Silicon Valley home buyers often state that they want to purchase a house, townhouse or condo which includes these attributes:

• inviting
• spacious, not cramped
• open (open floor plan)
• light, bright & airy – lots of natural sunlight inside
• has a good floor plan
• includes enough storage space
• well cared for (ideally, unless buying distressed)

In a nutshell, buyers want sunny, open, clean, uncluttered feeling spaces.

Rarely do they request cozy (implies small) or private (suggests flag lot or large hedges in the front, blocking view of the street), though most love a private back yard and some buyers really do want privacy in front as well as back (hence the great appeal to those who prefer an Eichler or other mid-century modern style house).  To get you the most money for your real estate sale, though, we don’t want to appeal to the few buyers who want one style; instead, to maximize your return we need to aim the staging at what the majority of buyers (or the most probable buyer for your property) will want.

How can you transform the home you live in to the house or condo you’re selling so that it appeals to these majority of buyers who want “sunny, open, and uncluttered” interiors and un-scary houses or homes?  Here are a few quick tips:

1. First, understand that you are moving from “your home” to a house or townhouse you’re selling – it is an item for sale and the main goal is to maximize what it will sell for. This is an attitude shift but is critical for getting you the best deal for your Silicon Valley property.
2. De-clutter: Anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 of your belongings will probably need to go, whether to storage, to charity, to a garage sale, to a recycling plant or, all else failing, to the garbage.  A storage pod is a great help – they can take your stuff away and usually deliver it to your new place, if you are not moving too far away.  Most Americans have too much stuff in their homes. It’s fine to live that way but not so good to sell that way. (“The way you live in your home is not the way you sell it.”) Most of the “stuff” will come out of closets, hutches and cabinets but sometimes even walls need to be decluttered too. (Very smart to hire your Realtor BEFORE you do this so that you don’t get rid of the items you need the most and can get good advice on this action.) (more…)

Real estate referral fees are often mysterious to folks who are buying and selling homes (whether in Silicon Valley or anywhere else), and there are a lot of misconceptions about them. So I’m going to explain what they are, who can get them,  how it works, and what to “beware of” with them.

What they are: referral fees are a broker-to-broker (agent to agent) payment of money for business that one agent refers to another. For instance, if my friend, a real estate licensee, asks me to help her friend or relative to sell a home in Los Gatos, Saratoga, or San Jose (let’s say she’s in LA), I will pay her a percentage of the sales price (or possibly a fixed dollar amount) because she referred me the business. The amount varies, just like commissions do, but 25% is pretty common. When I was at Windermere, 20% was most common. When I was at Intero, there was no set fee but some agents required 30%. Some relocation firms demand 35% or more….

Relocation companies also vary among themselves in how this works, but basically they charge the agent a fairly high fee (40 – 50% is not unheard of, sometimes more – and the agent’s company often also reduces the “split” between the agent and the company) so that the buyer or seller’s move is underwritten somewhat by the commission dollars. The agent makes a lot less than usual on this deal, but hopefully the client will be happy and refer the agent to others (who will not have a referral fee attached to them).

What about Costco, USAA or others? To work a “referral” deal, they have to be licensed by the department of real estate in the places where they are referring business. Let’s say a big company wants in on this lucrative market. They get a license and offer to “feed” potential clients to hungry agents and in turn charge a set amount, such as 30%, as a “referral fee”. The big company, in turn, tells the potential buyer or seller, “find your agent through us and we’ll get you a rebate (kickback) of XX% or XX dollars!”  So maybe the agent is charged 30% to “find” a client and the client gets 20% back. Guess who gets the rest? Yup, the big company.
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Whether you’re preparing to sell a home or are in contract to purchase real estate in Silicon Valley, you likely will be faced with the prospect of hiring professionals to inspect your home. This can run hundreds of dollars, a thousand dollars or more. The potential liability, though, could be much higher than the cost of paying the professionals to inspect your home, so you’ll want to hire very carefully.

So, what must you know when selecting inspectors in the San Jose & Santa Clara County area?

First, there are different types of inspectors:

There are inspectors who focus on particular elements of the property, examples being termite or pest inspectors, chimney and masonry inspectors, foundation & drainage engineers, pool inspectors, heating & air conditioning inspectors and more. Generally, these are all licensed by the state of California, and they may perform repairs on the items they find in need of repair.  The two go together – licensing and being allowed to do repairs.

But this is not true for property or home inspectors. There is no license for doing house or condo or townhouse inspections in this state. Is that good or bad? Part of that package is that they can’t do repairs on problems they find. You can see why it’s good to separate finding problems from being paid to fix them. That’s the plus.  There is another side, though.

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If a house or other building is going to be fumigated or tented for termites (or other pests), certain things must be done for the tent to go on and to effectively seal the structure.  We call that “fume prep” work or “fumigation prep” work. It is sometimes included in the cost of the fumigation, and sometimes not – so if this work is being done at your property, be sure to ask if it’s part of the bid!  If it’s not included, there are companies that can be hired to do these jobs if you do not want to or cannot do them yourself. (If you need one in Silicon Valley, please email me and I can give you a name or two.)

