Real Estate Pro's

This blog certainly keeps the reader guessing! From our last REO/distressed sale post, to a new luxury estate listing, we are happy to help represent all of our clients with each of their specific real estate needs. Flexibility is a valuable asset in this market and you can consider us the lead gymnasts on that front!

Our new listing is for a magnificent Mediterranean estate set on a secluded acre of Los Gatos real estate and offering a list of amenities that might make your head literally spin off your body with sheer amazement! I could go on and on in another wordy and lengthy post, but everyone tells me in this modern “world wide web” era, that you folks like pictures. Well have at it with a custom virtual tour for your enjoyment located RIGHT HERE.

A quick glimpse of the 5000+SF, 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath, estate with office, media room, 3 car garage, 3 fireplaces, 4 balconies, pool & spa, tennis court, fruit tree orchard, dog run, rose garden and MORE!!!

Today’s Real Estate topic doubles as a rant AND a tip for buyers looking to score a deal on a bank owned or REO listed property – A conservative estimate would be about 98% of the current buyers out there…

To keep this rant reasonable, let’s keep things simple:

Most of the banks that own property are located in a different state and have never been inside of your future dream home. As such, they have a limited abililty to provide disclosure. I know it sucks, but this is the risk you take in scoring a deal and further driving down the property value of the “real/traditional” seller down the street who just wants to sell their home to move to a better school district for their kids. Yeah, yeah, I’m not exactly a bleeding heart, but keep in mind that “every action has an equal and opposite…” This applies to the Real Estate market as much as the physics class room.

Ok, back to the point. Because of limited property knowledge, these banks hire expensive lawyers to draft contracts that protect them against every conceivable outcome. These contracts usually state about ten thousand times that they will not make repairs, they will not pay for repairs, they do not know what “repair” means, they cannot spell repiar…of course I am exaggerating (a little), but you get the idea.

Oh and one more thing. These “great buys”, guess what? You aren’t the only one that thinks this will be their dream home for years to come. Yup, there are probably five other offers…and they are probably within a couple thousand dollars of your offer. If you are in escrow, that means that you won the battle – but not the war.

Let’s add this up:

You want the bank to make a ton of repairs to your “Great Buy”
The bank doesn’t care
There are tons of other people who want the house

Did you come up with the proper answer? Yes, exactly. The buyer requesting all of this hoopla gets squat. Escrow is cancelled and the bank simply goes into escrow with the next best buyer who still wants the “Great Buy” without the stupidity of inane requests.

So, stop wasting every body’s time with absurd requests and simply deal with reality. If you want to score a great buy, there is risk involved. If you want your cake and to eat it too, then maybe you can find a house offered under traditional sale with a compassionate seller willing to leave behind their cherished memories as you build new ones. We can discuss that pipe-dream in a future post…

I hope this was entertaining and informative. Of course, reality lies somewhere in the hazy summer fog, but with a bit of understanding of where everyone is coming from you won’t have your dreams crushed by a mean Realtor like me

The Real Estate media outlet that is Inman News thinks that we are in this market for the long-haul – and I agree. You can see what they are saying RIGHT HERE, but in a nutshell they think…

1. The supply of homes is substantial. Many of these homes are distressed. For traditional sellers, this means you will have competition for the next several years, which continues to put downward pressure on prices (remember those ”supply and demand” lectures from school?).  Thinking about selling? Do it now. Unless you can hold that property for the long haul – according to this article anywhere from 2 – 10+ years – then sell that property before the overwhelming supply of distressed properties erodes your equity further. As has been the case for the last 4 years, this simply is “the market” which we are all subject to.

2. The article addresses the absurd knee jerk reactions that banks have made in response to the loose lending days of our past – and how these new policies have removed the ability of many qualified potential buyers from the pool of credit worthy risks. Further, in our area, starting October 1, we will be reverting from a current conventional loan value of $729,250 to $483,000. Not exactly great news for this market. This topic was addressed previously below.

3. “Jobs” is affecting housing. Really? Wow, that’s insightful. Apparently people without jobs or who have had their hours severely cut back have a hard time with the staggering amounts of money involved in Real Estate. Evidently, this trend will need to reverse in order to spur on housing. Shocking conclusion. Yes, we need a massive economic overhaul to help Real Estate – jobs and consumer confidence among others are big pieces to the puzzle.

