you some additionalinsight into what to look for.
(00:26):
Monica, welcome to the show.
Monica (00:28):
Thanks.
Thanks for having me on.
I appreciate it.
Phil (00:30):
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Monica (00:31):
Absolutely.
So I've been helpingpeople buy and sell homes
for about four years now.
I love working with firsttime home buyers to help
them become more educatedin the process and feel
confident with their purchase.
I love seeing people go fromrenting to owning a home
and building that equity.
Some clients start off withstarter homes, others are
buying their forever home.
Each person is differentand each purchase is unique.
(00:53):
That's definitely whatI love about this job.
Our industry is alwayschanging and always staying
on top of those trends helpsme be a better agent for you.
Phil (01:00):
That's really amazing to hear.
I wanted to begin by first justtalking about what a real estate
agent actually does for you.
Monica (01:07):
First thing, A real estate agent is there
to help you through theentire home buying process.
So that often includes helpingyou find a lender, helping
you find a home, what to offerfor that home, negotiating
any sort of negotiations ininspections, anything like
that, repairs, pointing outthings during inspections, and
ultimately just ensuing thatthe process goes smoothly.
(01:28):
Our job is to answer anyand all questions that
you guys as buyers have noquestion is too small for us.
And that's my job is to guideyou through this process.
Phil (01:38):
What are some of the best ways to find
a real estate agent?
Monica (01:42):
So more often than not, you're more than likely
connected already with somebodywho is a real estate agent.
Looking to family, friends,coworkers, anybody who's
purchased a home in the pastthat has had a good experience
with their real estate agent,that'd be a good place to start.
You can do Facebookposts, Google searches,
anything like that.
Just make sure that yourchoice is someone who you're
(02:03):
definitely comfortable with.
You have to mesh well with theperson that's representing you.
Phil (02:07):
Yeah, Google is a great place and I always make
sure to let everyone knowto look at people's reviews.
Unlike a loan officer,it's really important
to find an agent thatknows your local area.
It doesn't need to be anexact neighborhood, but
someone who knows the cityor the county that you're in.
And more importantly,find someone who's a
good fit for your needsand will work for you.
Monica (02:28):
As a side note, I'm always available
to help as well.
I love my job and I'm definitelyhappy to help you as buyers
through this whole process.
And also, I'm connectednationwide with realtors from
one coast to another, and I'mhappy to help you get in touch
with somebody in a certainarea that you're looking for
outside of California as well.
, Phil (02:46):
if you found a few real estate agents,
what kinds of questionsshould we be asking them?
So I'm gonna go ahead and giveyou a few example questions
and then Monica, maybe you canelaborate on what you think, a
good answer or what you shouldbe looking for in those answers.
Yeah.
Okay.
So here's some ideasof some questions.
The first one would be,how long have you been
working in the industry.
Monica (03:08):
You know, we all have to start from somewhere and
I believe, you know, I did alot of my transactions in my
first two years you don't wannaget somebody who's not ready
and willing to work for you.
There's no problem at allwith somebody who's been in
the business for two yearsor somebody who's been in
the business for 45 years.
It really just depends ontheir motivation and you wanna
find somebody who's goingto work for you no matter,
what, how long they'vebeen in the business for.
(03:29):
So personally, in my firstcouple of years of real estate,
I did so many transactionsranging from first time home
buyers, which I absolutelylove to investors, to land.
It just depends on how hardyou're willing to work.
And I, as a first time agent,was willing to put all my
energy out there, and just getthe deal done for my clients
and learn as much as I could.
(03:51):
And in this industry, it'san ever changing industry,
and you just want somebodywho's always going to be
learning and always gonna bekeeping up with everything.
And again, a seasonedagent is just as great
as a non seasoned agent.
Phil (04:04):
Yeah, and so I think what you end up finding is that
someone who's maybe a littlebit newer to the industry often
is paired with a mentor, sosomeone that does have a lot
of experience, and so I don'tthink that should automatically
disqualify and then you may getsomeone who's got 10, 20, 30
years of experience and theymay be a perfect fit for you.
Or maybe they're just not asinto technology, or they have
(04:25):
a team and they have you workwith maybe a junior member.
They're just notinto educating you.
Really, it depends onwhat you are looking for.
So I think the experience thingmaybe isn't as big of a question
that you need to worry about.
Monica (04:37):
Just understand that if you have a more complicated
purchase, this may be theopportunity to work with
somebody who's more experienced
Phil (04:44):
So I think, that's great.
This next question, I thinkis, is one of the most
important ones, and thisis what types of buyers do
you primarily work with?
Monica (04:53):
That's good to understand what types of
homes they're familiar with.
If they mostly workwith low-cost housing
versus luxury homes.
There's a big differencein how you operate.
So for me, my core groupis first time home buyers.
I absolutely love workingwith first time home buyers.
I love educating themthrough the process.
It's not like buyinga pair of shoes.
You're definitely.
(05:13):
A huge investment and I wantmy clients to understand
the process, whether they'reyoung, or if they're older and
they're more established inlife, you're still gonna be
a first time home buyer withmany questions, and I love
taking these first time homebuyers through these journeys.
Phil (05:29):
There's one other group, which is VA buyers and VA
buyers, I always like to thinkare a little bit in their
own category because there'sa lot of nuance with even
a first time VA home buyer.
How's that differentthan some of the other
types of home buyers?
Monica (05:43):
So VA is a little bit different.
And I love working with va.
I have much respect for , ourmilitary, and much respect for
our military families as well.
It's definitely a processfor them, VA buyers actually
have more guidelinesthat they have to follow.
Phil (05:59):
Yeah.
And so they havetheir own loan type.
There's a VA loanspecific to them.
The appraisal itselfalso has different things
that are called out.
So you really needto understand the VA
process in order toreally take care of them.
