Home sellers want to get as much as possible for their homes. Home buyers want to get their homes for the least amount possible.  “Market value” is when buyers and sellers agree – even if one of them is a little reluctant. This is true universally, whether you’re in the market in San Jose, Saratoga, Los Gatos or anywhere in Silicon Valley (and just as true elsewhere in California or elsewhere in the world).

Real estate agents don’t control the value of the home. However, good agents can maximize the potential of the market. Homes are never worth just one set price. There’s usually a range within which terms (or conditions) can move the value up or down. It’s “price and terms”.

For instance, let’s say you have an upscale home that’s worth about 1.5 million, more or less. If an offer were to come in contingent upon the sale of another home, in a normal or balanced market, the seller would probably want more than the 1.5 because of the uncertainty. Perhaps that home would sell, if contingent, for 1.6 million (only for illustration). On the other hand, if an all-cash buyer showed up, could close in 5 days (I have seen it happen) and allowed a free rentback for a month, the home might sell for closer to 1.4 million – if the seller really needed a fast close to prevent foreclosure or to secure the deal on another home. It’s always about price and terms.

Want a good deal on price? Sweeten the terms.

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 If you are contemplating selling one home and buying another in the same general area, it may be that you need more space – or it may be that you simply want a home that’s updated and you’re not sure you want to experience, first-hand, the joys of remodeling.

Not too long ago, I stumbled upon a website to help folks work through this question:  www.RemodelOrMove.com.

Have a look. I think it’s pretty unbiased information that can help with this angle of the “move up” question.

It can be a little nerve-wracking to sell one home and buy another. There are a couple of ways to structure this to avoid having to move twice and to store furniture (which is expensive as well as time consuming). The other alternative is to plan to store furniture and rent while taking your time in locating the new property. I’ll discuss each one and its pros and cons.

There are two main ways to do a sell/buy and move once. The first one is to sell the current home first and to purchase the next home with the proceeds of the sale of the first one.
 
(1A)  This can happen with a long close of escrow and buying the next home with a contingency “subject to the successful close of escrow” of the first home. It is sometimes possible to do a concurrant close, where both homes record the same day.  So if you are shopping for homes and have chosen one to bid on, once your home sells, you can make an offer on the one you like. Typically the home you’re selling will have a longer escrow – right now our typical escrows are 30 days, so you might structure yours to be 45 or 60 days.
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If you are planning to buy or sell a home in Los Gatos, Almaden Valley, Saratoga or anywhere in Silicon Valley, you may be wondering which inspections or reports you’ll need and how much money you’ll be spending on them.

First, let’s distinguish between an inspection and a report. An inspection is done on site. That is, it’s done at the property or home that you want to buy or sell. Often the written findings of those inspections are called inspection reports, but some non-inspection reports are done without going to the site at all. For our purposes in this post, we’ll refer to reports as information generated off site.

The main inspections for a single family home in Silicon Valley are these:

Home or Property Inspection
Pest or Termite Inspection

Additonally, sometimes these next two are ordered upfront, and sometimes they are ordered only if there’s a “red flag” or reason for concern in the property inspection:

Roof Inspection
Chimney Inspection

Assuming that these inspections are done for typical homes, not very large, remote or historic homes, the total cost of the four inspections should be less than $1000. Many inspectors have a fee chart that factors in the size and age of the home, and many inspectors will charge more if the property is far from where they work. Another element in the cost is when you pay. Most companies have smaller fee if they are paid the day of inspection and a larger one if you
bill it to escrow.
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A real estate agent is someone who’s taken a course (or more) and passed a state exam and is licensed by the state to sell real estate.

A Realtor (pronounced REEL-TOR, not real-a-tor) is an agent who’s ALSO a member of the National Association of Realtors, which is a voluntary trade group. Realtors promise to abide by and take very seriously their Code of Ethics. Ever wonder what is in it? It’s not short and is quite comprehensive. Take a look:

http://www.realtor.org/mempolweb.nsf/pages/code

Please understand that not everything that is legal is also ethical – Realtors have a higher standard of practice. Often non-Realtors (at least in Siliocon Valley) are not full-time agents but dabble in real estate. Realtors are usually full-time and work as professionals.

Finally, if you have a problem with an agent who’s not a Realtor, you have to complain to the state. With a member of NAR, who is almost always also a member of the state association (CAR – the California Association of Realtors) and local (either SILVAR – the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors or SCCAOR – the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors), you can take action locally for most any issue and do not need to go all the way to the state level. Agents work hard to remain in good standing with the local, state, and national boards.

In the San Jose area, most of the large realty firms are “all Realtor” offices. Usually becoming a member of NAR, CAR and either SILVAR or SCCAOR is a requirement for joining the company. In other areas and in other states, in can be different. So it’s mostly the independents where you’ll find a real estate licensee who’s not also a Realtor. But ask!

When you interview an agent, then, the first question to ask is this: are you a Realtor?