Top 6 reasons you should hire a professional Real Estate Agent

The house-buying and selling processes can be tricky, to say the least. Luckily, there are professionals (like me!) to guide you through it! I recently sat down with a first time home buyer who doesn’t understand the value of a real estate agent. He wanted to know what I do as he can find the houses himself.

The rubber really hits the road when you find the house you want to write on. This particular buyer was interested in a house, but now it is pending. If he had an agent working on his behalf, that agent would have called the listing agent, found out if they were looking at offers on a specific day or as they come and then find out if there is interest in the home. That all could have been communicated to this buyer and they might have put in an offer.

We are all very busy, and real estate can be a stressful process, taking up a lot of time on top of everything else you have going on. Why wouldn’t a buyer want an experienced professional to help them? It doesn’t cost them a cent as the seller pays the commission. For a seller, it is very apparent why you would hire an agent, but here are the top six reasons. At the end of the day, I think it is about trust. Do you trust this agent to work in your best interest?

1. Neighborhood Knowledge

Agents either possess intimate knowledge or they know where to find the industry buzz about your neighborhood. We can run a neighborhood comparative market analysis, in addition to pointing a buyer where more data on schools, crime, demographics and open house listings exist.

2. Price Guidance

Contrary to what some people believe, agents do not select prices for sellers or buyers. However, an agent will help to guide clients to make the right choices for themselves. Buyer’s Agents will ask buyers to weigh all the data supplied to them and to choose a price. Then based on market supply, demand and the conditions, the agent will devise a negotiation strategy.

3. Market Conditions

Real estate agents can disclose market conditions, which will govern your selling or buying process. Many factors determine how you will proceed. Data such as the comparative active/pendings/solds of similar homes, median and average sales prices, average days on market and ratios of list-to-sold prices, among other criteria, will have a huge bearing on what you ultimately decide to do.

4. Education & Experience

You don’t need to know everything about buying and selling real estate if you hire a real estate professional who does. Henry Ford once said that when you hire people who are smarter than you are, it proves you are smarter than they are. The trick is to find the right person (back to trust). For the most part, they all cost roughly the same, so why not hire a person with more education and experience than you? We’re all looking for more precious time in our lives, and hiring pros gives us that time.

5. Professional Networking

Real estate agents network with other professionals, many of whom provide services that you will need to buy or sell. Due to legal liability, many agents will hesitate to recommend a certain individual or company over another, but they do know which vendors have a reputation for efficiency, competency, and competitive pricing. Agents can, however, give you a list of references with whom they have worked and provide background information to help you make a wise selection. If an agent has a great reputation amongst their peers, it can help a buyer get into contract. Agents want to work with agents that are professional, communicate and are known for a smooth process.

6. Negotiation Skills & Confidentiality

Top producing agents negotiate well because, unlike most buyers and sellers, they can remove themselves from the emotional aspects of the transaction and because they are skilled. It’s part of their job description. Good agents are not messengers, delivering buyer’s offers to sellers and vice versa. They are professionals who are trained to present their client’s case in the best light and agree to hold client information confidential from competing interests.

So, next time you’re in the market for buying or selling, and start thinking it’d be easier and cheaper to do it without an agent, think again! These are just a few of the reasons why hiring an agent ends up being the best way to go. Give me a call if you’re looking to buy or sell!

A survival guide for sellers living in a fully staged home

Nicole Solari, a broker in Northern California with The Solari Group, wrote a funny, interesting article recently that I wanted to share below. This version has been slightly edited for length, and includes my own commentary at the end. Enjoy!

Most of us are reasonably familiar with the litany of woes sellers and buyers typically experience. One of my agents, however, is getting an all-too-real refresher course in the twists and turns of selling a personal residence when it’s fully staged.

We accidentally created a manual on exactly how to pull of something spectacularly awful as living in a staged home while it’s actively being shown. So, if you find yourself advising sellers how they should cope with living in a staged house while it’s actively being shown, suggest these 10 survival skills to them:

Leave for the first few days the listing is active.

