Stuart Rubin’s real estate market advices? Looking for a home before applying for a mortgage. Many first-time buyers make the mistake of viewing homes before ever getting in front of a mortgage lender. In some markets, housing inventory is still tight because there’s more buyer demand than affordable homes on the market. And in a competitive market, you could lose a property if you aren’t preapproved for a mortgage, says Alfredo Arteaga, a loan officer with Movement Mortgage in Mission Viejo, California. How this affects you: You might get behind the ball if a home hits the market you love. You also might look at homes that, realistically, you can’t afford. What to do instead: “Before you fall in love with that gorgeous dream house you’ve been eyeing, be sure to get a fully underwritten preapproval,” Arteaga says. Being preapproved sends the message that you’re a serious buyer whose credit and finances pass muster to successfully get a loan.

After narrowing the search to 2 or 3 homes, your agent will do whatever research is necessary to aid you in making your decision. Ultimately, however, it is your decision. Some tools that can help you make that final decision include school reports (if you have or are planning on having children), statistical information from the local chamber of commerce, future zoning or road expansion from local planning offices, etc. Whatever the factors of importance are to you, have your agent help locate that information. Once you have selected a single home to focus on, your agent will conduct a comparative market analysis on that property. This involves determining “fair market value” by looking at what other buyers were willing to pay for properties similar to yours in the same neighborhood or area.

Make A Larger Down Payment? How do you manage that? Perhaps by waiting longer before shopping for a home and taking a loan. In the meantime, you can save more money for your down payment. “If you make a larger down payment without buying a more expensive home, your mortgage and monthly payments can be smaller,” Brown said. “Or if you can afford it, you can make a larger down payment and buy a more expensive home.” HELOCs typically cost less than credit card debt or personal loans, Brown says. And you can use a HELOC to pay for repairs or improvements to your existing home. Those investments can boost your sale price, giving you more money to work with when you start to shop for a new home.

Stuart Rubin bio: His hands-on experience includes regulations, standards, and leading practices pertaining to Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), cybersecurity and customer privacy, system implementation and IT governance, COSO, COBIT, SSAE 18, Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and corporate investigations. He has extensive experience in assisting Deloitte’s clients in navigating the evolving digital risk universe, including cloud, digital asset management, security and privacy, third-party risk management, and robotic process automation (RPA).

Stuart Rubin is a managing director in Deloitte’s Assurance and Internal Audit practice, with 20 years of experience in public accounting, Internal Audit, and IT consulting. He focuses on assisting organizations in the Consumer, Fintech, and Services industries in implementing, assessing, monitoring, and enhancing their systems of control. Stuart Rubin regularly presents at the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA), Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), and accounting industry conferences on emerging trends in the assurance, internal audit, and security/privacy spaces.

Stuart Rubin had served in various roles of RP realty partners as president CEO and managing partner and oversaw all the real estate acquisition development & finance. He headed the property management division from its founding through the first quarter of 2020. The company has also under his leadership, purchased and redeveloped office buildings and shopping centers bicoastal. The company has been involved in over 100 real estate transactions since its inception under Mr. Rubin’s leadership and guidance. See even more info on Stuart Rubin.