Why Work With A Real Estate Agent?

It is a legitimate question.  Why should you work with a Professional Real Estate Agent?

A qualified, competent real estate agent will help you understand all of decisions that have to be made when buying or selling a home. -Can show you what the pricing ought to be and clearly show you why.

Your qualified agent should provide value to you  in many ways. The services should be spelled out clearly for you. Each agent has their own style and marketing plan. Make sure you understand if it is a fit for you.

Sellers:

The biggest mistake a seller can make is listing  with the wrong agent.  Who is the right agent you ask? Well read the list below and see if your agent

-Can explain clearly the pluses and minuses of any offer
- Can show you how to properly prepare your home for the market - a good agent is honest with you about the changes you need to make in your home. Don't be offended be glad you have a professional on your side.
- Has  a Network of contacts to promote your property to other than "some agents" in their office
-Has a network of service professionals to handle anything that comes up during the sales process.
(Lending, home maintenance, gardeners, cleaners, insurance, tax and legal professionals)
- Can Advise you on what works and what does not in your particular market.
-Can deliver you a written plan of what they will do to sell your home. Your time is valuable you should not have to "guess" what your next steps are.
-Knows their numbers (sales and other listed comparable properties) forwards and backwards.

Three things that don't matter when hiring someone to sell your home:

1) Number of homes sold - When an agent tells you that they sell 100, 200 or 300 homes a year this is your first tip off that you are dealing with a large "team."  Instead of dealing with one person you will have to go through many assistants and handlers. The persons name on the sign in front of your home may never even see your property.  Some sales teams like this are quite accomplished. However, if personal relationships with the person who is selling your home are important to you, you might want to hold off on signing with one of these teams. Likewise, if the agent you are talking too can only show you 4-5 sales they may not be full time or active enough to get your home sold. Obviously there could be a specialized exception but be sure to ask if the number seems too low. A productive agent in most markets is selling between 24 and 40 homes per year.

2) Ads in the Newspaper of Glossy Magazines - Readership of these publications has fallen off a cliff in the last decade. If your listing agent does this it won't hurt anything but it is not a reason to list with someone and it is not going to sell your home in most cases.

3) A Large Franchise Name - Buyers NEVER ask who has the home listed. They either want to see it or they don't. Any agent that tries to sell you on their franchise is not doing you any service.  By their very nature Franchises are a loose conglomeration of privately held companies. Their "networks" will not likely help you get a buyer. Each franchise has strengths in different geographic areas.  This is of no help to you. Real Estate agents very rarely work outside their territories and unless your home is a unique or specialty property it will just be "a house" to someone not familiar with your area.

Buyers:

Here is your first clue that your agent may not be the best one for you. They put you directly in their car and take you to look at a house.  While this might meet your desire for instant gratification it is not the sign of a professional agent.

A good buyers agent is going to ask you questions. They are going to help you see what you are looking for, what you can afford and what is best suited to you.  Yes you will look at houses but rather than run through  dozens of homes that are not a fit for you you will see homes that are most likely a perfect fit for you.

When you are working with a professional buyers agent and they take you to a home you should either see a home that closely matches your needs or the agent should be able to



explain why they showed you this home.  It could be price, neighborhood or some other feature but it should be a valid reason for not matching your needs to the property.

Watch for the agents that listen to you and show you the right properties. Those are the winners that you want to work with.

What If You Have Deferred Maintenance But You Have To Sell Your Home?

If your home has serious deferred maintenance issues but you must sell you have a serious dilemma on your hands. Don’t kid yourself for a minute, the maintenance issues will cost you with buyers. Funds to create the changes needed might not be there or be hard to come by. This post will give you some ideas to help you get the most money for your home when you have to sell.

Common Maintenance issues:

Wood rot on eaves beams and decks - sand, stain or paint use wood repair filler if feasible.
Maintenance on the HVAC system – sometimes a good cleaning – filter change and service (usually under $100) will go a long way toward having the heat and cooling system pass inspection.
Water damaged cabinets (baths and kitchens) - replace floor of cabinets and/or re-stain or paint. This is not expensive and makes a very bad looking problem go away. Stains may be from household products and not water but replace them anyway. Water stains on front of cabinets from drips may possibly be polished away.
Remove items that cannot be repaired. Out of sight items cannot become an issue. If the pool heater is broken and you are not going to replace it, remove it. If the decorative fencing is rotten, get rid of it. Are most of your screens trashed? Get rid of all of them.

