Selling a home while you're living in it can be trying during any market. Today's sellers are generally looking at a longer marketing time than was the case a few years ago. Appropriate pricing for this changing market can shorten the misery. So can taking a few precautions.
The houses that look the best are the ones that get serious attention from buyers. Preparing a house for sale is more important than ever. Keeping it in pristine condition can be a challenge, particularly for sellers with small children and pets.
One benefit of decluttering your home before you try to sell it is that you'll have less to clean up before a showing. Some sellers find it helpful to keep everyday essentials like toothbrushes and children's favorite toys in plastic tubs. These can be hidden in a closet, under a sink or under a bed and brought out when the public is not around. Before showings, the tubs can be quickly filled and stashed away.
Your house should look its best when a prospective buyer comes through, so set up a showing procedure that requires agents to call in advance to let you know when they're coming. This way, you'll have time to straighten up the house before it's shown.
HOUSE HUNTING TIP: Don't be too restrictive with showings. It's difficult to sell a house that can't be shown. You need to strike a balance between accommodating buyers and saving your sanity. If a buyer wants to come on short notice, at a time that's inconvenient, ask if it's possible to reschedule. But keep in mind that some of the best buyers are relocating from elsewhere and may not have much flexibility in their schedule.
Most experienced real estate agents advise sellers to leave their home when it's being shown to prospective buyers. Sellers should also be absent during open houses. The reason for this is that a seller's presence can stifle a showing.
Buyers need to critically examine a property before they can decide to buy it or not. This is an important part of the sale process. It's difficult for most buyers to talk frankly with their agent about a listing if the seller is home.
There will be times when leaving the house is out of the question. In such cases, make yourself scarce. Take a walk in the neighborhood; take the dog with you; or work in your home office. Don't follow the buyers around your house pointing out attractive features. Leave this work to the agents.
Even though you may enjoy entertaining, try to keep home life simple while your house is on the market. Don't plan big events and children's sleepovers at your home. Taking the family out for dinner can provide a nice break, especially if buyers want to see your house after work.
Agents should not show up unannounced if the showing instructions in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) indicate that agents are to call the sellers before showing the house. However, if this happens more than once or twice, one option is to ask your agent to remove the lock box and leave it with you to put out when an agent makes an appointment. You don't need to let an agent in who hasn't followed the MLS instructions.
In Conclusion: For some properties, and in some areas, it's appropriate for the listing agent to show the property to buyers and their agents. However, this can restrict showings. The buyers will not only need to coordinate their schedules with their agents' schedules, they also need to find a time that works for the listing agent.
Let us help you sell your home when you are ready! Call me @ 408 399 1495 or email me @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com and let me help you get top dollar for your home!
Monday, April 28, 2008
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Micro Markets?
The Silicon Valley Real Estate Market is really composed of many "micro markets". What is happening in Los Gatos is not the same thing as is happening in Morgan Hill or in Palo Alto.And, in fact, what's happening in one part of Los Gatos is very different from what is happening in another, just as west San Jose is extremely different from south San Jose.
And, in fact, what's happening in one part of Los Gatos is very different from what is happening in another, just as west San Jose is extremely different from south San Jose.
Blossom Valley (a district within San Jose) has two zips: 95123 and 95136. They are performing similarly right now. Cambrian Park (another area in San Jose) is mostly in two zips, 95124 being the larges, but also 95118 and a little sliver of 95008 (which is mostly in the City of Campbell). Los Gatos is a little more complicated. The mountain communities have the zip of 95033 but they truly march to the beat of a different drummer and are not part of the town. The area that is "in town" is 95030 and 95032. To complicate things, there are multiple school districts in LG (this is the case all over Silicon Valley - the school boundaries do not follow the town boundaries). What amazed me was to see how vastly different the town's realty situation was from one zip (and one school district, for the most part) to the other.