The best way to cope with living in a staged house is to put off doing it for as long as possible. Not everyone can afford this expense, but, at a minimum, a nice long weekend away seems to be worth the cost!

Stop thinking of staying in a staged house as living. It’s not. It’s camping.

Have realistic expectations to make the temporary inconvenience more bearable. Think of the extended stay as a camping trip, so it will be more tolerable. It’s a relatively accurate description of the “lifestyle” anyway.

Establish sensible advance-notice periods to insert in the showing instructions.

The agent needs to guide the discussion regarding how much advance notice sellers need to prep the property and vanish with kids and pets in tow. Giving two hours notice before a showing seems reasonable to most buyers and agents, and most often give more.

Don’t do anything that spatters, like cooking. Or eating.

Sellers shouldn’t use the oven. They shouldn’t microwave anything potentially explosive. And, they most certainly shouldn’t fry anything unless they’re prepared to wash down the stove and everything surrounding it immediately after use. When dining in, the menu should be limited to salads (as long as dressing spatters are rigorously prevented), sandwiches and other things that aren’t messy, such as takeout. Ideally, they’d just eat at restaurants or directly over the kitchen sink.

Shower at the gym, and have a hairdresser on speed dial.

Sellers want to be clean and buyers want to see a flawless home. Having a shower in showing condition means cleaning and its surrounding glass relentlessly and hand drying it every time it’s used. However, the gym shower is much more simple!

Keep necessities in easily hidden bags or covered containers in every spot necessary.

Although I would never look under the bed, my seller assures me, if I did, I would find the bathrooms scale, a box of makeup, a bag containing soap, toothpaste, and floss, dog toys, a bag of allergy medications, and a set of pajamas. All I can say is thank goodness (and our stagers!) for bed skirts.

Give in to an obsessive need to clean, tidy and touch-up paint.

There’s nothing like having to get a property ready to show multiple times to focus a seller’s attention on minute details, and that’s good because buyers see everything. Suggest sellers keep cleaning supplies, garden gloves and tools, trim and wall paint, and brushes together in an easily accessible – but hidden – spot.

Protect the stager’s furnishings against every weird mishap conceivable.

If a seller soils or damages a rug, piece of furniture, lamp or perfect accessory, the loss to the stager is more profound than most sellers realize. The cost to replace an item is often significant, plus it can be difficult to locate a replica of the spoiled item, especially if it’s a unique size or style. It pays to protect them! So, sellers should plan to live like monks. They should try not to walk on the rugs or eat or drink near anything that’s not theirs.

Do NOT change the dog’s diet or routine.

Even with the best coping skills, sellers are stressed. And their pets (as well as kids) are double so. Nothing is as it usually is. And sellers’ little ones are involuntary conscripts in this process. So, sellers need to keep as much of their routine intact as humanly possible. And, whatever they do, urge them NOT to try a new dog food while they’re living on someone else’s rugs!

Hire a cleaning service.

The constant wiping, cleaning, and tidying soon gets to every seller. If they can afford it, hiring a professional cleaning service to come in on a regular basis is respite care for stressed-out sellers. You’d be amazed at what a memorable and welcome gift that can be.

It might seem a little overboard, but their are agents out there that will suggest all these things. I am more of a middle of the road. Get the house looking stellar, take professional pictures and then keep it as tidy as possible. Having a caddy that goes under the sink with all your shower and morning routine items is just fine. Many people go away the first weekend of an Open House and if you have kids, that adds a whole different dimension of keeping a place tidy. Just picking up the toys and putting them in a basket may just suffice.

The first-time buyer’s guide to real estate

Jim McKinley wrote a blog that I’ve made slight edits to below. Let me know what you think!

Buying your first home is exciting, but it can also be full of confusion, fear, and apprehension. After all, buying a home is a huge commitment, and if you’ve never done it before, there can be a lot of questions. However, by getting informed and preparing yourself appropriately, you can avoid many of the common pitfalls of buying your first home and step into this new stage of your life with confidence. To help everything go as smoothly as possible, follow these tips and tricks.