Worse Case Scenarios:

Don’t cover up or attempt to hide anything. This could get you sued after the sale.
If you can’t fix something obtain bids so that the repair cost number can be real – buyers will have the tendency to over inflate repair estimates. Having bids keeps the conversation on a level playing field.
Insurance – this is not a first choice for anyone but if your house has serious damage check with your insurance carrier to see about placing a claim for repairs.

Free Resources:

>Check with local vocational schools or community jobs organizations that may donate or offer low cost labor. They may do the work for a lower cost or no cost if they can use the property as a teaching project.
>Check with the city or town you live in there may be small grants or programs to help you beautify your property – any discounted or free products or supplies will really help you keep costs in check.
>Look for neighborhood organizations, they may have a yard cleanup day or even neighbors willing to donate labor/talent on a once year one time basis. For example Spring Clean ups.
>Many cities have a bi yearly or quarterly program to pick up large items, extra yard waste electronic waste etc. Use these to clean your property out to the best of your ability. Just being clean and neat can help your home look better cared for.

Home Warranty plan for Sellers: Check with your listing agent. In some areas of the country home warranty products are common place and buyers expect to receive this coverage when they purchase the home. What you may not know is that the plans have seller coverage as well. Usually on a per-diem basis while your home is on the market and in escrow. The rates for these plans are typically very reasonable ($50 a month) and can cover unexpected systems failures and problems while the home is being sold. Best of all they typically are paid out of closing funds and do not require up-front payment.

Don't lose thousands to save a little effort and a few hundred dollars. There are ways you can make any property look better and stand out to prospective buyers.

Top 10 Ways To Prepare your Home To Be Listed For Sale

How would you like to lose $10,000 or $15,000 on the sales price of your home before the first person ever sees it?  Yeah, probably not the way you wanted to start the sales process at all.

It happens every day in cities across the country. Someone puts their house on the market in a woefully inadequate state.  Oh sure they cleared off a counter top, or finally threw away the mountain of clothes in the laundry room that no one wears or claims to be theirs anymore but that was it. Well, okay you did vacuum the living room.  Not enough! Not even close!

Don’t think for one minute that NOT preparing does not matter and “buyers will look past it” or “You’ll get to it next weekend”.  Nope, the reality is that you just threw away 10K perhaps more.  In fact I would suggest that the most expensive cleaning service in town is a bargain compared to losing that much money just because you don’t want to clean.

Your local agent should be able to walk through the house with you and tell you frankly what needs to be done.  We offer all our sellers a 26 point Maximum Value Audit free of charge.  A written report that will detail exactly what needs to be done to maximize the value in your home. Sometimes it is not cleaning it is small repair and replacement items.

Examples of the items I have helped sellers with over the years include: tarnished, dull and worn out

looking door knobs – a small item but one of the first things buyers saw on an impressive set of double doors.  A secondary bedroom with a bad carpet stain, that we were able to find a remnant for at $139 this gave the room a new and fresh appearance. Another time we simply stained the boring gray concrete around a pool to match the existing wall on the property-  it really popped and we sold it to the first buyer. Don’t get carried away with unnecessary new weekend projects just stay focused on existing issues with the home as is.

1)      A deep clean. Corners, windows, tops of ceiling fan blades, grout and all ledges.     

2)      You are moving  so throw away things you aren’t going to move – do it now

3)      Box up items that you won’t use for the next three months (seasonal for example)

4)      Clean the screens on the windows or take them off if appropriate

5)      Straighten the garage – but it is okay to stack boxes in there you are moving

6)      Replace worn out comforters, doormats, decorative towels, shower curtains etc.

7)      De-clutter all surfaces especially baths and kitchens (less is more)

8)      Replace all light bulbs –remove most if not all family photos

9)      Touch up paint as needed – corners doors – heavy traffic areas

10)   Remove any dead landscape replace with simple plants or ground cover and mow lawn

While these items may seem obvious or small they are not. They will help protect the equity you have built up in your home. Buyers will discount for a poorly maintained home. Homes that do not show well do not sell quickly. This is all in your financial best interest.

If your home has significant deferred maintenance look for our upcoming article about how to deal with those issues when you don't have the funds to do so.

For more helpful home ownership, buying and selling tips please use the search feature on this blog in the right hand column or contact us on our website at www.PSagent.com

Why You Should Never Be Home When your House Is Shown

Think about this for a second. No, really think about it! When you are buying a house you want to walk around the property and check it all out for yourself. You know what you like or don’t like. You are smart enough to ask questions if you don’t see something or don’t understand something.

