by Jim the Realtor | Jan 18, 2014 | Thinking of Selling?, Tips, Advice & Links, Why You Should List With Jim
Are you getting ready to sell your home?
Curb appeal is what getts buyers out of the car, and it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to improve. Let’s start with what you can do out front to improve your chances of selling for top dollar.
Curb Appeal Tips
- Take a photo of your house and show it to other people for suggestions. When you are driving around and see a great-looking front yard, you can whip it out your photo and visualize how your home would look.
- Add medium-to-large pots with colorful plants near the front door.
- Paint the front door and install new handle.
- New light fixtures, especially outside the front door.
- Fertilize your lawn 2-3 weeks prior to listing.
- Repair or replace any brown spots in your lawn.
- Trim the trees.
- Power-wash the driveway and sidewalks.
- Don’t over-water the lawns.
Once buyers are out of the car and up the steps, the excitement, and expectations, begin rising. Buyers have usually seen so many average-looking houses that they’re hoping it will be different this time! Capitalize on other sellers’ failure to prepare their home properly!
To sell for top dollar, the interior needs to impress a buyer, but you don’t have to spend crazy money. Here is my list accumulatated over the years – do as many as you can!
- Rent a storage locker and remove everything not in use.
- Paint the main rooms with neutral color (light gray or crisp khaki).
- Install new high-grade neutral carpet – it smells ‘clean’.
- Paint wood surfaces with glossy paint (baseboards and doors).
- Clean all glass – windows inside and out, plus shower doors.
- Remove pets (get sitter for a couple of weeks) and all pet odors.
- Clutter patrol – remove distracting smaller items in particular.
- Replace burned-out light bulbs.
- If you have an older kiychen, at least install a new sink faucet.
- Add new towels and pillows, flowers, plus fruit in the kitchen.
- Tune up your mailbox.
- Improve storage capacity in garage.
- Make closets look large and inviting – mostly by removing stuff.
- Create computer stations.
- Plant trees to block neighboring homes.
- De-personalize. Buyers can get nosy about sellers.
- Secure the office – don’t leave out any bills or real estate contracts.
- The master bath will make or break a deal – go all out.
- Hire the professional cleaners the week of hitting the open market.
- Hire a great realtor!
Most good realtors are willing to stop by and give free advice on what they think you need specifically. Get good help!
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 18, 2014 | Jim's Take on the Market, Realtor, Realtor Training
In the youtube video below, Galen lays out what it obvious to most – that disruption among big and small brokerages is underway.
For years now, agents have set up their own office within an office, by calling themselves the (insert name) Team, or (insert name) Group. This creates their own brand, usurping the brokerage’s biggest benefit to agents – brand loyalty. Brokerages and big franchises have countered by hiring every licensee they can find, corraling them in mega-offices, and hoping enough of them stick that they all survive another year.
These agent groups present themselves with the usual sexy imagery, and the consumers buy it.
But the changing brands and mobile talk only amounts to moving around the deck chairs. There won’t be any real disruption until the consumer quits buying the slick imagery, and instead, demands top-notch quality service.
There are virtually no real estate video tours, no educational blogs, no insistence on truth-telling, and no commitment by anyone to lead the industry. Once you see that stuff happening, then you can say the status quo has been disrupted.
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 17, 2014 | Jim's Take on the Market, Tips, Advice & Links, Why You Should Hire Jim as your Buyer's Agent, Why You Should List With Jim
Buyers’ remorse is a real event that gets ignored by those in the business. Agents tend to focus on plowing through their checklists without recognizing the human elements that arise.
Sellers have remorse too.
With all parties focused on that ideal fantasy sale, there is a natural letdown once the deal is done – and more attention put on the reasons not to move. Here is how wiki sees it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buyers_remorse
My thoughts on buyers’ and sellers’ remorse:
SELLERS
- Once there is a signed purchase agreement, sellers cannot rescind – there is no cooling-off period. Be 100% certain about moving before you list your home for sale.
- Have a sound strategy to conduct a successful bidding war. Uncertainty breeds anxiety.
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Be prepared for Round 2 – the buyer will likely want another piece of you once the home inspection is completed.
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Complete repairs prior to selling to minimize stress in Round 2. The buyers will make a much bigger deal about repair items, and could cancel over what seems to be minor issues.
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Know where you are moving, who is moving you, and when/how much. Uncertainty about your move creates undue anxiety about other issues.
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Move out before the closing date, just in case you need more time.
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Avoid the “evacuation move”. If you do the panic-move, it could take weeks or months to re-organize your new home.
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Expect to think that you sold too cheap, too early, too late, etc., and when you do, laugh that you read it here first.
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Happy buyers close escrow.
BUYERS
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There are no perfect houses – or sellers.
- Having doubts is a good thing – it means you are examining the choice carefully. Work through them one by one.
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Regardless of market conditions, it will always be a challenge to find a quality house in good location – just due to the competition among buyers.
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Have a teflon memory – don’t get remorseful about the ones you lose.
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Don’t fall in love with anything.
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Most houses need repairs/improvements – $25,000 to $50,000 worth. Develop a comfort level with repairs and improvements.
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Have a bidding-war strategy.
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Plan the moving/improving in advance.
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Happy sellers select their favorites.
Remorse affects people in different ways. Many people can move on quickly, while others can really get bugged by it. Having second thoughts is healthy, just keep them in proper perspective.
Get good help!
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 17, 2014 | Interesting Houses
Horst Architects together with interior design firm Aria Design have completed the Rockledge Residence in Laguna Beach, California.
