Why is obtaining a written preapproval the first step in your home search?

In most areas of the country, the amount of serious buyers outnumber the supply of homes. This makes a lot of traditional thought about a Real Estate search obsolete. Just like chain wallets and baggy jeans, the days of making an offer before speaking to a lender are over.

Now more than ever, buyers need to be prepared and they need to stand out. Contrary to old methods, the first step to your serious home search is to get pre-approved with a reputable lender before you begin looking at home inventory. Here’s why -

• Being prepared. You don’t know when your dream home is going to show up. When it does, you need to be ready to attack it. If you are not pre-approved, the

Our new listing on 351 Loring Ave, Mill Valley (http://351loring.com/) is the "talk of the town" or "the bees knees" as they say. Let's see how many nifty sayings that also would apply to this home's current popularity:

- New kid on the block
- The Cat's Pajamas
- The Grist of the Gossip Mill
- The Scuttlebutt
- Heard through the Grapevine
- All That and a Bag of Potato Chips
- The Snake's Hips
- The Spider's Ankles

Anyway, you get it. People are talking about it. If you want to be up on the latest trends and not be shunned at the neighborhood BBQ, it's best you know about the house too.

The Narodny Team new listing at 7 Herbing Ln, Kentfield (http://7herbing.com/) is 2956 sq ft, yet priced at only $1,599,000. $540/sq ft is hard to find in one of the best school districts and locations in the County. Let's see, what else is hard to find in Marin...

- Taxidermist
- Civil War Re-enactment specialist/celebrations
- Wal-Mart
- A decent sandwich other than Michael's Sourdough
- Orange Julius (RIP)
- Arcade (RIP Aladdin's Castle and Star Base One)

Am I right???

Nothing screams MILL VALLEY quite like my new listing on 212 Lovell Ave: http://212lovell.com/. It’s everything you would want out of your first home starting a family. It’s stylish, elegant, has amazing views, and is a short walk to Old Mill School and Downtown.

In spirit of the Mill Valley theme, the sellers would prefer a down payment including, but not limited to one Patagonia vest, one pair of Birkenstocks, one crisp local IPA, and one mountain bike.

This house is off market at the moment. Don’t miss out!

The Bay Area buyer market is like the Wild West these days. A buyer can spend 10 years saving up money for a down payment, find his/her dream home, and still be wiped out by the cash cows and trust fund beneficiaries. It can get a little heartbreaking for the buyers that are currently or were very recently in the the trenches with their agent making offer after offer.

Although Marin County continues to be much tamer than the rest of the Bay, the well-priced, well-located homes are still harboring multiple offer situations. Not all of us have the luxury of 5 million cash to spend. Here are the best ways to get prepared:

The goal is to mirror a cash offer as closely as you can -

• Strong Lender

• Your agent should recommend a lender