For 30 years, Coastal Housing Partnership has been making the dream of home ownership possible. The local nonprofit has assisted more than 10,000 local workers become home owners, allowing these talented residents to continue serving the Central Coast. And to help more local employees live where they work, Coastal Housing Partnership is sharing 30 tips to help you start on your own path to home ownership.

Published in Santa Barbara News-Press House & Home!

“While it is certainly more challenging to purchase a home in our high-priced community, it’s definitely possible,” said Corby Gage, Coastal Housing Partnership Executive Director. “Coastal Housing Partnership is here to help. We provide home buying education and financial assistance benefits to make buying a home more achievable.”

To help potential home buyers, here are the first 15 tips. Look for 15 more next week.  Looking for more advice? Stop by our Home Buying Fair 5-8 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Deckers Rotunda, 6601 Hollister Ave.Goleta. RSVP today at homebuyingfairs.org!

Part One

1. 1. Analyze if buying a home is the right step for you now
      Understand the obligations and benefits of home ownership
      Analyze the pros and cons of renting vs buying
      How will home buying affect your lifestyle?
   2. Determine your goals for buying a home
      What is important to you?  Not having to worry about dealing with a landlord?  Being able to do what you want with your home?  Stability in a community? How long would you be planning to own this property?
   3. Attend a Home Buying Seminar!
      Learn the steps to buying a home from the lending process to working with a real estate agent. Take the time to become a more informed home buyer.
   4. Understand the tax consequences/benefits of owning a home
      Meet with a tax accountant to determine how your income tax obligations will be impacted if you become a home owner and take on a mortgage loan.
   5. Get your credit score in shape
      Establish good credit behavior – pay your bills on time – at least the minimum amount due on every credit card or credit obligation you have each month.   Don’t “max-out” the credit limits on your credit cards.  When you talk to a mortgage lender, ask his/her advice on how to improve your credit.
   6. Get organized
      You will need to provide various documents to the lender in order to get pre- approved including:
      • two previous years of federal tax returns and W2s
      • paycheck stubs for the last 30 days
      • proof of other ongoing income such as pension, social security etc.
      • two months most recent bank and brokerage statements (all pages)

      Of course, your loan officer will let you know what you information he/she needs.

   7. Money for down payment
      Do you have a plan for saving for a down payment?  Will you be borrowing money from your 401k or other retirement account?   Understand the implications of borrowing from your retirement account. Are you receiving a gift from parents or other relative?
   8. Get pre-approved – Find out how much loan you can afford
      Before you start to look at homes, meet with a loan officer to obtain a pre-approval – provided free of charge. Once you determine the amount of your down payment and the amount of loan for which you are approved, you will have a good idea of your price range and can more efficiently begin looking for a home.
   9. Listen to local real estate professionals
      Rather than relying on internet generalities, talk to local real estate professionals about the real estate market and loan requirements and options.
   10. Low down payment Loans
       You don’t need a 20% down payment to purchase a home.  Determine if it makes sense to buy now rather than waiting to save the entire 20% down payment. If you have less than 20%, make that one of the first questions you ask a lender in your initial conversations:  what kinds of low down payment loan programs do you have?
   11. Know different types of loans
       Understand the advantages and disadvantages of loan types – what works for you, your financial situation and your risk tolerance.  Ask your lender about the variety of loan options available in order to select the loan that is right for you.
   12. Understand how a loan is priced
       The interest rate is not the only cost of a mortgage loan.  There are also points and fees – these costs are paid upfront as part of your closing costs.  Ask your lender how much they charge in fees.  Does your loan pricing include point(s)?  A  point is 1% of the loan amount.  Since points are prepaid interest, if you pay point(s), you pay should pay a lower interest rate on your loan.
   13. Mortgage insurance – is this the right strategy for you?
       Typically, if you do not have a 20% down payment, a lender will require you to pay for mortgage insurance.  This adds to your monthly housing expense.  Talk to your lender about your options to determine if it makes sense for you to secure a loan with mortgage insurance, get a piggyback loan or wait until you have saved a larger down payment.
   14. Don’t make any new purchases or open new credit cards
       Opening new lines of credit while in the home buying process will affect your credit score. It may also impact your debt level, which will affect how much loan you can qualify for.
   15. Coastal Housing Partnership Member?
       Check to see if your employer is a member of Coastal Housing Partnership.  If so, you have the ability to significantly reduce your closing costs.  Coastal Housing Partnership, a nonprofit organization, works with a network of service partners (real estate agents, lenders, home inspection firms, residential developers) who offer savings on the cost of their services for employees of member companies.  In addition, Coastal Housing Partnership offers home buying education at no charge to employees of its member companies.

Williams Homes is pleased to offer employees of Coastal Housing Partnership members a $5,000 credit on the purchase price of a new Williams Homes’ residence. Interested buyers are invited to join the Williams Homes VIP list online to receive email updates about communities. Williams Homes offer the ultimate California lifestyle.

Their brand new neighborhoods are now selling and coming soon. Check out their residential communities in Ventura County, Santa Barbara County and San Luis Obispo County. More info.

