Tong Vue, Remax Realtor

06/19/2026

I've seen buyers change their lenders during a real estate transaction. In some cases, the deals fall apart. Why? One of my biggest pet peeves about finding a loan officer is making sure the buyers will have faith and trust in the agent. It is crucial to build this trust, so when the buyers in the financing stages, the deals won't fall apart because the buyers are unhappy with the lender.
Changing the lender in the middle of the process have a huge effect on the deal. One it will prolong the closing of transaction in which may cause the seller to cancel the contract. When a buyer changes the lender during the process, the new lender will require the buyer to resubmit documents to qualified for the loan. The process can take an extra week or two depending on how fast the buyer respond to the request. It is like restarting the pre-approval process.
Once the loan has been qualified, the lender still has to qualified the property for financing if the loan is done through a conventional loan. Some lenders do not honor the previous appraisal report. The only time when lenders honor appraisal done by other lenders are government home loan programs like FHA and VA; as the appraisal value stays in the government database for 6 months.
The other problem the buyers will face is the terms. If the terms are aggressive, then changing lenders may also affect the loan and appraisal terms. A short contingencies for loan and appraisal would have to be extended. Some sellers will not extend these contingencies and may choose to cancel the contract.
Lastly, changing lenders will lose the seller's trust in the buyers' financing capabilities. Sellers may think the buyers aren't qualified and would start deploying contingencies plan. These contingency plans include putting the home back on the market and showing the home to other buyers.
Before going through the entire buying process, buyers make sure you can put your trust and faith in the lender to execute the financial process. Changing lender halfway can have a costly effect on the buying process.

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06/16/2026

A realtor's job is never done. When my wife is off work, she sometimes thinks, I'm just wasting the day away and not working. She questioned, why I'm constantly playing on my phone all day or surfing the net? This is what she doesn't see.
My days start out with a wakeup call in the gym doing heavy workout exercises. While I'm at the gym, I relieve some stress and strategizing on expanding my real estate business and how to attract and retain more clients. When I'm back from the gym and sitting in the sauna relaxing, I'm texting clients. I'm checking on them to see how their searches are going.
Before my wife even woke up, I've already text and spoke to multiple clients and lenders. As the day goes on, if no tours are in the schedule, I'm creating ads and writing on my daily vlog.
As a realtor, I take every free time afforded to me. When I'm sitting inside my man cave, I'm constantly talking to clients and running data analysis for them through my phone.
By the end of the day, my mind doesn't stop. I have to think of what's on the schedule tomorrow. If I have deal in the pipeline or an offer sent out, I have to follow up on them. If an offer is out, I have to find ways to follow up with the listing agent in an attempt entice the listing agent to have sellers accept my offers. If there are deals in the pipeline, I have to keep track of where the deals are. I have to know when inspections are due, when loan appraisal should be done and when loan contingency is expected to be removed. I have to be prepared to resolve any disagreements between the parties. While I'm doing all this, I have to keep my clients abreast on what's going on and provide answers to any questions they may have.
Sometimes, in the middle of the night, clients will text or call me. Unlike other agents, I don't ignore the calls. I know buying or selling a home is an enormous life changing experience in a person's life. I try to make sure I will always be there for my clients whenever they need me. So, my schedule has to be fluid.
When I go on my fishing trip or on vacation, I don't get to relax. I'm always have my phone on me and ready to answer any calls from my clients or vendors.
When I'm on vacation, I have my mobile home office with me. Even when I'm on the other side of the planet, when its midnight, I'm still up working. Calling clients and vendors. Just because I'm on vacation, my work doesn't just stop.
When multiple clients wants to see homes on the same day, I find times to make the schedule work. There are times, clients may think I have nothing schedule. What they don't see is, I'm running frantically to another appointments. Sometimes, I don't have time to stop to eat.
If you said a realtor is not working hard enough, then think again. The life of a realtor is like a farmer. Work 24/7 for a measly penny. So be kind to the agent you work with. They work hard and sometimes they don't get paid for the work they've done.

06/15/2026

One of the things homebuyers often overlook is the Loan Estimate, Loan disclosure and the final settlement statement. Trust me, I used to be a buyer who has no knowledge about what these terms are. I fully place my faith and trust with the loan officer that the person will not rip me off.
One of the things I tell my clients is to read the LE, CD and final settlement statement carefully. If there are any cost that are questionable, it should be asked. Borrowers can question the loan documents right up to signing at escrow.
As a realtor, I made it as a part of my process to review the settlement statement for my clients. If there are any out of bound miscellaneous fees, I would ask my clients if they knew about the cost they are paying. If not, then I bring it up with their loan officer. It is sometimes overstepping my boundaries. But remember, my fiduciary duties are the interest of my clients. I'm able to do this is because I used to be a license loan officer.

