INSTRUMENT NO. 01 · ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
280 bilingual pages on buying and selling a home in California. Three chapters are free right now — no phone call, no sales pitch. If you read them and close without me, the book still did its job.
No pitch. If this isn't your year to buy, I'll tell you that instead.
800+ transactions · Licensed since — · Look me up on the California DRE license lookup ↗
800+ is every transaction I've been part of at First Team — files I supported, negotiated, or coordinated. — of those are closings with my name on the contract as . I'd rather explain the difference than let you guess.
AN CƯ LẠC NGHIỆP
Every number on this page comes from a document I can show you. Ask me for the report.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pick the line that sounds like you. Each one goes somewhere different — nothing here signs you up for anything.
RECORD 04 · WHAT I ACTUALLY DO
The hard part isn't finding a house. It's the forty-plus documents, the words nobody defines, and the feeling that you're the only one in the room who doesn't get it. We go slowly. We bring your parents in if they're the ones deciding.
Before I say a word about price, I want to know your real number after everything comes out — because that's the number your decision is actually based on. Then we talk about what's worth fixing and what isn't.
I've done this with families in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and Vietnam. Time zones, remote signing, and the fact that you cannot walk the property yourself are all solvable. The wire transfer is the part I worry about, so we handle it by phone every time.
A house purchase touches a lender, a tax person, sometimes two kinds of attorney, and eventually a contractor. You shouldn't have to find all of them yourself while also learning what means.
These are independent professionals, not employees of First Team Real Estate. You choose who you hire, and you should compare.
RECORD 05 · WHY I DO IT THIS WAY
I came to this country and sat at a table like the one you're going to sit at. Papers on one side, a pen on the other, and a person talking fast about things I had never heard of. I nodded. I signed. I did not understand half of it. I was too embarrassed to keep asking, so I stopped asking.
Nothing bad happened to me that day. But over the years I watched it happen to other people. A family lost their deposit because nobody explained what a deadline was. A couple took the wrong loan because the person explaining it was in a hurry. A mother wired money to an address in an email that was not from her escrow company. None of them were careless. Nobody had slowed down and explained it in the language they think in.
So that became the job. I am a Realtor, but most of what I actually do is explain. I explain it to you. Then I explain it again to your parents, because in a lot of our families they are the ones who really decide. I do not move to the next step until you can say it back to me in your own words.
A lot of people lose money, lose an opportunity, or lose their nerve — only because nobody explained it to them clearly.
I have a wife and three daughters. When I look at a house with you, I am looking at the same things I look at for my own family: the school boundary, the street at night, whether there's room if your parents move in later, whether this house still makes sense in twenty years. I'm not selling you a home for this year.
— Joseph Duong, Realtor® · Garden Grove, Westminster, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Anaheim, Santa Ana
RECORD 06 · WHAT THE CONTRACT ACTUALLY SAYS
These are five real clauses from a California purchase agreement. On the left is the language. On the right is what I would say to you if we were sitting at my desk. Nothing here is legal advice — it's the plain-English version I give my own clients before we start.
CLAUSE 1 —
"If Buyer fails to complete this purchase because of Buyer's default, Seller shall retain, as liquidated damages, the deposit actually paid…"
CLAUSE 2 — CONTINGENCY PERIODS
"Buyer shall have 17 days after Acceptance to complete all Buyer Investigations… and remove the applicable contingency in writing."
CLAUSE 3 — CONDITION
"Property is sold in its PRESENT physical condition as of the date of Acceptance…"
CLAUSE 4 — ADVISORY
"Wire fraud and cyber crimes are on the rise. Before wiring funds, ALWAYS independently confirm wiring instructions in person or via a telephone call to a verified number…"
CLAUSE 5 — BROKER COMPENSATION
"Broker compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable between Client and Broker."
If reading those five made you want to ask something — that's the whole point.
Ask Me About One of These — 15 MinutesClause language is illustrative and shortened. It is not legal advice, and contract forms change. Have your own attorney review any agreement you sign.
SCHEDULE B · ATTACHED
Below is a worked example on a $1,000,000 Orange County sale. Every line that comes out of a seller's proceeds is shown — including the line that pays me. Most agents show you a pie chart with their own slice missing.
Illustrative example on a $1,000,000 sale — not a real transaction. Joseph replaces this with an anonymized closing once First Team compliance signs off.
That's my line. I put it in gold so you can't miss it.
Broker commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable. / Hoa hồng không do luật ấn định và hoàn toàn thương lượng được.
Rates used: county documentary transfer tax at the published $1.10 per $1,000; escrow and title at typical Orange County ranges; commission shown at 2.5% as an example and always negotiable. Your numbers will be different — that is what the worksheet below is for.
The Seller's Net Sheet is a one-page worksheet. Fill it in at your kitchen table and you'll know your real number before you talk to anybody — including me.
SCHEDULE C · DAYS
This is what happens between "they accepted your offer" and "here are your keys." The dates in red are deadlines. Miss one and your deposit stops being protected.
