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Motivated Sellers- Make an offer

Posted on July 11, 2008 by Ginger Wilcox

I keep seeing emails flying about saying- motivated sellers, make an offer.  Unfortunately, most sellers don’t realize (or won’t admit to themselves) that this tactic doesn’t generally work.  There are a number of flaws with this strategy:

  1. How many people truly get the “memo” that the seller is motivated?  A few real estate agents?  Certainly not all of them, or even a majority of them.
  2. Buyers (who may not even be working with an agent) may not visit the home or look at it on the web because they don’t want to look at something they can’t afford.  OR, because the listing price isn’t reduced in the multiple listing service,they just simply don’t know about it (their searches never find it!).
  3. Many home buyers (and often agents) don’t want to offend sellers by writing a lowball offer.  We know you don’t get it. I don’t get it.  But it is true, the majority of people don’t want to write a really low offer.

What does truly motivated mean?  What it means to a seller might be very different to a potential buyer.  To me (a real estate agent), it means they are not motivated enough to put it in writing.

If a seller is truly motivated, their motivation needs to be reflected in a good healthy price reduction- in most cases at least five percent!

MOTIVATED SELLER??…..(should =) BIG PRICE REDUCTION

An uphill climb for Marin Real Estate

Posted on July 8, 2008 by Ginger Wilcox

An uphill climb and it all looks good. The chart below reflects all Marin County residential real estate. As you can see detailed in the chart, January sales stats county wide were dismal- down 45% from the previous year. Since March, the number of Marin homes and condos going into contract over the same month the previous year has steadily improved.

Finally- in June, the number of Marin homes & condos going into contract passed up the number of units from June 2007!! What does that mean? More buyers entered into contract to purchase a property in June 2008 over 2007.

Does this mean.. buyers are back in the market?

MarinHomeSalesyoy

Marin County Home Sales- June 2008

Posted on by Ginger Wilcox

The number of single family Marin homes for sale increased by almost 10% over June of 2007. The number of Marin County homes sold was down over 20% from June 2007. Despite the number of sold properties being down, the bright light continues to be strong sale pending numbers. The number of Marin homes under contract increased slightly by 4.57%.

Will that trend continue in July? I would expect a summer slow down as many buyers and sellers are vacationing, with a resurgence of buyer interest and activity in the fall.

June 2007 June 2008 ∆ % ∆
For Sale 1,137 1,249 112 9.85
Under Contract 197 206 9 4.57
Sold 226 174 -52 -23.01

*Statistics pulled from BAREIS MLS. Single Family Residential Only.

Say good bye to your HELOC money

Posted on May 25, 2008 by Ginger Wilcox

Have a home equity line of credit you were planning on taking money out of for an upcoming remodel, home purchase, or other need?  It may not be there when you need it! 

Sofia Nadjibi, Mortgage Broker at Union Trust Mortgage in Marin County gave me some words of wisdom to pass on to my clients:

If you consider your HELOC your “emergency account,” you should consider drawing some of that money out TODAY and putting it in a good interest-bearing account like ING Direct or a Money Market account. This is especially true if you don’t have at least 3-6 months of liquid savings already.
If you were planning to use your HELOC to purchase a real estate investment, or for remodeling, etc – same advice as above – draw it out and put it somewhere safe. You can always put it back later if you don’t need it- but very soon you may not be able to access this money at all.

What’s happening?  Chase Home Equity announced that they are exiting the lending market.  Other lenders (such as Citi, Washington Mutual, National City and Wells Fargo) are expected to freeze existing home equity lines of credit balances, meaning no more cash out.

Need a HELOC?   Local Marin County banks are expected to still offer home equity lines of credit- think Bank of Marin, Tamalpais Bank and others, but of course if you really need that HELOC money, I wouldn’t “bank” on it!

What Marin cities are hot in the real estate market

Posted on May 24, 2008 by Ginger Wilcox

Single Family homes under contract in Marin County

April 2008 vs. April 2007

Belvedere +200%
Corte Madera +8%
Fairfax -38%
Greenbrae +25%
Kentfield +40%
Larkspur -75%
Mill Valley -36%
Novato -20%
Ross -50%
San Anselmo -12%
San Rafael +7%
Sausalito +17%
Tiburon +85%

 

Countywide, the number of Marin homes for sale was up almost 16% from last April. The number of homes under contract was down about 13% while the number of units sold is down about 31%.

While the number of homes sold in April 2008 vs April 2007 is dismal, the glimmer of hope is in the units under contract. We have gradually seen this number get closer to 2007 numbers for many Marin cities, indicating next month’s sold number may be even better.