And a lot of VA buyers arefirst-time home buyers and so
they're all kind of groupedinto that first time home
buyer, but they're also vaso it's even more education
(06:19):
that they'll typically need.
Just to kind of, um, jumpinto a little bit more of a
personal question that youshould be asking your agent.
What do you like aboutbeing a real estate agent?
And again, what you'retrying to do is you really
want to get a betterunderstanding of their goals.
Like, why are they doing this?
Monica (06:37):
For me personally, I want somebody to guide
me through the process,especially because this
is a big investment.
You know, you wanna make surethat it's a good fit for you.
Like we said before, ifyou want somebody who's
gonna educate you, thenthat's important as well.
That's something that, has tobe determined right away for
you guys to have a good fit.
And I feel like once you havea good fit with your agent,
it's gonna be more like afriendship, hopefully for you
(06:58):
guys as first time buyers.
Phil (07:00):
And I think one of the things you can probably do
when you talk to your agentor your interviewing agents is
ask em what kind of additionaleducation are you taking
Monica (07:08):
Education is a big part of real estate.
This job is never, evergoing to be the same.
It's gonna be ever changing.
Every day somethingnew comes up.
And for me, it's important tokeep up with the education and
keep up with everything that iscoming forward to us as agents
because it's the best way thatI can represent my buyers.
Now, for me, I havebeen certified in
(07:29):
first time home buying.
I've been certified.
New home construction.
I've been certifiedin helping VA buyers.
I take my job very seriously.
I love to have fun and jokearound and laugh around, but
I also love to make sure thatI'm giving my buyers as much
experience as they deserve,and that includes education.
(07:50):
And the more education youcan learn about this industry,
the better it is that youcan represent those buyers.
Phil (07:56):
And I think that's a really great point.
So you want to look forsomeone who's looking at
this as a long-term career
Monica (08:02):
Yeah, I totally agree.
Absolutely.
Phil (08:04):
And now the next one here is also really important
because this really dependson you as a person, your
personal life, and how is thatgoing to mesh with your agent.
And the question is, whatis your communication
style and method, and howoften will we be talking?
So it's really importantthat you make sure that
this aligns with you.
(08:24):
Do you prefer email, text,phone calls, FaceTime.
Monica (08:29):
You should definitely be on the same page as your agent,
and this is something that youshould ensure right away so that
you set the tone for how you'llbe communicating with them.
This is very important becausethis is gonna set the tone for
how often you'll be talking.
It's gonna ensure theconsistency of your
communication and it's all gonnabe based off of your schedule.
So as an example, I actuallyhad a client who was in Japan
(08:52):
and his wife was here and wewere selling their house and
Japan is about 12 hours aheadof us, so we actually had to
work off of the Japan schedule.
He was military.
We had very limitedtime to talk.
And for us thatmeant 10 o'clock, 11
o'clock at night here.
, but it was his morning there.
And so that's howwe got it done.
That's how we were ableto communicate, and they
(09:12):
definitely communicated thatwith me right from the start.
Phil (09:14):
I think that's the big key there is right from the
beginning that expectation wasset and they made sure that they
would be able to talk to you at10, 11, midnight, because that's
the timeframe that they needed.
And I can guarantee you someagents just flat out refused.
And that's okay, becausesome people are nine to
five, other people are moreflexible in their hours
Monica (09:35):
That's just really what's most important is
just finding an agent.
Like I said before,who works with you?
Not everybody works,12 hours a day.
Not everybody works,evening hours.
Not everybody worksmorning hours.
So it's just depends onwhat you communicate to
your agent and how theycommunicate that back to you.
But communication is thebiggest thing in this industry.
Phil (09:55):
if you are really comfortable with texting, you
wanna make sure that your agentis comfortable with texting.
And so make sure you set thattone at the very beginning and
really ask what their preferredcommunication method, what times
they're gonna be available.
And that way you can makesure that that's gonna work
with you because they can bea great agent, but if you guys
never can connect and talk,they're not gonna be able
(10:15):
to be a great agent for you.
And so communication issuper important, but this
next one here is all aboutour first time home buyers.
And this is the question, I'mreally new to this process.
Do you work with a lot offirst time home buyers?
And this is where you couldcheck their ego at the door.
If you don't feel likethey're there to help you and
educate you in the process,it's probably good to move.
Monica (10:37):
Some real estate agents don't wanna work with first
time home buyers because theyprefer working with investors
or people buying vacationhomes, and that's totally fine.
Just make sure you're workingwith somebody who's gonna
take the time to educate youthrough the process, how you
need to be educated if youknow that you need, to be
handheld through the wholeprocess, that's completely fine.
, but you have to setthose expectations right
(10:58):
up from the beginning.
Phil (10:59):
I think if you hear them using lots of acronyms and not
explaining to you as they'retalking to you, they may be just
less experienced working withfirst time home buyers, and it
may be a tougher transactionbecause they'll expect you
to know some of these thingsthat they just kind of have
been working with for years
Monica (11:15):
so true that that actually happens more often
than you'd think because we asreal estate agents, you know,
on the daily, are talking realestate lingo all the time.
So if we let something slipand you don't know what it
is, please, please absolutelyask us what it means, because
you should know what you'rebeing told or taught or
how we're speaking to you.
(11:36):
Sometimes our lingo justgets mixed up into our, daily
conversations with our clients.
We forget that you guysare first time home buyers
and we wanna make sure thatyou guys understand what
we are talking about fully.
Phil (11:45):
And if that agent gets frustrated with having
to explain that to you, itmay not be the best fit.
The next question is, what's themarket looking like right now?
What should I know?
Now, here's where you'retesting their knowledge.
You've already told themyou're a first time home buyer.
So listen and payattention very carefully.
This is where you want to ensurethey're explaining things in a
really easy way to understand?
Monica (12:07):
Yeah, real estate agents should be able to tell
you about homes that they'verecently helped other buyers
with and how those have gone.