Oh yes, I know as the seller you know your house forwards and backwards. You can – or think you can –point out all the really good features! But in the end you are in the way. Sorry to be blunt but it is just the truth. The buyers and the agents don’t want you there! It is not because they are going to open every drawer or look behind the sofa – or even talk bad about you. However, the buyer and their agent do need to converse freely about the pros and cons of the property for the buyers unique circumstances. This showing is make it or break it time for your sale so don’t blow it!

You may know a lot about your house but you don’t know this! So please – take the dog for a walk, run your errands, go to the post office, go grab a cup of coffee but please – we really need you to go! It will only take 15 minutes. Yes, that’s right with just a few

rare exceptions - the showing of your home will take between 12 and 15 minutes. Surely you can find something else to do for those 15 minutes!

Later….yes, much later ......if the buyer decides your home is the one then that is the right time to meet them and show them what is special to you about the home. You are paying the commissions to the agents for many reasons but one of those reasons is so that they can impartially “sell” your property to a prospective buyer.

When looking for Palm Springs Homes for sale be sure to visit www.PSAgent.com where you will find a totally AD free,

accurate search tool. No registering, no gimmicks no spam - just accurate Palm Springs Real Estate listings.

How Much Is MY Home Worth?

Find out with our 26 Point Max Home Value assessment...As a free service to you I will come to your home and complete my 26 point Maximum Home Value assessment. Just for letting me meet you and walk through your home I will leave you with a written report of what I think it will take to prepare your home for sale at the maximum current price.

You see, I work with so many buyers that, I can walk through any home and see it through the buyers eyes. I know what they will like and what will raise questions for them. Let me show you these things and you can have a more successful sale.

It will take about 30 minutes, depending on how many questions you have for me. No pressure no obligation - you receive free of charge the written plan to getting your home on the market and achieving top dollar in your sale.

How Do I Calculate How Much My Home is Worth?

The correct selling price of a home is the highest price that the market will bear. Many factors influence this price and those factors can change from month to month and year to year. It is important to talk with a Realtor who is actively working in your community to correctly determine the price of your home. Don't play guessing games with one of your largest assets. To assist you in determining the correct asking price we provide you with a comprehensive market analysis of comparable properties sold and offered for sale in your neighborhood. We educate you on the trends currently at play in the market and advise you on any special concerns in your area.

Simply email us, and we will provide you with a speedy response. There is no obligation, you have lots to gain and nothing to lose by contacting us soon.

Don't forget that knowing your homes current value is very

useful when it comes to insurance matters, tax issues and estate planning. With all the changes of the last five years it is time for you to take another look at this critical number.

Just one mundane example of this is the cost of installing a water heater. It has more than doubled to over $1200.  Just one example of the rising costs of replacement.

Prepping Your Home For Sale

Preparing Your Home To Sell Properly Can Be The Best Investment You Make.

First impressions make a significant impact on a buyer's decision-making process!

Once your home goes on the market, it becomes a product for sale.  Home Styling or Staging simply allows you to highlight the best of your home (product) and de-emphasize its flaws. It's not about decorating or actually turning your home into a model but ALL  about appealing to the broadest possible range of prospective buyers. The goal is to eliminate the obstacles and to  make people feel like they could actually live there. Much of this is simply done if you just  "neutralize" the whole house.

Most of the following things you can do for little or no expense but will put a home in prime showing shape. Remember how you felt that last time you went to a store that was poorly run and the merchandise poorly displayed. You probably left without buying anything and probably vowed to never return. Don't let buyers feel that way about your home! Even if it is not the perfect fit for a particular buyer leave them with a good impression! They may know someone else ready to buy.

MAKE IT LOOK LIKE YOU ARE READY TO SELL AND MOVE:

Clear out closets and clutter— give away or pack up toys, linens, and nick knacks anything and everything you will not be using in the next three months is a perfect candidate!  De-personalize the home by removing photos, mementos, and all worn and dated items. Is there a wall or a spot or two where some touch up paint could really help? Did you let one of the kids paint their room purple? Now is the time to go back to basic off white.  Storage boxes neatly tucked away in a garage or basement look like you mean business and help save you time when you really do move.