Get your Finances in Order

Many people might assume that it is time to become a homeowner based on their life situation, such as recently landing a well-paying job. However, no matter where you are at in your life, it takes quite a bit of financial preparation to correctly prepare for buying a house. First and foremost, you need to ensure that you have a solid budget. Some people might encourage you to put this off until after you buy your house, but your budget is an indispensable tool to figure out how much home you can afford. Secondly, save up a reasonable down payment. According to the Motley Fool, squeezing out enough money for a down payment might require a lot of expense cutting. We recommend using a savings calculator to help you figure out how much you’ll need to save each month.

Get Pre-Approved

Before you even begin to look at houses, go to some lenders to get pre-approved for a mortgage. This is not as scary as it might sound and can take a lot off your plate later. To be approved for a mortgage, the lender considers your credit score, how much you make, the amount you put down and your debt-to-income ratio, among other things. There are many different financing options available and a good lender will advise you accordingly.

Find a Great Agent

A good real estate agent can provide you with huge benefits when it comes to looking for your home. The housing market and lingo can be confusing. When you work with a real estate agent, they can advise you on how to write the best offer and discuss the current market so you can focus your energy on searching for a home. According to The Balance, an agent is a great asset; they can ask questions for you and obtain disclosures. Real estate agents are particularly helpful for first-time homebuyers who might not be aware of the home-buying process and a good referral source for reputable lenders.

View Houses in Your Area

Now that you have all the preliminary work squared away, it’s time to start looking at houses. Preferably, you’ll want your real estate agent to set up showings based on your criteria. Your agent can point things out that you might have missed and help gauge whether the home is listed for a good price.

Negotiate your Closing Costs

Once you find your perfect house, you need to close the deal. There are fees tacked on to buying a home called closing costs. Everything from lender fees, title insurance to title search fees. To the average person, these can begin to sound like a second language. You can shop a rate, but many lenders will quote you the lowest rate of the month, because until you lock in a rate, it is a moving target. Look to reviews and potentially how smooth your closing will go. Review your Loan Estimate closely and ask about all fees you do not understand. Once you understand everything, negotiate with your lender for lower fees.

Move

Give yourself more than enough time to pack and move to prevent yourself from rushing. If you hate packing, you might even want to consider hiring a moving agency. If you have children, you might drop them off at a family member’s house to give yourself a couple hours of uninterrupted packing.

Home buying is an exciting, nerve-wracking process. By following these steps (and hiring the right lender and agent), your can home-buying process will be a lot smoother.

What does a real estate agent do all day?

Being a real estate agent is a tough job. We work constantly, even on weekends, holidays and evenings, and have to balance about one million different tasks for a given sale. On top of that, we’re monitoring leads, following up with clients, and having to market ourselves regularly. But most of that is below the surface, so it leaves some wondering what the heck we actually do all day!

Luckily, Cara Ameer, a realtor in Florida, explained it in detail for Inman.com. I’ve given you the main takeaways from that article below, to shed a little light on what exactly I’m doing for you and my other clients all day:

The realtor is an incubator, initiator, action-taker, coordinator, scheduler, personal concierge, resource, problem-solver, mediator, miracle worker, red-tape cutter, transaction manager, and chief make-it-happen officer for any client that wants to make a real estate move. Some of these roles get delegated elsewhere, but the realtor oversees everything and gives valuable input on the process every step of the way. I could work every day, and often feel guilty if I am going to be out of town or take a day off (even on my scheduled days off). I usually will check email a couple of times and answer my phone which is also the beauty of it all – I can be on a beach in Hawaii and still answer questions and get things done.