They need to give you realworld examples of the market.
Phil (12:17):
For example, recently we had a transaction where
we were able to get $25,000in seller credits a year ago.
That wouldn't have beenpossible, and that's because
we know the market and we'revery intimate with all the
nuances and changes that aregoing on, and we're able to get
the best deal for our buyers.
Monica (12:36):
So you wanna make sure that, once you're writing up
offers, , you are not writingsomething that's crazy above
asking price, or you wanna alsomake sure that you're not low
balling them as well becausethey may have done their own
research, and hopefully they'veestablished where the fair
market value is for everybody.
And that's something that isimportant to know is the market
(12:57):
and the town and the neighboringareas that you are looking into.
Phil (13:02):
Nobody's got a crystal ball.
No one knows what's gonna happenin the next month or two or
three, but they should be ableto say, based off of trends,
this is where I see thingsbased off of my colleagues
and other things I've beendoing, this is what I'm seeing.
Monica (13:15):
Absolutely.
Phil (13:16):
The next one is, and this is one of those questions
that I think is really goodto ask because it gives you
an idea of what the person'sexpertise is, especially over
the last year or so with someof the trends in real estate.
And the questions.
This, what is anappraisal gap, and is this
something that I need?
All right, so in like anever-changing market, homes
(13:36):
may not appraised or be valuedat what you actually offered.
So let's say you put in anoffer for $400,000 and the
home appraised for $380,000,meaning it's less than
you are willing to buy.
Monica (13:49):
Now, an appraisal gap means that you're willing to put
in an offer for a certain amountof money over what it appraises
for so that you don't have tonegotiate the price again if
it appraises below your offer.
Phil (13:59):
This is really important to ask because if the agent
can't explain this to you,or they don't understand it,
you're likely gonna have moredifficult time this is just one
example of a type of scenariothat we've seen a lot in 2021
and in 2022, but any agentwho's been representing buyers
during this time should bewell versed in this strategy.
(14:19):
And now into 2023, we'realso seeing seller credits.
So that would also be agood question to ask is
what are seller credits andhow can that work for me?
Monica (14:29):
Not all sellers are willing to give credits,
but some of them arewilling to actually help
and give credits for you asbuyers for closing costs or
repairs, stuff like that.
Phil (14:39):
The reason why I like this question so much is that
it's gonna give you an idea.
Anyone who's been in thebusiness for at least two
or three years, they shouldbe able to explain this
and maybe explain why rightnow, you don't need one.
Now, the last questionthat I would ask, that's
another scenario is, howcan I get a lower interest
rate with seller credits?
Monica (15:00):
This is something that you want your agent
to be able to explain toyou in the sense of this is
something that the lenderhas to be able to approve.
This is a very lender orientedquestion and the realtor should
know how to handle this questionand how to direct you towards
this question too, to get thatanswer that you're looking for.
Phil (15:19):
And so a lender's going to be able to tell you how
much it will cost to what theycall is buy down the rate so
that you can pay money to geta lower interest rate that can
be out of your pocket, but itcould also be from the sellers.
And your agent should beable to explain how that
process works, of asking theseller to help pay that down.
But the lenders ultimatelygoing to be the one that's
gonna tell you how much thatis and what kind of interest
(15:42):
rate you might be able to get.
Monica (15:43):
With an agent, it's important that.
They also aren't afraidto ask for certain things
as well because you neverknow what could happen if
you ask for seller credits.
It's important that you havea realtor that is gonna work
with you and the listingagent and your lender to
make sure that you get intothe home that you deserve.
And it's within your budget.
(16:03):
Absolutely.
Phil (16:04):
The last question here, and this is really, if
you've started really feelingconfident in what they've
said, is simply, what do youneed from me to get started?
And again, only ask this ifyou're ready to get started.
So what kinds of things shouldthe real estate agent let
you know they're gonna need?
Monica (16:21):
They should definitely be asking you right away if
you're working with a lenderalready, because working
with a lender is like thefirst step, absolute first
step that you need to getin order to buy a house.
So your realtor should beasking you right away if you're
working with a lender already,because this is the most
important part of the process.
Now, if you're not working witha lender, they should usually
have a few lenders to recommend.
(16:42):
I personally love recommendinglenders to some of my
first time home buyers.
I work with a variety ofdifferent lenders who specialize
in many different things.
VA, first time homebuyers, and there's so many
different first time homebuyer programs out there.
It's so important for youto communicate that with
your realtor as well, thatyou're looking for somebody
who can help you with maybedown payment assistance
(17:05):
or, any sort of financialhelp that you might need.
It's super importantto stress that.
Phil (17:11):
I think that's a great point.
Those first time home buyerprograms are very much tied to
the lending side, and so youwanna make sure that you have
a lender who's comfortableand has experience in working
with first time home buyers.
What other information arethey going to want from you?
After you've had this call andyou're like, let's get started.
What are they gonnaneed in order to start
(17:32):
helping you find a home?
Monica (17:33):
So as an agent, we want your contact information
and what you're lookingfor, and be realistic.
We wanna make sure that we'regetting you into something that
fits your needs and your wants.
If you know that you guys aresmaller family and you don't
need five bedrooms, then tellthem two to three bedrooms.
We wanna know what size homeyou're looking for, what
areas you're looking for.
(17:54):
And that actually is best ifyou can narrow down areas.
, I actually had somebody whotold me that they wanted
to live in California.
Well, California is a very bigstate, so if you can narrow it
down to certain area, and don'tbe afraid to change your areas
or your needs and your wants,because once you go out there
and you start seeing houses,it's definitely important to
(18:15):
tell your agent what worksfor you and what didn't work
for you about certain houses.
Phil (18:20):
It's important also to rely on your agent as the local
expert to maybe say, these arethe things I'm looking for.
