Straight Talk About Real Estate

This fabulous custom home in Newport Beach is just two streets from the West Bay, located in the Dover Shores, Westcliff area. It was totally rebuilt in 1997 and upgraded in 2003. Note the dramatic ceiling. The Great Room is perfect for entertaining.

The gourmet kitchen has a large center island and quality built-in appliances and Sub-Zero refrigerator.
The home boasts four large bedrooms, each with an adjoining private bath. There is an additional 1/2 bath powder room for guests. Two of those bedrooms would be considered Master Suites - with extra large closets, jacuzzi tubs, dual vanity sinks, and one suite has a fireplace.

For all that, in Newport Beach so close to the water, the price tag is reasonable: $2,350,000.

Contact me if you are interested.

Here are a few more hints to make your house inviting to buyers:

*Open your drapes and blinds to let the sun in. It makes a home cheerful. Dark houses are not appealing.

*Make the bathroom sparkle. Repair caulking in bathtubs and showers. Fix dripping faucets. Keep it sparkling clean. Display fresh towels. Bathrooms help sell the house.

*For an evening showing, turn on all the lights, even if one light is enough to see by. The warm glow gives a welcome feeling.

*Arrange each room in the house neatly. Remove excess furniture. Use attractive bedspreads in the bedrooms.

*Keep the house safety for agents and potential buyers by packing away clutter and fragile display items. Keep narrow hallways and stairways clear.

Loan documents are what the buyer needs to sign to secure the loan they are getting to buy the house. The documents detail the terms of the loan.

Loan documents are usually signed a few days before closing. If there are any mistakes on the loan documents, such as a mispelling of the names, a missing number on the address, or the wrong date, the buyer should not sign them. The documents cannot be crossed off or changed. If any part of the document is wrong, they need to be redrawn before the buyer should sign.

This is one of the things that will cause an escrow closing to be delayed.

I must warn you that when you put your house on the market while you are still living in it, having potential buyers and agents coming through will be rather uncomfortable. Not only will you have to let strangers into the house, they will even look in your closets and cabinets.

The best way to handle showings is to be out of the house when it is being shown. Take a walk around the block, go to your neighbors house for a cup of coffee, or anything to stay away for about 30 minutes. This gives the potential buyers a chance to look at your house thoroughly and give it full consideration. This also allows their agent to talk to them freely about the price and terms of the house.

If you have to be home, here are a few hints to ease the situation a bit:

*Stay in the background and allow the agent to show the house. You are not the tour guide and should not follow them around. Sit in the family and read, or go out to the backyard.

*Allow the agent to emphasize the features of your house that meet the buyer’s requirements. Do not point out features that you find desirable because the buyer may see it completely differently. It may also make the buyer feel that you are trying too hard to sell the house.

*Turn off the radio or television. The quietness makes the house more inviting. It gives the agent and buyer a chance to have some peace and quiet to discuss about the house, free of disturbances.

*Be courteous, but don’t make conversation with the potential buyer. This is not a social call. Let them inspect the house freely.

*If the potential buyer want to discuss about price and terms or any particulars, refer them to discuss it with your agent. Your agent is qualified to negotiate for you to favorable conclusions.

Sellers must disclose material facts about the property to a potential buyer. Most sellers know they have to disclose any nonfunctioning items in the house. But there are some facts you have to disclose that you may not have thought of:

Death of an occupant of the property upon the property within the last 3 years.

Insurance claims affecting the property within the last 5 years.

Alterations, modifications or remodeling done without a permit.

Mortgage rates continue to look pretty good. A 30-year conforming loan is at about 6.5%. We expect it to remain stable, with normal daily fluctuations of 1/8% to 1/4%. I wouldn’t expect the rates to go much lower.

If you have a short term loan, such as an adjustable or a 5-year fixed, you should consider refinancing into a 30-year fixed if you expect to keep the house past the short term of the loan.

“Consumers with mortgages are doing a great job managing their credit and those with second mortgages are doing even better,” said Ty Taylor, president of Experian Consumer Direct. “Although consumers with mortgages have on average about five times more debt than those without, their average credit score is 713 – compared to 658 for consumers without a mortgage. Additionally, with an average credit score of 739, consumers with second mortgages seem to be keeping their credit in check despite the additional financial responsibility.”

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According to a report from the California Association of Realtors, “the percentage of first-time buyers in California able to afford a median-priced home stood at 23 percent in the second quarter of 2006, compared with 30 percent for the same period a year ago, according to a newly developed index released today by the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® (C.A.R.).

Full story here

In today’s market where qualified buyers are few, sellers have to put extra effort into attracting those buyers.

Staging your house to sell is one of the most important things you can do.

Take a look at your house and think about it’s best features. What attracted you to this house when you bought it? Highlight those features by making it stand out - clean the area around it, put flowers near that area, note it on the flyer and other advertising.

Look for features that are attractive but you have not made the most of it to make your home look nice. For example, my client sealed off the fireplace in the bedroom because she did not want her small children messing with it. I asked her to take off the cardboard and move the furniture away from the fireplace to show it off. It is a desirable feature to have a fireplace in the bedroom even though it was not functional to her family.

I tell my sellers that the way you live in a house is not the way you sell it. Stage your house to show off all its positive features, even those that you do not normally use.

“Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.”

You will see this on all advertising material.

This means do not make your decision to buy the house based on the information given.

The most common mistake by buyers is relying on the square footage information. The flyer, MLS, assessor’s record may all agree on the size of the house. But that information is not necessarily correct nor is it guaranteed.

For example, you are trying to decide between house A and house B. You like both houses just as much. The flyers and the assessor’s records state that house A is 150 square feet bigger than house B. You decide on house A because it is bigger. If your decision is based on that information, you should verify that square footage information.

How can you find the actual square footage? The only reliable method is physically measuring the house.

If after measuring the house you find that it is actually a difference of 50 square feet, would you still pick house A?

You should always verify any information given to you. It is not the fault of the agent or the seller if the information is not accurate, because it is “deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.”