East Bay Blog

Thanks for checking in to the East Bay Real Estate Blog. We have officially entered into what I think is the busiest time of year for most Real Estate professionals, summer. So today I want to talk a little bit about staging.

In the last several years the case was that staging helped homes sell for more $$. Currently, I don’t think a staged home will sell for more money, but I do think that a staged home will have a better chance of selling. In our current market, buyers have become savvy when it comes to looking at the “bones” of a property. That is they will look more closely at bedrooms/bathrooms, overall condition, any deferred maintenance, etc… They will also look at more properties and compare these types of specifics. The staging will help for the buyers to get a better “feeling” for the house. That is to say that staging will not overcome a higher price for the same number of beds/baths as a competing property, but if two properties are priced the same, the staged home will have an edge.

So if you are planning on selling any time soon, I will always recommend staging. If your home is unique, and there is not much inventory in your neighborhood, then I would say that staging is not necessary but recommended. If however you find that there are several homes in your neighborhood with similar “bones”, then staging is necessary for you to get a leg up on the competition. Price is still the most important factor in this market, but when competing, staging is a must.

How to stage? We can provide staging advice for you. If your property requires things like furniture or vacant home staging, we will also bring in a professional company to help complete the job. If you are selling soon, call us today. You need a full service agent now more than ever to help get your home sold for a fair price in a reasonable time frame.

Hello, thanks for stopping by our East Bay Real Estate Blog. So we’ve reached mid-year or just about mid-year at the end of this month. So I ask myself, how does 2007 compare to 2006 in regards to Real Estate?  Well…that is what I am going to discuss today in The Blog.

Let’s start with the selling of a home. The biggest challenge facing REALTORS® & Sellers in today’s market is the duty to get it right the first time. What do I mean by this? Sellers need to hire a good agent right off the bat. In years past the market was so hot that even hiring an inexperienced or “bad” agent still gave you a pretty good shot at selling your home. In some areas all you needed was a “For Sale” sign. Now in order to sell a house the price must be set correctly in the beginning, and top notch marketing is a must. Sellers should get references and hire a competent and professional agent from the start. “Because he’s my cousin” is not a good reason to hire an agent. You wouldn’t trust just anyone but a professional to manage your money would you? So why trust just anyone with one of your biggest investments, your home. The REALTOR® must set a correct price from the start. In today’s market I am hearing a lot of sellers tell me, “I had an agent tell me I could sell it with them for $50,000 more than what you are telling me I can sell for.” If you didn’t know, yes there are a lot of agents out there who are desperate to get listings. They will promise an inflated price to sellers, and then wait a month or two before talking them down to a realistic price. This not only wastes time, but it makes a house look aged on the market, and is a candidate for low ball offers. Once buyers see that a house has been reduced 3 or 4 times it’s a clear signal that the seller is getting desperate. Agents who promise inflated prices are new or desperate. I for one will not take an overpriced listing. It wastes time for everyone involved.

When it comes to buying a home, buyers need to have all the facts. In years past, it was not as important to know all of the details about a house, you just offered as much as you could afford, and crossed your fingers that no one out bid you. If you were lucky enough to have the winning bid on the house, you just celebrate since the house would probably appreciate 10% by the time you close escrow. Now it is much more important to have your REALTOR® give you all of the information on a home. How long has it been on the market? If the price was reduced, how many times was it reduced and how long since the most recent reduction? Why are the sellers selling? Is it a short sale? As a buyer, having all of the facts puts you in the driver’s seat to negotiate the best offer. If for example a house has been in escrow before, but failed to close for some reason, and the seller had to put the home back on the market, a buyer could bid a bit lower for something like that. A seller would be more motivated to sell at that point, since they’ve already been through the process before and are anxious to be done with it. It’s facts like these that a good agent will uncover and pass along to his clients. As a buyer, you pay no commission, so do yourself a favor and hire a great agent to help you. There is no need to work with the listing agent anymore, get your own.

So overall my impressions of this year compared to last is that our services are more valuable than ever. The duty to “get it right the first time” and “uncover all of the facts” are of paramount importance. Good agents will get listings sold without wasting unnecessary time trying to figure out the right price. Buyers are in the best market we’ve seen in a long time, and with all the facts, they are bound to score a great deal. If you are looking to get into the Real Estate market soon, give us a call, we’re here to help.