Shawn Perkins

One of the most important steps that you can take in preparing to purchase a home is to talk with a lender. Gaining clarity in terms of the down payment, closing costs, interest rate and monthly mortgage payment will go a long way towards maximizing the buyers time and focus.

Of course, counsel to a seller will vary depending on the home. However, a really good preliminary step that every homeowner should take is both a formal and informal pre-inspection of the property. Identifying any and all defects is a great preventative measure and will ensure that their transaction is smoother. It also eliminates any surprises that could occur after the buyer has completed their third party inspection. The analysis should include not only a structural and mechanical inspection, but it should also include a general assessment of any need for upgrades or steps that would ensure that the home shows well; the latter assessment is conducted by the realtor.

I have worked with first time buyers, buyers and sellers that are upgrading or downsizing, investors, cash buyers, short sales, foreclsoures, probate transactions, buyers that require pre-lim work to qualify for a loan, death sales, divorce, new baby, young professionals, looking for their dream home, didnt know they could buy a home (I informed them and made it happen), moving closer to family, consolidating assets, etc.

One of my favorite transactions did not happen recently, rather it occurred in 2022 post COVID. Although due to the interest rates it was raining real estate deals, it was also a crazy interesting time. I was helping this sweet family move across town to be closer to extended family...a police officer, his wife, 3 boys all under the age of 8 and 1 in the oven. The family outlined for me exactly what they wanted....of course location being objective number one and no less than 15 mins from family, the 3 car garage and media room for him, the kitchen for her, 2 stories and a gameroom and large yard for the boys. Of course we encountered all of the challenges that were associated with purchasing property in the post COVID market...20 cars deep at showings, multiple offers, houses selling before they hit the market....$50K over list with no appraisal requirements, etc. Every time we found a property they were interested in...it was gone before we could see it. This went on for months and the clients became frustrated and were ready to give up and defer the objective to another year. We were scheduled for an appointment, but there werent any houses to tour that fit their criteria except one. This property had been on the market FOREVER...not just a COVID market forever...like 90 days or so. We had both looked at the observed the property online but the home didnt appear attractive at all as the pics were not very good quality. We decided to take a look as we had no other inventory to tour. We walked in and immediately realized the pics were very deceiving. The home was beautiful and it checked ALL OF THEIR BOXES (three car garage, media room, gameroom, big kitchen, large yard, etc)! We could not believe that the home was still there! It was alsmost as if it had been saved just for them. They bought it and are very happy and love me.

I was working as an independent contractor in the tech business and my contracts began to dwindle. I started looking for alternate work opportunities and a friend in the real estate business said that he thought I would be a good agent so...... I got my license and the rest is history.

I earned an undergrad degree in Business Adminstration from Le Tourneau University and a Masters degree in Theological studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. Typically when people are either buying or selling a home they are dealing with a major life circumstance ; whether it be a positive or negative one (having a baby, getting married, going through a divorce, having financial difficulties, downsizing because kids have moved out, new job, moving out of state, etc.). My academic background and life experiences have equipped me to not only adequately handle business transactions, but to also effectively manage circumstances or any implications associated with the client's circumstances related to the business of achieving the real estate goal. Of course given that every transaction is and has been different, I have developed a variety of skillsets that enable me to excellently meet the unique needs of each client. For example, servicing an investor buyer requires a very different knowledge base and skillset relative to the skills required to represent an owner occupant.