Our Unique Approach 

With all the scramble going on, we, the Brian Habel team, take what we think to be a unique approach. Our unique approach can be summed up like this: We want you for a lifetime client. Therefore, you will see this attitude of earning your business take place before, during, and after the purchase.  If you don't want to spend a lot of time here, skip to the area of blue text below.

I. BEFORE PURCHASING

• For a buyers checklist involving the above items, on how best to use this site go to: Home Buying System.

II. DURING PURCHASING

Now you may think, that once you have found the property of your dreams, the rest is over.  Not so. In fact, you may be surprised about how much is still left to be done. Before we describe this next level of service (during purchasing) we need to give you some important background information about this "water" that realtors and mortgage brokers "swim in".

Background - The water we swim in

As you know, the real estate and mortgage business world is set up such that brokers get paid when a transaction takes place.  Here is the reality. Once the realtors or mortgage brokers have you in their “pipe-line”, then there is relative confidence you will become a transaction. Sometimes the time for good service takes second place to getting more clients.  The reality is that those realtors/mortgage brokers then lose a valuable commodity, their past client referral and repeat business base.

The Difference

The real difference between good service and what you will normally get can be summed up in the following analogy: Have you ever gone to a restaurant where you've really been put out by the poor service given by your waiter/waitress? Contrast that to the good service of another restaurant.  What was the difference? How about this for starters- the good service waiter/waitress continually checks to make sure things are going OK and he/she has systems in place behind the scenes to ensure best possible delivery. Relatively speaking, is your realtor and mortgage broker doing this kind of check-in work? Let me share an observation with you. Most realtors are not checked-in, but checked-out, after you get into their “pipeline”. The Brian Habel team can be found keeping a proactive vigilance on contract dates and follow-up with your mortgage broker, and your mortgage broker then gets prompted to follow-up on your lender.

The Lender

A further ingredient complicates the situation realtors and mortgage brokers face. The Lender has all the power. Let me draw a comparison: Just because it’s church, doesn’t mean people are going to show up on time and this is especially true for the Lender. So, in my experience, most lenders are still working up until the last minute on getting “documents” to the Mortgage and Title/Escrow companies just prior to the signing appointment for you (the Buyer).  No previewing documents before the meeting now. Typically, some pressure is put on the Buyer at closing, to trust the whole process and just sign all those papers. Now, if you trust your mortgage broker to be catching things for you, perhaps there is no worry.  All parties involved are often pushed up against deadlines by the Lender and Mortgage Officer/Broker, complicating the extra little time needed to preview papers. Those little "check-in" calls can often spell the difference for earlier arrival- just like the our previous waiter/waitress scenario, good accommodations can spell the difference. The "squeaky wheel" does get the "grease".

Notice that we do not say that there will not be any problems to tackle, just that we will have gotten to them before the next agent would have and that perhaps YOU will not have had to experience that turbulence. That way, if any obstacles arise, they can be dealt with in a professional manner instead of in crisis mode.

Staying on top- Voidable Contract

Also, if an Addendum is needing to be added to the contract to change a deadline, then it will be able to be done earlier on, which will give the Seller more "ahead of time" notice. Most realtors and buyers do not experience negative consequences for not having an addendum in place extending deadlines, when they are going only a couple of days over- that is the temptation.  Not only that, but what if the unexpected happens and it ends up being more than that, which can often be the case. We want to tell you why attention to, not letting these details slide, can give you a type of "insurance" against your deal going "sour".  The Buyer, mostly unaware, is actually in breech of contract by not having things accomplished by certain deadlines. The Seller, while most often “sticks-it-out” (how else is he/she going to get it sold as fast), is nevertheless in a perfect condition to call the contract VOID causing the Buyer to lose the deal. Believe it or not, many deals are getting transacted in this manner. A simple solution is to have an addendum extending the deadline-problem solved. The Seller is much more cooperative at this point, knowing at least that things are, or have been getting worked on.  Mortgage brokers are not always responsible because as the Lender (that they want to keep) says, "yours is in on the stack and we will get to it at such and such, but we are not promising anything."

The bottom line:  Having a Realtor who stays on top of things is a sort of "insurance" to you and helps give you peace-of-mind, which is precious to you when dealing with such a significant venture in your life as buying your home/condo/property.

Using what works- Established relationships

Your realtor - Brian Habel - makes a habit of leaving at least a week from Loan Denial Deadline to the Closing Deadline. This helps the matter, but is not a guarantee by any means.

The best solution is when the Buyer works with established mortgage companies and (where possible) ones that the realtor is familiar with. Hence, a feedback loop of experience is created in terms of the mortgage officer communicating (to the realtor) with more reliable information.  What makes it reliable is that the mortgage officer has dealt with "this particular lender" before and can predict a certain level of follow-through or absence of it.

When it comes to mortgage companies, you may want to shop around.  Occasionally, we encounter one that is shady in the way they do business.  As a whole, they are pretty competitive.  Having dealt with a few, we can advise and make referrals to mortgage companies that we have found to be reputable and honest.

We can also help you explore as to the value of traditional mortgages or more creative “option” types (3 in 1 arms, 5 in 1 arms, interest only) of financing and the associated mortgage company areas of strengths and weaknesses pertaining to particular financing options.

III. AFTER PURCHASING

After purchasing and closing, you will be on your way with your new purchase. We have provided here on our web site a Past Client Services button, which will have a plethora of useful and needed resources. One example is utilities. Also, don’t forget our community calendar links that will keep you informed about activities including, but not limited to: community, cultural, social, civic, arts, events, sports, clubs, entertainment, fitness and seniors. You will notice - by such useful help - our commitment and follow-through toward keeping you as a life-long client. Also, you can anticipate that we will keep in touch and hopefully you will be keeping an eye and ear out for us.

Your referrals

Years ago, as Brian sat in a class about family and social life, he listened while a guest speaker told about how they determine which parents to allow adoption of their children. She remarked that, 'one of the key ingredients was looking for particular adoptive couples ability to see the relationship as reciprocal (mutual benefits). Particular deference was paid to those potential adoptive parents who could see long-term, the benefits they themselves would reap in the child coming back to bless their lives.'  We hope to be, not only your lifetime real estate consultants, but from which you can refer family, friends and acquaintances. Thank you for your business!