4. Within the article, a study of adults concludes that popular belief doesn’t see a housing recovery until 2014. Probably a pretty fair assessment. However, what I find interesting, is that the firm conducting this survey expects the recovery to be more aggressive than most people anticipate. While that would be a welcome relief, I won’t hold my breathe. My personal belief is “post one of the greatest bubbles of all time” it will take many baby steps to work our way back to normalcy and ultimately another prosperity cycle.

So there you have it. More commentary on the current state of affairs. And really, most of the data suggests more of the same. No major tumbles, nor any significant growth in the short term. I think most of us feel this way (as evidenced by the survey above). Thus, as we have been saying “this is the market” and it isn’t going anywhere. However, there seems to be a bright side here – unprecedented low prices? Continued unfathomable interest rates? For those with the means, this is an amazing time to purchase Real Estate.

We have a phrase that describes properties that we feel will be the next best home sale – Best House / Best Price. Sounds pretty simple right? Not so fast. Everyone knows that the best houses should get a premium, right? Of course. BUT, on the market of active homes for sale, LIST prices are often determined by looking at a neighbors property and thinking “my house is better than that one, so we will price it higher”. Maybe the completely haywire market of 5 years ago could have supported that philosophy, but no longer.

In the current real estate market, the next property to sell is the best house at the best price. That means your nicely updated home probably needs to be priced lower than the heap down the street. WHAT!!!???? Brian, what kind of none-sense are you talking  about? The reason for this is because the house down the street is waaay overpriced. Meaning, if you price yours above that, then the trend continues. Further, how long has that house down the street been on the market? Yup, probably for months, if not years. That price doesn’t count.

In fact, the only prices that count are the prices of comparable homes that have already sold. That’s what appraisers and banks look at and if you want to sell your home for the highest price, then comparable “sold home” prices are the only ones you should be concerned with.

These are the prices we use to advise our clients – and the decision to follow this lead is tough. It sounds crazy that your beautiful home will be on the market for much less than others that don’t compare. BUT, that other home is priced in a manner that only makes sense in some parallel universe…The buyers in this market are well informed and aware of what homes are selling for. A home with a price based off of other active listings rather than solid sold comparables has little chance of appealing to an astute buyer. The strategy that your over-priced neighbor is implementing is referred to as “chasing the market” - always looking at what other homes are priced at and making small adjustments that are often too little too late.

By pricing in the reality of the “sold market” your home will sell faster and for a higher price than the competition. The Best House at the Best Price stands out like a beacon in this cluttered market and will ultimately yield the best price you can get for your home.

Wow, how time flies when dealing with viruses! First, the Big Boss’s (my partner) computer got infected and required a ton of work to fix and ultimately replace with a new system – can you believe the computing power now available for the money? I am pretty sure for less than $1,000 you can obtain a computer system powerful enough to give NASA a run for their money in exploring the universe…

Anyway, shortly after setting up the new zippy computer system, YOURS TRULY was infected with a nasty virus! Who get’s the flu during the summer? See if I EVER get another flu shot! ha! Running a temperature of 103 and feeling miserable last week, I am finally back at the helm. In getting caught up on a few things, I have made two hugely important discoveries!!!

1. Prices ARE STILL LOW

2. Interest Rates ARE STILL LOW

Wow! Looks like despite a glitch in the Matrix, it’s still a great time to buy Real Estate! Phew!

While the wind can blow my attention into many different directions, today we are going to offer some advice for sellers hoping to seize some control in a market that is largely out of their control…

First and foremost we will state Captain Obvious: This is a tough market. Has been. Is currently. Will continue to be. Remember all of the good times of easy money, multiple offers and sales over list price? It seems like years ago, but they are so far gone that the mere mention of “But in 2006 my house was worth X” is simply ludicrous. Statistic machines from every corner of the globe point towards a nationwide decline of approximately 30% in value since those highs - more or less in local markets.

Negotiations with buyers are brutal. They want it ALL for Nothing. As someone who places action above words, my primary concern is WHAT can we do about it? We can’t change what happened. Placing blame doesn’t help sell homes. As sellers there are few things we have control of within this market, but the few we can control can offer long term savings after initial minimal costs.  