What neighborhoods or areasdo you think would most
align with what I'm looking
Monica (18:31):
Absolutely.
And keep in mind, you know,you wanna pass information
on to your real estate agentthat's gonna help them create
these lists of homes for you.
Like your commute to work.
If you wanna be close tothe freeway, if you want, a
community pool versus not acommunity pool, but also be
realistic in your requests.
I've been down that roadwhere I definitely wanted
more things than I needed,but then I realized going into
(18:53):
the process, you definitelyhave to know what you need
more than what you want.
So that's a very big thingto make sure you express
to your agent as well.
Phil (19:02):
And there's definitely things that you may want, but
you could hold off for a year.
So if you want that renovatedkitchen, but there's a lot
of homes that are in yourbudget that don't have
that, you can wait six,12 months after purchasing
and do your own renovation.
And that's the beauty ofsome of those options.
And your real estate agent'sgonna be able to help you
(19:22):
with really understanding.
, what makes the most sense?
Do you buy that house that'sa turnkey house or do you
make it your own over thecourse of a few years, but
it's within your budget?
Now we talked a lotabout questions.
I wanted to also let everyoneknow and, and this is a great
time that I've got Monicahere to talk about what a
(19:42):
real estate agent actuallyhelps you with, and maybe you
can just give us some bulletpoints of some of the things
that you do help people withthat maybe aren't as obvious.
Monica (19:53):
Oh, absolutely.
So a few bullet points.
, definitely wanna makesure that you're not
overpaying for a home.
That's our main point, to keepyou well within your budget.
Agents are paid on commission,but they have a fiduciary
duty to you as buyers.
It just means that they'relooking out for your wellbeing.
Financially.
It's your money, your home.
It has to be rightfor you, not for us.
(20:14):
Another thing that agentsdo, they help you find homes
by giving you access tothe lists from the MLS that
contains homes that aren'tnecessarily publicly available?
Phil (20:23):
Yeah, and some of those are because there's
different regulations.
Not everything is publiclyavailable, so you need
to have that access.
And there's also additionalnotes that sometimes only
agents can see and they can helpnarrow or filter out homes that
maybe you wouldn't be able toget because of your loan type.
Monica (20:39):
Yeah.
So another thing agents doare they look into homes that
you are interested in to seeif it will qualify for your
loan program specifically,and what non-public
information is availablethat you may need to know?
Things like a deathon the property or
tax rates, et cetera.
Phil (20:56):
Another one is during the home tours actually pointing out
things about the house that areimportant or could be an issue.
Monica (21:02):
Absolutely.
Real estate agents tend to endup seeing a lot of things and
they're able to spot problemsthat a first time home buyer
may or may not be aware of
Phil (21:09):
Exactly.
From walking through justhundreds and hundreds of
homes and doing so manyinspections that they tend to
have a good eye for things.
And so it's always greatto have a good agent with
you when they're looking athouses to get sort of that,
almost like pre-inspection
Monica (21:24):
Agents help find trusted contractors for everything
from inspections to repairs.
We negotiate pricing,concessions, even timelines
we try to keep on schedule,but it's our job as agents.
And there's a lot of behindthe scenes that happen once
you get into an escrow.
Agents are always communicatingback and forth with each other,
and that's something thatwe don't necessarily talk to
(21:46):
about the buyers right offhand,but there's always stuff
going on behind the scenes.
Phil (21:51):
I think those are all great points, and a lot of times
as a first time home buyer,you may not realize just how
much is going on, what kinds ofnegotiations are taking place,
and really part of what theagent does is they're making
sure that the transaction'sconstantly moving forward.
So is there anything elsethat you'd like to add?
Monica (22:09):
Just the most important thing is you just
need to be comfortable withyour agent that you choose.
You're gonna be sharing personalinformation with them, and it's
just gonna be , one of the moststressful times of your life.
But we're here to makeit the happiest times
of your life as well.
Make sure you feel confidentin communicating with
these agents and thatthey're committed to you.
If you're there andyou're looking at a house,
make sure they're noton the phone constantly.
(22:29):
You know, I try to make surethat I give my undivided
attention to my clients.
Always make sureyou feel important.
Ask a lot of questions and don'tbe embarrassed to ask anything.
There's so many questionsthat is going on through
first-time home buyers.
it's not like buying a pairof shoes or even a car.
This is a huge transaction andyou should feel comfortable
with the agent you have chosen.
(22:50):
Listen and take their advice.
They've done this a ton oftimes and they're trained and
licensed Personally for me asan agent, I'm always there to
answer any and all questionsyou guys as buyers have.
So feel free to reachout to me anytime.
My goal as an agent is to getyou guys as buyers into a home.
You love to answer all yourquestions and to make sure
that you have thoroughlyunderstood each step of
(23:10):
this home buying process.
And no matter what agentyou choose, that should be
their ultimate goal too.
Phil (23:15):
I think that's great advice.
If you have any other questionsor want to know, anything else,
feel free to visit us on ourFacebook group, on our website,
we love to hear feedback.
Or call or text and Monica'savailable, what's the best
contact information for you?
Monica (23:31):
Sure.
, call, text, email.
My phone number is (951)395-1848 And I always
have my phone on me.
Phil (23:39):
I'm also a lender and a real estate agent.
You guys can go aheadand ask me any kinds of
questions that you'd like.
You can reach meat (949) 357-5029.
That's my direct cell number.
Or go onto our website,fthbpros.com and all of
our contact info is there.
So thank you for your supportand happy home buying.
(24:07):
Phillip Mastroianni'sNMLS number is 2141541.
His DRE number is 02141890.
And is with Pacific Patriot.
Monica Mastroianni DREnumber is 02099257, and is
with Legacy Homes Realty.
Welcome to the first Time Home Buyers podcast.
One of the first steps tohome ownership is choosing
a real estate agent.