Falcon Heights is the beautiful residential community featured in these photos. For more information about these homes and how you could save money as a Coastal Housing Partnership employee, click here.

The path to home ownership involves planning. Attend one of our Financial Readiness Seminar series as the first step on that path.

Coastal Housing Partnership is pleased to offer these Financial Readiness classes to our employees at no cost.

These comprehensive classes will take you through the various considerations that lead to home ownership. To find out more and to sign up, visit www.coastalhousing.org.

Come to a free home buying seminar to help you on your path to homeownership.

Upcoming seminar dates:

February 23 in Goleta
March 8 in Ventura
March 22 in Goleta

All seminars scheduled from 5:30 – 7:00 pm.

To sign up for a home buying seminar, visit our site or call the Coastal Housing Partnership office at 969-1025. Read more about our upcoming events.

As an employee of a Coastal Housing Partnership company, you are eligible for savings and benefits whether you are purchasing a home, refinancing your mortgage or renting an apartment.

Check out the Coastal Housing Partnership website for more information on how you can save on your housing costs. www.coastalhousing.org

The following blog post is by Sue Irwin, Realtor. Thank you for your guest post Sue!

The Real Estate Home Inspection and Request for Repairs

The home inspection is a major part of a buyer’s investigations when purchasing a property, and it is the basis for other possible inspections (such as roof, heating system, foundation, geology) that a buyer might decide to do during the period allotted for investigations during escrow. Even if the seller has provided a home inspection, the buyer may want to have their own inspection done.

There are a number of competent home inspectors in our area, and I like to get the inspection ordered as soon as we have an accepted offer. Home inspections cost from $450-$600, paid by the buyer at time of service.

The job of the home inspector is to do a general but thorough inspection of the entire property: the lot, fencing and retaining walls, foundation, exterior and interior of the home, the roof, and any areas under the house. They check that the main appliances are operational, that the main plumbing, heating and electrical systems are safe and operational, and if there are any health and safety issues that might be a problem with the specific property. Home inspectors are “generalists” and may recommend that the buyer get an additional inspection from a specialist if there is a problem with a roof, foundation, etc.

I personally like to be at the inspection the entire time (about 3 hours). Buyers can be there the whole time but often come for the last hour of the inspection, at which time inspector will go over his findings and point out areas of the home that may have problems. Then within a day or two, the inspector emails the buyer and agent a 30- to 50-page report of all the findings, along with photographs of items that may need attention. The inspection report is the buyer’s property, and is not automatically sent to the seller or seller’s agent.

You Have the Home Inspection… What’s Next?

Your home inspection will inevitably point out some problems with the property, even if it is brand new. You can discuss these problems with the inspector at the time of the inspection or by phone later on, and he will let you know as much as he can about them. Most home inspectors have many years of experience, and they know what is truly problematic, what needs common maintenance sooner than later, and what to keep an eye on for future possible maintenance.

You may decide to get further inspections as indicated in the general inspection (most of these are inspections you will pay for), or you may want to get estimates from electricians, contractors, plumbers, and other service providers for the most important issues on the report. The extent of this secondary phase of inspections depends on what is called out on the report and what you decide is important to you after speaking with the general inspector. As an agent I may also recommend that you take the inspector’s advice about further investigations, and I can recommend inspectors or service providers and facilitate getting estimates for repairs.

This information may be only for your benefit if you are truly buying a house in “As Is” condition. Otherwise you will use it as proof of problems when asking the seller to either have a problem fixed or credit you money for repairs. These requests are presented in a signed Request for Repairs document, at which time your agent will most likely send the listing agent a copy of the home inspection and any estimates or further inspections you have received.

Deciding What to Ask For in a Request for Repairs –

and What to Expect from the Seller

What repairs or credits a buyer decides to ask for depends on the extent of the problems with the property, what issues are the most important to them, and how they think the seller might react to the request. Most often a buyer is advised to stick to health and safety items, and damage that could adversely affect the structural integrity of the home over time.

The Request for Repairs process is a negotiation during escrow, and crafting an effective Request for Repairs is an important job of a buyer’s agent. Part of this is learning as much as possible about the personalities and goals of the seller and the seller’s agent before you decide what to ask for. You may have a list a mile long, but it is advisable to get the list pared down to the most important items and be willing to let the small stuff go for the moment. Again, it depends on all the people involved. Even in an “As Is” sale, a buyer may be able to get repairs or credits for maintenance issues if the Request for Repairs is done skillfully.

What can you expect as a response from the seller? Anything from a complete No to a complete Yes! Discuss ahead of time what you hope to get in a response, and what you will do with different levels of response from the seller. If the seller response is not enough to keep you in the sale, you can keep negotiating to try for the response you need. At some point you may have to let the home go and try another property – it may just be too problematic of a property for your budget or your time and abilities.

More often than not, however, a Request for Repairs can be negotiated to everyone’s satisfaction, making you one step closer to closing your escrow and owning your new home!

Sue Irwin is a Realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and a Coastal Housing Partnership member. She can be reached at 805-705-6973.