Brisbane – Missing the Boat…

August 15, 2010 · Kathy Wall · 4 Comments

Many home buyers and Realtors are missing the boat when it comes to a nearby town that offers great weather, lots of amenities and darned good real estate prices. I’m talking about the little community of Brisbane. It is located 10 minutes (or less, if you drive like me!) from the airport and is only 10 minutes to downtown San Francisco. Yet, hardly anyone even knows of it’s existence.

Brisbane is a hidden gem here on the Peninsula. It is located on the side of San Bruno Mountain between San Francisco and South San Francisco. There are only 3,597 residents, which makes it one of the smallest communities in the area. It is very unlike your typical suburb in that it has a hodgepodge of all types of architecture, from shacks to mansions, with very few ranch style homes. Many of the homes have great views of the Bay and downtown San Francisco.

The people of the community are almost as diverse as the architecture. Living in the town are world renowned film makers, rocket scientists, artists and musicians…all living happily amongst all of us regular folks. Brisbane is known as the “City of the Stars” because for over 65 years the residents have put up stars on their homes during the holiday season and even have a “Festival of Stars” each year. Read more

12 Hidden Costs of Homeownership

July 29, 2010 · Rommel Yema · 3 Comments

Hi everybody! I know, it’s been awhile..but here’s an awesome article I found earlier this year that would benefit first-time home buyers especially!

-via Luke Mullins, USNews.com (April 8, 2010)

As the selling season gets underway, many Americans will be looking to take advantage of the lower real estate prices, attractive mortgage rates, and federal tax credit by purchasing a home. But remember: Not all of the costs associated with homeownership are reflected in the listed price. Indeed, many buyers — particularly first-time buyers — may be surprised by the amount of cash they’ll need to set aside for housing-related expenses that they hadn’t previously considered. These often-overlooked expenses can include everything from title insurance to lawn mowing. To give would-be home buyers a better sense of the budget they’ll need to buy and maintain a home, U.S. News spoke with a handful of real estate experts and compiled a list of 12 hidden costs of homeownership:

1. Home inspection. Since a home purchase is likely to be the largest financial investment of your life, it’s a good idea to have it professionally inspected beforehand. A home inspector can point out areas of the property that may need repairs. Buyers can use this information as leverage during home-price negotiations or simply to determine whether or not the property is worth purchasing. “It’s not required, but certainly I recommend it to buyers,” says Judy Moore of Re/Max Landmark Realtors in Lexington, Mass. “It is actually very helpful in that [buyers] learn about the property and how to maintain it and it also alerts them to any potential issues that may be coming up in the near future or need to be taken care of.” The cost of a home inspection, which can run several hundred dollars or more, is typically incurred by the buyers before they go to closing, Moore says. Read more

To Rebate or Not to Rebate? That is the question…

April 10, 2010 · Kathy Wall · 9 Comments

Over the last month, I have had 3 different situations with buyers where they have said they will only use me if I give them a ”rebate” at the end of the transaction. Most common, has been the request to credit them a percentage of my commission.

I realize that a lot of this is happening because so many of our clients (even the very loyal ones,) are spending a great deal of time on the websites of our cut rate competitors, but I need to find a solution.

I try to counter their requests with the very valid logic that you get what you pay for in this world, and that my many years of experience, negotiating skills and industry knowledge are well worth paying full price, but this is less and less successful. Nor, do they care that I need to share my commission with the company. Read more

Doing the Right Thing…

July 27, 2009 · Kathy Wall · 7 Comments

As most of our readers know, our Prudential office has kiosks at Serramonte and Tanforan Malls. Many of us agents do regular shifts at the kiosk each month in the hope that we will meet buyers and sellers.

Recently I was covering the night shift, which goes from 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. It was very quiet that night, but at one point, a very young man stopped by the booth and said he was thinking about selling a house he owns in South San Francisco. I would, normally, be very excited by this (leaping up and down with glee, actually!) Unfortunately, the more we talked, the more I realized that he shouldn’t sell this house.

It seems that he inherited it from his Grandmother and owns it free and clear. He’s still going to college and living in the house. And, while he isn’t thinking about it now, someday he’ll probably have a family and want a house. If he sells it now, the money will be gone and he will be back to struggling like everyone else to afford a home. Read more

Your words say “Yes” but your actions…not so much!

July 24, 2009 · Julie Cleland · 4 Comments

In any sales position, a person’s living depends a great deal on their ability to figure out who is ready, willing and able to buy and who isn’t. In addition to understanding real estate, a Realtor® has to be able to analyze how serious a potential client is and then determine the amount of energy appropriate for that client. We’ve all had buyers who insist buying is something they really want, when every other signal the buyer is sending screams “Not in this life time!”. If you feel as a buyer you are not getting the attention you deserve, it could be the realtor, or it could be time for a little self reflection. Read more

Environmental Issues When Buying A Home

June 29, 2009 · Kathy Wall · 4 Comments

I recently had to renew my real estate license for another 4 years and, as part of that process, had to take 45 hours of continuing education. I’ve been selling real estate for 16 years and, after all of that time, you start to think you know it all. Clearly, I was wrong, because I learned a lot from taking these courses.

The course that covers environmental issues in homes was of particular interest. I thought that some of the things I learned might be of help to my readers, so my next few articles will cover some of the environmental issues people need to be aware of. Today, I’ll talk a little about asbestos. Read more

Homes Are Moving Quickly!

June 19, 2009 · Adam Chinn · 5 Comments

cartoon-house-running I recently started working with some first time home buyers. We made an appointment to view four homes in Daly City and South San Francisco. They have not had much experience viewing homes and wanted to get their feet wet to see what was offered in the current market.

As always, I do my best to preview the homes I show, as to gain as much knowledge as possible about the homes we are going to view.

What we were surprised to find out is that, out of the four homes we planned on viewing, 3 of them were marked pending or were going to be marked pending soon. All of the homes were vacant and have been on the market less than a month. Read more

Missed Opportunity ?

May 22, 2009 · Terry Birt · 6 Comments

buyers-choice Recently, it seems that all the buyers have come out of the wood work….
We have been inundated with large groups at our open houses and receiving large amount of “sign calls” and inquires on our websites…
But the one thing that has not changed is fear…Depending on where the property is and the price range that it is in, there is a different strategy on how to make an offer. I think the public understands that the interest rates are great, and inventory has lessened, and buyers are hearing about multiple offers; but there is something that is preventing them to make a move. My advise: Work with your agent…let them help you understand… ask a lot of questions.

Just this week, I have encountered buyers who I met a few weeks ago, they saw this home in their price range, and have their financing in order, but they needed time to “think about it”. When they came back to reconsider the home, it was gone (in escrow with multiple offers). Had they written a couple of weeks ago it could have been theirs.

Don’t lose your opportunity. There are several ways to protect yourself from competition and allow you to participate in obtaining home with your price and terms.