I'd like to go over a few waysyou can find an agent and the
types of questions you can ask.
I also have with me Monica,who is a real estate agent and
can give you some additionalinsight into what to look for.
(00:26):
Monica, welcome to the show.
Monica (00:28):
Thanks.
Thanks for having me on.
I appreciate it.
Phil (00:30):
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
Monica (00:31):
Absolutely.
So I've been helpingpeople buy and sell homes
for about four years now.
I love working with firsttime home buyers to help
them become more educatedin the process and feel
confident with their purchase.
I love seeing people go fromrenting to owning a home
and building that equity.
Some clients start off withstarter homes, others are
buying their forever home.
Each person is differentand each purchase is unique.
(00:53):
That's definitely whatI love about this job.
Our industry is alwayschanging and always staying
on top of those trends helpsme be a better agent for you.
Phil (01:00):
That's really amazing to hear.
I wanted to begin by first justtalking about what a real estate
agent actually does for you.
Monica (01:07):
First thing, A real estate agent is there
to help you through theentire home buying process.
So that often includes helpingyou find a lender, helping
you find a home, what to offerfor that home, negotiating
any sort of negotiations ininspections, anything like
that, repairs, pointing outthings during inspections, and
ultimately just ensuing thatthe process goes smoothly.
(01:28):
Our job is to answer anyand all questions that
you guys as buyers have noquestion is too small for us.
And that's my job is to guideyou through this process.
Phil (01:38):
What are some of the best ways to find
a real estate agent?
Monica (01:42):
So more often than not, you're more than likely
connected already with somebodywho is a real estate agent.
Looking to family, friends,coworkers, anybody who's
purchased a home in the pastthat has had a good experience
with their real estate agent,that'd be a good place to start.
You can do Facebookposts, Google searches,
anything like that.
Just make sure that yourchoice is someone who you're
(02:03):
definitely comfortable with.
You have to mesh well with theperson that's representing you.
Phil (02:07):
Yeah, Google is a great place and I always make
sure to let everyone knowto look at people's reviews.
Unlike a loan officer,it's really important
to find an agent thatknows your local area.
It doesn't need to be anexact neighborhood, but
someone who knows the cityor the county that you're in.
And more importantly,find someone who's a
good fit for your needsand will work for you.
Monica (02:28):
As a side note, I'm always available
to help as well.
I love my job and I'm definitelyhappy to help you as buyers
through this whole process.
And also, I'm connectednationwide with realtors from
one coast to another, and I'mhappy to help you get in touch
with somebody in a certainarea that you're looking for
outside of California as well.
, Phil (02:46):
if you found a few real estate agents,
what kinds of questionsshould we be asking them?
So I'm gonna go ahead and giveyou a few example questions
and then Monica, maybe you canelaborate on what you think, a
good answer or what you shouldbe looking for in those answers.
Yeah.
Okay.
So here's some ideasof some questions.
The first one would be,how long have you been
working in the industry.
Monica (03:08):
You know, we all have to start from somewhere and
I believe, you know, I did alot of my transactions in my
first two years you don't wannaget somebody who's not ready
and willing to work for you.
There's no problem at allwith somebody who's been in
the business for two yearsor somebody who's been in
the business for 45 years.
It really just depends ontheir motivation and you wanna
find somebody who's goingto work for you no matter,
what, how long they'vebeen in the business for.
(03:29):
So personally, in my firstcouple of years of real estate,
I did so many transactionsranging from first time home
buyers, which I absolutelylove to investors, to land.
It just depends on how hardyou're willing to work.
And I, as a first time agent,was willing to put all my
energy out there, and just getthe deal done for my clients
and learn as much as I could.
(03:51):
And in this industry, it'san ever changing industry,
and you just want somebodywho's always going to be
learning and always gonna bekeeping up with everything.
And again, a seasonedagent is just as great
as a non seasoned agent.
Phil (04:04):
Yeah, and so I think what you end up finding is that
someone who's maybe a littlebit newer to the industry often
is paired with a mentor, sosomeone that does have a lot
of experience, and so I don'tthink that should automatically
disqualify and then you may getsomeone who's got 10, 20, 30
years of experience and theymay be a perfect fit for you.
Or maybe they're just not asinto technology, or they have
(04:25):
a team and they have you workwith maybe a junior member.
They're just notinto educating you.
Really, it depends onwhat you are looking for.
So I think the experience thingmaybe isn't as big of a question
that you need to worry about.
Monica (04:37):
Just understand that if you have a more complicated
purchase, this may be theopportunity to work with
somebody who's more experienced
Phil (04:44):
So I think, that's great.
This next question, I thinkis, is one of the most
important ones, and thisis what types of buyers do
you primarily work with?
Monica (04:53):
That's good to understand what types of
homes they're familiar with.
If they mostly workwith low-cost housing
versus luxury homes.
There's a big differencein how you operate.
So for me, my core groupis first time home buyers.
I absolutely love workingwith first time home buyers.
I love educating themthrough the process.
It's not like buyinga pair of shoes.
You're definitely.
(05:13):
A huge investment and I wantmy clients to understand
the process, whether they'reyoung, or if they're older and
they're more established inlife, you're still gonna be
a first time home buyer withmany questions, and I love
taking these first time homebuyers through these journeys.
Phil (05:29):
There's one other group, which is VA buyers and VA
buyers, I always like to thinkare a little bit in their
own category because there'sa lot of nuance with even
a first time VA home buyer.
How's that differentthan some of the other
types of home buyers?
Monica (05:43):
So VA is a little bit different.
And I love working with va.
I have much respect for , ourmilitary, and much respect for
our military families as well.
It's definitely a processfor them, VA buyers actually
have more guidelinesthat they have to follow.
Phil (05:59):
Yeah.
And so they havetheir own loan type.
There's a VA loanspecific to them.
