FAQs

From start (searching online) to finish (closing escrow), buying a home takes about 10 to 12 weeks. Once a home is selected and the offer is accepted, the average time to complete the escrow period on a home is 30 to 45 days (under normal market conditions). Though, well-prepared home buyers who pay cash have been known to purchase properties faster than that. Market conditions are a major factor in how fast homes are sold. Lender turn-around times for loan underwriting can also slow down. If each party involved in a deal takes a day or two longer to get their work done, the entire process gets extended. Learn all about the home buying process with our free Buyer Packet.

• A buyer’s market is characterized by declining home prices and reduced demand. Several factors may affect long-term and short-term buyer demand, like: Economic disruption – a big employer shuts down operations, laying off their workforce.
• Interest rates trending higher – the amount of money people can borrow to buy a home is reduced because the cost of money is higher, thus reducing the total number of potential buyers in the market. Home prices drop to meet the level of demand and buyers find better deals.
• Short-term drop in interest rates – can give borrowers a temporary edge with more purchasing power before home prices can react to the recent interest rate changes.
• High inventory – a new subdivision and can create downward pressure on prices of older homes nearby, particularly if they lack highly desirable features (modern appliances, etc.)
• Natural disasters – a recent earthquake or flooding can tank property values in the neighborhood where those disruptions occurred.
• Learn all about the home buying process with our free Buyer Packet.

• If the built-up equity in your current home will be applied to the down payment on the new home, naturally the former will need to be sold first.
• Some home buyers decide to turn their current home into an investment property, renting it out. In that case, the current home will not need to be sold. However, your loan advisor will still need to evaluate your risk profile and credit history to determine whether making a loan on a new home is feasible while retaining title to the old home.
• Buyers often have a short time frame to sell their current home when relocating to a new city because of a job transfer. If you are moving but taking a position with the same employer, check to see if they offer relocation assistance to help offset some of the costs.

The selling price of a house fluctuates depending on multiple factors. The most common ones are the neighborhood and what similar-sized houses are currently selling for. Also, look at the age and condition. Do major repairs need to be done? If so, that might lower the property. And again, the market matters. Like everything else, home prices vary depending on supply and demand. Your job as a realtor is to best inform your clients about these different factors and accurately list their houses.

As an Armas agent you can expect a committed team of professionals and a broker who is passionate about their agent’s success and well-being. Working in real estate is so much more than the industry of selling and buying houses, it is one in which we become trusted advisors and confidants to our customers. We aim to create a workplace in which our agents’ mental, emotional, and financial well-being is at the front and center of our business endeavors. We understand that by taking care of our agents we are also ensuring the well-being of all of our customers. To accomplish this, our management team has created an exhaustive training platform that stretches far beyond the first few transactions. We have created systems and processes that are easy to adopt and execute regardless of the experience level of our agents. We take great pride in the boutique experience. You can always be sure that you will have direct access to our broker and receive a well-thought-out and researched response within 24 business hours.

To create a brokerage that ensures the firm’s continual success yet does not unnecessarily charge fees that stretch beyond our direct influence we adopted the 100% commission system. Our fees are simple and always communicated and easy to find in our Agent Resource Center. To sign up, as of February 2022 the fee is $450. This includes the first month’s $100 monthly brokerage fee. For new agents, the first three transactions are 50/50. At every step of the agent’s journey, personal attention and personalized mentoring are available. As a new agent, you do not have to fear meeting with your very first buyer and sellers alone. Your assigned mentor will be there to hold your hand and ensure that you understand the Armas way of performing Buyer, Seller, and Investor Consultations. These fees also include all of the marketing material and systems necessary to conduct your business, in the exclusion of the fees due to DBPR & the Association of Realtors.

The specific path an investor will take is dependent on the individuals’ personal financial profile and investment objectives. In general, an investor can expect to need anywhere between 10% to 35% for the downpayment of their investment property. In some instances, an investor may need as little as 3.5% down to acquire their first property. To ensure we never put you in a difficult situation we like to estimate the total closing costs at 4% of the property value. Depending on the objectives, the investor may need to also take into account the costs of managing the property. Depending if the property is being used for short or long term, the investor can estimate the costs to range from 10% of the gross monthly rent for long-term rentals to 18% nightly rate for short-term rentals.

The benefits of owning real estate are many. Well-documented studies have proven countless times the immense mental and familial benefits associated with owning the home you live in. Some studies have shown positive correlations between students’ performance and their parent’s homeownership status. Showing that students who live in a home owned by their parents outperform their peers whose parents do not own real estate. Another benefit is generational wealth. In many well-documented studies, the racial wealth gap in the United States between the average White American family and the average Black American family has been attributed to property ownership and the long-lasting effects of Jim Crow laws and segregation in the 1900s. Furthermore, on an investor level, the depreciation that an investor may be able to write off in their taxes, the management of the property, and the long-term appreciation potential, of one of the only investments that have an intrinsic value, is just a few of a long list of benefits. Data shows that in the long term, depending on the length of time allotted, real estate appreciation outperforms even the appreciation of precious metals and especially any of the stocks available in the stock market. In conclusion, real estate ownership is arguably one of the safest forms of investment available in the United States and one that is not likely to go away any time soon. In the words of Mark Twain, “Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.”