Individual Real Estate Agents vs. Real Estate Teams


There are many benefits to working with a real estate team over an individual agent. I will go over the top three benefits today.


There are many benefits to working with a real estate team versus an individual agent. I would like to share a few of those benefits with you today.

First of all, you get specialization. For example, if you are looking to buy a home, we have agents that only work with buyers. When they wake up in the morning, all they do is search for homes for you. They look at traditional sources, like the MLS, and also look into pocket listings that may not be available to you online. Buyer’s agents will also canvass neighborhoods that you’re interested in to find sellers that might not have listed yet.

 We also have agents that specialize in listings. Listing agents wake up and work hard to sell your home. They optimize your home for search engines, make sure you get professional photographs of your home, and work with buyer’s agents to negotiate the best terms for you.
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Real estate teams provide specialization.

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The second benefit of working with a team is time. Everybody needs a day off now and then. If you work with an individual agent who takes the day off, you are adding time to your home search or home sale. By working with a team, if your agent takes the day off, someone else will be available to help you. That way, you get more one-on-one time to help you find the right home or sell your current one.

 Finally, real estate teams have more resources. Our team has a dedicated marketing division that works with buyers and sellers full time. We also have a transaction coordinator and listing coordinator; they work to keep you informed throughout your transaction. The transaction coordinator and listing coordinator also create a more efficient real estate transaction.

 If you have any other questions about working with a real estate team, give us a call or send us an email. My team and I would be happy to help you!

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Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA

3 Major Mistakes Buyers Make


Buyers keep making the same mistakes over and over. Here are three things you should avoid doing if you’re in the market to buy a home.


Buyers tend to all make the same major mistakes when going through the home buying process. Here are the three biggest mistakes they make and how you can avoid making them yourself.

 1. Refusing to confide in a trusted advisor. An agent is similar to an attorney in this transaction. They are representing you and acting on your behalf and in your best interest. They have a fiduciary obligation to you but many times, buyers withhold information from them because they are fearful of how they will be perceived, they believe they have all the answers, and they don’t believe the buyer’s agent is important. We often see buyers jumping around to work with different agents when looking at different properties, but we think it’s a better idea to find one agent you trust from the beginning and stick with them.

 2. Altering their financial picture. Going out and making a big purchase before the close of escrow is a huge mistake. When you go out and purchase appliances or furniture on credit, it alters your debt-to-income ratio and could affect your FICO score as well. This could cause you to miss out on the home. Wait until the home closes to make these kinds of purchases.
3. Buying the wrong home. A lot of buyers don’t take the time to make a list of the things that are most important to them in a home. These could be things like the home’s proximity to your daycare or office, or what the neighborhood is like. It’s important to make that list beforehand so you can share it with your buyer’s agent and they can do their due diligence in ensuring the home you’re buying is everything you want it to be.
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I hope this answers some of your questions.

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 I hope this answers some of your questions about buying a home. If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

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Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA

All Signs Point to a Market Correction in the near Future



Below is a graph of the San Francisco Housing Affordability Index. This market area has been a good leading indicator of the overall health of the U.S. Housing Market, since it is located close to both China and Silicon Valley. Historically, once this index drops below 15%, a market correction soon followed. The California Association of Realtors indicated that the Traditional Housing Affordability Index for the 2nd Quarter of 2016 for San Francisco was 13%, Marin County was 18% and San Mateo was 14%.



If there is one thing I can predict for sure, it’s that market conditions are constantly changing. Historically, we can see that any time the housing affordability index fell below 15% for the San Francisco market a correction in housing prices soon followed.

The NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® affordability index measures whether or not a typical family could qualify for a mortgage loan on a typical home. A typical home is defined as the national median-priced, existing single-family home as calculated by NAR. The typical family is defined as one earning the median family income as reported by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The prevailing mortgage interest rate is the effective rate on loans closed on existing homes from the Federal Housing Finance Board. These components are used to determine if the median income family can qualify for a mortgage on a typical home. Any significant increase in mortgage interest rates will have a severe negative impact on housing affordability.

DO NOT WAIT CALL THE MOWERY GROUP AT 951-313-1746 FOR YOUR FREE HOME EQUITY ANALYSIS.

The correction is already happening in other markets. In a recent CNBC article the Miami housing market the average sales price has fallen 7.5%.