And please call me @ 408 399 1495 for hyper local real estate information in San Jose, Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County! EMail me @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com and let me help you understand whats happening in your zip code!
And, in fact, what's happening in one part of Los Gatos is very different from what is happening in another, just as west San Jose is extremely different from south San Jose.
Blossom Valley (a district within San Jose) has two zips: 95123 and 95136. They are performing similarly right now. Cambrian Park (another area in San Jose) is mostly in two zips, 95124 being the larges, but also 95118 and a little sliver of 95008 (which is mostly in the City of Campbell). Los Gatos is a little more complicated. The mountain communities have the zip of 95033 but they truly march to the beat of a different drummer and are not part of the town. The area that is "in town" is 95030 and 95032. To complicate things, there are multiple school districts in LG (this is the case all over Silicon Valley - the school boundaries do not follow the town boundaries). What amazed me was to see how vastly different the town's realty situation was from one zip (and one school district, for the most part) to the other.
And please call me @ 408 399 1495 for hyper local real estate information in San Jose, Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County! EMail me @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com and let me help you understand whats happening in your zip code!
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Did you know?
Facts you should know about real estate in the Silicon Valley...
- A lot of people were out of market a few months ago. They wanted absolutely nothing to do with the market. Now they are seeing it as being a little friendlier. And those people are seeing interest rates rise and know they need to get serious about buying now.
- If you look at the statistics over the past 20 years, this time of year you are going to find what is happening is absolutely normal. It's not a bad market. It's a normal market.
- As of April 14th, in the Santa Clara County the inventory for active listings of single family homes is 5378 and condo/townhomes is 1755. Totaling 7133 for both. The number of homes and townhome/condos that went into contract over the last 30 days was 1320. The pending sales are about double the January figures. The number of closed sales in April is 281 (as of 4/14).
- Something of interest - since the beginning of the year the listings have increased 23%, however, the number of pending sales has increased 73.6%. There have been 14 weeks of increasing sales! Currently 18.4% of the inventory is pending. So don't believe everything the media is saying about this market!
Call me today and let's talk about how you can take advantage of this market.
Email me @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com or call me @ 408 399 1495
Thursday, April 17, 2008
5 Signs of a Housing Market Pickup
How do we know the market is picking up? Here are our top 5 reasons:
1. More new jobs vs. New housing
2. Fewer builder concessions
3. Months' supply of homes is increasing
4. The amount of visitors viewing a house and how long they are staying there
5. Rising apartment rents
Call us today and lets talk about this market and how we can help you!
Email me @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com or call me @ 408 399 1495
1. More new jobs vs. New housing
2. Fewer builder concessions
3. Months' supply of homes is increasing
4. The amount of visitors viewing a house and how long they are staying there
5. Rising apartment rents
Call us today and lets talk about this market and how we can help you!
Email me @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com or call me @ 408 399 1495
What is PMI?
All lenders do not require you to put down 20% on a home purchase, but if you do put anywhere from 5-15% down they require you to pay Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). Plus, there are going to be other expenses that you will pay in cash @ closing.
PMI is typically rolled into a monthly mortgage payment(0.5 to 1% of the entire amount annually).
Once you have 20% or more equity in your home, request in writing from your lender that you no longer need the PMI.
We hope you found this information helpful.
Call us @ 408 399 1495 or email me @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com and lets talk more about your real estate needs...
Monica
www.mmgproperties.com
PMI is typically rolled into a monthly mortgage payment(0.5 to 1% of the entire amount annually).
Once you have 20% or more equity in your home, request in writing from your lender that you no longer need the PMI.
We hope you found this information helpful.
Call us @ 408 399 1495 or email me @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com and lets talk more about your real estate needs...
Monica
www.mmgproperties.com
Monday, April 7, 2008
Overnight Drop in Real Estate Rates
Long-term mortgage interest rates fell again Friday, and the benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield decreased to 3.47 percent.
