Mark Hasha

8 Tips to Save Your Sanity
June 3, 2009 · Mark Hasha · 5 Comments

I received some great advice from one of the great lenders I work with and I wanted to share it with you. Timely loan approval is critical in today’s real estate market and I wanted to share his tips with you.

frustrated-home-buyer8 Tips to Save Your Sanity

A buyer’s guide to the loan approval process.

 

Guidelines and requirements for loan approvals have recently become more rigorous and each transaction is processed with much more scrutiny. Keeping just a few things in mind could save your sanity, stress level and funding schedule.

1. Be expedient and thorough. When initiating a loan, and throughout the loan process, it is imperative to provide complete documentation to your Mortgage Advisor as quickly as possible. For instance, if all pages of the bank statement are requested, it really means all pages. While you and I might not think it’s necessary to include the reconciliation page of the statement, the lenders do. And, when they receive only five of the six pages of said bank statement, the loan process can become inefficient and stalled. Read more

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Shokoofeh Nowbakht

Evaluation of Rental Property
June 2, 2009 · Shokoofeh Nowbakht · 7 Comments

for-rentHow do you evaluate a rental property?
There are many formulas to calculate different income ratios, various expenses and taxes you incur as a landlord. The first thing you should pay close attention to is the existing leases. Find out the current rents, the remaining lease terms and the annual increase in rents for every unit. It is very important to determine how these rents compare to the rents for similar properties in the area?    Read more

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Kathy Wall

Tenant Occupied Properties
June 1, 2009 · Kathy Wall · 4 Comments

For whatever reason, over the course of almost 16 years in real estate, I have very seldom sold homes that were occupied by tenants. Right now, I am involved with 3 properties that are occupied by tenants. Wow! Is it ever tough.

These transactions are so complicated with items that you would never think of. In the last couple of weeks I have dealt with:

1) Having the key to a tenant’s unit get stuck in the lock. The tenant was out and I have no phone number for him. I couldn’t reach the property management company and I, certainly, couldn’t leave this man’s home with the door unlocked. Fortunately, one of the people I had been showing the home to stayed with me, had a tool kit and, literally, took the lock out and solved the problem. Read more

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Terry Birt

Missed Opportunity ?
May 22, 2009 · Terry Birt · 6 Comments

buyers-choiceRecently, 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.

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Lee Ginsburg

One Buyer’s Loss is another Buyer’s Second Chance
May 6, 2009 · Lee Ginsburg · 6 Comments

30% of Real Estate Deals Don’t Go Thru. Maybe it is more, maybe it is less, but that is a pretty good estimate. So what does that mean to buyers and their agents? It means the property you lost out to in multiple offers or just because someone was faster than you does not mean it is gone forever. Read more

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Kathy Wall

A Few Bad Pennies….
April 26, 2009 · Kathy Wall · 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

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Nicole Machado

Are you even trying to close this deal??
March 5, 2009 · Nicole Machado · 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

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Kathy Wall

Neither Snow nor Rain nor Heat of Day….
February 16, 2009 · Kathy Wall · 7 Comments

It is about 3:30 p.m. and I’m doing an open house in a lovely, although freezing, townhome in Pacifica.   The rain is pouring down in sheets.   The door is open, hoping to encourage someone to come in.  I’m bundled up, including wearing long johns under my slacks, and am suddenly reminded of the postal service motto:  “Neither snow nor rain nor heat of day nor gloom of night shall stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”    It occurs to me that, to a great degree, professional Realtors follow the same creed.  An example of this would be my day today.  Read more

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