Preventing a Nightmare Home Buying Experience

Pat Worrell, Rick Oelkers, Jim Kernan

I purchased my first home almost four years ago. I won’t say the experience was a Nightmare, but it could easily qualify as a bad dream. The issues I experienced were directly related to my underestimating the process of buying a home. 

Today I attended a Home Buyer and Seller Workshop sponsored by Coldwell Banker Preferred’s Media office and conducted by Pat Worrell. Since I already own, I was initially reluctant to attend but for the purposes of letting you know what went on I showed up as a reporter. It wasn’t long before I was digging into the information and asking questions like the others who were considering making their first purchase.

Four years ago, banks and finance companies were giving away mortgages to anyone with a pulse. I did have good credit and a few dollars squirreled away but if I knew then what I learned today I could have really made out a lot better.

With refinance rates being as attractive as they are, I’m now in a position to consider getting rid of that bad mortgage and replacing it with something more reasonable. Today’s workshop put me on the path to understand what I really need to do to make that happen.

Unlike most home buying fairs which are just events set up for various vendors to hand out their flyers, the Coldwell Banker seminar was extremely rich in information that a buyer must have based on the most up to date information on the market. The questions from the attendees were thoroughly answered by the panel who took all the time they needed to make sure we understood what we needed to know. 

The three people on the panel were Worrell as a realtor agent, Rick Oelkers, a credit consultant from Credit Mindset, and Jim Kernan, Mortgage Advisor for PHH Preferred Mortgage. 

Worrell stressed the importances of hiring a competent agent to represent you before you begin the process of buying a house. Buying a home is as much a personal decision as it is a business decision so you should connect with a agent who understands the business side of home buying and make sure they are protecting you and meeting your objectives in the process. In layman’s terms, hiring an agent when you buy a house is no different than hiring an agent if you are a professional athlete. You look around until you are satisfied that the person representing you can deliver. We also learned that if you see a house you like and the first thing you do is call the number on the lawn sign, you already made your first mistake. That’s the job of your agent. 

Rick Oelkers explained how consultive credit repair works. His company is familiar with the credit scores you need to obtain certain mortgages and loans. If, for example, you simply need to hit a certain mark to get a FHA loan, he will only work on your credit to get you to that point as fast as possible. He explained how so many credit repair companies charge you hundreds of dollars to simply send letters to companies disputing your credit. These practices don’t necessarily improve your score although you believe you are getting the help you need. Rick shared that in many cases just a 5 or 10 point improvement on a credit score can save you tens of thousands of dollars in interest payments.

Jim Kernan said that even though he works for a mortgage company, he always gets two other quotes when he’s ready to buy. Rick jumped in and explained that if you get many mortgage quotes within a set period of time you are only charged once on your credit report.

Jim explained how that even in these times of so-called tougher qualifications for mortgages, anyone can still obtain a mortgage and with rates being at historic lows and housing pricing being very attractive, this is the time to qualify. 

Traditional, FHA, 203K, or VA loans all have different qualifications and he shared the basic information for them all. And don’t worry, Jim says that the vast majority of people are not making a 20% deposit and still getting attractive rates. 

Nearly 75% of the seminar dealt with the above issues before Worrell touched on topics including inspections, appraisals, contracts, closing, etc. 

Stay tuned for future dates when this seminar will be offered again. If you are serious about buying or selling a home or refinancing, I highly recommend that you attend this free session. 

This comprehensive information is not found anywhere and it can turn a renter into a buyer, a doubter into a believer and a nightmare experience into a dream home.