LOOK AT YOUR HOUSE LIKE A BUYER:

Go out to the curb and walk back into your home. Look for things that are not up to par.  Does the bush under the window need a trim?  Is the doorknob loose? Does it need to be polished? Focus most on the most visible and popular areas of the home first—the entry, kitchen, living room, master bedroom, and family room or den.

NEED SOME IDEAS?

Use plants in colorful pots or some baskets and dried arrangements  to fill in empty spaces,  Set the dining room table with attractive linens, dishes, and stemware,  look at  home and garden catalogs for little details on primping up the home. Arrange just a few books on the book shelf, try angling some pieces of furniture slightly and make sure  furniture is about 4 inches to 6 inches from the wall.  Just don't lose sight of the fact that you are going for the generic, neutral look and .....Less is so much More!

When you are serious about selling you must:

1-Trim trees, prune shrubs, and make sure the lawn is mowed and watered regularly.
2-Hire a professional service to clean the home, including the carpets and the windows.
3-Use as much natural light as possible. Leave lamps on in dark rooms or corners.
4-Make  all functional repairs—fix dripping faucets, sticking doors, and broken fence rails.

Increase your Net

Even if you do nothing else the 4 things listed above will make you money.  Time and again I have seen buyers fall in love with a property that actually did not exactly match their needs. SO why did they love it and buy it?  Because it was clean light and bright and appeared well cared for. Huge pluses for any buyer!

Selling your home is like selling any product. You want to maximize the appeal of that product. You can spend a lot of money but you do not have to. However, you CAN and WILL maximize your profit  if you follow the four MUST do's listed above.

A FREE OFFER FOR YOU:

The PSAGENT team is happy to provide any home seller, in our area,  with our complimentary 26 point home value inspection. We will walk thru your property, prepare a written report of our suggestions to prepare your home for sale and leave it with you. No pressure no obligation.  We are happy to help. Take the guess work out of your sale.

Call us at 760-408-5300 or email us at michael@psagent.com to schedule your appointment today.

Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Indio, Desert Hot Springs  are our service areas.

FHA nixes popular reverse mortgage program |

The option to withdraw a large lump sum in a reverse mortgage is going away. Seniors will be restricted to a set payout based on a lower percentage of the appraised value of their home.

Often time seniors are delaying the inevitable in trying to stay in their home. However, each case is different and deserves to be considered on a case by case basis.

The one universal truth that must be known upfront is that this is a pricey mortgage product. You need to carefully assess your need for cash and the need for the house prior to selling or taking out one of these mortgage products.

For more information read the article below or contact us. We would be happy to have a conversation about your needs - no strings attached. Just call Michael at 760-408-5300 or Marcia at 760-861-5643 and we will set up a time to visit with you.

FHA nixes popular reverse mortgage program |.

Is Your Short Sale Legal?

Short sales - selling for less than you actually owe on the mortgage is legal and is very commonplace these days.  However, there are a few pitfalls you will want to avoid. The summation of an article, that originally appeared in the Orange County Register points out a few common scams that are taking place.

Orange County Register: Short sale fraud “heating up,” expert says A panel of short sale experts presenting at CALIFORNIA REALTOR® EXPO 2012 in Anaheim last week said that “fraud is heating up like a wildfire right now ...” and “we’ve got to be aware that this fraud is changing directions, jumping containment lines.”Among the most common forms of fraud are:

Flopping: non-arm’s length transaction, side agreements, and false information.  Scammers arrange to buy a home at an artificially deflated price intending to flip it immediately at its real value.

Non-arm’s length transactions:

The buyer in a short sale is related to the seller by blood, marriage, or some type of business or personal affiliation.  This is typically arranged by an underwater borrower to regain ownership of the property free from the mortgage debt.

Side agreements:

In addition to payments included in a lender’s “approval letter,” the buyer and seller have side agreements to pay off junior liens, short sale negotiators’ fees, or other third-party fees.

False information:

The transaction includes phony details in the closing settlement statement, or HUD-1, to hide buried costs and fees.
Read the full story as printed in the Orange County Register

For more information on Short sales or homes for sale in the Palm Springs area be sure to see PSAGENT.COM

Recovery...Really, Is This The Best Time To Sell?

The last three or four months in California (well most of the state anyway) have been a heady return to the days of multiple offers. Declining inventories have lead to a mini frenzy on many properties. Prices have started to inch up. Don't worry, no one is going to get whiplash from the speed that they are rising but they are indeed rising a little. Homes that are in tip top shape sell first, followed by homes that need just a little work followed by great buys on big fixers in good areas.

