Buying Services

INVESTMENT PROPERTIES

As successful and active real estate investors, The Miles Team is well qualified to help fellow real estate investors meet their objectives. Whether you are a first time investor or highly experienced, the Miles will help you tailor an investment strategy to achieve your goals.

The Miles Team relies on time-tested principles to guide every area of real estate investing, including:

• Single family homes
• Condominiums
• Apartments
• Property evaluation
• Long term rates of return
• Short term rates of return
• Tax ramifications
• Rental rates
• Foreclosures
• Short sales
• Bank owned or REO properties
• Auctions
• Negotiating skills
• Financing strategies
• Financing sources
• Strategic partner recommendations for law firms, accounting and tax specialists, property management, and more.

NEW HOME SALES

The Miles Team started their real estate careers as on-site sales counselors for national builders. With over 13 years of combined experience in the new home industry, The Miles Team are market specialists who offer a thorough knowledge of new home construction, and how to successfully negotiate builder incentives and options pricing. After determining your areas of interest and price range, the Miles will create an itinerary of homes and floor plans to match your real estate requirements, negotiate the price, review financing options and help you determine the mortgage that’s best for you, then manage and attend the closing transaction.

If you decide to work with us as your buyer agents to purchase a new construction home, we will:

• Explain the positives as well as the negatives about purchasing a new home versus a previously owned home, based on over 13 years of combined experience as on-site sales representatives for national homebuilders.
• Discuss the pros and cons of purchasing a spec home under construction or already built.
• Discuss the pros and cons of purchasing a pre-construction home that will be built to include more of your specifications.
• Discuss the pros and cons of purchasing a close-out home.
• Make sure that the builder is contractually obligated to pay their fair pro-rata share of the taxes. This is especially important when buying a spec home because once the home is finished the taxes will accrue at “completed home” rates.
• Determine if the builder offers an implied warranty vs. extended warranty and fully explain the differences to you
• Discuss the pros and cons of considering a contingency contract.
• Provide lending alternatives to the builder’s mortgage company to ensure the best financing for your individuals needs.
• Review builder contingencies and explain your cancellation rights, liabilities, and legal commitments.
• Verify Option and Upgrade Pricing
• Determine if your lender will lend on all the options / upgrades you have chosen.
• Find out whether the builder sells to investors or requires all of their homes to be owner occupied.
• Refer licensed and accredited Home Inspectors for you to select from
• Personally review all closing documents and other related closing issues to ensure accurate reporting and appropriate fees.
• Walk you through the closing process and explain the closing documents to make sure you are thoroughly educated and in agreement with the process and closing documents.
• Attend the closing with you to ensure a successful transaction and provide you with complete confidence right through the signing of the closing documents.

RELOCATION

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Relocating to a new city presents a unique set of questions, issues and decisions made even more challenging if you know little or nothing about the area to which you’re relocating.  Having the right representation from the beginning of the process is critical to receiving accurate and updated information about your new city, its schools, its recreational offerings and its communities, so you can settle into an area and a home that is just right for you.

Both The Miles Team has lived their entire lives in the Denver metro area and provide an intimate knowledge of many communities and neighborhoods that can only be acquired from living in the area. As your relocation agents, we’ll offer you the benefit of our personal knowledge of the entire Denver area so your relocation can be smooth, successful, and satisfying.

As your agents, we will do the following:

• Assist you throughout the entire relocation process.
• Engage in a thorough review of all local area homes for sale and schedule time for you to view these properties.
• Provide comparable sales from the multiple listing records.
• Provide sales data from multiple listing records based on map searches.
• Pull property profiles reflecting sales history, property data, demographics and neighborhood services.
• Obtain a copy of the home’s historical documents.
• Run reports on list-price to sales-price ratios.
• Calculate annual facts and trends about an area.
• Suggest a pricing strategy.
• Prepare a strong offer that presents the buyer in the best light based on market demands and agent interaction / networking.
• Help negotiate on your behalf to get the best possible price.
• Provide you with a comprehensive review of the local real estate market.
• Help you understand the quality of the local schools.
• Review financing options and help identify qualified lenders.
• Lead all negotiations on your behalf, including but not limited to price, financing, terms, date of possession and often the inclusion or exclusion of repairs and furnishings or equipment.
• Ensure the purchase agreement provides adequate time for you to complete appropriate inspections and investigations of the property before you are bound to complete the purchase
• Advise you as to which investigations and inspections are recommended or required.
• Personally review all closing documents and other related closing issues to ensure accurate of settlement documents and appropriate fees.
• Walk you through the closing process and explain the closing documents to make sure you are thoroughly educated and in agreement with the process and closing documents.
• Attend the closing with you to ensure a successful transaction and provide you with complete confidence right through to the signing of the closing documents.

FORCLOSURES

Foreclosure is a process that allows a lender to recover all or part of the debt owed on a defaulted loan by selling or taking ownership (repossession) of the property securing the loan. It begins when a borrower/owner defaults on loan payments and the lender files a public default notice or a lis pendens (Latin for “lawsuit pending”), depending on the state. While foreclosures have skyrocketed in recent years over historic rates, this legal procedure is to be avoided by homeowners at all cost. The Miles Team has worked with numerous homeowners to help them avoid the foreclosure process. They are experienced professionals who are highly educated on all available alternatives to foreclosure including refinancing options, short sales, and the full foreclosure process.