The 30-year fixed-rate average sank to 5.65 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate dipped to 5.23 percent. The 1-year adjustable rate slipped to 5.68 percent.
The 30-year Treasury bond yield was down at 4.31 percent.
Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states. Points on these mortgages range from zero to 3.5.
In other economic news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 16.61 points, or 0.13 percent, finishing at 12,609.42. The Nasdaq rose 7.68 points, or 0.32 percent, closing at 2,370.98.
Stock figures are current as of 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
It is a great time to buy and allow us to help you find the right home.
Please call us @ 408 399 1495 or email me @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com
The 30-year fixed-rate average sank to 5.65 percent, and the 15-year fixed rate dipped to 5.23 percent. The 1-year adjustable rate slipped to 5.68 percent.
The 30-year Treasury bond yield was down at 4.31 percent.
Rates and bonds are current as of 7:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Mortgage rate figures are according to Bankrate.com, which publishes nightly averages based on its survey of 4,000 banks in 50 states. Points on these mortgages range from zero to 3.5.
In other economic news, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 16.61 points, or 0.13 percent, finishing at 12,609.42. The Nasdaq rose 7.68 points, or 0.32 percent, closing at 2,370.98.
Stock figures are current as of 7:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
It is a great time to buy and allow us to help you find the right home.
Please call us @ 408 399 1495 or email me @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Whats happening in Los Gatos?
The State of the Market in Los Gatos
Properties in Los Gatos continue to appreciate - a 5.6% price gain was seen in March over February of this year. According to Yahoo Real Estate, there are 182 homes for sale through the MLS at a median price of $1,399,990, and 277 homes for sale through classifieds at a median price of $1,750,000. There are only 37 foreclosures at a median price of $260,000 - in the prestigious Los Gatos market, that means they are mobile homes as even condos run about $600k-900K.
What’s great about this is that many homes in the surrounding areas, such as the 95124 area of San Jose and parts of Campbell, are buoyed upwards by the Los Gatos mystique. At the very least, they are not falling as fast as other areas of the South Bay.
What’s so special about Los Gatos? Los Gatos is the last Silicon Valley town you pass through before entering the Santa Cruz mountains, making it closer to the beach and great hiking than other South Bay towns. The school system is excellent, local restaurants are quaint and homey while providing great cuisine, and the downtown area is full of fascinating antique shops and boutiques. Joe Dimaggio and Marilyn Monroe even stayed here once, after their San Francisco wedding!
Another reason that property values are rising in Los Gatos is that no new mega developments are happening here. When massive low cost condos are built in an area, it creates downward pressure on existing homes.
Call us @ 408 399 1495 to talk about Real Estate in your area. Visit us online @ www.mmgproperties.com
Properties in Los Gatos continue to appreciate - a 5.6% price gain was seen in March over February of this year. According to Yahoo Real Estate, there are 182 homes for sale through the MLS at a median price of $1,399,990, and 277 homes for sale through classifieds at a median price of $1,750,000. There are only 37 foreclosures at a median price of $260,000 - in the prestigious Los Gatos market, that means they are mobile homes as even condos run about $600k-900K.
What’s great about this is that many homes in the surrounding areas, such as the 95124 area of San Jose and parts of Campbell, are buoyed upwards by the Los Gatos mystique. At the very least, they are not falling as fast as other areas of the South Bay.
What’s so special about Los Gatos? Los Gatos is the last Silicon Valley town you pass through before entering the Santa Cruz mountains, making it closer to the beach and great hiking than other South Bay towns. The school system is excellent, local restaurants are quaint and homey while providing great cuisine, and the downtown area is full of fascinating antique shops and boutiques. Joe Dimaggio and Marilyn Monroe even stayed here once, after their San Francisco wedding!
Another reason that property values are rising in Los Gatos is that no new mega developments are happening here. When massive low cost condos are built in an area, it creates downward pressure on existing homes.
Call us @ 408 399 1495 to talk about Real Estate in your area. Visit us online @ www.mmgproperties.com
Children's Education & Real Estate..
