Closing Day Surprises to Keep an Eye Out For

Closing day is an important time for both buyers and sellers. Here are some
potential surprises you could face on that special day and how you can avoid them.

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Today we’re going to be talking about five closing day surprises that are unfortunately all too common:

1. The walkthrough. The walkthrough is a very important part of the process. This actually guarantees to the buyer that they’re receiving the property in the exact condition that it was when they wrote the contract. Maybe there is a hole in the wall, a scrape in the staircase from the movers, or the carpet got stained. Either way, it’s important to make sure that the home is in the same condition as when you wrote the contract.

2. Household items may be missing. In certain cases, household items might get up and walk away. Maybe it’s a chandelier, a fireplace, or something else that was written into the contract that the seller was going to convey to the buyer at the close of escrow. If those items are not there for some reason, approach the listing agent with the contract and ask them. If they don’t know or are unwilling to give them back, at least get a check to cover the cost. Ultimately, you should try to get the items back if they're not there.

3. The lender doesn’t want to make the loan anymore. This usually happens as a result of the buyer’s financial picture. For some reason, they have altered their spending habits. Maybe they lost a job or bought something expensive that messed up their debt-to-income ratio.
 

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A good title and escrow company will
find anything erroneous at the start.

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4. What are the property lines? What chunk of earth are you buying, exactly? If there is any concern that your property lines aren’t lining up with the title, get a survey done. It will make sure that you aren’t encroaching on your neighbor or they aren’t encroaching onto you. 5. Title problems and troubles. Sometimes, there is human error and things recorded against the property that shouldn’t be, such as an erroneous loan or a lien. That’s why a good title company and escrow officer will find what’s record against the home from the beginning. If there is a “cloud” on the title, you can’t go through with the purchase. If you have any questions about any of these closing day problems or anything else about real estate in general, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

What 4 Signs Scream That It’s Time to Find a New Home?

How do you know when it’s time to move? These four signs may give you a good idea that it’s time for a change.

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There are four tell-tale signs that it’s time to sell your home:

1. You’ve simply outgrown your home. Perhaps you’ve had too many kids for the number of bedrooms you have, or you’ve acquired too many pets for the space you have. Either way, it’s uncomfortable, and you should consider moving up. We can help you there.

2. Your lifestyle has changed. Perhaps you’ve changed jobs and now have a longer commute, or you’ve retired and don’t need to work at all. Situations like these often signal it’s time for a change of scenery.
 

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Situations like these often signal

it’s time for a change of scenery.

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3. When remodeling won’t give you the return you’re looking for. I know for a fact that there are certain projects that will get you a higher return on your investment, but they’re not always what you think. Certain popular home improvement projects won’t actually bring you the amount that you’d like. If you need a list of the improvements that will bring you a decent return, reach out to me.
4. You have a flexible time frame. Remember back in 2008 when our equity took a nosedive into the ground? Well, now most of us have climbed back out of that, so if you have equity and are thinking about moving, it might be time to bail out and take that cash to move on to the next step of your life. We’re not sure what the market will be doing farther down the road, so if you’re thinking about making a move soon, now’s the time to start that process. If you want more signs that it’s time to find a new home or if you have any questions, feel free to give me a call. I look forward to speaking with you.

4 Negotiation Mistakes That Sellers Make

Today I wanted to talk to you about the four mistakes sellers make when trying to sell their homes. 

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Today I wanted to talk to you about the four mistakes that sellers make during negotiations:

1. If you get an offer from a buyer that is exactly what you were looking for, don’t send back a counteroffer. But, if the offer you receive is not to your preference, doing a slight or no-counter is a major problem.
2. Do not insist on selling the home as-is. The home can be sold as-is per the contract, but do you really want to be that seller who rudely drives that point home to the buyer? They just want to buy a nice, safe home for their family. Give a little, get a little.

Give a little, get a little.

