Buying a Home in San Diego

When I began thinking about opening up my own real estate company in 2008, I wanted a name that would be meaningful and easy to remember. 'Gramm Realty' certainly was an option, but there are other Gramms in real estate in other parts of the world, and I wanted something unique. My wife and I brainstormed for days, weeks, even months before we finally found a name that fit all the characteristics: Globella.

Why Globella?

'Bella' means 'beautiful' in Italian and Spanish.

'Globus' is Latin for 'sphere' (and the German word, 'globus' also means 'globe' or 'world').

When you put the two together, they become 'Globella,' and that stands for 'Beautiful World.'

Why is this meaningful? Ever since I've been old enough to remember, I've always been in awe of the beautiful world we live in. I was born in the lake-filled state of Minnesota. I grew up in the desert of Arizona. I've hiked the amazing Grand Canyon in Arizona and been to Waimea Canyon in Kauai, Hawaii. I've visited the Austrian Alps, where my wife was born and raised. I've been lucky enough to have seen the glaciers of Alaska, camped alongside Lake Powell, driven the back country of upstate New York, and felt the mist from Niagara Falls. I've snowboarded the mountains of Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Nevada, California, Arizona, Austria, British Columbia, and Alberta. I've driven cross-country from Bloomington, IL to San Diego, CA in a college-friend's "project Jeep" without stopping to sleep. I've studied physics, upper-level mathematics, biology, chemistry, and human anatomy and physiology. In all these experiences, there is one thing that I can't deny: The world we live in is an absolutely phenomenal place. Whoever put it here is a lot smarter and more amazing than any person I've ever met. In naming my company Globella I give credit where credit's due (to the One who made it all), and I hope that the homes that my clients buy are small symbols of the beautiful world we call home. A home is a place of refuge and shelter. My hope is that Globella clients find a home that allows them to experience and enjoy the miracle of life. OK, now that I've laid my heart on my sleeve... here are a few photos my family and I have taken that inspire me.

Sunset in Rosarita, Mexico.

Sunset in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Bald Eagle in Alaska.

Alaska.

Storm Clouds Rolling into the Dominican Republic.

Sunrise on Road Trip to Arizona from San Diego.

Shamu!

Pismo Beach, California.

Pacific Beach, Mission Bay, and Mission Beach in San Diego.

Giraffe at The San Diego Zoo.

Downtown San Diego Skyline (we rented a ski boat and had a blast in the harbor!).

Kauai Coastline.

Snowboarding in Obertauern, Austria (one hour from Salzburg).

Our motto is 'Beautiful Home. Beautiful World.' We truly believe that San Diego is a wonderful place to call home, and we enjoy our jobs helping San Diego's home buyers!

I received this email today from a prospective client I spoke with a couple months ago. One thing that's important for people to understand is that our philosophy is to counsel people to make the best decisions for themselves. As many new clients as I work with in a year, I am pretty sure that I encourage just as many (or more) prospective clients to wait and save up money. The email below is a good reminder of the service we provide to San Diego home buyers, even when we're not helping them buy.

"Hello Justin,
When we talked in November, you gave me many good points to ponder, and I went back and forth about the home purchase for quite some time.  My girlfriend and I have come to a fairly firm decision that this isn't the time for us to purchase.  You convinced me that we need to collect more cash before we can honestly consider buying.  I really do appreciate you taking the time to speak with me, it was very informative and kind of put things in perspective about trying to save up 20% for down payment and closing costs.  If we ever do decide to buy you will definitely be our agent of choice.  I very much like the idea of working with an exclusive buying agent [I prefer to be called an "exclusive buyer agent", but he wrote "exclusive buying agent"], and we will be in contact when we have a bit more capital saved.  Thanks again."

I would like to clarify that I don't tell people that they should put 20% down. Many of my clients have put down as little as 3.5% (and my military clients many times finance the whole purchase with a 100% VA loan). However, many of my clients do put 20% down (or pay all cash), and I find that these clients tend to be the ones who are less worried about making their monthly mortgage payment. There's no need to rush into buying a home. In fact, it's a really bad idea to rush into a home purchase. It's a huge investment (and many times it's not really an investment... just a huge purchase)! You should take your time, figure out your finances, and make sure you understand the marketplace before you dive in. I am always available for questions, and I take pride in being a resource and a sounding board for San Diego home buyers, so feel free to shoot me an email if there's anything you need.

If you are planning to buy a home in the San Diego area in the next couple months, there's a good chance that you will come across short sale and foreclosure (bank-owned) listings. While it's important that you are educated about how these types of listings differ from traditional listings, it's also crucial that you hire a buyer agent who is up-to-date and knowledgeable about these listings. Just as I wouldn't recommend you learn to speak German from someone who doesn't speak the language, I wouldn't recommend that you hire a buyer agent who doesn't fully understand how you may be affected by short sale and foreclosure listings during your San Diego home search.

The National Association of REALTORS® has created a new specialty certification (called the SFR designation - "SFR" stands for Short Sale and Foreclosure Resource). To earn the certification, a real estate agent must (1) be a member in good standing of the National Association of REALTORS®, (2) attend a one-day (all day) short sale and foreclosure seminar, (3) complete three one-hour short sale and foreclosure webinars online, and (4) submit an application to REBAC (a division of the National Association of REALTORS® - REBAC stands for Real Estate Buyer's Agent Council).

I decided to apply for this certification in December 2009, and so the first thing I did was pay the $79 for an all-day seminar in Phoenix, AZ. This worked out well for me, because I grew up in Phoenix. Most of my immediate family still lives in Phoenix, and my wife and I were planning to be there for a few days before the Christmas holiday. I was able to take the all-day course in Gilbert, AZ the Friday before Christmas. The class was taught by the Hogan School of Real Estate.

During the all-day class (entitled, "Short Sales and Foreclosures: What Real Estate Professionals Need to Know"), we went through a 73-page manual that covered just about everything you would ever want to know about short sales and foreclosures. Many of the topics we discussed were review for me (because I have represented many San Diego buyers over the last few years on short sale and foreclosure purchases, and one learns a lot just by going through that process multiple times). However, there were many great topics that came up, and I definitely learned a substantial amount.  I wouldn't want to bore you with everything we discussed in the all-day class (or every topic covered in the three hours of webinars I listened to), but I will let you know that if there is something to be known about short sales and foreclosures, I should probably know it by now! I always take time to review short sales and foreclosures with each new client I begin working with (I prefer to discuss this topic with my clients before we even begin to look at properties. See my other post regarding the Globella Buyer Strategy Session.).

If you are planning to purchase a home in San Diego this year, you need to decide if you are going to be open to looking at short sales and/or foreclosures. An SFR-certified agent can help walk you through the positives and negatives of each scenario, which will save a you a lot of time and frustration.

Jon Ringger of Riggalicious Design recently designed some new business cards for Globella Buyers Realty (he also designed our logo when we founded Globella). Jon is a great guy, a creative designer, and the price was right!

Here's how the front looks:

Here's how the back looks: