We’ve pinpointed the perfect day of the week for you to list your home for sale.
Here’s what you need to know.
Showing posts with label Home Selling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Home Selling. Show all posts
What Day of the Week Should You List Your Home for Sale?
We’ve pinpointed the perfect day of the week for you to list your home for sale.
Here’s what you need to know.
Sell 75% Faster for 6% More Money
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You Need to Watch This Video
Discount brokerages/shops are becoming more and more common these days,
but today I’ve got an important message to share about their services.
Discount brokerages/shops have been popping up all over the country and here in San Diego County. They promise dramatically decreased commissions and a quick sale. As someone who’s passionate about a great deal myself, I understand this completely.
However, what these brokerages don’t tell you is that discounted fees will also mean discounted service and ultimately the price they get for your property. You may save a few thousand dollars in commission, but the diminished level of service/marketing/contacts/negotiating skills will potentially cost you tens of thousands because it’s not what they do. True professional Realtors fight to get you as much money for your home as possible.
In the age of the internet, online services can serve as a convenient alternative to more traditional methods of securing goods or services. However, is the supposed convenience actually worth it when it means your bottom line will be drastically lower?
Online and discount services like these are driving home prices and values down all over the country and San Diego County which is why certain communities around the country are going so far as to try to ban them.
“
Are you really saving money with the
discount shops and online brokerages?
”
discount shops and online brokerages?
The bottom line is this: These services may initially sound like a good deal, but they’re actually very harmful to the industry and to your success as a seller.
Traditional, full-time agents like me will have the knowledge, experience, and track record you need and deserve when it comes time to sell your home.
When it comes to real estate, you get what you pay for. Don’t trust your success to a discount brokerage/shop that can only offer discounted results.
If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
**A broker is licensed to render real estate advice. If you desire tax, legal or lending advice, consult the appropriate professional. Videos and marketing by Broker are intended to help educate the public. Laws and real estate practices may change at anytime. All information deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and determined on a case-by- case basis. If your property is listed, please disregard as it is not our intention to solicit. We cooperate fully with other brokers. Equal Housing Opportunity and member of the National Association of Realtors.
Should you accept an offer Contingent on the Sale of another Property?
In this competitive market, the first offer you receive is often going to be the best one.
Let me explain.
Let me explain.
Should you accept an offer Contingent on the Sale of another Property? Here are three different pricing scenarios that will help you answer that question.
1) If you’re selling a house that’s worth $500,000 or less.
Typically, in this situation, the answer is no. Ultimately it’s up to you, but my advice is to not accept a contingent offer here. The San Diego market is always scorching-hot and there are plenty of other non-contingent offers out there just waiting to be accepted.
2) If you’re selling a house worth $500,000 to $700,000.
In this scenario the answer depends on where the buyers are in the process of their own sale, so that’s a factor you need to pay attention to. If they haven’t listed their home for sale yet, you absolutely shouldn’t accept their offer. If their house has been on the market for 30 days or more, you should also decline their offer— it’s likely overpriced. If their home is under contract—meaning they’ve accepted an offer and they’re currently in escrow—and they’ve made you a good offer, that would be worth taking a look at. However, this can get tricky, and there are a few factors you need to consider. First, you’ll want to know where they are in the escrow process. More importantly, you want to find out if they’ve done their home inspections, appraisal, has their loan been approved, have the request for repairs been negotiated and if the buyers have REMOVED ALL CONTINGENCIES AND ARE NOW CONTRACTUALLY COMMITTED TO PURCHASING THE HOME? If this has all been satisfied in most cases you are good to go.
“
If you’re selling a house worth $500,000 or less,
don’t accept a contingent offer.
”
don’t accept a contingent offer.
3) If you’re selling a house worth $700,000 to $1 million.
Most of the offers you get in this scenario will be Contingent on the Sale of another Property, so the same rules I applied to the previous scenario apply here as well. I’ve also sold several homes listed above $1 million, and at this range, you typically don’t have to worry about Contingent Offers. Buyers usually either have the available cash or some other payment method that doesn’t require selling another property. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call. I'd be happy to help you.