The appraisal itselfalso has different things
that are called out.
So you really needto understand the VA
process in order toreally take care of them.
And a lot of VA buyers arefirst-time home buyers and so
they're all kind of groupedinto that first time home
buyer, but they're also vaso it's even more education
(06:19):
that they'll typically need.
Just to kind of, um, jumpinto a little bit more of a
personal question that youshould be asking your agent.
What do you like aboutbeing a real estate agent?
And again, what you'retrying to do is you really
want to get a betterunderstanding of their goals.
Like, why are they doing this?
Monica (06:37):
For me personally, I want somebody to guide
me through the process,especially because this
is a big investment.
You know, you wanna make surethat it's a good fit for you.
Like we said before, ifyou want somebody who's
gonna educate you, thenthat's important as well.
That's something that, has tobe determined right away for
you guys to have a good fit.
And I feel like once you havea good fit with your agent,
it's gonna be more like afriendship, hopefully for you
(06:58):
guys as first time buyers.
Phil (07:00):
And I think one of the things you can probably do
when you talk to your agentor your interviewing agents is
ask em what kind of additionaleducation are you taking
Monica (07:08):
Education is a big part of real estate.
This job is never, evergoing to be the same.
It's gonna be ever changing.
Every day somethingnew comes up.
And for me, it's important tokeep up with the education and
keep up with everything that iscoming forward to us as agents
because it's the best way thatI can represent my buyers.
Now, for me, I havebeen certified in
(07:29):
first time home buying.
I've been certified.
New home construction.
I've been certifiedin helping VA buyers.
I take my job very seriously.
I love to have fun and jokearound and laugh around, but
I also love to make sure thatI'm giving my buyers as much
experience as they deserve,and that includes education.
(07:50):
And the more education youcan learn about this industry,
the better it is that youcan represent those buyers.
Phil (07:56):
And I think that's a really great point.
So you want to look forsomeone who's looking at
this as a long-term career
Monica (08:02):
Yeah, I totally agree.
Absolutely.
Phil (08:04):
And now the next one here is also really important
because this really dependson you as a person, your
personal life, and how is thatgoing to mesh with your agent.
And the question is, whatis your communication
style and method, and howoften will we be talking?
So it's really importantthat you make sure that
this aligns with you.
(08:24):
Do you prefer email, text,phone calls, FaceTime.
Monica (08:29):
You should definitely be on the same page as your agent,
and this is something that youshould ensure right away so that
you set the tone for how you'llbe communicating with them.
This is very important becausethis is gonna set the tone for
how often you'll be talking.
It's gonna ensure theconsistency of your
communication and it's all gonnabe based off of your schedule.
So as an example, I actuallyhad a client who was in Japan
(08:52):
and his wife was here and wewere selling their house and
Japan is about 12 hours aheadof us, so we actually had to
work off of the Japan schedule.
He was military.
We had very limitedtime to talk.
And for us thatmeant 10 o'clock, 11
o'clock at night here.
, but it was his morning there.
And so that's howwe got it done.
That's how we were ableto communicate, and they
(09:12):
definitely communicated thatwith me right from the start.
Phil (09:14):
I think that's the big key there is right from the
beginning that expectation wasset and they made sure that they
would be able to talk to you at10, 11, midnight, because that's
the timeframe that they needed.
And I can guarantee you someagents just flat out refused.
And that's okay, becausesome people are nine to
five, other people are moreflexible in their hours
Monica (09:35):
That's just really what's most important is
just finding an agent.
Like I said before,who works with you?
Not everybody works,12 hours a day.
Not everybody works,evening hours.
Not everybody worksmorning hours.
So it's just depends onwhat you communicate to
your agent and how theycommunicate that back to you.
But communication is thebiggest thing in this industry.
Phil (09:55):
if you are really comfortable with texting, you
wanna make sure that your agentis comfortable with texting.
And so make sure you set thattone at the very beginning and
really ask what their preferredcommunication method, what times
they're gonna be available.
And that way you can makesure that that's gonna work
with you because they can bea great agent, but if you guys
never can connect and talk,they're not gonna be able
(10:15):
to be a great agent for you.
And so communication issuper important, but this
next one here is all aboutour first time home buyers.
And this is the question, I'mreally new to this process.
Do you work with a lot offirst time home buyers?
And this is where you couldcheck their ego at the door.
If you don't feel likethey're there to help you and
educate you in the process,it's probably good to move.
Monica (10:37):
Some real estate agents don't wanna work with first
time home buyers because theyprefer working with investors
or people buying vacationhomes, and that's totally fine.
Just make sure you're workingwith somebody who's gonna
take the time to educate youthrough the process, how you
need to be educated if youknow that you need, to be
handheld through the wholeprocess, that's completely fine.
, but you have to setthose expectations right
(10:58):
up from the beginning.
Phil (10:59):
I think if you hear them using lots of acronyms and not
explaining to you as they'retalking to you, they may be just
less experienced working withfirst time home buyers, and it
may be a tougher transactionbecause they'll expect you
to know some of these thingsthat they just kind of have
been working with for years
Monica (11:15):
so true that that actually happens more often
than you'd think because we asreal estate agents, you know,
on the daily, are talking realestate lingo all the time.
So if we let something slipand you don't know what it
is, please, please absolutelyask us what it means, because
you should know what you'rebeing told or taught or
how we're speaking to you.
(11:36):
Sometimes our lingo justgets mixed up into our, daily
conversations with our clients.
We forget that you guysare first time home buyers
and we wanna make sure thatyou guys understand what
we are talking about fully.
Phil (11:45):
And if that agent gets frustrated with having
to explain that to you, itmay not be the best fit.
The next question is, what's themarket looking like right now?
What should I know?
Now, here's where you'retesting their knowledge.
You've already told themyou're a first time home buyer.
So listen and payattention very carefully.
