Thursday, July 24, 2008

The Marin Market: Midsummer:

Well, amidst the doom and gloom we hear in an unending din on our TV's, on the web and in the print media, when we look around here in Marin, we find that the sky is not actually falling and things are selling. The sales situation definitely is a case of house by house, and is dependent more than ever on the location of the property. However, the one set of constants that helps get a home sold, and for the asking price (or as close as possible), is its price and its preparation.

The former does not mean you have to slash the price to rock bottom to get people interested in buying. What it means is that you must work with your agent and pay attention to what the market's comps for your home indicate the proper price should be.

The latter refers to getting the house looking as good as it possibly can be before putting it on the market. Tactic number one here is staging, whether it's just de-cluttering and removing lots of 'stuff' that just detracts from its appearance, or doing some renovation and/or upgrades to get the max good impression.

Put yourself in a buyer's position, particularly in a market that has slowed a bit. If two similar homes come to market at the same time, and one is priced completely out of any relation to the state of the market and/or is looking kind of shabby or so full of 'stuff' that you can't see the house; and the other is priced realistically and is clear of its 'excess baggage', allowing you to view it and see its advantages, which would you buy? The answer is easy--The house that shows well and is priced where it should be!

Call us and we can guide you to get the best deal possible for your home. Remember: You worked hard to buy it. You took impeccable care of it. It sheltered your family and it shares your memories. We couldn't possibly treat it as just another house!

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Last week I mentioned that the California legislature had sent a bill to Governor Schwartzenegger providing for some preventive action, as well as tenant protection in a foreclosure.
Yesterday, July 8, the governor signed the bill, SB1137, into law. It forces lenders to contact defaulting homeowners sooner in the foreclosure process to attempt to work out some non-foreclosure resolution to the problem where possible. It also requires that once a property is foreclosed upon, the lender must provide the tenants 60 days notice to move instead of the previously mandated 30 days.

It also provides local communities the right to pass ordinances that would require the foreclosing lender to maintain the outside appearance of the property so as to avoid urban blight that often comes when a home remains vacant for a long period.