A typical day in the life:

Responding: there are always inquiries, emails, texts, etc. to respond to. We are always “open,” if you will, and waiting until the next day can result in a missed sale or lost client. And it’s not just clients asking about properties – it’s other agents, stagers, brokers, and more.
Reviewing MLS activity: we review MLS activity for relevant listings and updates on properties of interest and notify our clients right away if anything needs to be shared.
Keeping a Database: we must always be updating our contact databases with new customer info, updates, birthdays, home-buying anniversaries, etc.
Scheduling Showings: agents put together property itineraries for clients who are planning to house-hunt and see multiple showings. The schedule is constantly changing, and getting it right is a priority for everyone.
Making Contact: we are your liaison for establishing a dialogue with sellers or buyers, and conduct all the research for market comparables.
Setting/Attending Appointments: meetings never end in real estate. We meet buyers and sellers for initial discussions and tours, we meet inspectors, appraisers and other specialists, and oftentimes you’ll get other calls about other meetings while you’re already in the first one!
Negotiating Offers/Managing Sales: this process can take a very long time. Once an offer is accepted, though, and a property goes under contract, the agent has to be on everyone involved to finish their part of the job. That means lenders, title companies, attorneys, other agents, and all clients, to name a few.
Problem-Solving: educating clients about the market, the offers, etc., gathering info about a community or property, troubleshooting unseen issues. There are a million little issues that go into a real estate transaction, and the agent will be expected to be the one solving them.
Marketing: don’t forget how much we have to market ourselves at all times to gain new clients and keep existing ones. Everything from a website, to a blog, to a newsletter, to a postcard, to a flyer will have to be created, approved, proofread and spread digitally and physically.

Long story short, real estate is a 24/7 profession that involves severe multi-tasking, prioritizing, evaluating, advising, hand-holding and problem-solving. The lifestyle isn’t as glamorous as it seems on TV, but it’s a rewarding job that I love to do! Now you know exactly what kind of work I’m putting in for you!

Weimaraners & Real Estate

As I’ve expressed here before, my best moments as a realtor come when a client buys their dream home with my help. That happened recently, and the backstory is almost as cool as the moment they shared getting the keys!

I met Wilbur and Aimee through NorCal Weim Rescue, where I got my dog Bodie and occasionally foster dogs for them. At the time, Wilbur was renting and had two Weimaraner puppies (Roxie & Daisy), but the landlord just landscaped the backyard and did not want two big dogs in addition to their small one.

So he surrendered them to NorCal Weim Rescue, who did not want to split the dogs up and I fostered them – see pics below. Roxie was very dominant over her sister and even when they were at a trial run at another home she would growl at the husband, so that didn’t work. Then Wilbur’s landlord said he could have one dog back, he got Roxie the light Weimaraner pictured here and Daisy found her fur-ever home in Bishop. And they later got Jax, the Blue Weim

They knew I was an agent and I said if you ever decide to buy, let me know. A few years later, their landlord wanted to sell his house and called me up! They realized they couldn’t buy the house they were renting, so off we went looking in Livermore. After being in contract and finding the HOA only allowed two dogs, we were back in the hunt. Three offers later, lots of conversations with the lender, and perseverance by all is when Aimee and Wilbur landed a wonderful home and a great place for their fur babies!

Now, Wilbur, Aimee and Roxie (dog) (as well as Jax (dog #2) and Duke (dog #3 smallest with the biggest name) can happily call their Aspenwood house in Livermore home for many years to come!

Why buyers don’t always take the highest offer

You might be surprised to hear that sellers don’t always take the highest offer on their properties. It would be logical to get the most bang for your back, but as this article outlines, there are more factors at play in today’s market.

In that specific example, the seller and their agent took a middle offer because it was all-cash, and that was the only way to ensure the deal would go through without having to worry if the appraisal would come in. They sacrificed a bit on the price (possibly) to make sure the house got sold.

From a seller’s perspective, taking a lower offer could be for any number of reasons. It could be because they want to counter up a lower offer because they have better financing or somebody waives the appraisal contingency. It could be because the letter they received from the prospective buyer was so engaging that they wanted those people to own the home, regardless of the price difference. It could even be because they’ve met the buyer and their family and just felt a connection to them.

From a buyer’s perspective, this means there’s an opening in the modern real estate market. If you don’t have the highest offer, you’re not always on the outside looking in. If you put more of a sincere, human touch on your pitch to buy the house, sellers might be more likely to sell to you!