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06/14/2026

I see so many promotions about free assistance for closing cost or grant for down payment from the government. Let's be honest, nothing is really free, especially when it comes from the government.
I remember, after the housing bubble burst in 2008, President Bush gave homebuyers $8,000.00 incentives. This is to help jump start the housing market. Multiple financing institution advertised it as free money for homebuyers. People got really excited and jumped into the market.
During this time, I had quite a few clients who got into this program. Many were happy to get the $8,000.00 free money from the government for simply buying a home to own. I was also very happy for them. Back then, I was also young and naive. I believed everything the government said and actually thought the money was free.
The next year comes around; I get phone calls from clients about them having to pay taxes on the $8,000.00 incentives. I was shocked and surprise. I found out from a CPA, the money wasn't free at all.
The recipient who received the $8,000.00 have to pay back the government a minimum of $500.00 per year plus interest. This means the owner are on the hook to pay the government a total minimum of 16 years. This includes after they have sold the home.
Since then, I've learned nothing is free. This is especially true when it comes to government assistance for financing a home. Grant money for down payment, result in a little higher interest. Down payment assistance program, result in a silent second mortgage that comes with interest. So, before buyers get excited about free stuff, make sure to read the fine prints.

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06/11/2026

I met a homebuyer at an open house. He told me, he was only looking and is still on the fence. I asked him what he is waiting for. He told me, he is waiting for the interest rate to drop before purchasing.

It is common human behaviors to wait for the rate to decrease before making a home purchase. Why? The reason equates to affordability. With lower rates, it will give buyers more buying power and afford to purchase the home of their choices. However, there is denominator that people often overlook.
Look back in history when interest rates drop. Have you all notice the value of homes go up. When interest rates increase, the opposite occurs. This is because of supply and demand. Rate decrease, more people jump into the market to buy and values go up. Rate increase, real estate market slows down, and the value of homes decreases. See the pattern.
These are common human behaviors. My question to you is, if you are ready to buy a home now, don't wait till everyone decide to jump into the market to buy. Right now, is a good time to buy. Homes are slowly coming down, but it will not drop to 2008 market levels. Also, don't expect another housing bubble anytime soon.

Hit me up if you are on the market to buy or sell your home. I've been in this business for 25 years and have a whole oyster of real estate experiences to share and help you make that informed decision.

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06/09/2026

I got this question again about the 3-2-1 loan program. A lot of people were told this program would save them a lot of money. Like I've said before, on paper, yes, it will definitely save people money. When you think about it, during the first year, the builder is helping the buyer out with buying down 3 points plus a huge incentive. This would save the buyer over $36K for the first year. Then on the second year, the builders will pay 2 points. Third year, 1 point. Each year the saving decrease. However, during the first 3 years, the buyer could save more than $100K. This is what the buyers were told.
The philosophy flaws in this program is predicting the rate decreasing by the second and third year. What this program doesn't account for is, if the rate increases during the second and third year. This is where buyers would get in trouble.
This program sort of reminds me of what caused the 2008 housing bubbles. Many blame the bubbles on the ARMs program. In my opinion, what brought caused the bubble to burst was the Option ARMs program. This program was advertised as a fix 30 year rate loan at 1%. Many buyers were taken advantage of not knowing what this program was all about.
Buyers were approved base on the 1% minimum payment option than the full index rate. What buyers were not told was that the index rate at the time was 7%. The fix rate was 7% and the minimum payment was 1%. They have the options to pay 1%, 2%... up to 7% of the fix rate. Many buyers didn't know that if they pay less than 7% of the index rate, the interest would be added to the principal of the loan. Since people were sold on the 1% payment, buyers were paying 1% on a monthly basis. What they don't understand is, 6% of the interest would be added to their loan every month. By the time 6 months rolls around, the loan would grow negatively to -125% of the loan amount. This is when the bank will require the borrowers to pay the full index mortgage rate.
Imagine, a loan with amount of $600,000.00. Buyers are paying $600.00 per month base on 1%. But 6% of the loan amount which is equal to $3,600 was added to the principal of the buyer's loan. At the end of 6 months $21,600 would be added to the buyer's loan. Now the banks require the buyers to pay $4,200 per month because their loan has hit the loan flooring of -125%. How can the buyers be able to afford $4,200 per month if they actually could only pay less than $1,000.00 per month.
During this time, I was a loan officer and refused to sell this loan program to my clients. Why? I know in six months, they will face foreclosure and end up spending all of their savings on the home. I could be making 5 figures for selling this program. But then it would sit really bad on my conscience. I did end up losing my clients to the person who offered them the option arms. Sadly, in six months, they lost their home and all their savings.
The 3-2-1 programs reminds me of the Option Arms Program. The program doesn't have a cap rate margin. The cap rate margin is what keeps the interest rate for increasing really high on the second year. Remember, during the first year, the buyers save a lot of money because the 3 points offered is coupled with the large incentive to buy down to a very low rate. During the second year, there's no incentive. Two points would only buy 0.25% of the rate. If the first year rate was 6.5%. With the incentive and 3 points, it brings the rate down to 3.5% during the first year. Buyers would save 3%. But on the second year, if the rate was unchange, the buyers rate just jump by 2.75%. The buyers would really feel the pain on the second year. Then on the third year, the savings is only 0.125%. If the rate remains the same, then the buyers rate jump to 2.875%. Now this is if the rate doesn't increase. If the rate increase, the rate would jump even higher.
On paper, the 3-2-1 program sounds great and provides lots of savings. But when you closely look at the programs, it is just like another Option ARMs program that gets stretched out to 3 years.