However, when the lender determines that foreclosure is the only viable alternative, this process frequently results in the sale of the property by the bank at a substantial discount over the appraised value. There are different stages in the foreclosure process, and each stage offers unique advantages and disadvantages for the buyer. For this reason, it is important for anyone interested in purchasing a foreclose property to work with seasoned professionals like the Miles.

The foreclosure sales process is complex and fast moving. The Miles Team regularly participates in foreclosure auctions and are exceedingly familiar with the process. Foreclosure sales begin with a minimum bid that includes the loan balance, any accrued interest, plus attorney’s fees and any costs associated with the foreclosure process. In order to bid at a foreclosure auction, you must have a cashier’s check in your hand for the full amount of the Bank’s bid plus one dollar.  If you are the successful bidder, you receive the property in “as is” condition, which may include someone still living in the property. There may also be other liens against the property. The Miles regularly represent interested parties in the foreclosure process, and perhaps most importantly are highly skilled at managing the bidding process to achieve a successful conclusion. For this reason, it is important for anyone interested in purchasing a foreclose property to work with seasoned professionals like The Miles Team.

HUD PROPERTIES (Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development)

In the current housing environment, there are a number of HUD properties on the market in many areas of town. But what exactly is a HUD property and would purchasing one make sense for you? Gary and Justin Miles have years of experience working with this type of real estate transaction. A HUD property occurs when a homeowner with an FHA or VA insured mortgage is no longer able to meet the payments. The lender then forecloses on the home and is subsequently reimbursed by HUD for what is owed. HUD then becomes the property owner and is highly motivated to recover the loss on the foreclosure claim. HUD then tries to sell the property at market value as quickly as possible.

The Miles Team has over 75 years of combined experience with HUD sales. They are thoroughly familiar with the ins and outs of the HUD purchasing process including contracting regulations, bidding procedures, and price evaluations.

It is important to work with qualified real estate agents like the Miles when considering a HUD home because an agent must submit your bid for you. Normally, HUD homes are sold in an “Offer Period.” At the end of the Offer Period, all offers are opened and, basically, the highest reasonable bid is accepted. If the home isn’t sold in the initial Offer Period, the team will continue to submit a bid until the home is sold. If your bid is acceptable to HUD, the Miles will help you successfully complete the transaction. In addition they will help you find the best financing for your particular needs, and recommend other strategic partners to help complete the transaction including law firms, accountants, property inspectors, etc.

LENDER-OWNED OR REO PROPERTIES

It is important to work with qualified real estate agents like The Miles Team when considering lender-owned or REO properties for many reasons. An REO (Real Estate Owned) is a property that goes back to the bank after an unsuccessful foreclosure auction. If you are new to the process, you may not know that most foreclosure auctions do not result in bids.  In almost every instance the bank is owed more than the property is worth.  The bank often bids the full amount of the loan and as a result there are no other bidders.  If the bank bids less than the amount owed and looks to the homeowner to repay the difference the property will likely draw interest from other bidders.

The Miles Team regularly participates in foreclosure auctions and are exceedingly familiar with the  process. Since what is owed to the bank is almost always more than what the property is worth, very few foreclosure auctions result in a successful sale. Then the property “reverts” to the bank. It becomes an REO, or “real estate owned” property. At this point the bank owns the property and the mortgage no longer exists.

If you decide to engage with The Miles Team to pursue a lender owned property, they will help you achieve your goals and objectives in numerous ways, including:

• Create a purchase offer strategy designed to make your offer “easy to accept.”
• Prepare and present the purchase offer
• Manage the “counter offer” process
• Advise you as to which investigations and inspections are recommended or required.
• Contact the listing agent for any inspection reports.
• Contact the listing agent to determine what work the bank has or may agree to.
• Contact the listing agent to determine if there is a special “as is” form.
• Ensure the lender has negotiated removal of IRS tax liens
• Ensure the homeowner’s association dues have been paid off.
• Ensure you receive a title insurance policy and the opportunity to investigate the property.
• Work with the bank to handle evictions, when necessary.
• Negotiate for bank-funded repairs prior to closing.

SHORT SALES

Known in the real estate profession as a “short sale”, the situation occurs when the proceeds of a home sale fall short of what the seller still owes on the mortgage. In these situations, the bank can hold the borrower liable for the full amount, reduce that amount to something more manageable or decide to forgive the debt altogether. The Miles Team has worked with numerous clients in need of help to successfully negotiate short sale strategies and avoid bankruptcy, and work through unfortunate circumstances and personal hardship. They are also adept at helping buyers and investors identify, negotiate and purchase short sale properties. While short sales and foreclosures are now common occurrences due to a variety of reasons, it is important for anyone interested in selling short or purchasing a short sale to work with highly qualified real estate professionals like The Miles Team to protect their interests and achieve their goals. That’s because the short sale market is constantly changing. Whoever is handling the short sale process for either the seller or buyer must be up to date on the latest rule changes, lien holder strategies, and negotiation dangers and opportunities.