Insider Real Estate Secrets Revealed! (Educational Course for Home Buyers and Sellers) Lesson # 11

Darren Meade
Welcome to this week's edition of Insider Real Estate Secrets Revealed! (Educational Course for Home Buyers and Sellers)

We hope you have learned a tremendous amount from our articles and we look forward to providing more educational material to help you on your home buying or selling journey. In this edition of Insider Real Estate Secrets Revealed, we are focusing on 5 Deadly Mistakes people frequently make when moving to a larger home. We'll discuss what YOU can do to avoid falling prey to these traps. So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this edition.

5 Deadly Mistakes to Avoid When Moving Up

Moving to a better neighborhood, larger home, or new house can be a fun and exhilarating experience. But before you get to excited, or too far into your home-buying journey, you need to take into account the complication you may face when moving up.

One of the more common complications you may run into is the dilemma of owning two homes at once. Even worse than this, is becoming temporarily homeless because of an improperly timed sale of your current home. On top of this, you still have to worry about how to obtain the best financing.

In this report, we'll cover these and other important issues.

Critical Mistake #1 - Choosing the Wrong Real Estate Agent

When moving up, most people have one Real Estate Agent who handles both of their transactions - the sale of their current home and the process of finding a new one. Because of this, the Real Estate Agent gets a chance to 'double-dip'. You will usually pay them commissions not just on one transaction, but two!

With so much of your hard-earned money changing hands, it pays to shop around for the best agent. The best agent is not just the cheapest one. You should look for a combination of experience, price and personality. If you don't feel 100% comfortable with the Agent, what makes you think potential buyers will?

Usually, your lending institution can refer you to a highly qualified Real Estate Agent. If you would like to receive a list of recommended Real Estate Agents for this area, visit our website.

Critical Mistake #2 - Not Selling Your Current Home First

As a rule of thumb, it's usually better to sell first. If you don't, you could run into a number of issues. If you purchase first, you could be at a major disadvantage when negotiating the sale of your current home, thereby accepting a lower price than you had hoped for just to meet a purchase deadline.

We recommend putting a contingency clause in your sales contract that specifies a specific amount of time between the sale and moving out. This will give you plenty of time to find a new home once the sale of yours is complete.


Critical Mistake #3 - Not Becoming a VIP Home Buyer

Have you ever opened up a home-showcase magazine, seen your dream home, and called for more info, only to be disappointed when you find out that the home was too expensive or already sold? If so, you have experienced the frustration that accompanies trying to search for the perfect home without the proper tools. Now, more and more people are giving up the old 'hit and miss' approach to home buying and taking advantage of the NO-COST VIP Home Buyer Service.

Here's how it works. You fill out a profile form detailing exactly what type of home and neighborhood you're looking for, what amenities you want, and what your price range is. Then, an automated computer system searches all new listings in your area day and night. When it finds a home that meets your criteria, it sends you an e-mail alert with complete details about the home, allowing you to do everything from the comfort of your home or office.

For more information on the NO-COST VIP Home Buyer Service, visit our website. The button is on our homepage, on the right.

Critical Mistake #4 - Not Coordinating Your Closing Dates

When moving up, you will be involved in two major Real Estate transactions simultaneously. You could easily have over a dozen people involved, including Real Estate Agents, Lawyers, Title / Escrow Companies, Mortgage Companies, Home Inspectors and others. We recommend working very closely with your Real Estate Agent to ensure a smooth closing transaction.

Critical Mistake #5 - Failing to Obtain a Mortgage Pre-Approval

In some areas, a seller may not even deal with you until they can verify that you can actually afford to purchase their home. To them, a pre-approved buyer is essential. And just because you currently own a home, doesn't necessarily mean you will automatically qualify for a new mortgage.

50% of the time, homeowners sell their current home first. Then, they go about obtaining financing and looking for a new home. This decision is not recommended. You should ALWAYS get pre-approved for your financing BEFORE you sell you current home. Imagine selling you current home and then finding out you are not approved for a new mortgage. You might think you are immune, but you better think twice, because this financial nightmare is fairly common.