Roadblock to home ownership

Posted on May 10, 2008 by Ginger Wilcox

  MarinHomeStarting to think about buying a house in beautiful Marin?  You probably start your search on the internet.  You start looking at what homes are selling for, doing your initial research to see what you can afford, you might even call a realtor.

You aren’t really ready to look seriously for a home, just doing a little initial research and then you see it- your perfect dream home.   It is “the one” and you HAVE to have it.  You call your favorite Marin county realtor and say Ginger, “I want to put an offer on that home.”

“Great Joe,” I say, “did you call the mortgage broker I referred you to and get pre-approved?” 

……

……

“Joe, are you there?” roadblock

A year ago, you could almost get an approval in a hour or so.  It wasn’t a good one, but nobody really cared.  Right now, pre-approvals are taking about two weeks for Marin home buyers.  Why so long?  Well, there are a lot fewer places where you can go to get a jumbo loan in California, and even fewer lenders with reasonable rates. 

What we have here is called a roadblock.   

Fewer lenders available = a serious back log of buyers all going down the same single lane.  The road isn’t closed, but traffic is pretty slow.  The mortgage brokers I work with say it takes about two weeks for a pre-approval and suggest 60 days for a close of escrow. 

I have a secret for you.  (There is a way around the roadblock!)  Listen close…

Get pre-approved BEFORE you find your perfect Marin County dream home!

Get money back from your landscaping project

Posted on May 5, 2008 by Ginger Wilcox

irrigation You might have seen an article in your latest water bill from the Marin Municipal Water District about Bay-Friendly Landscaping.  To make it easier for Marin Municipal Water District customers to adopt bay friendly gardening practices, the district is introducing a new rebate program on efficient irrigation equipment and supplies.

If you’re planning an irrigation project this spring (or even if you’ve done one since March 1, 2007), you probably can claim a rebate of up to $350! 

If you live in Novato, they have a different program available

Happy Landscaping!

A bright light for Marin County home sales

Posted on May 4, 2008 by Ginger Wilcox

Marin County Home Sales, April 2008

This chart makes me happy.  It shows the real estate stats for Marin County single family homes for April 2008.  The number of homes for sale increased 11.24% over last year.  The number of Marin homes actually closing escrow is down almost 40% from last year. 

I know, I  know.  This number sounds TERRIBLE.  Where is the good news Ginger?  The bright light is that the number of Marin homes under contract is only 6% less than the number for April 2007.  Perhaps by the time that May closed sales are reported, those homes under contract will convert to CLOSED Marin County home sales!

A bright light for sure…

Buyers beware- stop talking about that house!

Posted on April 27, 2008 by Ginger Wilcox

Silenced my money Buying your new Marin home can be very exciting.  You find a house your really like and you want to tell everyone you know about it.  Do yourself a favor and wait until you get into contract.  We know you want to get the advice of everyone you know… is it a good deal?  Do you know their situation?  What do you think of the house?  Why are they moving?  Well, this can have potential pitfalls in a small community like Marin.

Last week, one of my buyers saw a house they liked in Mill Valley.  They told some friends.  How many, I don’t know.  But two of those friends asked me if my client was writing an offer.  People other than my client were telling me what my client thought.  YIKES.  The thing is, you could be generating inflated interest in house.  If you want it, someone else might just decide they like it too.  Everything looks better when someone else wants it.

If two people actually mentioned it to me, how many other people know about it? By gabbing about it, you may also unintentionally damage your negotiating power.  What if the seller of your dream home hears from a friend about what you are saying?  Without even realizing it, you may have provided them with a good understanding of your negotiating position.  She loves the house SO much, she has told so many people about it, they must be willing to pay full price.

Zip it, until negotiations are complete!  Better yet, zip it until you close escrow.

Opening Day on the Bay

Posted on April 26, 2008 by Ginger Wilcox

sailonthebay

Sunday, April 27, 2008  is Opening Day on the Bay.  Opening Day on the Bay is the official start of the sailing season and is always the last Sunday in April.  More than 150 boats generally take part in the boat parade, which starts at noon near Chrissy Field and generally finishes around 2 pm at Pier 39.  The parade is sponsored by the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association and has been around since 1917.  This year’s theme is “Mother Goose and Friends”.

If you can’t be out on the Bay, downtown Tiburon and Sausalito are sure to be buzzing with activity as people converge on the two towns to watch the sights.  If you are looking to dine downtown, I would highly recommend you make a reservation (If you still can!).

Where to go: