Home sellers may require a 2 step loan pre-approval

Even though you are already approved for a loan, the listing agent for the home you are interested in may require you to go through the loan pre-approval process again, this time with their lender.

Listing agents often do this because they don't know your lender and want to make sure you truly can qualify for a loan.

The seller doesn't want to find out 3 weeks into escrow that you can't get a loan.

I personally do this 2 step approval process for all of my listings.

You would be surprised to see how many buyers don't pass the second approval process.

Can I use an alias when purchasing a property?

Name your trust whatever you want... Banana Trust... #LakeShow Trust... whatever you can think of.

Then when it comes time to buy a property, purchase the home under the trust name.

By doing that, the owner on record will show up as the name of your trust, and not your legal name.

This works if you want to buy under your LLC name as well.

You can buy a home under a secret name

Did you know that when you buy a home, you don't have to put the title of the property in your name?

If you have a living trust set up, you can buy the home under the name of the trust.

For example, if the name of your #trust is "Banana Family Trust", and you buy the home under your trust, the owner’s name on the title will appear as "Banana Family Trust" and not your legal name.

This also works if you buy the home under a #LLC.

Use this hack if you want to keep the purchase of your home a secret.

Why you should make sure you are all in on a property

As soon as escrow opens up on a property, the buyer has to wire over their deposit money.

The deposit is typically 3% of the purchase price of the home.

This 3% is held by the escrow company.

They hold on to the money just in case the buyer breaches the contract and the buyer and seller go to an arbitrator to decide who the money should be awarded to.

If the buyer backs out of the deal because of one of their contingencies (inspection, appraisal, loan), and they are within their contingency period, then the buyer gets their deposit back without any problems.

But if the buyer backs out of the deal, and all the contingencies have already been removed, that's when the seller can come after the buyer's deposit for damages they incurred.

An arbitrator will hear both sides of the story and ultimately decide who gets to keep the deposit money.

Changing your mind is not a home buying contingency

When buying a home, your offer will have a few contingencies written in the purchase agreement.

Here is 1 example of a contingency:

The purchase of the home is contingent upon the home passing your inspections.

If the home doesn't pass your inspections within your inspection contingency period, you can back out of the deal and get your 3% deposit back.

However, once you have removed all of your contingencies, you can't back out of the deal just because you wake up one day and decide you no longer want to buy the home.

If you do that, the buyers could come after your 3% deposit as damages.

Always remember, changing your mind about the purchase of a property is not a contingency.

Here's how to calculate the price per Sq. Ft. on your home

Get your calculators out!

Let’s say your home is 2,000 square feet and you want to sell it for $1,000,000.

To figure out your home’s price per square foot at that selling price is easy.

Plug into the calculator 1,000,000 (the asking price of the home) and divide it by 2,000 (the square footage of the home).

That equation equals 500 ($500 per square foot for the home).

Therefore, if your 2,000 square foot home sells at $1,000,000, the price per square foot for your home is $500.

How to calculate square footage cost

If you live in a condo, take a look at the price per square foot other units in your building have recently sold for.

That is one way to figure out what your unit is currently worth.

It's not as easy with a single-family home.

Unlike a condo, with a single-family home, you have to take the lot size into consideration as well.

Episode 33 of The #AskDanielLosAngeles Show

On this episode, I answer the following four real estate questions:

1) I'm looking online at homes for sale. They all list the price per square foot. What does $500 per square foot mean?

2) We are in the final stages of closing on a condo. We are just about a week away from closing escrow. I'm not really sure this is the right place for us anymore. What's the worst thing that can happen if we back out of the deal now?

3) When I purchase a home, do I have to put the title of the property in my name?

4) I put in an offer on a property, but the listing agent said I have to get pre-approved with their lender before the seller can accept my offer. Why do I have to go through that process if I already got pre-approved through my own lender?

We have ​almost 20,000 followers on Instagram... come join us @DanielLosAngeles!

My favorite Studio City home that's currently for sale

Asking price: $7,500,000

It's been on the market now for 53 days... I bet there will be a price reduction soon!

Once they hit the 60 days on market milestone, I'm guessing the price will drop down to $6,999,999.

What do you think they should reduce the price down to?

Most expensive home to sell this week in Burbank

2221 W. Clark Ave Burbank, CA 91506

Original List Price: $1,390,000
Sold Price: $1,099,999

This Magnolia Park home is the most expensive home to sell this week in Burbank.

3 bed, 1 bath, pool/ spa – detached guest home has 1 bed, 1 bath.

Do you think this was a good investment?

How long is the escrow period?

Buyers using cash to purchase a home typically close escrow in 7-14 days.

Buyers using a conventional loan to purchase a property (at least 5% down payment) typically close in 30 days.

Buyers using FHA loan to purchase a home (3.5% down payment) typically close escrow in 45 days.