It goes both ways. Real estate transactions involve a lot of paperwork, money and bartering. But when it comes down to it, having the human touch that a buyer seeks might be all you really need to leapfrog other offers and land the house of your dreams!

A great listing agent will go over all the pros and cons of each offer and provide reasons why one offer may be better, and give recommendations on counter strategies. At the end of the day, it is always the seller’s choice on who they choose to buy their home if they have more than one offer.

SaveSave

Emerald Elite Award

Our annual BHG convention recently occurred in Las Vegas. It is at this time of year they announce award winners based on production. I am happy to share that I was the recipient of the Emerald Elite Award, for which any agent nationwise, within the Better Homes and Gardens Company, meets the following criteria:

$325,000 GCI (Gross Commission Income, before taxes and expenses) OR 59+ total transactions

Thank you to all my great clients, referrals from friends and agents, team, lenders, inspectors, stagers and title reps! Additionally, I was awarded the 2017 Best of Walnut Creek Award in the Real Estate Agents category by the Walnut Creek Award Program. You can see a press release about that here, if you’re so inclined:

http://walnutcreek.walnutcreek.onlineawarded.org/PressReleaseub.aspx?cc=DJGB-TBHJ-QZRR

How to Ensure a Smooth Home Purchase

If you’re planning on purchasing a home this year, you’ll will want a transaction as smooth as possible. That’s what us agents are for! We want to help you find the perfect home and then ensure the process becomes as pain-free as possible. You don’t realize how important this is until you have the transaction from Hell!

Taken from a Better Homes and Garden’s article and repurposed with some of my insights, here are five tips for a smooth home purchase:

Tip 1: Communicate with Your Agent

You spend a lot of time with your agent in a finite window, so, you should work with a real estate agent you are comfortable with. They should be straight up and express everything you want and need in your new home. By communicating your desires from the beginning, your agent won’t waste time showing you homes that don’t fit your criteria. If you know you want an updated kitchen or two baths, make that clear. It is also a process; sometimes what you want and what your budget can afford creates a discovery process, but when it comes to finding that perfect home, clear communication is key. And if you run into any problems along the way, be sure to speak with your agent to iron out any issues.

Tip 2: Be Reasonable with Expectations

If you’re searching for a three-bedroom home located in a certain neighborhood that has the right schools, and your agent shows you a property with a color you don’t like that only has 1.5 baths, don’t simply write off the home. When searching for the home of your dreams, you may have to give something up or make some changes once you move in. No home will be perfect and, again, it is a process to find that out.

Tip 3: Don’t be Discouraged

Don’t expect to find your dream home overnight. Buyers often get frustrated because nothing pops up in their price range for two weeks or they have written five offers and none of them were accepted, but remember, it is a process. And, this is the Bay Area! Buyers usually course correct, change their expectations, get a quick education on the market and – voila! – the universe unfolds, the right house pops up and your offer is accepted! Woo-hoo! Now the rubber hits the road and you are in contract!

Tip 4: Play the Money Game

If you offer $375,000 on a home that’s listed at $400,000 and the seller refuses to budge, be prepared to negotiate. Wait!!! This is the Bay Area! When you offer $650,000 on a home listed for $620,000 and you are one of nine offers, you need to have some wiggle room for a counter offer. Before making an offer, discuss your strategy with your agent as he or she will be able to tell you whether your offer is fair or not. It’s also important to check out comps in the neighborhood so that you can make a reasonable offer from the get-go. Don’t forget how important a good lender is and the reputation they have with other agents. This may make the difference in your offer getting accepted over the other eight.

Tip 5: Get Your Mortgage Pre-Approved

This could be the smartest thing you do all year. By having a mortgage approved before you even begin looking at houses, you’ll be ready to make an offer as soon as you find the home of your dreams. Not all lenders are equal, and a good lender may give you the upper hand over other buyers who may be interested in the same house. Can they closer faster than 30 days? Do they get all the paperwork upfront and desktop underwrite you so there are no surprises? Are they responsive to your calls?

If you have any interest in purchasing a home this summer, and are looking for an agent who can guide you through the process smoothly, I am at your service and I have a great lender or two to refer!