This is where you want to ensurethey're explaining things in a
really easy way to understand?
Monica (12:07):
Yeah, real estate agents should be able to tell
you about homes that they'verecently helped other buyers
with and how those have gone.
They need to give you realworld examples of the market.
Phil (12:17):
For example, recently we had a transaction where
we were able to get $25,000in seller credits a year ago.
That wouldn't have beenpossible, and that's because
we know the market and we'revery intimate with all the
nuances and changes that aregoing on, and we're able to get
the best deal for our buyers.
Monica (12:36):
So you wanna make sure that, once you're writing up
offers, , you are not writingsomething that's crazy above
asking price, or you wanna alsomake sure that you're not low
balling them as well becausethey may have done their own
research, and hopefully they'veestablished where the fair
market value is for everybody.
And that's something that isimportant to know is the market
(12:57):
and the town and the neighboringareas that you are looking into.
Phil (13:02):
Nobody's got a crystal ball.
No one knows what's gonna happenin the next month or two or
three, but they should be ableto say, based off of trends,
this is where I see thingsbased off of my colleagues
and other things I've beendoing, this is what I'm seeing.
Monica (13:15):
Absolutely.
Phil (13:16):
The next one is, and this is one of those questions
that I think is really goodto ask because it gives you
an idea of what the person'sexpertise is, especially over
the last year or so with someof the trends in real estate.
And the questions.
This, what is anappraisal gap, and is this
something that I need?
All right, so in like anever-changing market, homes
(13:36):
may not appraised or be valuedat what you actually offered.
So let's say you put in anoffer for $400,000 and the
home appraised for $380,000,meaning it's less than
you are willing to buy.
Monica (13:49):
Now, an appraisal gap means that you're willing to put
in an offer for a certain amountof money over what it appraises
for so that you don't have tonegotiate the price again if
it appraises below your offer.
Phil (13:59):
This is really important to ask because if the agent
can't explain this to you,or they don't understand it,
you're likely gonna have moredifficult time this is just one
example of a type of scenariothat we've seen a lot in 2021
and in 2022, but any agentwho's been representing buyers
during this time should bewell versed in this strategy.
(14:19):
And now into 2023, we'realso seeing seller credits.
So that would also be agood question to ask is
what are seller credits andhow can that work for me?
Monica (14:29):
Not all sellers are willing to give credits,
but some of them arewilling to actually help
and give credits for you asbuyers for closing costs or
repairs, stuff like that.
Phil (14:39):
The reason why I like this question so much is that
it's gonna give you an idea.
Anyone who's been in thebusiness for at least two
or three years, they shouldbe able to explain this
and maybe explain why rightnow, you don't need one.
Now, the last questionthat I would ask, that's
another scenario is, howcan I get a lower interest
rate with seller credits?
Monica (15:00):
This is something that you want your agent
to be able to explain toyou in the sense of this is
something that the lenderhas to be able to approve.
This is a very lender orientedquestion and the realtor should
know how to handle this questionand how to direct you towards
this question too, to get thatanswer that you're looking for.
Phil (15:19):
And so a lender's going to be able to tell you how
much it will cost to what theycall is buy down the rate so
that you can pay money to geta lower interest rate that can
be out of your pocket, but itcould also be from the sellers.
And your agent should beable to explain how that
process works, of asking theseller to help pay that down.
But the lenders ultimatelygoing to be the one that's
gonna tell you how much thatis and what kind of interest
(15:42):
rate you might be able to get.
Monica (15:43):
With an agent, it's important that.
They also aren't afraidto ask for certain things
as well because you neverknow what could happen if
you ask for seller credits.
It's important that you havea realtor that is gonna work
with you and the listingagent and your lender to
make sure that you get intothe home that you deserve.
And it's within your budget.
(16:03):
Absolutely.
Phil (16:04):
The last question here, and this is really, if
you've started really feelingconfident in what they've
said, is simply, what do youneed from me to get started?
And again, only ask this ifyou're ready to get started.
So what kinds of things shouldthe real estate agent let
you know they're gonna need?
Monica (16:21):
They should definitely be asking you right away if
you're working with a lenderalready, because working
with a lender is like thefirst step, absolute first
step that you need to getin order to buy a house.
So your realtor should beasking you right away if you're
working with a lender already,because this is the most
important part of the process.
Now, if you're not working witha lender, they should usually
have a few lenders to recommend.
(16:42):
I personally love recommendinglenders to some of my
first time home buyers.
I work with a variety ofdifferent lenders who specialize
in many different things.
VA, first time homebuyers, and there's so many
different first time homebuyer programs out there.
It's so important for youto communicate that with
your realtor as well, thatyou're looking for somebody
who can help you with maybedown payment assistance
(17:05):
or, any sort of financialhelp that you might need.
It's super importantto stress that.
Phil (17:11):
I think that's a great point.
Those first time home buyerprograms are very much tied to
the lending side, and so youwanna make sure that you have
a lender who's comfortableand has experience in working
with first time home buyers.
What other information arethey going to want from you?
After you've had this call andyou're like, let's get started.
What are they gonnaneed in order to start
(17:32):
helping you find a home?
Monica (17:33):
So as an agent, we want your contact information
and what you're lookingfor, and be realistic.
We wanna make sure that we'regetting you into something that
fits your needs and your wants.
If you know that you guys aresmaller family and you don't
need five bedrooms, then tellthem two to three bedrooms.
We wanna know what size homeyou're looking for, what
areas you're looking for.
(17:54):
And that actually is best ifyou can narrow down areas.
, I actually had somebody whotold me that they wanted
to live in California.
Well, California is a very bigstate, so if you can narrow it
down to certain area, and don'tbe afraid to change your areas
or your needs and your wants,because once you go out there
and you start seeing houses,it's definitely important to
(18:15):
tell your agent what worksfor you and what didn't work
for you about certain houses.
