Happy Holidays and Thank You!

The holidays are approaching and with that comes the special time of year where we want to give thanks and show love to our family, friends and people who have helped us this past year. We hope that our family, clients and business partners feel the same way and offer thanks to the people who have made you the person you are today.

We want to wish you all a happy and safe holiday. Thank you!

New Lending Guidelines to Dodd-Frank

Today I want to talk about a topic that gets everybody listening: Money, Money, Money.

As we go into 2014, many will be asking themselves: what's going to happen in the marketplace, and what will be the drivers?

It's commonplace in today’s market for the government to factor heavily into that equation, and that's exactly what I want to talk about today. A new law called the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Act is kicking in at the beginning of next year that will change the lending guidelines for all of the country. This law will have the most effect on those in lower income brackets, because it directly effects borrowing power. Under the new guidelines, borrowing power based on monthly income will decrease by 7% from 50% to 43%.

This will cause house prices to soften as sellers adjust the limitations in borrowing put on the potential buyers.

Will this 7% decrease in borrowing power create a catastrophe in the housing market? Not likely, but what we will see is increased pressure on lenders. And pressure on lenders, coupled with a decrease in borrowing power, means that in addition to housing prices going up, interest rates will increase as well.

If you have any questions relating to your property or the future of the housing market, don't hesitate to call me at (650) 766 - 5300.

Thanks, and have a great day.

Properly Pricing Your Home

Welcome back to my video blog. We have had a phenomenal 2013. Both buyers and sellers have had great opportunities to take advantage of the market. As the New Year draws nearer, a lot of people have asked me how our market is.

We still have a fantastic market, but I have noticed a trend of dropping prices. So what does this mean? Is the market really slowing down or are sellers not listening to their agents and overpricing their home?

If I had to guess, I believe most sellers aren’t listening to their agents. Pricing your home properly is one of the most important elements of selling your home quickly and for the good price.

While we do have a strong market, that doesn’t mean you can price your home at whatever price you choose. I frequently get asked by sellers if they can start out high and adjust the price if it doesn’t sell.  Well, you could, but chances are you will end up selling your home for less than if you had just priced properly in the first place.

Why? If you price your home too high, buyers look at you as a greedy seller and most of the time they completely shun your home. In order to reenergize the market toward your home, you have to significantly drop the price of your home.

Don’t overprice. Listen to your realtor. If you need help determining what the best price for your home is, please give me a call.

Thanks for watching!

3 Tips to Make a Good Offer

Welcome back to my video blog! Today, I wanted to touch on the subject of making offers. I’ve heard some buyers say they’ve made almost 20 offers, but haven’t got a home yet.

Why is this? When you make an offer there are a lot of things to consider.
The first thing is to have an aggressive realtor. When I construct an offer, I find out when the sellers are looking at offers and whether they would take a preemptive offer. Sometimes sellers will take an early offer if the terms are good.

The second thing to do is check out the market. Look at how many homes have sold in the area recently and how many offers did they have. Let’s also look at the sales versus list ratio.

The final thing to consider is the other terms of an offer. How big of a down payment are you making? What is the length of escrow? Sometimes allowing a seller to remain in their home for an extra 30 days is all they need to accept your offer.

Keep these three things in mind when you find a home you like. If you have any questions about strategy for you home, please give me a call; I’d love to help!

Home Selling Preppers

Welcome back! I’m sure you’ve heard about or seen those shows about preparing your home for the end of the world or the zombie apocalypse. What about a show on how to prepare your home to sell?

Did you know that 90 percent of buyers start their search online? It’s like online dating for your home!

It’s so important, then, that your home looks perfect. Take the clutter off the counter and put a fresh coat of paint on. Make the home look spacious and hire a professional photographer to best showcase your home.

If you don’t put your best foot forward, chances are you will get very few showings. Get your buyers excited to visit your property!

Thanks for watching! If you have any questions, please give me a call! I’d love to help you prepare your home for the market!

Is Fall a Good Time to Sell?

Welcome back to my video blog. A lot of people have asked me whether the fall is a good time to sell. Have they missed the market?

Timing and location are important when selling your home. The good news is because of low interest rates, buyers are still interested and motivated. Plus, there are some great properties out there.

If you want to sell, now until the end of October is a great time. Even if you need to sell into November, there will still be buyers who need to move!

So if you are thinking about buying or selling, please give me a call. Let's get your home on the market!

What to Ask Before Hiring an Agent to Sell Your Property

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One of the most common things we hear as top-producing real estate agents is about how homeowners had neglected to properly interview the agent they had for their home. To help avoid that from happening, here are some factors to consider before you hire a real estate agent to sell your home.

Amount of Time Devoted to Profession

The real estate industry is one that can be very flexible for some yet completely encompassing for others. Your challenge will be to look for an agent that has made the profession their full-time career. The difference will be in the amount of time you can expect them to give you and the expertise level you can expect in return.

