In hopes of finding some legal clarity on the listing agents who practice the Coming Soons and Sold Before Processings, I came across this example at the DRE website – we see these happen regularly:
The requirements of law governing the relationship between agent and principal is to the effect that the agent cannot be allowed to profit at the expense of the agent’s principal, no matter whether the result is reached by misrepresentation, concealment or other fraudulent device.
In the case of Rempel v. Kells the court held that an agent obtaining profits by fraudulent conduct and concealment from the principal is not even entitled to recover expenses incurred by the agent in connection with the transaction. The duty of a real estate broker to disclose material facts known by him to the seller employing him was again confirmed in the appellate court case, Jorgensen v. Beach ‘n’ Bay Realty, Inc., (1981) (125 Cal. App. 3d 155)
In Jorgensen, the listing broker presented an offer to his seller that was only about 7 percent less than the listing price. The broker presented the offer on behalf of a speculator for whom the broker hoped to act in future transactions. When the broker presented the offer, he informed the seller that he was also acting on behalf of the offeror and was therefore a dual agent in the transaction.
The seller wished to counter offer on the price, but the broker recommended that the seller not do so. The seller followed this recommendation. The sale was consummated. Shortly thereafter the purchaser resold the property through the broker at a 13.5 percent profit.
In reversing a nonsuit for the broker, the appellate court held that the broker did not fully discharge his fiduciary obligation to the seller by simply disclosing that he was acting as a dual agent in the transaction.
It was the broker’s duty to disclose all material facts known to him which might have affected the seller’s decision to accept the offer. The court suggested that the facts known to the broker which might have affected the seller’s decision included (l) the fact that the buyer was acquiring the property for investment purposes and (2) the fact that the broker had a substantial personal stake in negotiating a bargain purchase for the buyer. (Field v. Century 21 Klowden-Forness Realty (1998) 63 Cal.App.4th 18).
This story is about the same as Carlsbad folks moving to San Jacinto, where you can buy brand-new houses in the $300,000s. But boomers want to stay within range of their kids and grandkids, so any boomer-flight could be muted.
If you’re touring a model home this weekend in Sacramento, chances are the other couple over there, the ones checking out the quartz counters and sizing up the master closet, are not locals.
Emigres from the San Francisco Bay Area will comprise one-third of house hunters in the capital region this summer, real estate analysts predict.
Call it the coastal wave. It started a year ago, and it may be about to peak.
Bay Area residents are inundating Sacramento home developer websites, clicking through floor plans, watching promotional videos and signing up for email blasts, according to Kevin Carson of the New Home Company. His firm is building in El Dorado Hills, downtown Sacramento and Davis.
“I believe this summer, when the kids get out of school, we are going to see a real increase in Bay Area sales,” he said. “We haven’t really seen the wave hit yet.”
Michael Strech, head of the North State Building Industry Association, said he’s checked with other builders and guesses the one-third figure may be conservative at some new subdivisions.
The reasons are obvious: The median price of a Bay Area home hit $850,000 in April, according to CoreLogic, a real estate data company. That’s a $100,000 increase in one year.
In San Francisco, the median price hit $1.3 million. That often buys no more than a 1,600-square-foot house.
In contrast, the April median sales price for a resale home in Sacramento County was $357,000. And the median for a new home was $433,000.
In an eye-opening Bay Area Council survey this month, 46 percent of Bay Area residents said they want to move out of the region within the next few years. They cite the high cost of living, high housing costs, traffic congestion and homelessness.
By comparison, Sacramento’s sparkling new hillside subdivisions and moderately priced midtown condos are hot properties.
Retiree Marie Diaz, 59, of San Jose is among the emigres. She and her former spouse are selling their home for $2 million after a divorce.
Diaz said she found she can’t afford another Bay Area house with her portion of the proceeds.
“Prices here are outrageous,” she said. “I can’t afford to live in this area. I’d be in an apartment.”
She bought a home under construction in El Dorado Hills for $525,000. It has the same square footage as her old home, with an outdoor “California room” and a nearby community clubhouse where she will play bingo and bunco and do yoga.
The Beatles were wrapping up, and rock and roll was looking for direction. In steps a long-haired dude wearing sandals, a guitar god who plays with a violin bow, and a maniac on drums:
“If the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage rate increases to 5%, which most economists agree is likely by the end of 2018 or early 2019, the impact on the market potential would be a modest decline to 6.10 million existing-home sales, according to the model,” wrote Mark Fleming, chief economist at First American Financial Corporation, the provider of title insurance and settlement services for the real estate market.
He noted that mortgage rates are rising because of positive economic conditions, which means household incomes are also rising, which should offset any increases in borrowing costs. “The housing market is flexible and can adjust to moderately higher mortgage rates without significant impact. The likely rise in mortgage rates is not the worry for first-time home buyers, but whether they can find something to buy in today’s supply-constrained market,” said Fleming.
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Ivy Zelman on mortgage rates: ‘If rates rise, that eats into affordability’, and 5.5% on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage would really start to concern her.
Ivy on home builders: Slightly slower spring season than normal. She says that 59% of builders are seeing price resistance from buyers.