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06/06/2026

What's wrong with this picture? The home has been listed for over 6 months now. There's no interior pictures of the home. All offers are offered with subject to inspection. Sellers will not pay a buyer's agent compensation.

The way real estate is structured, sellers pay the buyer's agent compensation, because buyer's agent help contribute to the sale of the home. If the listing agent brings in the buyers, the seller still has to pay a compensation to the listing agent for bringing in the buyer.
When sellers refuse to pay compensation for buyer's agent representation, the home stays on the market for a very long time. Sellers have to remember; buyers are already paying a minimum of 6% on the home. Add an additional 2.5% or more, the majority of buyers will not be able to afford it. Therefore, the property stays on the market longer.

Now, I've heard of on-line broker offering 1% compensation. But don't let that 1% fool you. Most of the time the on-line brokers are not looking to purchase the home at market value. On top of that, most charge up to 6% of the purchase price for processing fees. When you pay for the 6% processing fees and selling to the broker at below market value, you are still losing more than just paying a listing agent to list your home and paying a buyer's agent compensation.

06/02/2026

I kept on wondering why my master bathroom always smell like raw sewage. I thought maybe it was me missing the toilet bowl. So after each use, I wiped down the toilet. Yet, that raw sewage smell remain.
I finally took the time to look at the toilet. Turns out, the toilet wasn't entirely sealed. Now this home was new and I had the vender came to fix this toilet after a couple of months moving in. The smell went away for a few months. Then it came back.
All it needed was water proofing caulking to seal the connection. Somehow the vendor didnt do that. It took me lest than 15 minutes to apply the seal. So folks, buying a new build homes dont mean you will be worry free.

06/02/2026

Over the weekend, I held an open house on one of my listings. I spoke to several people who are just looking and standing on the fence from buying. Their primary reason for not buying right now is because of the interest rates. With inflation going up, there are rumors the feds are planning to raise the Fed rate. If this happens, the mortgage rate could increase.
This is what I keep telling people all the time. When the rate goes up, normally the prices of homes go down. The idea of increasing rate is to keep decrease the buying powers of buyers and investors. Thereby decreasing demand for homes. When demand decreases, price usually goes down. This is why I keep telling people, this is the time to purchase a home and not a time to stand on the fence.
If the opposite effect occurs, then there will be more competitions in the real estate market. When there are too many buyers aka demands versus supplies, then usually the prices of homes will go up. Even though people can now afford to purchase, they are facing a higher price real estate market and competing against multiple buyers.
For homebuyers, I want you to think of two important things about mortgages. You can't change the purchase price or your loan amount once the loan has been consummated. You can change the monthly mortgage payment base on the interest rate.
What does that mean? When rate is high and prices of homes are low, that is the perfect time to buy. When interest rate is low and prices of homes are high, then it is a bad time to buy.
Last but not least. My biggest piece of advice to buyers is to be discipline at purchasing a home within your means, patience is the key to finding the right home and buy when you feel you are ready to purchase a home regardless of what the real estate market is doing.

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06/01/2026

Some realtors really has no ethics at all. Today, I was holding an open house. I had my sign out on the main intersection street. When I came back to collect my sign, I discovered an agent had placed his/her sign over mine. There are plenty of space on the Main Street for both our signs. Why did the agent have to cover my sign over? No matter. I had multiple directional signs anyway. Just FYI: This is so unprofessional.

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