San Diego Short Sale and Foreclosed Homes

 
 
I received a phone call today from a couple who are interested in moving up in my area. They have outgrown their existing home and want to take that next step into a larger home in a more exclusive neighborhood. After chatting with the wife for a few minutes about exactly what they are looking for in a new home, I asked her "How were you referred to me?". I don't have any homes listed in the subdivision she is most interested in, so I was curious what led her to me. Her response was a blogger's dream.

"I searched the Internet for homes in the area and it led me right to you."

YES!!! We talked for a few more minutes and I got all of the information that I need to start working with her to find her next home. Since she already sees me as the neighborhood expert (would Google lie?) we will be looking at homes next week.

THAT is the power of blogging locally...very locally. Naturally, she had me interested in how I ranked for other areas. I googled each of the different neighborhoods that I have spotlighted in the past few months and I am on page 1 for almost every one of them. With each new neighborhood post, more people are finding their way to my blog and my stat counter tells me that they are searching for individual subdivision or neighborhood names. My keyword analysis is saying consumers want information about hyper-localareas, not just general market reports.

Of course, I had to take this small success and pay it forward. If you haven't taken the time to post about specific communities in your area, here are some suggestions for what you may want to include:

Pictures. I always visit the subdivision and take photos of the entrance. You want your reader to know that you have actually been to the area, not that you are just spewing facts any other agent can give them. Buyers love to get a feel for an area without ever leaving the comfort of their PC. How about creating a Real Estate Show to go with that neighborhood information?


Community Information. Planned communities or HOAs often have websites that can provide a wealth of information about the events that happen year round. Does the neighborhood participate in Night Out Against Crime? Do they have a Christmas decoration contest? Garden of the Month? These little tidbits are the things that will make the consumer know that YOU know the area. If there is no community website, take note of the closest schools, parks, playgrounds, libraries...all of the things that many people want near them when choosing a new home.

Transportation Information. It's not an issue here in New Orleans, but in other parts of the country, easyaccess to mass transportation is a huge asset to a community. Information about public transportation, the nearest bus or train station or even just a blurb about the distance from the neighborhood to downtown lets them know that you are the expert.


Current listings. I provide an overview of homes for sale without getting into specific properties. How many are for sale? What price ranges? What is the average number of bedrooms and bathrooms? What is the average square footage?

Recent Sales. Providing recent sales information is a breeze! I usually throw in some absorption information as well. If a subdivision is doing particularly well in sales, point it out, create some urgency and get those buyers off of the fence!


Since I started creating my Neighborhood of the Week posts, I have been so much better informed about the trends in my area. We all get those questions from friends and people that we meet. When they find out you are in real estate, everyone questions how the market is in their neighborhood. 

Once you've taken the time to do a little weekly research, you'll be answering those questions with confidence and building your reputation as their very own neighborhood expert!
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Starting January 1, 2011, the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS) will be amended to streamline the disclosure of home safety devices.  First, the TDS will include a new disclosure of whether the seller has a carbon monoxide detector.  This disclosure addresses a new law requiring California homeowners to install or plug in a carbon monoxide device in an existing single-family residence by July 1, 2011 (next year), and other existing dwelling units by January 1, 2013.  The new TDS will specifically state that installation of a carbon monoxide detector, among other appliances and devices, is not a precondition of sale or transfer of the dwelling.

Second, the TDS will be amended to incorporate a seller's certification that, by close of escrow, the seller will be in compliance with existing requirements for smoke detector and water heater bracing.  Effective January 1, 2011, the new TDS will eliminate the need for a separate standard form Water Heater and Smoke Detector Statement of Compliance (C.A.R. Form WHSD) for applicable transactions.

The new requirement to install or plug in a carbon monoxide detector will apply to dwelling units with a fossil fuel burning heater or appliance, fireplace, or attached garage.  "Fossil fuel" means fuel gases, wood, oil, coal, kerosene, or other petroleum or hydrocarbon products that emit carbon monoxide as a combustion byproduct.  Special rules apply to residential landlords.

C.A.R. will update our standard form TDS in the November 2010 forms release to reflect these changes, and provide members with more information about this law as the effective date draws nearer.  The full text of this law, Senate Bill 183 (Lowenthal), is available atwww.leginfo.ca.gov.


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RISMEDIA, May 11, 2010--"Technology is a crucial component toward any real estate agent’s success, especially in today’s market,” says Carlina Boji, broker/owner, RE/MAX Classic in Farmington Hills, Michigan. As technology continues to dominate the real estate landscape, it is maintaining its position as the pathway to an agent’s sphere of influence as well as prospective buyers and sellers as the industry is no longer dealing with a local client. “While an increasing number of agents are experiencing working with clients who are spread across the world, it is important to stay on top of the technology trends as they are the quickest and easiest way to reach out to clients,” adds Boji. 