Level of Demonstrated Expertise

Experience comes from working with multiple clients in many different situations. As you interview prospective agents, take the time to inquire about past and current clients. Find out about the types of deals the agent specializes in. Are they specifically geared toward buyers or do they have experience with listing transactions? Don’t be afraid to check whether they are good at their job through references.

Length of Time Other Listings Remain on Market

Look into the length of time other listings they have taken have remained on the market. If you see a predominantly long number of days their properties sit on the market then it might indicate a lax marketing strategy – or worse, none at all. Marketing is a key component that you should be looking for and if a prospective agent lacks a viable marketing plan, you may want to think twice about that agent.

List to Sale Ratios

A lot of agents use less than scrupulous tactics to gain sellers’ business. One example is promising their clients higher selling prices only to disappoint their clients when the market dictates their home is worth less. Look for an agent’s list-to-sale ratios on other listings they have had. Are they being sold at or at least very close to the listing price? If not, it could be an indication of bad pricing advice or worse, evidence of those sneaky tactics to reel in business.

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Keep in mind that these are just a few of the things that impact the success rate of a strong real estate agent. What you need also to be looking for is a winning combination of character, values, tech-savvy and market-smart techniques. No two attributes will be enough – rather it is essential that you feel comfortable with your agent, can trust them and are fairly certain that they deliver on their promises.

Buyer Dynamics Are Changing How We Buy Homes

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In the past, there have traditionally been two types of buyers for the most part -- the end user and the investor. Fairly straightforward, end users typically were in the market to occupy the home as their primary residence while investors would most likely seek to rent the home. Today, we have new dynamics when it comes to buyers. There are the end users, builders, flippers and hedge funds buying homes. Here’s a quick look at each.

End Users

These are buyers in the traditional sense of the word and they are seeking a home to move into that will end up being their homestead. Buyers in this category are most influenced by location and condition of the home, fueling demand for certain types of homes and ultimately driving prices in some locales more so than others.

Builders

Builders tend to buy homes with the intent to tear down the existing structure and then rebuild a much more expensive house on the lot. These types of buyers will come by and often buy additional lots on and around the property and they offer homeowners at or more than asking price.

Flippers

Primarily the amateur or small-sized investor, this type of buyer seeks low-priced homes with the idea that with some renovations they can turn around and resell the house for a significant profit. This type of buyer was especially prevalent in the years immediately following the housing market crash in 2007. As time goes on, however, they are accepting a shorter and shorter margin for profit.

Hedge Fund / Wall Street

This is one type of buyer that is relatively new to the scene. Larger scale investors that are buying blocks of properties and then holding on to them do so with the intention to keep them as rental homes or ultimately put them into REITs.

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As a result of these changing dynamics on the buying side of real estate, we are seeing a lot more inventory tied up that might normally have been available for end users. The result is a decreased supply with a constant stream of demand – ending up in prices getting pushed up.

In the midst of all this, it is critical to have an agent that understands how to properly structure an offer. The last thing you want to happen is for you to lose the home because of less than perfect representation. You need someone that truly understands the dynamics of our buyers’ market and how to leverage your position. There are other terms that can be added to your purchase agreement to make it more favorable for you.

If you are in the market for a new home, contact us today for a custom consultation on your needs and we will get to work finding and getting you the perfect home.

Strap Yourself in for the 2013 Market

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What’s driving the real estate market?  People are asking this question.   I recently sold a property for more than $500,000, which was 50% above its list price!  Three drivers are affecting the market:  interest rates are great, demand is increasing, and inventory is shrinking.  Here’s what this means to you.

First, low interest rates are fueling the market and the economy.  The mortgage loan rates are still fantastic, which makes buying a home more affordable than ever.  A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hovered at record-low rates during 2012.  If you wait and interest rates rise, you could get locked into spending a few hundred extra dollars a month on your payment.

Second, there’s also lots of demand.   In the Bay Area, we have high tech, biotech and financial services from banking to venture capital companies.  People moving in from overseas to fill positions in these fields have fueled the demand.  So when a home that you’re interested in hits the market, plan to see it as soon as possible and make the best possible offer that’s at an appropriate price point for the seller.  Remember, there’s a lot of demand.  If you hesitate, the property could be gone tomorrow because others will be making offers.    

Third, supply is drying up.  If we look at what’s happening in the REO sector—the foreclosures are decreasing.  Short sales are dropping as well.  Those in the conventional market are getting great rates, so they don’t want to move.  With the supply dropping and demand increasing coupled with favorable interest rates makes it a great time to sell.  After all, what you get for your home often comes down to supply and demand.

It’s a wild market with lots of positive signs.  Give me a call so I can tell you where to be positioned and how to be successful in this market.  Please contact me at (650) 766-5300.  We’d be happy to assist you.