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An agent who has been in the business for three years is sitting on a listing in original condition priced over a million dollars for more than 100 days. He told me he didn’t know what to do to get it sold.
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Another agent who has been in the business for seven years told me that she had a $1,000,000 listing sell right away, but can’t get anyone to show her two listings in the $500,000s. She has been averaging two sales per month, but has never seen these market conditions and didn’t know what to do. She is contemplating a new job outside of real estate.
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Kayla makes a cash offer that is a little under the bottom of the list-price range on a house that’s been on the market since March. The sellers counter-offer full price (the high-end of the range), 30-day escrow after we already told the agent that we needed 40 days, sellers to rent back for 30 days for a monthly rental rate that is $500 under market, five days to remove contingencies, and washer/dryer not included but might be negotiable. The listing agent noted that she had a comp.
Divorces can be messy – you could say this one is gross! Thanks daytrip!
The bitter divorce battle between billionaire bond king Bill Gross and his ex-wife is beginning to stink — like vomit, flatulence and dead fish.
The California moneyman, who lost his beloved 13,819- square-foot Laguna Beach home to his ex-wife in the break-up, used foul-smelling sprays to leave the place a stinking mess — and placed dead fish in the air vents, a “disgusted” Sue Gross claimed in court papers last week.
Sue Gross, who won a temporary restraining order against Bill last week, has the evidence of his foul play — empty spray bottles in the trash cans, court papers allege.
Bill Gross left the home, worth as much as $36 million, “in a state of utter chaos and disrepair,” court papers filed in a Los Angeles state court claim.
Bill’s reign of terror included not just his malodorous moves but his use of an “army of spies” to conduct “non-stop monitoring” of Sue and her family members, it is alleged.
Sue sought to clear the air about the olfactory offensive.
“The houseplants smelled foul and need to be replaced,” she added, noting that a “substantial amount of time and money” was needed to rehabilitate the property.
Included in the court filing are photos showing the alleged spray bottles behind the putrid smells — as were photos that claimed to show water damage throughout the 6-bedroom, 8-bath house. There were also photos of the severed cord to a treadmill and an art installation of cats with their facial features scratched out.
The kitchen is one of the most important rooms of the house, if not THE most important. This is the area where you put together your children’s lunches, cook the Thanksgiving turkey, or prep for your Saturday night dinner party with all your closest friends.
With that being said, a kitchen needs all the bells and whistles! You could spend a couple thousand on a kitchen, or you could end up spending $50,000+! Below are a few tips to help improve the kitchen you already have without having to go through your entire savings account!
1. Color-coordinate the outlets – Using a white outlet distracts the eye from the beautiful backsplash you spent LOTS of money on! You can avoid this issue by coordinate the wall plate and/or outlet with the color of the backsplash.
2. Hide your outlets with the appliance – Do we really need to see the chord dangling across the counter to plug in your toaster? Just move the darn toaster!
3. Sideways outlets – If you decide not to color-coordinate the outlets, turn them sideways so they will be less noticeable.
4. Charging station – Everyone has to charge their smart phone and iPad! Create a drawer right underneath the countertop, and make sure it has multiple outlets to keep the smart devices out of sight.
Lighting
1. Under-cabinet lighting – The main purpose of this is to show off your clean and stunning countertops! Make sure to install the light towards the front rather than towards the back. When it’s in the back, it shows off your backsplash – which isn’t a bad thing! But it then provides no light for your countertops – which is where you will be preparing your food!
2. Cabinet lighting – Typically you would install the light at the top of your cabinets but things have changed. You can now install your cabinet lighting on both sides of the cabinet to give it that “glowing” effect. This is great if you are incredibly organized. If you tend to throw stuff in your cabinets, maybe stay away from this idea.
Avoid Irritating Situations
1. Maximize space on an island – A lot of people think it would be great to have the sink in the middle of the island. Depending how long your island is, it can make the area around the sink very limiting. Try to put it at one end of the island to maximize your prep space.
2. Lid storage – I hate having to organize lids for pots and/or Tupperware. A good idea would be to create a divider in the drawer so you have your lids and your containers separated yet in the same place.
Here’s a good example of how sketchy the discounters are being with their advertising. It’s bad enough when they claim that they provide the same service as traditional agents, without providing any proof.
But this video – produced by Purplebricks themselves – gives you a great snapshot of their real integrity. When asked, “Don’t I have to pay with the possibility of my property not selling”, the expert says, “No…..not really.”
But the answer is yes – you have to pay $3,699 whether the home sells or not. It takes more prodding by the questioner to get her to deliver the right answer, but it’s still vague and evasive:
The local Purplebricks agent told us that the reason he went there was because he couldn’t hack it anymore as a regular realtor – he needed the salary to live.
If what you got for the money was transparent, the consumer would be better served. But instead, we get peppered with even more lies and deceit paid for by VC money in an attempt to win over the consumer before they figure it out.
