I recently had the pleasure of working with Andreas & Monika-Bayer Guenther, originally from Germany and up until this past week, living in San Francisaco for the last 10 years. Andreas & Monika both work in the high-tech arena and really enjoy the work they do. Their story is one of precise timing and that timing is what led them to the home of their dreams on February 21st of 2008. In speaking with Andreas, he stated that he had been watching the market for the past six years and that they had really wanted to buy a house however the market just wasn’t settled enough for them to justify making a purchase, especially after the increase in the cost of housing from 2004-2006.
But it was when the economy finally slowed to a grinding halt these last 120 days where the trouble in the banking industries coupled with the over-abundance of homes sitting on the market caused Andreas to realize that there just might be some incredible deals out there. It was at that time that Andreas decided to work with a Real Estate Brokerage out of San Francisco that has a relationship with yours truly. After beingi ntroduced, we were off to the races and Concord was our targeted area. 40+ homes later……..
Andreas had spent these last six years saving the 20% for a down payment and he had also kept his credit scores at their highest possible limits, (in the 800 range). This rating, coupled with good income and good reserves allowed him to execute at the right time which was when the feds lowered the rate a half point for the second time in the month of January 2008.
And we all know that the fed rate has nothing whatsoever to do with first mortgages, however we also know that when this happened, the banks made some pretty good deals available to those who had the right criteria. Well, rates did drop substantially for a brief enough time for people to get in at anywhere from an astonishing 5.5% to 5.75% 30 year fixed rate .
It could be said that there was complete alignment for the Guenther’s: They found their dream home for 5% below those similarly in the same neighborhood and their appraisal came back at 5% above what they bought it for!! They got a great loan that allowed them to keep their monthly out of pocket expenses down so they could afford to go out and live normal lives and not have to live off of Microwavable Hot Pockets. They got the sellers to take care of all repaies and even got a credit toeward sclosing costs. In the end, they did what could only be done in a pure buyers market. They got it their way.
Understanding their financial picture and knowing what they could realistically afford is what allowed the Guenther’s the capability to even start to comprehend where they stood in this market. It is because of this type of behavior that they realized their dreams.
Standing in the kitchen with Andreas and Monika, Andreas stated that he never thought he would see himself standing where he waa at that moment, in his own kitchen, which has stainless steel appliances I might add!!
I had a great time working with the Guenther’s and congratulate them on doing their home work.
Darryll