**A broker is licensed to render real estate advice. If you desire tax, legal or lending advice, consult the appropriate professional. Videos and marketing by Broker are intended to help educate the public. Laws and real estate practices may change at anytime. All information deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and determined on a case-by- case basis. If your property is listed, please disregard as it is not our intention to solicit. We cooperate fully with other brokers. Equal Housing Opportunity and member of the National Association of Realtors.
The First Offer Is Often the Best
In this competitive market, the first offer you receive is often going to be the best one. Let me explain.
The first offer is oftentimes the best offer. As you know, buying here in San Diego isn’t always the easiest thing to do. The demand is so high and the buyer/buyers may have been looking for months and writing up to 10 or more offers with no luck. So when the perfect home comes along they (buyer/buyers) tend to write their best offer right out the gate (they are tired of losing and they have learned what it takes to get an offer accepted).
The first offer is oftentimes the best offer.
I can see why sellers might think it’s a good idea to wait for more offers, but you should respond to the first offer immediately so you don’t lose them. If you price your home correctly, there’s no reason your home shouldn’t sell right away for the most amount possible. In fact, the lower you price it, the more money you will end up getting (call/email/text me and I will explain how this happens and let you speak with my clients).
If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call. I'd be happy to help you.
**A broker is licensed to render real estate advice. If you desire tax, legal or lending advice, consult the appropriate professional. Videos and
marketing by Broker are intended to help educate the public. Laws and real estate practices may change at anytime. All information deemed
reliable but is not guaranteed and determined on a case-by- case basis. If your property is listed, please disregard as it is not our intention to
solicit. We cooperate fully with other brokers. Equal Housing Opportunity and member of the National Association of Realtors.
Thinking About Selling Your Investment Property? This Is Absolutely the Best Way to Do It!
It’s simple-- price the subject property just under market value and have one showing time (especially with income – multi-unit property with multiple tenants, multiple families and schedules which makes it hard to schedule showings in general).
This gets everyone to the property at once creating huge interest which will ultimately create better than average offers.
Costco does this with by creating a limited supply of seasonal items which they tend sell out immediately!
Keys to the successful showing/open house:
1. Dress professionally
2. Know as much information about the property as possible
3. Know your competitors/inventory available in the neighborhood
4. Bring a lender to answer any lending questions a buyer may ask
5. Be nice
If you have any additional questions, please be sure to contact me right away!!
By the way this particular property generated 18 offers and sold for 60k above asking price!!
**A broker is licensed to render real estate advice. If you desire tax, legal or lending advice, consult the appropriate professional. Videos and marketing by Broker are intended to help educate the public. Laws and real estate practices may change at anytime. All information deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and determined on a case-by-case basis. If your property is listed, please disregard as it is not our intention to solicit. We cooperate fully with other brokers. Equal Housing Opportunity and member of the National Association of Realtors.
Why You Can’t Trust a Zestimate
You can trust a Zestimate to give you an accurate home value, right? Wrong. Here are the facts.
According to the National Association of Realtors, 92% of home buyers use the internet when searching for a home – and many of them use Zillow. You search for a home to buy or the value of your home and receive what is called a Zestimate. Zillow wants you to believe that their Zestimate is the real value for your home.
Can you trust a Zestimate? No, you can’t. Zillow allows the public to input the data which many times, is completely inaccurate. The Zestimate is based on user-submitted data. In fact, and I’m quoting directly from the Zillow site….
“The Zestimate is calculated from public and user-submitted data, taking into account special features, location, and market conditions. We encourage buyers, sellers, and homeowners to supplement Zillow's information by doing other research such as:
• Getting a comparative market analysis (CMA) from a real estate agent - free
• Getting an appraisal from a professional appraiser $400-$600
• Visiting the house (whenever possible) using a real estate agent –free”
All of which require the knowledge and experience from a local real estate professional.
What I am going to tell you now, does happen, and happens often….
Some people planning on selling their home (and you know people check Zillow), go to Zillow and add some home improvements to their property to increase the “value” of their home. There are some unprofessional agents out there who actually help people increase their Zestimates, or value of their home, to make it seem like their home is worth more than it is. In short, Zestimates can be adjusted and influenced.