3. Do not be cheap. There’s being financially frugal, and then there’s being flat out cheap. I can understand you not wanting to replace or repair the nitpicky things like a burnt out lightbulb, but if you know the roof needs to be repaired and you have the funds to at least patch it, make that repair. You don’t want something to come back to bite you later down the road.
4. Do not bombard other listing agents. Do not call the other agents that showed the home to tell them you’ve received an offer. It’s just rude, and there’s a reason that those other agents didn’t put in an offer for your home. Focus on the ones who did put in an offer and leave the others alone.

If you have any other questions for me about this topic or you’re looking to buy or sell a home, give us a call. We’d be happy to help!

Making Your Home Shine Online

When you sell your home, don't underestimate the importance of making it compete well on the Internet. There are three main areas to focus on to make your listing earn top dollar.

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How well does your home compete online? What do you find when you Google your own address? If you want to have success when selling your home, you need to think about your online presentation and how you can improve it.

For starters, there is something called an IDX (Internet Data Exchange) feed, and it's simply a feed from an MLS to all the real estate websites out there like Zillow, Trulia, and Redfin, as well as local real estate brokers' websites that have applied for an IDX feed from the brokerage to the board, and it pulls all the data.

Currently, Zillow has an affiliation with more than 400 boards across the country, so those companies will show up on Zillow and Trulia within a couple of hours. They will also show up on the local real estate broker websites in the same amount of time, but this is critical because if your broker does not have an affiliation and does not have an IDX feed agreement, then your listing will not get out there. Make sure you list with the right company so that your home is seen around the world.

My team excels at making homes shine online.

Secondly, are the photos of your home really going to help sell your property? This is a serious point of consideration. If a "discount broker" comes in and tells you that they'll do their own photos (or they're really good with their iPhone), you need to run for the hills. You get one shot at impressing buyers online, so you want to do it with photos taken by a professional with professional equipment, not a smartphone. The first showing of your property takes place online. If buyers go online and see a cluttered house with dark, low-quality photos, they're going to keep moving.

Finally, think about the upgrades that your home has that others don't. Understand that marketing aims to make you stand out among the competition. You want to highlight things like 12-foot ceilings, stainless steel appliances, underground wiring, or a great lot on a cul-de-sac. The list goes on and on. You have to think like a buyer and what they want in a home, and then highlight those features.

If you have questions about maximizing how well your home shows on the Internet, please don't hesitate to give me a call. My team excels in making homes shine online, so we'd love to show what we can do for you.

What Five Things Often Ruin the Selling Process?

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a Free Home Price Evaluation  Call us at (925) 838-4300 to answer any of your real estate questions

Today, I want to discuss five things that can ruin your home sale. A lot of people think that there is virtually no way to ruin a home sale because the agents in our area generally do a very good job. However, there are a five things you can do that might derail a sale:

1. Not using a professional agent. A professional is someone who is a certified Realtor, not someone who simply has a real estate license and works every now and again. Work with someone who knows the laws and regulations, has the proper insurance, and does deals every single day!

2. Mispricing your home. We all know that the market fluctuates. On any given Sunday, your home may be worth $50,000 more or less depending on a variety of factors. I personally like to price homes conservatively, as it often allows you to capture a larger audience and hopefully create a bidding war.

3. Bad or no pictures in the MLS. If you don't have pictures in the MLS, buyers are going to click away from your property so fast it will make your head spin. Also, if you're not using a professional agent, they will get fined for not having photos on the MLS. You need lights on and a clean home in all of your pictures. Hiring a professional photographer is a very good idea if you want to WOW people shopping online.

4. Ignoring your front and backyard. If you come to a date dressed in your pajamas, your hair standing on end and with bad breath, do you think you're going to get a second date? The same goes with selling your home. The yard and exterior of your home should be looking spectacular for when potential buyers arrive.

5. Staging your home. Should or shouldn't you stage the home? We think so, especially if you're able to. Buyers who view your home are mentally moving in -- they're picturing all of their stuff in the home. A professional stager will make it so that they don't have to imagine all the possibilities for themselves; a stager will help them SEE it.

