There is no “I” in Real Estate Team!

March 2, 2009 · Julie Cleland · 3 Comments

You’ve decided to buy or sell a house so you gather all the players you’re going to need around you. You have your lender, your Realtor ®, escrow officers and any inspectors needed. You’ve gathered them around with the intention of meeting your goal of buying or selling that home. You’re all on the same page so how hard will it be to get along. That depends. Read more

Sellers looking at Contract Terms

February 10, 2009 · Shokoofeh Nowbakht · 8 Comments

Buyers and their agents need to be very careful about not only the offer price, but also the terms of the contract. Sellers do not always just accept the highest offer, as one might think.They want to SELL the property and the only way that would happen is Read more

Judging a Book by it’s Cover….Always a Mistake

February 3, 2009 · Kathy Wall · 8 Comments

At our office meeting this morning we discussed the fact that a large chain restaurant plans to offer free breakfasts to anyone who comes to their restaurant tomorrow. I won’t be going, because I have been boycotting them for more years than I can remember, after reading (on many occasions and in several locations) that their corporate culture allowed employees to discriminate again African Americans. I’ve never gone back since.

This made me think about how important our public image is and how one wrong move can cost us a customer for life. We need to be extremely conscious all the time about what we say and how we say it, both with our voices our physical gestures, and our written words. A silly joke that someone finds offensive or the way we discuss a neighborhood at an open house…almost anything can have the potential to lose a client or hurt someone’s feelings. Read more

Benefits of staging!

February 1, 2009 · Francis G. Bautista · 7 Comments

After writing my blog on “What is staging?” I am following up with the benefits of staging and the return in dollars to the seller. After some thought, I called a friend, Yvette Thoma, who was a San Bruno Prudential Realtor and who has gone on to successfully open “Let’s Stage it” a local staging company.

She was kind to provide me with some real numbers and facts. Per Yvette Thoma “Out of the last 25 homes staged in 2008, “Let’s Stage it” clients in San Francisco recieved 3% above average market asking price and in some cases 8% above asking. The homes also sold in half the time.” Per Yvette “the cost of staging is much less than your first price reduction!” Lastly “Staging is not a expense it is an investment and is tax deductible.” Read more

Buyers…are You Commitment Phobic?

January 28, 2009 · Julie Cleland · 6 Comments

You’ve made the commitment to buy a house. You’ve committed to a lender and gotten your pre-approval letter and now it’s time to go looking. When it comes to choosing your Realtor(R), you’ve decided to take a different approach…find as many Realtors willing to work on your behalf. You’ll give the business to the one that actually finds the specific house you want. Sounds like a good plan, but is it? Are you hurting yourself instead? Read more

Have We Hit the Bottom

January 24, 2009 · Nicole Machado · 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.

An agent can make a difference

January 5, 2009 · David Wang · 9 Comments

as long as we communicate

I have been working with a young couple looking for their first house for 8 month. They have good jobs and great credit. Why haven’t they been able to get a house? We have seen over 70 properties, and I have previewed over 250, their price range and area has a lot of short sales. Over this 8 month time span we have attempted to write 6 offers and finally one looks like it will close.

What I observed in the last few outings when we were looking at properties puzzled me, these two people would drive up to a house and without leaving the car tells me to go straight to the next property. I tell them that it is nice and we should see it but they refuse.

Questions! Why so many questions?

November 21, 2008 · Julie Cleland · 5 Comments

You’ve decided to go out and jump into the home buying process. Good for you! You think, this will be fun…driving around neighborhoods, looking for homes, thinking about all the ways you’ll redecorate. What you might not think about is all the questions you are going to be asked and all the personal information you’ll be expected to share. I’ve had one client lament it would feel less vulnerable standing in a room full of strangers with their skivs on than laying out all the details of their life. But like many things, that which isn’t pleasant may still be good for us. Read more