Buyer Success Stories

Working Single Mother Supporting a Large Family 

Sarah worked at Micron, on the 12 hour night shifts, raising three children, and housing her parents and grandchild.  On her limited income she had two problems:  How could she find financing to purchase a home with an easy commute to her work? And how could she find a home under $110,000 that had over 2000 square feet to support her family obligations.  First, we helped her find an IHFA approved loan officer to help her clean up her credit and make her eligible for the IHFA state $2,500 grant program that helped her come up with a down payment and get a reduced interest rate loan.  Then we negotiated to have the Seller pay her remaining closing costs and down payment.  Finally, my staff and myself spent 2 months of daily checking for new listings and price drops to eventually find a 2400 square foot home in central Boise for $105,000.  She was prepared when the opportunity came and she moved in within 2 weeks.  She is one of 3 Buyers in the last 6 months who I’ve helped receive the IHFA $2,500 grant to help low income individuals buy their first home.
 

Single Father Purchasing a Bank Repossession

Brad worked at the post office on a fixed income.  With ongoing spousal and child support payments his income was limited.  He wanted a good size lot and two car garage within a reasonable commute to his work on Cole. Other Realtors had offered him new construction and resale homes, but nothing matched his needs and most was above his price range.   We first recommended a loan officer that gave him a lower cost loan than what his bank had offered.  Then, we searched bank repossessions, FSBOs, and foreclosures to find the best value.  We helped him bank repo home in Kuna for less than $82,000, under his budget.
 

Executive Couple Buying Their Dream Home

For four months, Jill and Dave traveled with me to Emmett, Caldwell, Parma, Garden Valley, and Star, looking for a home that was “not in a subdivision”, but that had great quality workmanship.  They did not want to be close to their neighbors.  They wanted at least an acre, yet they wanted to be within 35 minutes of downtown Boise.  Every other weekend we looked at homes, probably 15 to 20 in total.  They almost lost hope, when my assistant found a home that looked rather ordinary and had been pulled off the market.  I called the previous listing agent to inquire.  The home had be pulled off for re-financing reasons, but was still available.  Although it was a long shot, we took the time to cross it off the list.  Fortunately, it was exactly what they were looking for.  I helped them get VA financing that was $5,000 less than the previous good faith estimate they had received, then we proceeded to negotiate aggressively, achieving a purchase price of $250,000 price on a $265,000 home, including over $10,000 of renovations that were completed prior to closing.
 

Young Military Couple Buying New Construction 

Howard and Melanie, both Air Force, were new to Mountain Home.  After our first home offer was unrealistically countered by the Mountain Home listing agent, we walked away from the negotiation.  Immediately, my team redid the research and we found a builder to build a better home with a 3 car garage (instead of a 2 car in the previous home) for the same price we originally offered on the first home.  When listing agents are unrealistic, we don’t play that game.   There are terrific houses and builders who are willing to provide buyers what they need.  The home was built in 45 days, and the buyers chose the neighborhood, the floor plan, the colors, the materials, and finished the remainder of the home as they wanted in order to save even more money.

Living in a Van to Buying His First House

 

When Wayne came into my office, he was very dynamic.  I was surprised to say the least, when I found out he had been sleeping in his van for 5 years, saving up money to buy a house.  Now, before you think this guy was desperate or nutty, please know that that could not be further from the truth (Jay Leno lived out of his car for years as he was building his career).  Wayne knew he didn't want to pay rent.  He made a good living, but because of a divorce and because it took him a while to find a good paying career, he chose to sleep in his van (parked at a friend's house) rather than lose all his money paying rent.  When he saw that interest rates had hit historical lows, he called me up and we set about finding him a great value home.  Wayne drives a hard bargain (he owns three cars with no debt & all of them he got at great prices).  He had saved up plenty for a down payment.  He shopped hard for the best loan terms, and hopes to pay the home off in 6 years.  We found him a home, in Boise, with a 6+ car garage, over 2000 square feet, for under $140,000.  I helped him move in and he showed me the van he slept in for 5 years.  He says it's very comfortable and he's not sure if he's going to sleep inside or sleep in his van in his massive garage.

 

 

 

Seller Success Stories

 

Nampa Home Sold in an Overcrowded Entry-Level Marketplace

 

Greg and Kelly had listed their home with a good Nampa Windemere agent for 6 months.  They rarely heard from the agent, except when they called him.  And despite that agent's best efforts, they received no offers within 10% of their asking price.  They kindly let me attempt to sell their home.  The first thing I did was go through their vacant home and prepare it for showing.  When I looked at it, I could not believe the condition the previous agent had left it in.  The fan in the bathroom was stuck permanently on, the lawn was gnarled and overgrown, a bedroom door was leaning up against a wall off the hinges, the gate to the back yard was non-functioning and wide open, the home was generally messy, and there was a dead cat in the external storage building (no joke).  My friend Darel and I immediately remedied all those simple, yet unsightly issues in a few hours.   I found out unfortunately that it was the neighbor's cat (they wondered what had happened to it, but let me dispose of it).   We offered a lower commission rate than the Windemere agent, we promoted the home in both Harmon Homes and Homes&Land with full color ads, and 24 hour recorded information.  We received an all cash offer, avoiding appraisal and other related Seller closing costs, and got the home sold.  Greg and Kelly were very happy, to say the least.  As a result of that sale, the FSBO three houses down, who had been unable to sell their home for over 6 months, graciously listed their home with us.

 

 

Kuna Homeowner Behind on Payments Sells Home and Receives $1,000.

 

Troy lost his job working as a prison guard and had to move back to Nebraska with his family to find work.  He left his home vacant.  I started by mowing down his 3 foot weeds (and ruining my mower in the process).  I cleaned up the home and kept the lawn watered and mowed.  Even though he owed much more than the agreed to sales price, I negotiated with his lender for him to receive $1,000 after the sale.  Surprisingly, many Realtors are not familiar with the Federal program that provides a $1,000 incentive for Sellers who cooperate with a Lender's short sale.  The Federal Government, who insures loans, provides this program to promote Seller cooperation with the Lender because cooperation prevents the home from sitting idle, deteriorating, or going into the expensive process of foreclosure.  While Troy remained in Nebraska the whole time, we closed the sale and he was so glad to receive the $1,000.