This week, the San Jose Mercury News has released its monthly data showing home prices and sales throughout the Silicon Valley. Upon reviewing this extensive data, we see some clear trends and information that home buyers can use in planning their next purchase.
Areas with good school districts such as Cupertino and Los Gatos appear relatively unaffected by the current home price plunges. Cupertino shows a 6.9% increase in price per square foot. Los Gatos shows a 1-3% increase based on area code, but Mountain View showed a whopping 66% increase in price per square foot in the prestigious 94040 area code. Children in this district attend Mountain View High - which has shown dramatic improvement in test scores and other accolades in the past several years.
Most San Jose area codes have shown a plunge in per square foot prices - with some reprieve shown those close to and zoned into prestigious Campbell, Los Gatos, or Cupertino school districts.
It is clear that as a Bay Area community - the quality of our children’s education rates second to none!!!
Another telling statistic is that sales of older homes continue to decline - resale home prices across Santa Clara County fell by 44.6%, while prices of newer homes have only declined by 40.3%. Is this number statistically significant? Most statisticians would say that it isn’t - but I think it shows that at least some buyers view newer homes as being more energy and power efficient, and more worthy of investment in these tough times.
Call us today to schedule your FREE Comparative Market Analysis and talk real estate.
Email us @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com or call us @ 308 399 1495
Areas with good school districts such as Cupertino and Los Gatos appear relatively unaffected by the current home price plunges. Cupertino shows a 6.9% increase in price per square foot. Los Gatos shows a 1-3% increase based on area code, but Mountain View showed a whopping 66% increase in price per square foot in the prestigious 94040 area code. Children in this district attend Mountain View High - which has shown dramatic improvement in test scores and other accolades in the past several years.
Most San Jose area codes have shown a plunge in per square foot prices - with some reprieve shown those close to and zoned into prestigious Campbell, Los Gatos, or Cupertino school districts.
It is clear that as a Bay Area community - the quality of our children’s education rates second to none!!!
Another telling statistic is that sales of older homes continue to decline - resale home prices across Santa Clara County fell by 44.6%, while prices of newer homes have only declined by 40.3%. Is this number statistically significant? Most statisticians would say that it isn’t - but I think it shows that at least some buyers view newer homes as being more energy and power efficient, and more worthy of investment in these tough times.
Call us today to schedule your FREE Comparative Market Analysis and talk real estate.
Email us @ monica.manocha@cbnorcal.com or call us @ 308 399 1495
Huge Spike in March Sales!!
Let’s Celebrate! Huge Spike In March Sales
The first of April brings great news to the financial and housing markets. The Visa IPO came out of the gate in mid-March and blew away any competition, raising about $20 billion dollars and helping the stock market recover in time to enjoy NCAA March madness. S&P/Case-Schiller statistics for March show a 44% increase in home sales over February 2008, and an overall 21% increase over this same time last year. This is just what everyone was hoping for: sellers should be happy, buyers should be happy, and even lenders should be happy. And, of course, it’s what the National Association of Realtors foretold (and has been touting on television ads).
Call us today @ 408 399 1495 to allow us to help you with all your real estate needs.
Visit us online @ www.mmgproperties.com TODAY!!
The first of April brings great news to the financial and housing markets. The Visa IPO came out of the gate in mid-March and blew away any competition, raising about $20 billion dollars and helping the stock market recover in time to enjoy NCAA March madness. S&P/Case-Schiller statistics for March show a 44% increase in home sales over February 2008, and an overall 21% increase over this same time last year. This is just what everyone was hoping for: sellers should be happy, buyers should be happy, and even lenders should be happy. And, of course, it’s what the National Association of Realtors foretold (and has been touting on television ads).
Call us today @ 408 399 1495 to allow us to help you with all your real estate needs.
Visit us online @ www.mmgproperties.com TODAY!!
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