Now, this prediction is based upon the current lending standards. If the government and banks loosened credit standards like they did in 2005 and 2006, they could fuel a further increase in the housing market. However, this is highly unlikely since the government is still paying for the last bailout.

If you are worried about losing your low property tax rate, you may be eligible to transfer your base year value to your new home using Proposition 60 or 90. Proposition 60 and 90 allows you to transfer your lower property tax rate to another property. Click here for more information. 

Why choose the Mowery Group?

Donald L. Mowery, II is a top producing Real Estate Broker and Certified Residential Appraiser, specializing in serving the Foothill Communities of Southern California for over 26 years.

Mr. Mowery has also completed retrospective and current market value appraisals, rental surveys, and reports related to the impact of damages to real property. He has authored numerous articles for newspapers and journals including the Inland Daily Bulletin, Redlands Daily Facts, and The 909 Magazine.

Regarding his real estate transactions, he has successfully completed multi-millions in sales of both residential and commercial transactions including short/distress sales and marital dissolution sales.


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Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA

Why Do You Need an Agent When Buying a New Construction Home?



Why do you need to use an agent when purchasing a new construction home?

 The first advantage is that we can be your resource. We have all the new home developments in the area, and we can be your resource center to help get right price range in the home that you’re looking for. This will save you the trouble of driving around the neighborhood a few hundred times.

 We want to be your partner who walks hand-in-hand with you through the entire process and be able to answer any questions you may have. Many times, for instance, buyers don’t understand the details of special assessments and the Mello-Roos tax. In Southern California, the property tax rate typically runs from 1.1% to 1.2%. However, in some of the newly-constructed developments, we’ve seen tax rates as high as 2% of your purchase price.
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We can be your resource center.

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In addition, there are private transfer fees to consider. Sometimes a builder will contractually stipulate that if you sell the home in the future, you’ll have to pay as much as .5% on the resale.

These are many questions buyers simply don’t understand or don’t think to ask during a new construction home purchase. Then they end up signing an agreement that they also don’t fully understand. Let us be your partner in this process and make sure this doesn’t happen, whether you’re buying a new or existing home.

 If you have any more questions, please give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to talk with you.
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Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA

The Best Way to Invest in Rancho Cucamonga Property



Have you ever considered long-term real estate investment?

Flipping is not the only way to be an investor in Rancho Cucamonga. In addition, residential rentals are a great way to save for retirement, because rents will continue to rise by about 2 to 3% per year. Here’s a quick example.

Say we purchase a $150,000 home with a 25% down payment and gross rent of $1,200 per month. Annually, gross income comes in at $14,400, but we have to deduct some for vacancy and collections, which is estimated at 5% or $720. Or effective annual gross income comes after subtracting operating expenses like property taxes, insurance, yard work, water, sewer, repairs, or management expenses. These costs can equal about 8% to 10% of the gross rent.


This would give us our net operating income of $10,605. If we divide that by our sales price, we have a return of 7.07%, but it gets better. Let’s look at our cash-on-cash. If you actually divide the net operating income by the down payment, you would be getting a 21% return on your investment! 

The good thing about this is that it’s very measurable, and it’s consistent. It’s much easier to predict than the stock market. This doesn’t even consider if the value of the home appreciates, which could add even further to your investment.

If you’re looking to get into real estate investment or to buy a home, give us a call. We’d love to work with you!
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Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA

What’s the Key to Buying and Selling Success in Rancho Cucamonga?



If you plan on buying or selling real estate, should you hire a team to help you or should you work with a single agent? 

 Working with a team is important because it gives you the best shot at accomplishing your real estate goals. If you’re a buyer and you’re looking for a home, a buyer’s agent with a team behind them has the time and energy to dedicate solely to finding you the right home. Every morning, they are scouring the MLS for homes that match your preferences and setting appointments on your behalf. 

 If you work with an individual agent when buying, that agent is going to be busy taking listings and doing paperwork for other clients. As a result, they will be unable to be as attentive to the MLS and might miss the perfect home once it’s added. Rather than spending every moment looking for the home that meets your specifications, a solo agent is going to be so overwhelmed you’ll be lucky to find much of anything.


When you’re selling, a listing agent with a team behind them will have the freedom to work solely on your behalf. They will not be busy representing buyers and doing tedious paperwork, like a solo agent will be. Teams have the benefit of having highly specialized positions to ensure that each part of every real estate transaction is handled well and in a timely manner. For instance, our team has a marketing specialist whose only job is to maximize your listing’s online presence and get it in front of as many potential buyers as possible. 