Anything which obstructs being able to enclose the home or building must be cut back, disconnected or removed.  For instance:

• fences or gates which touch the building must have a few slats or sections removed so the tent can be placed next to the house
• bushes, hedges, trees and other plants which are adjacent to the house must be trimmed back or pulled away as much as possible – at least 12″ from the structure (if trees are touching it, they must be trimmed)
• any other structure such as a trellis or deck must either be included with the fumigation or separated from the house so that a tent can go between it and the house
• downspouts connected to French drains must be disconnected at the ground
• loose gravel, tanbark or mulch needs to be raked back or removed at least 12″
• any stored items up against the building must be removed (more…)

Both buyers and sellers in Silicon Valley find themselves having to compromise in order to purchase or sell homes in today’s market. In a red hot seller’s market, the buyer usually makes most of the concessions. In a deep buyer’s market, that can be said of the sellers. Right now, though, it is fairly balanced in the sense that homes are selling fast – but only if they are priced aggressively. In some areas, such as the Cambrian Park area of San Jose, prices continue to inch downward.  Sellers often feel as though they are compromising left and right before they even get their property on the market! What kind of compromises might you expect when buying or selling a home in Santa Clara County now?

Silicon Valley Home Seller Compromises

Most sellers want to sell for full price and to not have to do any repairs – that is, they want to sell “As Is”.  Unless they get multiple offers, though, often that’s not the case.  Often sellers must compromise on both price and terms, and may find themselves providing a pest clearance or do other repairs in order for the property to sell.  In some cases, though, the compromises are larger still: they may need to pay points for the buyer’s loan, provide credits, re-roof or do other work to make the transaction work. A suggestion for most sellers is to do pre-sale inspections. One of my clients this last year objected, asking why they needed to spend money (the cost of the inspections) to find out that they needed to spend money (the cost of the repairs)?  But in truth, by doing this, the seller can take care of some items up front, create a more secure feeling for the buyers and then maximize the sales price in most cases. It is a compromise, though, to do these inspections upfront. That said, it’s a worthwhile one because normally it will net the sellers more money in the end! A word to the wise: selling As Is often means not getting top dollar for the property (most sellers want Top Dollar with NO WORK – it doesn’t work that way).  To get the most money out of the sale, usually a hoe owner will need to make the property worry proof: do repairs upfront, before a buyer ever even sees it.

Silicon Valley Home Buyer Compromises

Most San Jose area home buyers want to purchase a home for 10-20% less than what the sellers think it’s worth.  The main compromise is on price!  It’s sticker shock every time, but especially for real estate purchasers who are coming from out of the area. Additionally, buyers tend to want homes in turnkey, perfect condition.  That is, they don’t want issues with permits, repairs, health and safety hazards, termites, and so on. They want to move in and “not have to worry” for a few years. So moving from this position to a purchase where they take on some responsibility for repairs or updating is a major concession or compromise right there. A word to the wise for buyers: demanding every little repair and home perfection will not usually work UNLESS you pay “top dollar” for a property. If you want the best price, be prepared to take on some of the responsibility upfront. For buyers and sellers to agree on price and terms it’s going to involve compromises on both sides. With proper planning, though, these compromises will result in a win-win for all.

Homes which are dark inside, or which feel dark to potential buyers, are much more difficult to sell, and virtually always sell for less money than those which are perceived as “light, bright and airy”.  While a property’s owner might love the cozy feeling of dark paneling, deep overhangs and low lighting, it’s not what most buyers want today.  To maximize the amount a house, condo or townhouse in Silicon Valley will sell for, it’s imperative to make it as attractive to buyers as possible.  In many cases, that means it needs to be lightened and brightened to sell for top dollar.

How can a home owner make a house or home be – or seem – more bright?  One of the biggest “offenders” in this area involves windows! Here are a few window-related problems that can make a home feel significantly darker than necessary, together with some potential solutions:

• an interior room with no windows (seen with additions sometimes) or dark hallway

**consider adding a sun tunnel or skylight (as well as ceiling & other lights)

• tinted windows

**remove film, if applicable, or replace with non-tinted windows

• curtains/blinds which obstruct part of the window

**pull back so that 100%, or close to it, of window is visible

• shrubs, and trees covering some of the window

**trim back so the window’s glass panes are 100% visible, if at all possible, to let maximum light in

• deep roof overhang which prevents sunlight from directly entering the home for much of the day

**look into adding skylights over the porch – keep the overhang but allow more light in!

Once you’ve done as much as possible to allow the maximum amount of natural light into the home through the windows, it’s time to tackle other areas where light is either absent, minimal, or otherwise obstructed. (more…)

Those of us who sell real estate for a living know that consumers want to hear back from us as soon as possible when they call or email (or text, in some cases).  What’s a realistic turnaround time for the response?

If not with clients or otherwise tied up, many Realtors (yours truly included) will pick up the phone when called during business hours. (Some won’t. Some do time blocking and return calls at set times, such as between 11am and noon and 4 and 5pm. Those who time block in this way will often put a message on their voice mail explaining when they will call back. Hopefully, that works for the caller!)    In general, Realtors and real estate sales people will not take calls or return phone calls while they are with other clients unless there is a really crucial event happening – and if that’s the case, they’ll let the folks they’re with know about it upfront.  Depending on how long the appointment is, then, the return call could be an hour or two or, in the extreme, at the very end of the day (if with relocating clients and doing a crash course in the area that goes 8 hours – it can happen, but is exhausting for all).

Once in awhile, a voice mail or text simply won’t be delivered by the wireless carrier in a timely manner. This is extremely embarassing and upsetting to everyone impacted by it.  So please keep in mind that it’s always possible that your message simply wasn’t delivered.

If something big is going on, check in ahead of time with your Realtor

If there is some momentous event or report looming, talk to your buyer’s or seller’s agent ahead of time to learn his or her schedule and availability.  This is key for reducing everyone’s stress!

Agents do sometimes take time off, too. Communicate with yours to know when he or she is off, and do your best to respect that time. Real estate licensees who get too burned out are less effective in the long run. (more…)