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Real estate agents in NYC


Jesse Flaitz

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Hopefully this is a good place to post this I'm not really sure.  I have somewhat limited connections to people who have purchased apartments in NYC and I'm hoping to use what resources I have to find a good real estate agent to help me in buying a place.

 

If anyone has any recommendations either from personal experience, or from friends/family experience, I'd really appreciate it.  Please PM here or send an email to jessef at pedanticsound dot net.

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! 

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Jesse,

 

I'm a licensed Real Estate/Mortgage Broker in CA. I can answer any questions you may have and give you some good tips to make the entire process successful.

 

1. For starters, I would recommend getting qualified for a loan before you get an agent. In fact, you should pull your own credit report and use that to shop around for a lender in your area. By pulling your own credit report you accomplish two things: 1) since it's not a "hard pull" it won't affect your credit score 2) you won't fall victim to the typical lender game of "I need to pull your credit in order to quote you a rate and complete your loan application". Most lenders know that if they pull your credit your more likely to complete the transaction with them out of fear of having someone else pull it and thus lowering your score. When that happens you lose your control/leverage and thus set yourself up for bait and switch. 

 

2. Once you found a lender then have them issue you a pre-qualification letter. Any Realtor is going to want to see this letter before they spend their own time/money showing you properties. Be cautious of Realtors who push you towards their "loan officer". In most cases they may be getting a "kick-back" in which case they aren't really putting your interests ahead of their own. It isn't uncommon for a Realtor to recommend their loan officer however they should also respect your decision to continue shopping for other lenders so that you get a competitive offer. If they are fine with this then you can feel a bit better about their moral compass.

 

3. This may sound obvious but you want to have a mortgage payment that you feel comfortable with. Don't be pressured into maxing out your loan limit. Yes, you do find nicer places when you increase your sales price however you want to enjoy the place and not have the constant fear of defaulting on your mortgage.

 

 

I can go on and on about this stuff but I'll leave you these 3 points to start chewing on.  

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Thanks so much for the advice Michael I'll definitely take what you said to heart and maybe send a message or two if I have questions.

@Max haha, well it was a pretty good one, but it's amazing what you can do when you are single with no kids and no student loans over your head. It's also my retirement, I've been somewhat vocal about my feelings on the stock market and I'd prefer to not base my future on a rigged game. So real estate it is.

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I figured I'd update this for all freelance peoples looking to purchase.  I didn't do the most basic thing of simply calling my bank and seeing what I would be able to swing financially for a loan.  Here is some important information.

 

For self employed people, your bank will look at your net income after all tax deductions for the past two years and average them.  That means your income after tax and after all travel, equipment, rent, food etc. deductions.  If you are anything like me, that is a significant portion of your income (especially when the past two years are your first two years as a business).

 

It makes complete sense from a loaning point of view, but hurts a lot when you are looking to buy.  Anyway, I'll bump this thread somewhere around 2016 haha.  Thanks again for the help and advice.

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I figured I'd update this for all freelance peoples looking to purchase.  I didn't do the most basic thing of simply calling my bank and seeing what I would be able to swing financially for a loan.  Here is some important information.

 

For self employed people, your bank will look at your net income after all tax deductions for the past two years and average them.  That means your income after tax and after all travel, equipment, rent, food etc. deductions.  If you are anything like me, that is a significant portion of your income (especially when the past two years are your first two years as a business).

 

It makes complete sense from a loaning point of view, but hurts a lot when you are looking to buy.  Anyway, I'll bump this thread somewhere around 2016 haha.  Thanks again for the help and advice.

Don't sound so hopeless yet. 

 

 

First: As part of the income qualifying process for self-employed people it is without a doubt essential, and legal, to add back a good portion of deductions. You see, people are allowed to depreciate the full dollar amount of gear they purchase or spread that amount over a course of 5 years, in which case the gear technically becomes fully depreciated and worthless, from an IRS point of view. Most people tend to choose the full dollar amount which will ultimately lower your taxable income and get you one step closer to not owing Uncle Sam. However, from a lending perspective the lenders understand that you're not going to buy a NOMAD or LECTRO wireless every single year so they ALLOW you to add the "depreciation amount" on your taxes back into your qualifying income. For some people that makes the difference between qualifying for a loan and not. 

 

Second: If the person at the bank didn't know about this then I really question their expertise in handling one of the BIGGEST FINANCIAL DECISIONS you will ever make!! 

 

If you feel comfortable sending me your info then I'll tell you for certain whether you can qualify for financing or not.  Again, I'm not licensed in your state so I can't originate a loan for you, just provide you with info that you can then take to the next lender/Realtor you speak to so you don't come of as easy prey/money. I'm not saying all people in this business are out to steal from you (after all, I'm in that business), it's just that some of us are in it to help other people and others are in it strictly for the money!

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