 Our team also has a dedicated transaction coordinator who takes care of all the paperwork in a real estate transaction. There is a lot of it, and many solo agents get so buried in paperwork and stuff that should be handled behind the scenes that they are unable to fully serve their clients. Today’s market is awfully complex, which makes it all the more crucial that you hire a highly specialized team to handle your real estate needs.

 If you have any additional questions about what makes a team better than an individual agent, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!
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Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA

What to Know About VA Loans in Rancho Cucamonga



Today, I’ll discuss the scoop about purchasing a home using a VA Loan in the surrounding area. How do you get those offers accepted? How do VA loans look in the eyes of a seller or a listing agent, compared to a different type of loan?

 Several years ago, VA loans were frowned upon if you were a seller or listing agent. Back then, sellers would incur additional costs on behalf of the veteran if they accepted a VA home loan. Fortunately, those days are behind us and a lot of changes have been made in this realm to ensure sellers don’t incur any additional costs. That’s helped VA buyers become more competitive in the marketplace.


It’s an incredible opportunity if you qualify, for a few reasons. Rates are lower than conventional loans. The credit underwriting process is a lot more lenient. The overall monthly payment will be lower compared to a different loan. You can also get a loan with 100% financing, which doesn't require a down payment.

 Today, in the eyes of the seller, this loan will present an identical offer to any other type of loan. The only thing you can’t negotiate on a VA loan is the termite report, which is required to not only conduct, but to pass. The seller has to pay for this, and that’s standard for California real estate.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in Rancho Cucamonga, give me a call or send me an email at your earliest convenience. I’d be happy to talk with you, answer your questions, and serve your local real estate needs.
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Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA

What Can You Negotiate During a Rancho Cucamonga Home Sale?



When you’re buying or selling a home in Rancho Cucamonga, what can be negotiated? Most people think of price, but just about everything in a real estate contract can be negotiated.

For instance, you can negotiate the amount of time to complete inspections. If there’s something that concerns you as a buyer, you can ask for more time to finish inspections. You might want to ask for a termite inspection in addition to the standard home inspection. As a seller, if you’ve already disclosed all the problems in the home, you can set stricter deadlines for inspections.

You can also negotiate on when you close escrow. Typically, most home sales close in 30 days, but you could close in 90 days or more depending on the agreement.


Another contract term that needs to be negotiated is repairs. Which repairs will be done? Who is going to pay for them? These are important questions to consider and contemplate.

Finally, you can also negotiate on possession, in other words, when you get the keys. Typically, the buyer receives the keys at the close of escrow. However, you have the ability to work around this if you need to.

For example, we recently listed a home where Zillow said the value was $665,000. We listed the property at $699,000 and sold it for $740,000. Not only did we negotiate a great price, but we also were able to allow the seller to remain in the property for three months after closing at no cost to them.

If you have any questions on today’s video, or about real estate in general, just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!
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Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA

How Can Overpricing Your Rancho Cucamonga Home Ruin Your Home Sale?



If you're thinking about selling, the worst possible thing you can do is price your home too high. In order to avoid having your home sit on the market for an extended period of time as a result of overpricing it, keep the following things in mind:

  • Agents want your listing. Many real estate agents will tell you what you want to hear in order to get you to sign the listing agreement. Once you've signed it and the home has been sitting on the market for a while, they're going to ask you for a price reduction. It's crucial to work with a knowledgeable agent who knows the market and who can set your home's price right in the beginning.
  • The direction of home prices. If prices are dropping, you want to be aware of that and price your home accordingly. Your home will scare buyers away if you price high in a falling market. The same goes for a rising market -- ask for more than you would in a normal market in order to take advantage of the trend!
  • Days on market. Your agent should provide you with a good market analysis. Not only should you look at days on market of the comps, but also homes that are still selling around you!
  • The importance of price for online listings. Ninety-two percent of buyers only wait so long for the price to drop before giving up on your listing entirely. If the price is too high, buyers won't even click on the listing, let alone give it a chance in person!


If you have any questions about how you can price your home correctly, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We have a great deal of experience in the Rancho Cucamonga market, and would love to help you get your home sold quickly and for top dollar!
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Location: Rancho Cucamonga, CA, USA
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