When you decide to list your home for sale, I can almost guarantee you that every real estate agent you speak with will advise you that your home will be featured in the multiple listing service or MLS.

For lack of a better term, the MLS is the default database used by agents to see what homes are available for sale and to also determine how to price your home. The MLS contains tremendous amounts of information that can be used in a market evaluation for your property. A critical first step in the marketing of your property is insuring the listing information to be complete and correct and also that the listing contains several pictures. If someone is searching Pasadena CA homes for sale, you want your home presented in the best possible manner, otherwise it may be ignored.

The marketing of real estate is evolving from newspapers and other print vehicles to online content which gives your property the unique advantage of being on sale 24/7 as opposed to the Sunday paper that is in the trash by noon. Since many other websites pull content from the MLS, it’s imperative that when your property is entered and published to the world electronically, it be accurate, informative and complete.

Beware the ‘In House” Move

One of the selling points used by an agent to obtain your business is to tell you they will parade their office agents through your house prior to making it available to the public. As if this is some kind of benefit to you. Understand the quantity approach compared to the quality approach. It doesn’t matter how many people visit your home if they do not have a client looking for a house like yours. Your only interest should be in that one interested party, not in having the “Bus Stop” in front of your home. I have always heard that if you cannot “Dazzle them with Brilliance; Baffle them with Bulls–t”. Don’t let yourself be BAFFLED!

Furthermore, beware of your agent attempting to sell the property within their own brokerage company. Quite often, a listing agent through a managing broker will require the property to remain “in house” before allowing other agents the opportunity to see it or know that it is for sale. Brokerage companies love to double end commissions. This eliminates many of the potential buyers for your home, possibly forcing you to accept less money for your house. This tactic only benefits one party, the listing broker.

I’ve never really quite understood the fact that we as real estate agents have a fiduciary duty to our clients to put their interest above all others, when so many agents and their sponsoring brokers would sell a home in this fashion before introducing it to the masses. Surely, there is no greed in a real estate transaction, is there?

Tags: homes for sale, interviewing real estate agents, Selling Your Home

UPDATE: Just this past week the California Association of Realtors announced that the effective lobbying effort by thousands of Realtors has forced the author of Assembly Bill 2678 to remove the requirement that would have homes and commercial property undergo an energy audit before escrow could close.

CAR further stated that they appreciate the goal of energy conservation, however this bill which could have required mandatory retrofits and upgrades had the potential to add increased costs to every transaction, further weakening the housing market.

Great job to CAR and to all of the people who expressed their dissatisfaction. It’s good to know that your Pasadena real estate will not encumbered by increased rules and regulations

The California Residential Purchase Agreement states that “the property is sold in its present physical condition, as of the date of acceptance, subject to Buyer’s investigation rights” or what others commonly refer to “AS IS”

As a real estate broker, I have a tremendous amount of respect for the California Association of Realtors or CAR. They maintain a wealth of information for their members and provide excellent consultation on the Legal Hotline when we have a question. They also keep us updated on the proceedings in Sacramento when a bill is before the State Assembly that could produce negative consequences on our industry should it be passed into law.

This is a copy of the email I received on Thursday, May 29:

“AB 2678 (Núñez) was passed by the Assembly on a 44-33 vote on Wednesday. The bill needed 41 votes to pass. AB 2678 would require, among other things, that ALL homes and commercial property in California have an energy audit at point-of-sale, and that mandatory energy efficiency investments be made. While C.A.R. appreciates the goal of energy conservation, C.A.R. strongly opposes the point-of-sale requirements in AB 2678 because they are not necessary to achieve the bill’s objectives and such mandates will weaken the housing market. If enacted, AB 2678 could add thousands of dollars to the cost of purchasing a home, including up to $400 just to have the home audited. AB 2678 will next be considered by the state Senate. Stay tuned for a Red Alert on the bill”.

Increased Closing Costs?

I interpret this legislation to mean that before you can sell your home/property, you may have to pay for an energy audit and based upon the results of these findings there may be increased costs involved in retrofitting or repairing your property to meet these new tougher guidelines.

My personal opinion is that this is bad legislation and from the close vote, it appears that many others share my feelings. An energy audit in Southern California, where we have some of the most desirable climate just doesn’t compute. Are we going to tell a homeowner that they need to weather-strip their windows because on a 78 degree day, a breeze could blow through the crack? An energy inspection should be the responsibility of the buyer if elected, to be performed during their due diligence process. Furthermore, my belief is that increased requirements upon property owners tends to chisel away at the bundle of rights we are entitled to, and I have to believe our founding fathers would agree. Lastly, since energy costs are becoming more and more expensive, many homeowners have taken it upon themselves to make their homes more efficient and a $400 mandated energy audit is an unnecessary expense.

It’s time we call our local representatives and tell Sacramento to leave things “AS IS”.

Next week we will examine the requirements involved with Pasadena real estate including its city occupancy and sidewalk ordinances.

Tags: AB2678, real estate closing costs, Selling Your Home

The content of this article may be the key to your future prosperity. For it holds the key to what so many have searched before. The text is not based upon hearsay, not based on opinion, but rather predicated on actual data. In these days when everyone has an opinion on the anemic housing market its good to know that someone has performed the research, culled the data and drawn careful conclusions. The key to selling your Pasadena home in this current market will soon be revealed.

I should also point out that our research department which is staffed by six figure MBA’s had the afternoon off. Actually they have every afternoon off, since we do not have a research department. Regardless, the thesis for a successful property transaction was discovered in about an hour. Not by mere accident like rubber and the telephone, but by attempting to prove a theory. A guess, that there was a correlation somewhere between why some experience success while others deal with frustration and failure.

Selling houses is not rocket science, no matter what some agents would try and get you to believe. There is no magic bullet, no formula that has been passed down through the ages. No one particular agent or company has “the power”, for if they did it would have been published long ago, allowing the keeper of the flame to cash out and make millions of dollars on speaking engagements and book publishing. Real estate agents know this, however there is an implied oath, that it never be divulged or publicly exposed for fear of succumbing to the status quo. Its Superman’s kryptonite. The myth must continue to be propagated.

It Should Have Been Obvious

Sometimes we attempt to make things more complex than they should be. However the secret to a successful property transaction is so simple, it should have been announced a long time ago. In fact, we obfuscate the real issue with terms such as “staging”, “curb appeal” and rosy laced language we forget we are selling real property, instead of trench coats for J. Peterman.

The Secret Announced

Your success or failure in your property sale will be determined from day one. Once your house hits the market and has been announced that it is “For Sale”, your strategy has been plotted and your motive announced.

For the key to maximizing your value, the difference between success and failure all comes down to one thing……..the listing price

The data analyzed was residential sales for the month of May in Pasadena, California.

The numbers indicate that if your house is priced correctly from the beginning, two things are likely to happen:

1. The house will sell for more money
2. The house will sell in less time

The chart shows when properties are listed too high, they tend to chase the market and take price reductions, selling for less and less of their asking prices. The result is longer selling times, therefore reducing the value.

In a declining market, time is money, and the longer your home sits unsold, well I think you get the idea.

Tags: home selling tips, pasadena california real estate, Pasadena real estate, Selling Your Home