Get Pre-Approved. It's fast, easy and at NO COST to you.
Print Email
Bookmark and Share

Darren Meade

To share with you a brief history, I was homeless as a teenager for two-and-half years where I lived in the streets begging for food and change. As you can imagine, my life was filled with a great deal of uncertainty.

By divine grace and guidance, I took shelter in the parking lot of a gym. The owner of the gym noticed me camping out there and after several weeks took me in. Pretty soon I had been adopted by the group of bodybuilders there and was given the nickname 'Pup'.

However, it was after the very painful experience of my father committing suicide six months after getting off the street that I began my personal journey into spiritual growth and began questioning how I could affect a greater number people in a more loving, profound and personal way.

Over the course of several years I went from being homeless to living in a condo on a golf course and representing the United States in international events culminating in winning the middleweight title of the IFBB Mr. North America bodybuilding competition. At the same time I co-founded a nutritional which exploded in the nutrition market and by age 27 I made my first million. Being young, I then squandered my first 3 million to turn around and build it again and again...slow learner at times!

Many of my lessons learned through out my spiritual path have been in the face of adversity. While "crisis" has often had its own way of waking me to the moment and reminding me of what is important to me now, it is not a requirement of this journey.

Just when I thought I had a handle on life, the handle broke.

I've learned another new lesson about life; including truly releasing and forgiving those whom hurt you. In April 2008 my aorta (main artery from your heart) ruptured in three (3) places.

I was given less than a 10% chance of survival and I was on life-support for 3 weeks. During this time the charge nurse spoke to a family friend and informed them they were going to amputate my leg, and that I was to young to die and they needed to transfer me to a new hospital (UCLA).

While I lived, my personal relationship ended within 10 days of my being discharged from the hospital. To be fair the doctors said I might never walk again, and that they believed I would be on a catheter for the rest of my life. I lost 50lbs of muscle. So she was leaving someone who might never be able to walk; make love or be able to return to work. However I've always been an over-achiever.

For instance I went off diaylisis, my bladder which had nerve damage returned to normal, the catheters out and I the leg another hospital wanted to amputate is responding and I'm learning to walk on it once again. I no longer use my wheel chair and am learning to walk without crutches.

The only suffering came from my own thoughts, believing this person would be with me to over-come these issues. I now realize that was the largest blessing of all.

EXECUTIVE BIOGRAPHY OF DARREN M. MEADE


Darren Meade, of Kairos-Meade, has a life, which exhibits the quintessential triumphant story. He was abandoned by his parents and homeless at the age of 14, weighing less than 100 pounds and today negotiates multi-million dollar agreements.

His business career developed initially from his passion for body building. As a youth, after being homeless for two-years, he was taken in by individuals who allowed him to utilize their company gym. Darren focused that passion and successfully won several awards in competitive body building, culminating in winning the Mr. North America title for the middleweight division and represented the United States in international events. His extensive exposure in competitive body building assisted in developing relationships with industry leaders in the medical device and nutritional supplement industries.

As Darren rapidly progressed in
professional endeavors, he designed a new business model not yet used in the industry for a then unknown nutritional company. The retail experiment led by Darren worked, and within two years he drove sales from $1 million to in excess of $40 million.

Moving forward to his next success, Darren proved that he could do it again and took another company to $35 million in a single year. He diligently oversaw all facets of assisting an international research organization´s quest to gain acceptance in the U.S. biotechnology sector by partnering with one of the world´s largest biotechnology companies within only five-months. This was accomplished after the organization had tried for years and used over 50 consultants and development personnel without results.

A key to Darren´s success is his passion for each new business he enters. He specializes in building profitable long-term relationships with clients, vendors and staff.
He has proven that success is contagious.

In addition to his business accomplishments, Darren has actively participated through service of time and finances to homeless shelters and civic community organizations. He is a Deputy CEO of the Invisible Youth Foundation. Darren recently volunteered on Arnold Schwarzenegger´s successful run for Governor. Due to his efforts, he was offered a position in Sacramento. He was selected by the Orange County Register to write columns regarding the process of the campaign through to the inauguration and planning for policies.