Phil (18:20):
It's important also to rely on your agent as the local
expert to maybe say, these arethe things I'm looking for.
What neighborhoods or areasdo you think would most
align with what I'm looking
Monica (18:31):
Absolutely.
And keep in mind, you know,you wanna pass information
on to your real estate agentthat's gonna help them create
these lists of homes for you.
Like your commute to work.
If you wanna be close tothe freeway, if you want, a
community pool versus not acommunity pool, but also be
realistic in your requests.
I've been down that roadwhere I definitely wanted
more things than I needed,but then I realized going into
(18:53):
the process, you definitelyhave to know what you need
more than what you want.
So that's a very big thingto make sure you express
to your agent as well.
Phil (19:02):
And there's definitely things that you may want, but
you could hold off for a year.
So if you want that renovatedkitchen, but there's a lot
of homes that are in yourbudget that don't have
that, you can wait six,12 months after purchasing
and do your own renovation.
And that's the beauty ofsome of those options.
And your real estate agent'sgonna be able to help you
(19:22):
with really understanding.
, what makes the most sense?
Do you buy that house that'sa turnkey house or do you
make it your own over thecourse of a few years, but
it's within your budget?
Now we talked a lotabout questions.
I wanted to also let everyoneknow and, and this is a great
time that I've got Monicahere to talk about what a
(19:42):
real estate agent actuallyhelps you with, and maybe you
can just give us some bulletpoints of some of the things
that you do help people withthat maybe aren't as obvious.
Monica (19:53):
Oh, absolutely.
So a few bullet points.
, definitely wanna makesure that you're not
overpaying for a home.
That's our main point, to keepyou well within your budget.
Agents are paid on commission,but they have a fiduciary
duty to you as buyers.
It just means that they'relooking out for your wellbeing.
Financially.
It's your money, your home.
It has to be rightfor you, not for us.
(20:14):
Another thing that agentsdo, they help you find homes
by giving you access tothe lists from the MLS that
contains homes that aren'tnecessarily publicly available?
Phil (20:23):
Yeah, and some of those are because there's
different regulations.
Not everything is publiclyavailable, so you need
to have that access.
And there's also additionalnotes that sometimes only
agents can see and they can helpnarrow or filter out homes that
maybe you wouldn't be able toget because of your loan type.
Monica (20:39):
Yeah.
So another thing agents doare they look into homes that
you are interested in to seeif it will qualify for your
loan program specifically,and what non-public
information is availablethat you may need to know?
Things like a deathon the property or
tax rates, et cetera.
Phil (20:56):
Another one is during the home tours actually pointing out
things about the house that areimportant or could be an issue.
Monica (21:02):
Absolutely.
Real estate agents tend to endup seeing a lot of things and
they're able to spot problemsthat a first time home buyer
may or may not be aware of
Phil (21:09):
Exactly.
From walking through justhundreds and hundreds of
homes and doing so manyinspections that they tend to
have a good eye for things.
And so it's always greatto have a good agent with
you when they're looking athouses to get sort of that,
almost like pre-inspection
Monica (21:24):
Agents help find trusted contractors for everything
from inspections to repairs.
We negotiate pricing,concessions, even timelines
we try to keep on schedule,but it's our job as agents.
And there's a lot of behindthe scenes that happen once
you get into an escrow.
Agents are always communicatingback and forth with each other,
and that's something thatwe don't necessarily talk to
(21:46):
about the buyers right offhand,but there's always stuff
going on behind the scenes.
Phil (21:51):
I think those are all great points, and a lot of times
as a first time home buyer,you may not realize just how
much is going on, what kinds ofnegotiations are taking place,
and really part of what theagent does is they're making
sure that the transaction'sconstantly moving forward.
So is there anything elsethat you'd like to add?
Monica (22:09):
Just the most important thing is you just
need to be comfortable withyour agent that you choose.
You're gonna be sharing personalinformation with them, and it's
just gonna be , one of the moststressful times of your life.
But we're here to makeit the happiest times
of your life as well.
Make sure you feel confidentin communicating with
these agents and thatthey're committed to you.
If you're there andyou're looking at a house,
make sure they're noton the phone constantly.
(22:29):
You know, I try to make surethat I give my undivided
attention to my clients.
Always make sureyou feel important.
Ask a lot of questions and don'tbe embarrassed to ask anything.
There's so many questionsthat is going on through
first-time home buyers.
it's not like buying a pairof shoes or even a car.
This is a huge transaction andyou should feel comfortable
with the agent you have chosen.
(22:50):
Listen and take their advice.
They've done this a ton oftimes and they're trained and
licensed Personally for me asan agent, I'm always there to
answer any and all questionsyou guys as buyers have.
So feel free to reachout to me anytime.
My goal as an agent is to getyou guys as buyers into a home.
You love to answer all yourquestions and to make sure
that you have thoroughlyunderstood each step of
(23:10):
this home buying process.
And no matter what agentyou choose, that should be
their ultimate goal too.
Phil (23:15):
I think that's great advice.
If you have any other questionsor want to know, anything else,
feel free to visit us on ourFacebook group, on our website,
we love to hear feedback.
Or call or text and Monica'savailable, what's the best
contact information for you?
Monica (23:31):
Sure.
, call, text, email.
My phone number is (951)395-1848 And I always
have my phone on me.
Phil (23:39):
I'm also a lender and a real estate agent.
You guys can go aheadand ask me any kinds of
questions that you'd like.
You can reach meat (949) 357-5029.
That's my direct cell number.
Or go onto our website,fthbpros.com and all of
our contact info is there.
So thank you for your supportand happy home buying.
(24:07):
Phillip Mastroianni'sNMLS number is 2141541.
His DRE number is 02141890.
And is with Pacific Patriot.
Monica Mastroianni DREnumber is 02099257, and is
with Legacy Homes Realty.
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