[caption id="attachment_2151" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Sales Surge In California[/caption]

This trend has bypassed  properties with high Homeowners fees, it has also excluded most condos - Single Family homes are the darlings of the current market.  Great prices on homes/condos have had the negative effect of making the HOA fees really jump up and hit buyers in the face.  Ironically, it is the best priced condos that often have the worst time of it. While many people will take a closer look at a nice condo for a mere $100-115 thousand they hit the pause button upon finding out that the monthly dues are over $400. At todays' historically low interest rate that is almost as much as the mortgage.

Many reports on the state of Real Estate focus endlessly on the numbers 49%-55% decreases in inventories year over year, and as mentioned earlier the modest surge in prices.  It would be easy to interpret this as a positive sign of a rejuvenated housing market.  Underlying these trends though some economists are pointing out, are the harder facts. Only about half of the homes purchased are being bought by primary home owners. That means the other half are being bought by investors that want to fix and flip or fix and rent.  The economist say this points to low demand despite record low interest rates consumers are not flocking to buy homes. The underlying economic conditions of growth in the economy and lack of jobs is holding the average home buyer back even with 3.5% interest rates!

The point here is not to say that all is lost. Movement in the market is still good. Banks still have years of work to do to reduce their foreclosed inventory. It is debatable how they will do that but that is for another blog post. Some new construction is starting to spring up or get restarted.  Inventory levels could change depending on these two segments alone.  It has been talked about lately, that the banks may start selling off their inventory in bulk sales. That could change the market drastically. Also, investors could shift gears. If they are unable to find tenants or buyers for their flips they won't be buying more. The economy could improve the only constant here is the fact that things will change.

This leads me to the point that I don't think should be missed. If you are in a position where you know you want to sell your home in the next 6 months, do not wait. Now is the time - seize the moment and do it now.  After almost 12 years in the business I can personally attest to the fact that in every market condition the market tends to shifts about every six months.  The shift could be availability of financing - inventory levels - consumer confidence or something as mundane as popular price points but it will shift.  We are drawing close to that six month window, sellers now is your moment.

Is There Really A New Tax On Real Estate Sales?

Well in a word - YES. But wait don't panic it may not even apply to you. The Medicare tax, which goes into effect on January 1, 2013, will impose a 3.8% tax on the net investment income of joint filers with adjusted gross income over $250,000, and single filers with adjusted gross income over $200,000.

So you can stop reading right here if you are not grossing over that $200/250K mark. However, if you are going to be selling Real Estate and are going to make a profit over the exclusion, currently $250k if single or $250K married on your primary residence it will add to your gross income, see below. Remember there is no exclusion for second homes or investment properties. Thinking of selling an investment property soon you may want to close before 2013.

If you do fall into the above $200/250K gross income the new Medicare tax will apply. You figure it on the adjusted gross income (this is the figure on the bottom of the front page of IRS Form 1040), which includes interest, dividends, capital gains, wages, retirement income and income from partnerships and small businesses. According to the IRS site it appears the tax will also apply to dividends, rents, royalties, interest (except municipal bond interest), short and long-term capital gains, the taxable portion of annuity payments, income from the sale of a principal residence above the $250,000/$500,000 exclusion, gain from the sale of an investment property or a second home, and passive income from real estate and investments in which the taxpayer does not materially participate.

Each tax situation can be a little different and it is always advisable to seek professional help. We Recommend Greg Barton CPA use the link to their site or call them at 760-969-6499.

This Month In Real Estate

This Month In Real Estate October 2011

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Top 3 Home Improvements - This Month In Real Estate

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We often hear how important it is to get all the facts and check everything out when BUYING real estate but what about selling? A commonly overlooked component of SELLING your home is updating, staging and tweaking your home to appeal directly to buyers. Most of these items are simply and only require a little effort - but can pay off in a big way, your bottom line.

For more information on selling your home visit our Sellers Page at PSagent.com

July 2011 This Month In Real Estate Selling Your Home

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Moving Guide

Moving can present many big challenges. The key part of vacating your home is finding the right mover.  In addition to finding a reputable mover you need to understand what is and is not covered as part of your move. 

Tip: A quick call to your insurance agent is probably a good idea.  Many time home owners policies cover your goods while in transit. make sure you have all the bases covered when it comes to your big move. 

Use this link to down load the industry handbook to selecting the right mover and knowing your rights:

Download PSagents Complete Free Moving Guide

Please fee free to share this link with friends and family.