HOME Buyer REVIEW: “Having the right agent who can use their tricks of the trade-in your favor can dramatically change your experience."

Srinivas

Program Manager, Privacy at Google

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I want to say that home buying is not simple, and it is more than complicated for first-time buyers. Having the right agent who can use their tricks of the trade-in your favor can dramatically change your experience. I had briefly worked with a couple of other agents who claimed to get me the best home for the cheapest price and was unsuccessful.

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I am sure there are many positive reviews about Amar and his team accomplishing unbelievable deals for his clients (getting an offer accepted even if it's not the highest one, thus saving them money). Well, my experience is a bit different, because it is not just unbelievable but it is simply MIRACULOUS.

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The story begins with me in the market for a house in the bay area with a meager budget. Yes, I soon realized that I underestimated two things: i) prices of houses in the bay area and ii) the market's competitiveness with houses going $50-100k above listing price. One of my friends told me that choosing the right agent is very important and referred Amar to me. The next day I found myself on a Zoom call with Amar, who diligently explained the details of the home buying process. The agents I worked with had not given me such detailed information even after meeting them a couple of times. Amar has an IT background, which seems to have made him a very planned and process-oriented person. When Amar explained the planned approach to different owners at different stages of the home buying process, it was easy to understand, as some IT project plans (I am from IT too).

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The first step is to identify the houses on the market that you like. Then Amar and Sri will do a technical (structural rigidity, clear title, violations or litigations, or any other critical issues with the house, etc.) and value analysis (good neighborhood, convenient shopping places, cultural fit within the area, school district, community, appreciation, rentability, etc.) on the house. They guide you on whether it is a good idea to pursue the house or not. Suppose they suggest that a certain home is not a good fit, and you decide to pursue it anyway. In that case, they will decline to be your agents for that house because they know you will end up unhappy with the purchase later, and they want to always see their clients happy. This was surprising since many agents are more worried about making the deal happen to earn commission than about the client's happiness.

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Fast forward to my purchase, I had selected a few houses, and Sri explained why one particular house stood out as the best place to invest from a long-term perspective as well as a short-term perspective. We decided to make an offer after our due diligence. However, my budget was still falling short of the competition in the hot market, and we went ahead and made an offer. Unfortunately, the seller's highest bid was about $30k more than mine. I was on the verge of quitting the home buying idea. The next day, Amar called me and told me that our offer was accepted! I was happy for sure, but I was filled with the questions: How did this happen? Why did the seller choose a lower offer? The answer to all that was Amar and Sri. They had created a solid profile for me, and they had worked with the listing Agent multiple times in the past. Amar showcased his confidence in closing the Relocation deal than those who made higher offers. The RELOCATION COMPANY transaction is completely different from the RE-SALE transaction in many ways. Many Agents don't have the skills to do such a transaction due to its complexity, legal nature, and documentation. This technically saved me $30k (the gap between my offer and the highest one).

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All that was good, except there was a risk of an appraisal gap. The appraisal came in, and there was a gap of $30k. Let me take a pause here and remind the reader of this review. Many of Amar's clients have said that he got them the house they wanted even though their offer was not the highest, so this is something Amar has done time and again. What he did for my case totally blew my mind! Amar negotiated with the sellers to reduce the purchase price by the amount equivalent to the appraisal gap!!! Note that this is after the offer acceptance and when we are in-contract. When he told me this over the phone, I was not just ecstatic but was again filled with the same questions: How? Why? Is this even possible? The answer to all these questions was Amar's efforts behind the scene. When I asked Amar over the phone, he said, "My friend, working hard for you is my job. You relax and enjoy the benefits." God works in mysterious ways, and he worked through Amar for me. This saved me another $30k, and I was well within my budget and did not feel financially stretched anymore. This was no less than a miracle. My whole family and friends who knew about the deal were pleasantly surprised and shocked at Amar's ability to make miracles happen for his clients!

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It is important to note that reducing the purchase price impacts Amar's earnings from the sale. Yet, Amar pulled off this miracle without thinking twice about his own income.

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The next steps of the process were document-heavy because a Relocation company was handling the transaction from the seller's side. In such cases, there are tons of extra documentation involved. Amar took all the load and came to me just for signatures. Signatures were all I did in the entire process.

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Amar has a team of lenders, home insurance agents, home warranty agents, etc., who contact you at the relevant steps of the process to get your details and make their side of the documents available to close the escrow on time. I shopped around for all these services and ultimately ended up with the ones from Amar's team because they offered the most cost-benefit ratio. They also remain in sync with Amar on the purchase's progress and ensure their side of things are aligned for a timely close of escrow.

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Surprisingly, I have not met Amar/Sri or anyone from their team in person, yet they have executed a miracle!

I hope this review is helpful to those embarking on their home buying journey!

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#AmarRealtor #HousingMarket