PruCalVoices

Nothing Personal…It’s Business!

May 29, 2009 · · 8 Comments

You’ve lovingly taken care of your house for years, have loads of memories, plans for your future and you assume that all these factors will add value for a buyer. Or you’re a buyer and while the neighborhood you like is a little out of your price range, you want to write offers because you grew up there and want your children to have the same experience. Here’s the problem…if you are the buyer, the seller isn’t interested in your story and sellers, a buyer doesn’t really care about the sentimental attachment to your home. In short, buying or selling a home is a business transaction pure and simple. Read more

PruCalVoices

Come on In…the Real Estate Water is Fine!

May 7, 2009 · · 8 Comments

Whether you are a buyer or seller you’ve made the decision to jump in the real estate waters. Come on in…just realize you are jumping into a moving stream and not a still pool. No matter what you are trying to do, know that it’s been going on long before you got involved and will continue long after you’ve completed your transaction. All you should focus on is the here and now.
Read more

Kathy Wall

A Few Bad Pennies….

April 26, 2009 · · 12 Comments

About 3 weeks ago, I wrote an offer on a bank owned property in Hayward for a client of mine.     I tried contacting the agent representing the seller to let her know that I was sending an offer, but wasn’t able to reach her.     So, I emailed the offer and, also, faxed it to make absolutely sure that she received it by the deadline.  

Over the course of the next 3 weeks, I tried diligently to reach this agent.  I tried both calling and emailing.     Sometimes when I called, I would get her voice mail.  Other times, I got her husband who was listed as the co-lister, but knew nothing about the property.   He indicated that he had “taken the phone away from her, because if she kept taking calls, she would never get anything done.”  Read more

PruCalVoices

What lays behind the front door?

March 9, 2009 · · 7 Comments

front-doorHave you ever wondered how people live? I have always been fascinated by the interior of homes, what lies inside and how people live. Perhaps its my education and background in interior design/art history or maybe curiosity.

Well, boy was I taken aback and surprised to see what I found in this one particular home in Daly City.  It was new on the market, a short sale so I previewed it for my clients prior to showing it on Sunday. The listing agent did forewarn me that the home was in shambles. And Yes it was a mess, however I did not make it down to the garage/basement that day because it was dark and the electricity was shut off and boy was I in for a big surprise.  Read more

Nicole Machado

SSF Real Estate becoming a competitive sport…

March 8, 2009 · · 8 Comments

2009-01-07-boxing_glovesGet on your boxing gloves and jump in the ring, but don’t wait for the bell to ring or you’ll be knocked out of the competition.  In the past few weeks homes in SSF have been flying off the market. I have been working with first time home buyers for about a month now that desperately want to purchase a home in SSF.  They are solid buyers that have excellent credit and a good down payment, however they keep getting beat out on properties by all cash offers. The two most recent homes they bid on had a tremendous amount of activity. One had 18 offers and the other had multiple offers within a few Read more

Nicole Machado

Are you even trying to close this deal??

March 5, 2009 · · 8 Comments

 string_phone1I recently entered escrow on an REO property (Foreclosure) representing the buyers. With any escrow you enter you want to make sure you have your ducks in a row, but when it comes to REO transactions make sure you read the fine print. Some include passive contingencies which mean that if you don’t pull contingencies in writing on the said date written in the contract, they will pull them for you. This runs the risk of potentially forfeiting your client’s good faith deposit, if for some reason you have to end up canceling the transaction. Read more

Nicole Machado

Have We Hit the Bottom

January 24, 2009 · · 5 Comments

I was reading the January/February 2009 edition of the California Association of Realtors Magazine and came across this article I thought I would share. The article has good facts with a positive economic forecast for 2009 and the graph is a great visual representation of the history of the market.

To read the full article click on the thumbnail image of the article below, then click once more on the article to make the content larger.

Nicole Machado

SSF Real Estate… things are looking up

December 11, 2008 · · 5 Comments

As 2008 wraps up and we all grasp onto our crystal balls to determine the fate of 2009… I wanted to end the year on a positive note with some statistics from the San Mateo County Multiple Listing Service that may help to give us all a positive outlook on the Real Estate market for 2009. South San Francisco was one of the Peninsula’s hardest hit cities with short sales and foreclosures, but by the looks of it, SSF seems to be bouncing back just fine. Read more