A tour of one of the typical 1980’s built tract homes in a gated community near Fairbanks Ranch. A nice way to get into the Rancho area for someone who doesn’t mind doing their own improvements. This sold for $1,161,000 in April:
Nick at the WSJ has a good piece on the Tan Man – with one of Angelo’s emails from three years prior to the Countrywide failure and fire-sale to BofA:
An excerpt from an old article:
Mister Mozilo, a mortgage industry maverick who co-founded Countrywide in 1969, and nearly 30 years later co-founded the dramatically collapsed IndyMac Bank (now OneWest Bank), is widely regarded as one of the more Machiavellian sub-mortgage-men who helped march the U.S. (and global) economy straight off the cliff in the mid-Noughts.
While Mister Mozilo and his mortgage-making army pushed and pedaled sub-prime home loans, he talked up the then-flourishing company’s stock price, earned hundreds of millions in compensation, and cashed out more than $400,000,000 worth of Countrywide stock, a large portion of it during the last couple of years of his tattered tenure as the king of Countrywide.
Alas, the sub-primed fueled real estate bubble burst sometime around 2007 and Mister Mozilo left Countrywide in 2008 after the crippled company was sold for $4.1 billion to Bank of America.
In June 2009 the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Mister Mozilo with insider trading and securities fraud and in September 2010, Mister Mozilo settled with the SEC and agreed to pay $67,500,000 in fines, $45,000,000 of which was paid by Bank of America. Despite the sizable payout, settlement terms allow Mister Mozilo to circumvent acknowledgement of any misconduct. We can’t vouch for or confirm it but online idle chatter says he has a net worth well in excess of half a billion dollars.
Mozilo, in his deposition, continues his long standing defense of his former company. “I have no regrets about how Countrywide was run,” Mozilo said. “We were a world-class company in every respect.“
“We never made a loan knowingly — and it would be stupid to do so — that we knew the borrower could not pay. Never,” Mozilo said. “All our loans had that one standard from 1968 to the end of my rein at Countrywide.”
If you’re in a hurry, just contact me and we can get started right away.
If you prefer to conduct a full investigation and make an educated decision, great – know the difference between honest salespeople and the order-takers or sandbaggers who are intent on putting you together.
Topics For Listing-Agent Interviews:
Coming Soon – You’ll be told that this campaign is to generate initial buzz and anticipation, but that wears off in 2-3 days so make sure you are on the open market quickly thereafter. Ask whether there will be showings during the campaign, and don’t accept an offer until you have seen your house listed on the MLS for 2-4 days.
Database of Waiting Buyers – Great, bring them over once the home is on the MLS – not before.
Sold Before Processing – These days agents are candid about their history of selling homes before putting them on the open market – ask if they do it, and if they do, how do they justify that when they have a fiduciary duty to their sellers.
Handling the Inbound Advertising Calls – Most listing agents have assistants and trainees taking the calls. How good are they? Do they meet the caller at the property, or do they hand off to another assistant or trainee?
Setting Up Showings of Your Home – Everyone from Redfin to the biggest agents are using a neutral third party called Showing Suite to make the appointments to show your home. While it does sound efficient, it removes any chance of gleaning vital information from the buyer’s agent about the qualifications and motivations of each buyer. As a result, you will have unqualified people inside your home while you wait at Starbucks.
Showing Your Home – Does your listing agent insist upon accompanying all showings? Do they do it themselves, or do they send an assistant or trainee, and do either add value? The good buyer agents aren’t crazy about having to work around the assistant’s schedule.
Open Houses – Are top-notch professional salespeople conducting an open house in order to build additional urgency in buyers and, thus, sell your home for more money? Or are they there to pick up leads? You know by their visitor sign-in policy – especially if they use a slick I-pad system and refuse entry until visitors comply.
Advertising – Internet advertising is the rage, especially on Facebook. Are they advertising your house for sale, and really pushing the product?
Photos and Video – Real estate photographers are everywhere, so having pro photos are expected today. Drone shots that don’t identify the property aren’t helpful, and video presentations with audio that sells the property are much better than those with elevator music. Some listing agent refuse to do videos, and think photos sewn together are the same thing – they are missing an opportunity. In addition, if you look at their previous listings and see photos with for-sale signs in front of the house, then the agent is trying to sell houses before they do the photos, which is backwards.
Home Improvements/Staging – Do they have quality recommendations off the top of their head?
Suggested List Price – Can the listing agent make a compelling case to justify your home’s value? If they can convince you, then they are well on their way to convincing the buyers and appraisers too.
Recent Sales History – Have they sold at least once house per month over the last year? It’s nice but not required that they have sold houses like yours, because good listing agents can employ quality sales skills to sell any home. Ask about recent problems that their expertise has solved.
The deceit around the Coming Soon campaigns is toughest on the out-of-area sellers – it’s harder to keep a close eye on what’s really happening.
Two recent examples:
A. The listing agent had his Coming Soon sign in place for over two months, but sure enough, when it was finally entered into the MLS, it was sold before processing. The rule is to input the listing within 48 hours, not two months.
B. Another listing agent who couldn’t sell the house for three months cancels the listing on the MLS, and then puts her Coming Soon sign back out for ten days before re-inputting back on the MLS. She refreshed her Coming Soon!
I promise to uphold my fiduciary duty and get you the best deal possible!