The seller signs. Every clock in your contract starts today, not tomorrow.
Your money goes to escrow, not to the seller. Confirm the wire by phone. Always.
General, termite, sewer, roof. I go with you. Bring the person in your family who asks the hardest questions.
After today, walking away over a repair issue can cost you your deposit.
If the appraisal comes in low, this is the window where you still have options.
You sign with a notary. This is the day the pages get thick. We go through them first.
Last chance to see the house empty. Turn on every faucet.
The deed records at the county. That's the moment it's yours — not the moment you sign.
Standard California timeline. Yours may be shorter or longer depending on your loan and the seller's terms.
SCHEDULE D · MILES
I'll only tell you what can be measured. If you want to know whether a neighborhood is "good," ask me on a call — Fair Housing law is strict about what an agent can say in writing, and it exists for a reason.
For context: the Orange County single-family median sale price was $1,470,000 in July 2026 (California Association of Realtors, July 2026). Per-city figures below are updated monthly.
Roughly 172,000 people across 18 square miles, with a large Vietnamese community centered near Brookhurst and Westminster Ave. Mostly single-story homes from the 1950s and 60s, which is why so many of them are candidates for an ADU in the back.
See Garden Grove numbers and the 5N worksheetHome to the largest Vietnamese community outside Vietnam. Asian Garden Mall (Phước Lộc Thọ) sits on Bolsa Ave, and most of the city is within a few minutes of it. Lot sizes here are often larger than the house on them.
See Westminster numbers and the 5N worksheetSmall city, about 10 square miles, bordered by the 405 and the 22. Known for tract neighborhoods built as a planned community in the 1960s and for being one of the quieter street grids in central OC.
See Fountain Valley numbers and the 5N worksheetNearly ten miles of coastline. Prices move a lot depending on which side of Beach Blvd you're on, and homes closer to the water carry higher insurance and different disclosure requirements.
See Huntington Beach numbers and the 5N worksheetThe largest city in Orange County by population. Very wide range — from older bungalows in the flats to newer construction in Anaheim Hills — which means one "Anaheim median price" tells you almost nothing without a specific area.
See Anaheim numbers and the 5N worksheetThe county seat, and one of the densest cities in California. Older housing stock means more inspection findings — sewer lines, electrical panels, foundations — and more room to negotiate if you know what you're looking at.
See Santa Ana numbers and the 5N worksheetMedian prices sourced from —, —. Updated monthly.
I describe neighborhoods with numbers, never with who lives there. Every client, every language, the same standard of service.
RECORD 10 · IN THEIR WORDS
Full names. Real dates. If you want to check them, they're posted publicly under my name.
“My wife and I have purchased and sold our houses multiple times… Without a doubt, Joseph is one of the best realtors out there. He is knowledgeable, experienced, and works in his client's best interest.”“His market knowledge and negotiation skills were excellent… Even as a first-time home buyer, never once did my family feel overwhelmed.”“The best experience we've ever had purchasing a home. Even with cash buyers paying over asking, he guided us to close in an extremely competitive market.”“Thank you, Joseph, for being such an expert throughout my home-buying process…”“Buying my first home was not easy, but Joseph stepped in right away… he even met me at night and on weekends.”RECORD 11 · THE 280-PAGE VERSION
ISBN 978-604-4-15239-4 · 280 pages · Vietnamese and English
"Settling Down in America" is 280 pages, Vietnamese on one side and English on the other, eleven chapters and three appendices. It covers everything from your first savings conversation to the twelve documents you'll be handed on closing day. ISBN 978-604-4-15239-4.
Three of those chapters are free below. They're the three most agents charge a consultation for.
The Orange County Buyer's Money Map · Chapter 2 + Appendix C
In about 12 minutes you'll know how much cash you actually need to buy a home in Orange County — including the costs nobody mentions — and which 2026 assistance programs you may qualify for.
The Bilingual Home-Buying Dictionary · Chapter 10 + Appendix B
200 American real estate terms explained the way I'd explain them to my own family. So you never have to nod at a word you don't know again.
There's a separate playbook for that — foreign national loans, ITIN vs. SSN, consular notarization, and the wire transfer trap. It's free too.
RECORD 12 · FOR SELLERS
I'll pull the actual on your street, look at what condition those homes were in, and send you a written range within 24 hours. Not an instant number — an instant number is just a computer guessing, and you'll only end up arguing with it.
This costs nothing and does not put your home on the market. Plenty of people ask, get the number, and decide to stay. That's a fine outcome.
This is a market opinion, not a formal appraisal, and it is not an offer to buy. A full analysis requires seeing the property in person.
RECORD 13 · EXPLAINED IN 60 SECONDS
No email required to read any of these.
Ask me the thing you're afraid sounds stupid. Ask me the thing that would talk you out of buying. Ask me the same question five times — that's what the fifteen minutes is for.
If this isn't the right year for you, I'll say so, and I'll tell you exactly what to change and when to come back. That conversation is free and it stays between us.