As new technologies continue to change the way in which agents communicate with their clients, it is important that agents take the time to understand these new technologies in order to successfully communicate with their clients. “The technology that is available to our consumers today has dramatically changed the way in which our customers prefer to be communicated with,” says Boji. “Email communication has taken over that of direct mail and the Internet has become the new go-to place when prospective buyers are seeking homes. With the changing technology landscape, agents have to be willing to change along with it in order to connect with customers through the means in which they wish to be contacted.” 

Since technology is continually changing the way in which agents interact with their customers, keeping up with the latest technology trends—whether that be social networking or texting, only serves as a greater benefit. “With all of the technology that is available to agents today, having devices such as a Blackberry is a great tool to help keep up with your customers in a timely manner. In addition, being knowledgeable about your own personal website as well as your company’s is important in providing your customers with the information they are seeking.”

Technology allows agents to remain consistent with their marketing materials as well. “Any correspondence that you send to your clients should contain your contact information as well as your Web address and how to find you on the social networking sites you belong to.” All of your technology must be consistent so that your message is clear and deliverable. Having the technology in your office is the first step to creating a consistent message that can be delivered in a timely manner. “In order to keep consistency across the board, you have to make sure all of your technology is turned on and you know how to use it so that at the end of the day, it benefits you and your company.” 
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RISMEDIA, May 12, 2010—Staging a home for a quick sale will benefit sellers no matter what type of market we are in. For instance, in a buyer’s market, sellers need to take advantage of all the tools and resources available in order to sell their home for a decent sale price. Staging a home is crucial in a seller’s market too as it can help a seller achieve a quick sale for the maximum sale price. 

According to Brandon Cornett, editor of the Home Buying Institute, there are 6 key benefits that come with staging a home. 

1. Staging forces you to think like a buyer – When you are working to stage your client’s home to be put on the market, you’ll be looking at the home as if you were a buyer. Gaining this perspective will help you in many ways when preparing a home to be listed. 

2. Staging forces you to organize and de-clutter – Clearing shelves, closets and cabinets is a big part of the home staging process. It also helps with the moving process because sellers can pack items away as they are getting rid of the clutter. 

3. Staging increases the likelihood of a sale – When you are selling a home, you need to do everything you can to increase the changes of selling the home. A successfully staged home gives your seller an extra edge in selling their home quickly. 

4. Staging reduces the home’s time on the market – When you put in the extra effort to stage your client’s home effectively, you are preparing the home for a quicker sale. It is important to do everything you can to ensure your client’s home sits on the market for as little time as possible. 

5. Staging helps justify the asking price – If you are in a seller’s market and you help your clients price their home correctly, you decrease the chances of having to haggle over the asking price. In a market that leads toward the buyer, you need everything in your favor to justify the asking price. Proper home staging helps justify the asking price by positioning the home more favorably in the buyer’s mind. 

6. Staging can be fun – While staging may sound like all work and no play, be sure to use your creativity throughout the process to make it more enjoyable.
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RISMEDIA, May 12, 2010—(MCT)—About a year ago, I left my office cubicle and joined the ranks of more than 6 million people who work from their homes most of the time. Having always enjoyed the camaraderie of the newsroom, sitting alone behind a desk in a home office sounded kind of lonely to me. Even more, home had always been a refuge, a place to escape from work.

Some consider working from home a huge work-life perk. For me, it was a transition. I save time on the commute and I'm home the moment my kids return from school to hear about their days. The challenge has been using my new flexibility wisely and confining work to a 9 to 5 day.

In the last two years, the work-at-home population has spiked, partly because of the downturn in the economy and the surge in self-employment. Indeed, the number is up 40 percent and most of the people who work from home now are men, not just mothers seeking flexibility, a new census report shows.

Like others making this transition, I quickly discovered that the moment you relocate the office into your home, the barrier between what is work and what is not starts to break down. It takes discipline to stay focused and set boundaries. Kate Lister, co-author of "Undress for Success: The Naked Truth About Making Money at Home," told me the biggest documented challenge for work-from-homers is overworking.

I find myself seeking tips from successful work-from-home business owners or employees. To avoid a deterioration of work-life balance, here is some advice I've received:

—Set work hours. Anne Alexandra Kessler raised six kids while working from home as a legal assistant. Her advice for those whose schedules aren't dictated by an employer: set office hours. They don't have to be 9 to 5, she says, they just have to work well for you.

Kessler would work intensely from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. and take the afternoons off to spend with her kids. Then, she would return to her office in the late evenings.

For the throngs of men who are joining this work from home, setting office hours also lets those who you do business with and those you live with know when to expect your availability.

—Close the door. Closing my office door makes me feel isolated. Yet, it appears to be the reason I'm less productive than I should be. One of the biggest adjustments is getting family and neighbors to distinguish between my physical presence and availability.