There are many, many more things that can go wrong with a home sale -- these just happen to be the top five. If you have any questions about getting the best results when selling, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We would love to hear from you!

How We Helped Alan Sell His Home

 "We got great results and are happy with them.  They did a good job with the open houses and had a great stager.  They also identified a good moving company for us to use. The team helped us above and beyond!"
 - Alan Beringsmith, Home Seller

How Will Your HOA Impact You as an Investment Buyer?

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a Free Home Price Evaluation  Call us at (925) 838-4300 to answer any of your real estate questions

Homeowner Associations are fairly common, but what a lot of people don't consider is the dramatic impact that their yearly fees can have on your buying power.

Whether we like them or hate them, HOAs aren't going to disappear anytime soon. Whether you're an investment buyer or buying a home as a primary residence, you'll have to pay these fees. 

As an investment buyer, these HOA fees are undoubtedly cutting into your bottom line. What if you could go out and purchase a bigger, nicer home when you don't have to pay for these HOA fees? The fees can add up to a significant amount over the years.

I used to own a home and had to pay HOA fees. I didn't mind it so much at first. It was a $249 fee, but by the time I moved, the fee had increased to $450 because the Association kept running into problems. When you buy into a HOA, review the HOA Document to ensure you're putting your money into a worthwhile organization. Examine the budget and speak to leaders of the HOA.

HOAs work for some people, but I recommend everyone to look at their budget and ensure that it's a worthwhile investment for yourself and your family. If you knock off the money you pay in those fees, it will allow you a larger total purchase price for a home. 

If you have any questions or concerns about this, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm always here to help you!

Why Should You Speak to an Agent Today?

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a Free Home Price  Evaluation  Call us at (925) 838-4300 to answer any of your real estate questions
Today I want to talk about something really important. A lot of people are under the belief that you should only contact a real estate agent when you are immediately planning to buy or sell. That's really not the case. If you want to be the best you can be as a buyer or a seller, you need to get a hold of an agent immediately. 

Here's why: A good real estate agent is going to have their fingers on the pulse of the market, and understand what current conditions are like. So, will you be able to afford it if you wait? Getting in touch with a good agent and talking to them about your motivation for buying will give them a good idea of when it makes sense for you. 

The way other people view your property is not the way you are thinking about it. You may need to do some upgrades and home staging in order to capture the buyer's attention and their imagination. If you are in the Bay Area and would like some help in preparing for the market, give me a call today. If you're not in our area, we can still help you find a trustworthy agent. I network with top Realtors from across the country. 

If you have any other questions, we are always here to answer them. Just give us a quick call or email. Talk to you soon!

What Pricing Strategies Work in Danville?

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search Selling a home? Click here for a Free Home Price  Evaluation  Call us at (925) 838-4300 to answer any of your real estate questions.
Hey everyone, today I want to talk to you about something near and dear to my heart: pricing your home.

Pricing a home is an art form. You want to be able to get the most money possible, but you don't want to jack up the price on your home, because that's when it won't sell. What you really need to think about when you're making the decision is what the market conditions are like. Based on these conditions, we know the correct route to take when it comes to pricing your home. 

Let's run through a few examples of how we would price your home in various market. If we were in a hot seller's market, this is when we would push your price to the highest level, to get you the most amount of money while buyers are out there competing for the best homes.  If we were in more of a neutral or transitional market, we would price your home a little bit lower than comparable ones, so buyers see the value in your home, and in turn, give it more interest. If our market was dead and homes were struggling to move, we would price below the comparables so when buyers are out there, they are looking at your home for value and know they are getting a good deal. 

Buyers always want a good deal when it comes to buying a home, and making sure they get that deal is a matter of perception. If we give the perception of value for your home over the competition, you'll win every time.

I hope you enjoyed my little tip for you today. If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to speaking with you!