KHTS Radio Santa Clarita Radio – Santa Clarita News
A Santa Clarita realtor is not only helping his clients fix their credit issues free of charge, he also gives renters grants to help get them into a house with no strings attached.
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Richard Szerman of Realty One Group Solutions believes that real estate has become much more complicated and tactical than it should be for first-time buyers, and is seeking to change that through his services.
Richard Szerman
“We have a number of programs that we use in order to help get buyers into property and make it easier for them,” Szerman explained. “If your goal is to own a house, it’s just a matter of removing those obstacles so that you can, and giving people money and helping them fix their credit is stuff that I’ve been doing for over 20 years now.”
Through Realty One Group’s unique Rental Rebate Program, renters who buy a house through Szerman will receive 10 percent of the rent they have already paid in the form of a grant to help with closing costs.
Related: The ‘Mortgage Monster’: Dangers Of Home Ownership With Realty One Group
“It is not any money you pay back– it’s a grant from us,” Szerman explained. “So if you’re renting at $2,000 a month, that means $24,000 a year that you’re shelling out in rent. We can give you 10 percent of that back. If you’ve been there for two years, that’s going to be almost $5,000 we can give you to buy a house. It’ll help quite a bit.”
While most renters looking to get into a house can typically put together enough for their down payment, many don’t realize that closing costs are usually an additional 2-3 percent. The Rental Rebate Program seeks to address that hidden cost to help potential buyers close the deal.
“It’s a program that we’ve had a lot of success with, as you might imagine, because rents in the Santa Clarita Valley are extraordinarily high,” Szerman said. “No one else does what we do.”
A recent client of Szerman’s had been renting for 16 years and spoke to four other realtors — who all told her she couldn’t buy a house given her financial situation — before she came to Realty One Group.
After working with Szerman for a few months, they were able to fix her credit problems and give her the money she needed for her closing costs through the Rental Rebate Program.
“Unfortunately, most people in my business, most of the realtors don’t understand that credit is fungible, it’s fixable– they always want to put it off on somebody else. ‘Go get your credit fixed and come back,’” Szerman said. “Really that’s not getting the job done.”
In contrast, Szerman said he looks at his clients’ “whole picture” — meaning their credit and their income — and devises a plan to get them into a house.
“Their goals and ours are the same– we want to get them into a house,” he said. “So in this particular case, she had one credit issue having to do with a timeshare she got suckered into like 10 years ago. It was just a matter of getting a hold of that timeshare company and getting them to agree to a much more reasonable settlement amount.”
With some help from Realty One Group’s legal team, Szerman was able to get his client’s settlement amount reduced to one third of what the company was originally asking for, and fix a few other smaller credit issues she had.
“We got her credit problems fixed, which we do for free, and helped her get all that sorted out,” he said, noting that her credit is now “excellent.” “And then we’re giving her some money to help with her closing costs (through the Rental Rebate Program), and she’s closing escrow I think at the end of this month.”
Ed. Note: This article is a KHTS Feature story based on a recent radio interview with Richard Szerman of Realty One Group Solutions.
Santa Clarita realtor Richard Szerman, of Realty One Group Solutions, has 24 years of experience as a realtor. After “quietly” conducting public outreach and pro bono work as a realtor in Santa Clarita for the last few years, Szerman is now raising awareness about the opportunities available to the community through Realty One Group Solutions. Programs like Rental Rebate, Free Loan Modification and Resale Renovation are designed to help make it easier to buy a house, sell a house and even save a house from foreclosure.
25129 The Old Road, Suite 100
Santa Clarita, CA 91381
Cell: 661-714-1400
Office: 661-253-3000
Rich@RealtyOGS.com
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If you ask me we believe in starting long lasting
interactions and so by ensuring that our potential customers flourish in virtually all their ideas mainly
because their accomplishment is our profitability. What exactly do you consider that?
hi i just saw this and wanted to know if you can help. I lost my home 2009 been living different places and in my car had to get rid of my baby (dog*boxer) cause wasn’t fair to her. I do work, my husband is now going back to work. (i can explain more if you need full details. In 2015 at the present i live in over 55 apartment building and would really like to live in home again. Not getting any younger LOL my daughter would like to move in with us to help. Plus my job offered me to work from home.
Ask him about his realtor wife who lost her license for illegal real estate transaction. You can’t trust them. Very unethical agents.