One way to take control of your sale is by completing the termite and home inspection reports ahead of getting an offer (or even listing the property for sale on MLS). As an informed seller, this places you in better control during sales price negotations and removes many unknowns from the escrow process. Rather than re-negotiate any “newfound repairs” as a result of the buyers inspections (which typically lead to monetary requests/concessions) you can negotiate from the onset in a position that accurately acknowledges the condition of the property and make it clear that any further findings will be the sole responsibility of the buyer.

There will be costs to have these inspections performed. However, in this market knowledge is king. Generally, buyers are market experts – extremely well prepared and informed of the GENERAL market. But, not necessarily YOUR specific property. The small cost of becoming an expert on your property ahead of time provides a measure of knowledge and power that is otherwise lost to the uncertainties of the escrow process…and when that happens in this market, the hand continues to tilt to the buyers.

By holding key property information we are able to decode the unexpected. And when selling a home, the “unexpected” is not only unwanted and stressful, but can also have financial implications as well.

If you are considering selling your home, contact us to find out how we will put you in the best position to earn the highest sale price for your particular property.
Brian Butler: (831) 241-4259 Realtor
Kris Butler: (831) 915-8330 – Broker / Realtor

I really thought we had seen the end of the 4% rates as we have crept slowly but surely out of the basement and up to the new floor of 5% as of late. However, this weeks rate sheet from Chad Hawker at Princeton Capital shows otherwise with some spanky rates:

30 Yr. Fixed up to $417,000 at 4.5% no points
30 Yr. Fixed up to $729,500 at 4.750% no points
30 Yr. JUMBO to $2M at 5.250% no points

If you want better rates, you can pay a point and cut those numbers further!

Chad has the inside line on some amazing loan offerings. Not only that, but he is the only lender we work with that always closes on time. This may not seem like a big deal now. But, I can assure you that at the end of a 30-45 day escrow period when each party is very anxious to close the deal, ANY and ALL delays become VERY frustrating.

In fact, as I type this post we have a deal with “Lost in Fargo” that is running over a week late – again. They haven’t closed one loan on time with us in the last year. Not only does Chad offer great loan programs, he closes. On time. That means you get your money or you get your keys on the day you have been expecting them and to me, that is more than enough reason to use him. In a time where “personal banker at XYZ lending”  make promises to close on time, the track record does not substantiate those claims. Call Chad at: (831) 622-4630 or email at: ChadHawker@PrincetonCap.com

At a recent sales seminar, a claim was made that over 50% of homes going into foreclosure made no attempt to avoid this terrible fortune. None. Zip. Zilch. Zero. If that is true, then I find it very saddening to know that people are struggling, and feeling that there is no viable solution or help available to them. While this is certainly no easy time for decisions regarding our homes, there are people that can help. Further, simply attempting to do a short sale or remedy your situation (rather then just going straight to foreclosure) can be looked upon favorably by the banks.

If you can complete a short sale, then you will be in a much better long term financial position. For example, a successful short sale can allow someone to apply for another home loan in as little as two years versus as many as 7 years if the home goes to foreclosure. A significant difference for anyone concerned with owning another home in the future.

Successfully completing a short sale can also have important credit score ramifcations versus allowing a foreclosure to take place without a fight.

This Real Estate market is filled with an unprecedented spectrum of misfortune and opportunity. This radical environment calls for better information and expertise than ever before. If you have any questions about how to best approach this market, given your situation then please call us today.

Brian Butler Realtor: (831) 241-4259
Kris Butler Broker/Realtor: (831) 915-8330

We’ve written about this house before and we are doing so again, because the sellers have shown that they are serious about selling this 7 year new, custom designed and built Carmel charmer! Reduced from $1,325,000 to $1,275,000 this home not only offers two master suites, large custom kitchen and a “full time” living floor plan – it also functions as a fully fuctioning vacation rental! You can see more about this property HERE or simply contact us directly.

Yeah baby! I love great houses at great prices and today we just made a massive price adjustment to a masterpiece of a home in Carmel! This house was pretty much rebuilt from the studs up with the finest and most lavish materials you could ever hope to use. Chipped edge Travertine counters, plaster walls, custom ironwork, beautiful fixtures…every detail is top notch and it shows. As beautiful as this house is to live in, the owner is ready to move on and has just made an aggressive price reduction from well over $1 million to the new price of $999,000. Based on pure craftsmanship and quality of materials this 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 2200 SF, single level home is an amazing Carmel value! You can see more by clicking HERE. Or a few pics…