Zillow goes on to say they have never been to your house; that Zestimate has no idea how your home stacks up against others in the area, so consult a Realtor.
So, how accurate are Zestimates in San Diego County? Zillow admits the Zestimates in San Diego County are off by 10% or more, which means if your house is worth $600,000, the Zestimate can be $60,000 too high or $60,000 to low--and that is a lot.
Zillow is kind of like WebMD; if you are curious about a health condition, then you can look up some data on WebMD. If you are seriously concerned about your health, you will go to the doctor. You won’t trust your health to information from WebMD. Why trust the value of your house to some website?
Let me bottom line this for you – If would like a truly accurate market price valuation of your home, based on facts, contact a full time real estate professional. In fact, I invite you to look up your Zestimate and send it to me. I will then compare your property to recently sold homes in your area and we’ll see how accurate Zillow actually is.
**A broker is licensed to render real estate advice. If you desire tax, legal or lending advice, consult the appropriate professional. Videos and marketing by Broker are intended to help educate the public. Laws and real estate practices may change at anytime. All information deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and determined on a case-by-case basis. If your property is listed, please disregard as it is not our intention to solicit. We cooperate fully with other brokers. Equal Housing Opportunity and member of the National Association of Realtors.
What Do Buyers and Sellers Actually Pay for When Buying and Selling a Home?
Buyers and sellers each incur costs during the course of their transaction. We have a detailed breakdown of each that we’d like to share.
So, what do buyers and sellers actually pay when buying and selling a home?
Let's begin with the buyers. Please keep in mind these are just estimates and will depend on the lender you use, area you buy and the services and agents you select.
1.) Good news – Buyers, YOU DO NOT PAY ANY COMMISSION – BUYERS AGENT ARE FREE TO THE BUYER – SELLER PAYS.
2.) If you are purchasing a $500,000 home and putting down 20%, your down payment is $100,000.
3.) Closing costs – what are closing costs? These consist of the following….
- Property Taxes – 6 months of taxes would be $1,084
- Title Charges - $900.00
- Escrow Fees - $1,925.00
- Lender Charges - $2,760.00
- Home Owner Insurance - $600.00
- Misc Fees and Padding $300.00
So the total buyer fees will be approximately $100,000 for loan and $7569.00 (closing costs) for a total of $107,569.00.
Sellers – Please keep in mind some of the fees can be negotiated. I will use the traditional fees and costs in this example.
1.) Commission – Sellers pay the commission to the Listing Broker (listing agent) and Selling Broker (buyer’s agent). The brokers get paid and then pay the agents according to their individual agreements.
- $500,000 sales price – Commission (6%) will be $15,000 to the Listing Broker, $15,000 to the Selling Broker
- Title Charges - $2,200.00
- Escrow Fees - $1,225.00
- Lender Fees – 0
- Property Taxes - $2,000.00
Additional Charges include (depending on the agent and services you use and what is negotiated in the purchase agreement) - Home Warranty for the Buyer, TC fee if any, Hazard Report, Notary and HOA and Doc fees - $1,600.00.
So the total “closing costs” including commission will be approximately $37,025.00
Again, please keep in mind these figures and many of the charges and fees can be negotiated in the purchase agreement and the agents and services you select. If you have any additional questions, please contact me immediately.
If you have any questions for us about the costs of buying or selling, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.
**A broker is licensed to render real estate advise. If you desire tax, legal or lending advice, consult the appropriate professional. Videos and marketing by Broker are intended to help educate the public. Laws and real estate practices may change at anytime. All information deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and determined on a case-by-case basis. If your property is listed, please disregard as it is not our intention to solicit. We cooperate fully with other brokers. Equal Housing Opportunity and member of the National Association of Realtors.
**A broker is licensed to render real estate advise. If you desire tax, legal or lending advice, consult the appropriate professional. Videos and marketing by Broker are intended to help educate the public. Laws and real estate practices may change at anytime. All information deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and determined on a case-by-case basis. If your property is listed, please disregard as it is not our intention to solicit. We cooperate fully with other brokers. Equal Housing Opportunity and member of the National Association of Realtors.
