Real Estate

Property Tax Reduction?

If you bought your home in the last couple of years, chances are it is worth less today than what you paid. Your property tax may also be less as it is based on the assessed value or purchase price. Did you know that under PROPOSITION 8 you may be entitled to apply for a lowering of your property tax? Get the form from Alameda County at… www.acgov.org/clerk

Once you have the form, email me and I will provide comparable sales to help support your claim.

Thinking of Selling? You must watch this!

Common sense on NBC, what sellers must do to sell today…

Commissions…Selling without an MLS!

Do you remember a few short summers ago when all the talk was of online Brokers who wanted access to local MLS info to advertise as their own, the purpose being to be able encourage buyers and sellers to use their discounted service? A result could have been a breakup of MLS services. I have just returned from the UK where Real Estate is sold as if we were in the 18th century. There is no online database of all homes for sale, as a result property is still dependent on trade newspaper advertising, although some offices now have their own websites listing their inventory.

In the UK there is no MLS. Each Estate agent (estate agents require no license in the UK) advertises their own listings only. Not only that, the estate agents are reluctant to show even their own listings, in fact you as a buyer are encouraged to contact the seller directly, unescorted and without qualification or screening!

Lawyers do the job that Realtors and title companies do in the USA and for a lot more money!

My point here is for critics of our industry who tout Realtors as being overpaid and the industry itself as lacking competition, look elsewhere, look at what the cost is to sell a home in the UK, to pay an estate agent plus an attorney often at an hourly rate and you will see that we are driven by the forces of perfect competition and the service provided and exposure that results, more than covers our fees.

Gordon Corsie Gives Insight Into Foreclosure Market

In a recent television interview on TV30, Gordon Corsie sheds light on the differences between the Stockton, Ca real estate market with its nation leading foreclosure rate and that of the Pleasanton, Livermore and Dublin real estate markets.

Buyer sues Realtor for home price falling!

You read correctly!

As reported this morning on NBCs the today show, a buyer of a $1million+ property in Carlsbad California is suing the Remax agent who represented her and her husband because the value of their property has fallen.

Marty Umell claims her Realtor failed to disclose home prices in the neighborhood before she and her husband made an offer on their Southern California home and that her agent therefore is liable because they overpaid for their house.

The court will hear the case Monday, and this brings up the question, are Realtors liable for house prices falling?

Marty Ummel sues Remax.
The result of this lawsuit could have far reaching repercussions for the industry.

Do agents control the market? Should we be blamed if prices fall? Can we be held liable?

With the wealth of information on neighborhood homesales readily available today one would assume that any buyer would be exposed to an abundance of pricing and demographic information on any neighborhood they were interested in buying into.

The details of the story were not specified ie, when the house was purchased how old were the comparable sales, one of which sold for @$100,000 less 2 or 3 doors away from the subject property. It was also not clear the condition of the properties.

One thing is for sure that irrespective of the outcome, future transactions will contain another disclosure statement to be read and approved by all parties words to the effect

‘Buyers are aware that property values may increase or decrease at any time’.

NBC VIDEO

Beware Bogus Forms in the mail!

The County of Alameda recently published a warning to all homeowners. Recently there have been solicitations by mail from a private company in a very official looking format offering to file a homeowners exemption with the County for a fee.

This can be done at no charge by filling out a claim form and returning it to the County offices before February 15. File the form and you will save $70/year on your property tax bill. The Homeowners exemption is only for owner occupied property.

Call 510-272 3770 from 8;30 to 5p.m. weekdays.

“Now is the time to Buy”…Donald Trump

Last night on CNBC, Donald trump was featured on a question and answer show on Real Estate. The audience asked several key questions but the most important was on timing.

When asked if this year would be a good time to enter the market he replied definitely, reason being that a buyer can negotiate a very good price on property that they could not have done a year or two ago.

He added that 2008 should see the bottom of the market being reached and a gradual recovery in late 2008, early 2009.

For the full story.

NBC Today show and Redfin

In case you missed it, Redfin an online real estate service company was featured on the Today show this morning by NBC. A Redfin spokesman was interviewed by Meridith Vierra.

The teaser lines which caught my attention were “everything you are being told by your Realtor may be wrong”, as well as words to the effect that you will be given information in the segment which will help sell your house and in the process turn what you know about real estate on its head.

Exciting stuff I must say and after much anticipation what was the advice given? What was the inside info from which we (myself included as I sell houses for a living) were to be able to use, what was the Holy Grail, the inside info, the scoop of all scoops? Are you ready? Sitting down?

This is what Redfin had to say;

1/ Don’t overprice your home.

2/ Place your property on Craigs list.

Thats it. Revolutionary? Not really! Since every Realtor I know already avoids overpricing when possible and a places an ad on Craigslist as standard procedure!

“Don’t overprice ?”, asked Merideth Vierra, “I have been trying to sell my house for 2 years, it still hasn’t sold!”, “I thought you should ask a much higher price so you can come down when negotiating!”. Poor Meredith, she will not have to come down on her asking price, because she will have no offer with which to negotiate with.

Really NBC should stick with stories about Brittany Spears dog, they seem far more informed about that kind of news!

Just a suggestion NBC, next time you have someone on the show to talk about selling real estate,  could you have someone that actually sells real estate!

Now there is a revolutionary idea!

3 Most Cost Effective home improvements!

Recently, Remodeling Magazine published its annual list of Cost Vs Value for home improvements. Some of the findings were very surprising, did you know for example that a new roof for your Livermore home will only bring you a 79% return upon sale, or that adding a master suite to your Pleasanton home will bring 77.3% when you sell. The survey covered the entire country but for this report we are looking at California and the SanFrancisco Bay Area.

Here are the 3 most cost effective home improvements you can make to your Livermore home.

• 1. Deck addition. The assumption was that the deck was a 16 by 20 foot deck using pressure treated joists supported by 4 by 4 posts anchored to concrete piers. It included railings and balusters. Typical price was found to be $13,509 giving a resale value of $17,665 a return of $130.8%!

• 2. Window Replacement. Average cost in San Francisco for window replacement (10 windows) 3 x 5 double hung wood exterior clad in vinyl was $14,102 with a recoup on sale of the house at $15,877 a potential return of 112.6%

• 3.Minor kitchen remodel. Key here is the word minor in this case less than $25,000 spent. A typical minor remodel may include items like cabinet refacing with new hardware, new oven, replacing laminate counters and installing mid priced sink and faucet. An average cost of doing this was $23,865 with a resale value of $27,099 a return of 113.6%!

New this year! FREE CITY REPORTS once you register at www.costvsvalue.com. A map on the site shows cost comparisons by region.

Sales Volume Up in Livermore and Pleasanton!

Inventory DOWN…SALES Increase!

Thats right,

November month to date saw an increase in sales Volume in the Valley.

Homes for sale in Livermore decreased from 525 to 496 in November and pending sales were at 35 mongh to date.

In Pleasanton there currently are 234 properties for sale and there were 31 sales this month.

Perhaps buyers who have waited are now a little more confident and see an opportunity to move into a new home before Christmas.

Now I am not saying that this heralds a new and dramatic change in this market but if the trend continues it indicates a move albeit a small one toward a more balanced Real estate market in Livermore and Pleasanton.

I know that this is not what you have been hearing or reading in the press, but the numbers

tell a different story, and the media is usually several months behind in its reporting.

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