Mike’s Real Estate Show

A Trulia Voices.com question from a woman in Miami asked how she could get more showings on her propety!  My Response!!

Move it to Pebble Beach!  No seriously, a property which is priced RIGHT–not a couple grand below the last comp, but a striking price which makes all of your neighbors say, “Is this guy nuts!”, will generate visits but more importantly OFFERS!! Read the rest of this entry »

90% of marketing is when I sit down with you and discuss price! I can have the most “killer” of marketing plans but I’m not going to make a sale if the property is overpriced! I have a three page marketing plan which is geared to give my clients maximum feedback on price,conditon and location. You can change only two of the three! Read the rest of this entry »

This is a reponse to a TruliaVoices.com inquiry. The seller is getting offers, which are falling out, lowering their price, and have a Seller agent plus a Buyer’s agent (separate) they are working with. They want to know the best course of action. My thoughts: 

You sound pretty serious to me and the property is generating offers and you have reduced your price! Could you please move out to California!! Read the rest of this entry »

First time homebuyer wants to know if holding for 4-5 years is a good idea?

You pose many questions. If you are indeed a short-timer for a real estate purchase you must address a number of issues. What is the performance of the market in the area you reside? Has it been flat for the past few years? Going up at 5, 10, and 15% per year? Going down?? Read the rest of this entry »

As much as I don’t like the “loan contingency to remain in effect until all loans are funded” clause in the CAR (California Assoc. of Realtors) contract, I can’t really see forcing a buyer into a situation which is a loose-loose for all parties. I think you need to set expectations of all parties to the transaction. This means informing the Seller to ask for a “rent-back” period AFTER the close of escrow to make sure all loans are funded and the transaction has closed. Read the rest of this entry »

As a “bubble-boy” here in the “Wine-Country” of Sonoma County, we are seeing the lower end $250-$600K riddled with “subject to short-sale” or “subject to Lender Approval” (these are the agents who know we are searching our MLS “comments” for the word “Short-Sale” and avoiding those listings!). I now have to state this is “NOT A SHORT-SALE”!!
 What fries me are the lenders, obviously swamped by the Tsunami of pre-foreclosure/foreclosure loans, who have departments NOT talking to each other. I had a transaction where the seller had 5 properties she was trying to “short” with Long Beach Savings. I had an offer for one at $510,000. The loan was for $625,000. Loss Mitigation department was working with the seller and all the while the foreclosure guys watched the clock. Foreclosure time struck, they went to the courthouse got the property back then sold it ON the court steps for $367,000!! The guys who bought it called me back and asked if we still wanted to buy it. My clients said sure and we closed Friday. Now if these boys go in front of Congress and ask for the bailout you are suggesting, I think someone should bring this up!! I remember the RTC. They used the same corrupt appraisers to do the “re-appraising” of their own MAI’s!!(made as instructed).  Did we learn our lesson then? Remember the talk about eliminating the double whammy of loosing your home and THEN having to pay for the debt relief! One of my clients is facing $160,000 in ordinary income this year due to the short sale. They might be able to get around it with a “hardship” plea.
 And you know what? We’ll do this all over again in about 6-10 years!!

this is an email to Guy Kovner who wrote a front page article on the real estate market highlighting two couples/Home Sellers who are “Trapped” here in the County as they cannot sell their homes. This is my response.

 I disagree with the tenor of your article exclaiming Seller’s are “trapped” in their homes. My last 7 transactions over the past two months had an average time on the market of 14 days. They sold close to 98.9% of the listing price at the time of sale. This is an important phrase which is abused by many in my industry. “Listing price at time of sale” does not take into consideration the many price reductions which came BEFORE the FINAL list price. However, in my case we did NOT have price reductions but priced them to sell at the time we placed them on the market. Both of the parties you highlighted in your article have two thing in common—Equity and Greed!!! Read the rest of this entry »

I spoke with a listing agent and he is rather exasperated as he cannot get the seller to a short sales transaction to return his calls. The Seller has 5 properties total which are all in foreclosure!! My take on the transaction is the Seller is asking for “debt relief” and is realizing if s/he goes forward with all the short sales on the properties the capital gains due to the “debt relief” may be just toooooo daunting! “Debt Relief” is the amount of forgiveness the Seller is asking the lender to take to make the deal. Example: S/he owes $575,000 in loans on the subject property. She gets the lender of record to take $525,000 so her “debt relief” is $50,000. The IRS is going to compute this as a “gain”! Multiply this by 5 properties, or for example purposes, $250,000 in “debt relief” and s/he’s going to owe the IRS, assuming a 28% tax rate, $70,000!!! Now, if she ‘walks” from the deal and let’s the bank foreclose, she won’t owe ANYTHING!! What would you do?
 What we find is once folks talk to a CPA, which we recommend by the way, they come back and say, “Look, I’m going to do a short sale to your client and have to pay these capital gains on top of loosing my home?? No Way!”  I think the transaction on the above example has hit that wall! With some short sales the amount short is NOT that huge. But in some cases it is just better for the Seller’s to walk. However, this is something they should consider from all perspectives. They’ll take a big credit hit and sometimes the “stigma” is too much for some families. One should consult a real estate attorney or CPA before making ANY decision in the above example or anytime when facing foreclosure difficulties.

“When you analyze those successful home buyers who have the experience to purchase the home they want for thousands of dollars below a seller’s asking price, some common denominators emerge.”

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If you’re like most home buyers, you have two primary considerations in mind when you start looking for a home. First, you want to find a home that perfectly meets your needs and desires, and secondly, you want to purchase this home for the lowest possible price.

When you analyze those successful homebuyers who have been able to purchase the home they want for thousands of dollars below a seller’s asking price, some common denominators emerge. Although your agents negotiating skills are important, there are three additional key factors that must come into play long before you ever submit an offer. Read the rest of this entry »

I only dwell on the numbers in the marketplace as one looks at a compass. All real estate is local as we well know. I met with a couple nearly a year ago to determine market value for their home. It is in Healdsburg, 1 acre, very clean but small, only 1200sqft WITH a converted garage. But in a very desireable area. I told them at the time $650,000. I revisited the property 45 days ago and listed it for $675,000. Scarcity is the issue. It really doesn’t matter what the market is doing nationally, statewide or countywide or in the City you work but it boils down to neighborhood and schools. We sold the property for full price in 10 days and I have 5 agents behind it begging to let me know if it falls through. We just went pending. Another propery, in Healdsburg retirement community, with over 15 homes on the market in this smallish neighborhood. My property, updated, staged, brought to the market in impeccable shape. Listed $447,500 which was $17,500 higher than the same model 3 doors up listed in my office. Sold in 15 days full price, now pending.
 Our county now has 2600 listings up from 1850 only 4 months ago. Sales are continually down 30% month to month even now in our prime season. Prices, medium wise, down 10% over last year–but remember, medium is simply demonstrative of WHERE the action is in the market! I make sure my listings are priced right, staged, 3% to the selling office and easy to show.