Laura Herde works as a sales manager for Continental Airlines. When the airline closed its Fort Lauderdale office five years ago, Herde set up a home office in her bedroom. Closing her bedroom door has helped her set the ground rules with her children, ages 18, 11 and 5. "They know don't bother Mommy unless they are bleeding." At times, she's had to put a sign on the door to remind them of the rules.

—Allow set breaks. My friend, Linda DeMartino, works from home as a communications consultant and schedules a lunch break into her day. "The exact time may fluctuate, but the allotment remains the same," DeMartino says. I know some men who do this, too. She uses that one-hour period to run errands or join a friend for a meal just as if she was working from an office. It's a disciplined approach to allowing yourself to leave your home office without losing the integrity of the workday.

Planning breaks also prevents you from jumping back and forth to do chores haphazardly. The first few weeks I worked from home, every piece of laundry I owned was clean, but it was taking me twice as long to write an article because of all the disruptions.

Some, like Herde, advise staying away from chores altogether during the workweek.

—Use flexibility as your ally. If the car breaks down or the washing machine explodes, I can get it repaired without messing up my workday. If I were chained to a desk with a taskmaster boss, this wouldn't be as easily possible.

Create a trigger for winding down. Ending the workday can become extremely difficult. Lister says you need to develop cues to help you wind down. She sets an alarm at 6 p.m., giving herself an hour notice to wrap up e-mail and clean up her desk. "I enjoy what I do and get absorbed in it."

Howard Lawton, who works from a home office for a technology company, makes a to-do list for the next day at 6 p.m. as a signal that his day will end. It's his way of wrapping up the workday guilt-free.

Establish ground rules for after hours. It's a slippery slope from hopping onto the computer just to read a few e-mails after dinner to emerging at midnight. Herde has made a rule for herself — no sneaking back on the computer in the evenings or on weekends. "My husband doesn't like it if I do. He says, 'you already gave a full day, why are you on the computer. What about me?" Instead of turning her computer on, Herde uses her BlackBerry after hours like many office workers do to keep an eye on any urgent e-mail.

(c) 2010, The Miami Herald.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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RISMEDIA, May 12, 2010—It’s the classic cliché: it’s not what you know, but who you know. Oftentimes in real estate, this rings true. 

Networking and getting to true know the people in your community is what can truly set you apart and make a big difference when it comes time to choose an agent. 

Here are 10 tips to think about when planning your next networking adventure, courtesy of businessknowhow.com: 

1. Keep in mind that networking is about being genuine and authentic, building trust and relationships, and seeing how you can help others.

2. Ask yourself what your goals are in participating in networking meetingsso that you will pick groups that will help you get what you are looking for. Some meetings are based more on learning, making contacts, and/or volunteering rather than on strictly making business connections.

3. Visit as many groups as possible that spark your interest. Notice the tone and attitude of the group. Do the people sound supportive of one another? Does the leadership appear competent? Many groups will allow you to visit two times before joining.

4. Hold volunteer positions in organizations. This is a great way to stay visible and give back to groups that have helped you.

5. Ask open-ended questions in networking conversations. This means questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple yes or no. This form of questioning opens up the discussion and shows listeners that you are interested in them.

6. Become known as a powerful resource for others. When you are known as a strong resource, people remember to turn to you for suggestions, ideas, names of other people, etc. This keeps you visible to them.

7. Have a clear understanding of what you do and why, for whom, and what makes your doing it special or different from others doing the same thing. In order to get referrals, you must first have a clear understanding of what you do that you can easily articulate to others.

8. Be able to articulate what you are looking for and how others may help you. Too often people in conversations ask, "How may I help you?" and no immediate answer comes to mind.

9. Follow through quickly and efficiently on referrals you are given. When people give you referrals, your actions are a reflection on them. Respect and honor that and your referrals will grow.

10. Call those you meet who may benefit from what you do and vice versa. Express that you enjoyed meeting them, and ask if you could get together and share ideas.
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RISMEDIA, May 13, 2010—If you want to get full referral value from your past clients, plan to write them at least 12 times per year - once each month, says Marte Cliff, a freelance copywriter and former real estate broker. This frequency will help you maintain a place in their ‘top of mind awareness’ so that when someone they know needs an agent, your name will be the first to come to mind. Cliff offers the following tips to help stay in touch with past clients. 

You should be prepared to send a different letter to buyer clients and seller clients, because they have different interests.

Sellers
For instance, your past sellers might be interested in changes that have taken place since they left town, the current average selling price in the area and if their old home is still owned by the people who purchased it from them. Remember that just because a person left town doesn't mean they don’t have friends still in the area - or that they might not decide to come back, so be sure you don't ignore the people who have left.