Perched atop the vertical face of a rocky, coastal promontory, this residence responds directly to the owner’s brief for a relaxed family beach house where they could engage family and friends, while also enjoying the views and natural surroundings of the site. The mild coastal climate also created the opportunity for the seamless integrate of interior and exterior space.
The design solution consists of a main residence and a detached guest house organized around a series of connected courtyards. Native, drought tolerant vegetation forms the connective tissue of the various exterior spaces. Sliding, concealed pocket doors and the continuity of materials both inside and out, help to dissolve the boundary between interior and exterior space.
http://www.contemporist.com/2014/01/07/rockledge-residence-by-horst-architects-and-aria-design/
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 16, 2014 | Bidding Wars, Frenzy |
C.A.R. should call a few more people outside of the Bay Area….
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/01162014_california_real_estate.asp
The 2013 C.A.R. Home Seller survey was conducted by telephone with 600 people statewide to measure their perceptions of the home selling process. Eligible respondents all closed escrow on their homes within the six months prior to August/September 2013.
The survey found that nearly half or 43 percent of respondents expect home prices to rise over the next year. That number jumps to 58 percent when the time period is extended to five years. In the previous survey 9 percent expected a short term increase while 12 percent thought prices would rise over five years.
Nearly all of the sellers, 98 percent, said they had received multiple offers on their home, up from 83 percent a year earlier. The average number of offers was 5.9 compared to 3.1 in 2012. This competitive market also led to bidding wars and 45 percent of sellers said they had received offers above their asking price and more than a third said they had received three or more such offers. On average sellers received 2.2 offers above their asking price.
Read full article here:
http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/01162014_california_real_estate.asp
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 16, 2014 | Bottom Talk, Bubble-Era Pricing |
These ivory-tower guys keep wasting their time debating whether to call this is a bubble or not using vague, mind-numbing graphs. From HW:
There is a lot going on right now in housing and mortgage markets. But one of the debates that continues to rage on is whether or not U.S. housing markets are in a bubble or not.
HousingWire’s own monthly HW Magazine talked about it in detail in our January issue.
So too has CNBC’s John Carney, in a post from late last year with the headline: Yep, it’s another housing bubble. And then on January 14 of this year, Peter Wallison at the American Enterprise Institute wrote a breathless op-ed proclaiming: The bubble is back.
But is it really a bubble just because home prices are rising again?
(more…)
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 15, 2014 | Wednesday Rock Blogging |
It sounds like the Christie bridge scandal may be short-lived; from NBC:
Nearly 70 percent of Americans say the bridge-closure scandal engulfing Chris Christie has not changed their opinion about the New Jersey governor, according to a new NBC News/Marist poll.
The best part of it so far:
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 15, 2014 | Bubbleinfo TV, Flips, Kayla Training |
How is your sense of value? Can you correctly guess the list price of a home after a three-minute tour? I have t-shirts for those who guess the LP.
Extra note on the video: You’ll hear me say ‘bathroom’ when discussing the deconstruction. The garage used to be its own living unit, with bathroom and kitchen – these owners took it out and made it back into a garage.
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 15, 2014 | Local Flavor |
An excerpt on the Encina power plant from the ut:
CARLSBAD — The Carlsbad City Council approved a landmark deal Tuesday that officials said will help solve the region’s energy needs while ridding coastal North County of a notorious eyesore: the 60-year-old Encina Power Station.
The agreement allows NRG Energy to replace Encina and its 400-foot cooling tower with a more environmentally-friendly and less conspicuous 90-foot-tall “peaker” plant, and requires NRG to tear Encina down when the new plant opens sometime in 2017.
City officials said the deal, which came together quickly during the last few months, was prompted primarily by the unexpected retirement last June of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, which had supplied much of the region’s power.
Read full article here:
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jan/14/carlsbad-encina-power-peaker-plant-deal/
by Jim the Realtor | Jan 14, 2014 | Jim's Take on the Market, Realtor, Realtor Training
It was noted earlier that after a couple years, most people don’t remember their exact sales price – buying or selling.
But, boy, is it critical in the moment!
The ego interjects itself on both sides too. Buyers don’t want to overpay, and sellers think they are giving it away!
It is the agents’ job to manage the situation, and it’s a topic that doesn’t get discussed in license school. What can participants do to make a delicate situation any better?
Act Indifferent – If you or your agent gets too excited, the other side will sense it and take advantage. There is a reason why the seller or listing agent is present during home tours. It’s primarily so they can learn as much about the buyers as possible – and use later.
Expect Them to Counter-Offer – Either side will want to improve on the last volley, so expect a counter – and if they don’t, then oh happy day!
Be Long-Headed – Plan ahead, and strategize what they will do with your counter-offer. Be creative with the other terms to counteract your price.
Limit to Two Counters Each – If you can find agreement using fewer than four counters, then great. But after each party issues two counter-offers, impatience starts setting in, and the frustrated will give up.
Agents Do Stupid Things – Agents want to be heroes and counter-offer over every little detail. Stop your agent from submarining your deal.
Two-Negotiation Process – If you can find agreement on price and terms, you are halfway home. Next is the 17-day contingency period, and the second negotiation over repairs. Leave some gas in the tank. Sellers – getting a pre-sale home inspection and doing repairs in advance can allevate problems here.
Do you best to create a win-win, while keeping your eye on the prize!
Curb appeal is what getts buyers out of the car, and it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to improve. Let’s start with what you can do out front to improve your chances of selling for top dollar.