How to Prepare Your Home to Sell for Top Dollar
After a recent video about why you should list your home during the winter, I received multiple emails from people who wanted to know how to prepare their homes to maximize their profit.
So what's the best way to prepare to sell for top dollar? Every home is different, but most buyers are looking for a move-in ready home. To prepare your home to sell, the first thing you need to do is make sure the front yard looks good. Buyers can typically tell what the inside of a house will look like by looking at the outside. If the outside is a mess, the inside tends to be a mess too.
"First impressions are extremely important."
Paint is another improvement you can make at a relatively low price. It will make the house look and smell good. You should also pay attention to your kitchen and flooring to make sure they look great. If your cabinets are worn, consider painting or staining them. When it comes to flooring, if you have tile, wood, or carpet, they need to be professionally cleaned.
Next, you want to open all your blinds to let as much light in as possible and turn on all the lights—even in the closets. You want your house as light and bright as possible. You should also buy air fresheners to ensure a great smell and even play some soft music while you're out of the house for showings.
De-clutter your house by packing up, storing, or getting rid of knickknacks and unnecessary furniture. Finally, you want to clean the house top to bottom.
As you can see, you don't need to do much to maximize your profit. So, if you are thinking about selling your home or getting a free personal estimate of your home's current value, give me a call, send me a text, or send me an email.
Does Solar Add Value to Your House?
Solar systems will add value to your home, but it really depends on what kind of financing you use to purchase the solar system. You have five options, and some are definitely better than others.
One of the most popular questions homeowners and buyers ask me is: Does solar really add value to your house? I’m not talking about solar for your pool; I’m talking about eliminating your SDG&E bill.
Solar does add value to your home depending on how you finance the system. A typical solar system runs anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000. As far as financing, there are five standard options. Here are the options, from best to worst:
1. Outright purchase. This is by far the best option. You will no longer have an electricity bill, which buyers will find extremely valuable. You will also get a 30% tax credit from the IRS at the end of the year. Purchasing a solar system is a great way to add value to your home while saving you (and your buyer) hundreds of dollars a month.
2. Financing. You can finance your solar system purchase through a home equity line of credit from a credit union or bank. You will still receive the 30% tax credit at the end of the year, and the solar system is easily transferred to a buyer.
3. Prepaid Lease. Basically, you would pay the solar company for 20 years of electricity up front. Your cost would actually be 70% of the total cost of the system because the 30% tax credit comes off of the price. The lease will transfer to the buyer, no qualifications necessary.
4. Traditional Lease. Leases typically last about 20 years. The problem is that when you sell your home, the buyer will ask you to pay off the rest of the lease before they purchase your home. If you don’t pay off the lease, then the buyer has to qualify to pay for the lease in addition to qualifying for a mortgage, which can be difficult. Most importantly, if the monthly lease payments are too high, the buyer will just pass on your house altogether.
5. Power Purchase Agreement, or PPA. If you get a PPA, you will lease the solar system and pay the solar company a monthly fee for a certain amount of electricity. If you use more power than you generate, then you will have to pay two bills: one to the solar company, and one to SDG&E.
Obviously, some of these options come with more advantages than others. If you are looking into different solar options or how you can add value to your home, please call me. I would love to connect you with the right solar company so that you add the most value to your home. I look forward to speaking with you!
Dale Downing
HouseCallRealty.com
BRE# 01338330
**A broker is licensed to render real estate advice. If you desire tax, legal or lending advice, consult the appropriate professional. Videos and marketing by Broker are intended to help educate the public. Laws and real estate practices may change at anytime. All information deemed reliable but is not guaranteed and determined on a case-by-case basis. If your property is listed, please disregard as it is not our intention to solicit. We cooperate fully with other brokers. Equal Housing Opportunity and member of the National Association of Realtors.
Selling and Buying Without Moving Twice
How do you sell your current house and buy another without having to move twice?
There are two ways to accomplish this:
- Make the contract contingent on you finding suitable housing. What this means is that unless you find the perfect house that you like and your offer gets accepted, you don’t have to move.
- Build in a rent back. After you close escrow on your current house, you can build in a rent back for up to 60 days where you rent the house from the new owner. During that time, you can look for a new house.
If you have any further questions about this topic, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.
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