Keeping top of mind with sellers you’ve worked with in the past entails telling them about activities at their old house or in their old neighborhood. When reaching out to past sellers, be sure to take the time to personalize a section of the letter, as that extra time could pay off in spades when they tell friends and family about the extra care and attention they got from you.

Buyers
Your past buyers may be interested in other homes for sale in their neighborhood, because they may have friends or family who would like to live near them. If you have advance notice of events that are happening near by, they'll also appreciate being among the first to know. For instance, tell past buyers what's going to be built on that chunk of land that's currently being cleared. Again, this means personalizing at least a section of your letter; but again - it will be worth your time.

Another way you can show past clients that you remember them as individuals is to include a personal note about something you did or saw together. 

Remember, these letters don't need to be long. Their purpose is to remind past buyers and sellers of the service they got from you, and to remind them that you'd appreciate their referrals and/or their future business. 

To streamline your work, try a newsletter 
If you choose to use a newsletter format rather than a letter, you could write one newsletter to appeal to both your past buyers and past sellers, because each edition will include several articles that will appeal to both groups. A newsletter format allows you to include market information, mention your new listings and then have some fun with quotes or a puzzle or even a gardening tip or a recipe. The advantage to the newsletter is that it can go out to everyone—past clients, present clients and prospects.
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RISMEDIA, May 13, 2010—Builders looking to meet the needs of home buyers should start looking below ground level when constructing new homes.

According to the “What 21st Century Home Buyers Want” survey of customer preferences conducted by the National Association of Home Builders, the inclusion of basements in new homes has been on an upward rise since 2000. Homes being built on slabs are declining, as homeowners find more value in basements both during their occupancy of the home and at the time of resale.

“There’s nothing like a well-insulated basement that can serve as valuable living space to pop the eyes open of a potential homebuyer,” says Tina Fountain of Tina Fountain, Realtors® in Atlanta, Georgia. “You can see the wheels start turning in a homebuyer’s mind as they quickly calculate what they can do with the ‘bonus space.’ A good basement takes the pressure off the other living areas in the home and opens up a world of possibilities for potential homebuyers.”

The same survey by NAHB indicates that married couples with children and high-income households are generally looking for a full basement. What features are potential buyers looking for in a basement? Energy efficiency, natural light and outdoor access.

“These days selecting energy efficient products is a strong and growing trend in all aspects of construction,” says Jim Costello, president of Superior Walls®. “In the basement, that means requesting a foundation system with reinforced concrete wall panels with a significant amount of insulation to help reduce energy bills.”

Old Basements Vs. New Basements
Seen as a high-value feature of a new home, basements have advanced significantly since the time of low ceilings, cobwebs and damp areas. While the basements in today’s homes may still be used for storage and laundry, you’re more apt to find them converted into true living spaces --- serving as bonus rooms, children’s play areas and home offices.

“Builders can set themselves apart by thinking ahead to maximize the basement area of a home,” says Costello. “We’ve created and installed thousands of custom-designed, damp proof foundations for homes nationwide during the past three decades. These pre-cast insulated foundation systems help homeowners save on energy bills and allow them to fully utilize their basement space as functioning and comfortable living areas in the home. 

“Including a warm, dry basement in new home construction is a positive step builders can take to set themselves apart from the competition in the current housing market. In many locations, an integrated basement that serves as additional living space is a key factor to the success of a builder.”
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RISMEDIA, May 13, 2010—With short sales making up almost 35% of home sales in March and the country with a national foreclosure problem, I Short Sale, Inc., one of the largest short sale firms in the U.S., sets the record straight on common short sale myths.

1. You must be default on your mortgage to negotiate a short sale. Short sales are not a function of default status on a mortgage. They are the result of the bank mitigating a potential default situation that, in the long run, will cost more money to the investors. We have completed many short sales in instances when the borrower was not in a default situation.

2. Listing my home as a short sale is embarrassing. Anytime we get ourselves into a tough financial situation it can cause some embarrassing feelings. It is important to remember that those feelings will not help us get back onto stable financial ground. We need to overcome our feelings and do what is right to protect our financial futures.

3. Buyers aren't interested in short sale properties. Short Sale properties are often times available at a competitive price to other properties on the market. In many cases, short sale properties are very well cared for and have not had to endure the deferred maintenance of a REO property. Short Sale properties are in great demand in the marketplace.

4. There's not enough time to negotiate a short sale before foreclosure. A good negotiator takes into account the timeline affiliated with a foreclosure. There is always a chance that a short sale can be negotiated. However, the only way to know for sure is to try.

5. The bank would rather foreclose than complete a short sale. Banks do not want to foreclose on property. It is expensive and carries a high level of liability once the bank owns that property as an REO. Wherever possible, banks are seeking other loss mitigation options before foreclosure.

6. Short sales are impossible and never get approved. Short sales are complicated, but not impossible. We negotiate short sale approvals every day.
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