Some Silicon Valley home buyers do not want to have their own buyers agent, but instead expect that they can find properties in the San Jose area that they want to see and request that the listing agent show it to them in a private appointment.  These same potential buyers may be surprised that the listing agent may refuse to show them the listing outside of a regularly scheduled open house – that is, if the seller is permitting open houses.

What’s going on?

In earlier articles we’ve discussed the need for a buyer broker agreement (verbal at the least, but possibly in writing) and why you, as a buyer, ought to have your own representation at the negotiation table.  (If you missed these, see the links under “related reading” below.)   Today I want to dispel the myth that the listing agent is required to open up and show condos or houses for sale to anyone who calls and requests seeing them and explain why that’s the case.

Showings of homes for sale are determined by the listing agreement or contract between the home seller, the listing agent or Realtor and the broker

The most important thing for buyers to understand is that the accessibility of the home for viewings depends upon the agreement, verbally or in writing, between the owner of the property and the agent/brokerage hired to market, negotiate, and sell the real estate.   It’s not an “on demand” situation where an interested buyer can insist on seeing the property as desired. Here are some of the expected scenarios and reasons why showings are somewhat restricted most of the time: (more…)

This week I was emailed about a home mentioned on Trulia which seemed “too good to be true”.  It was a distressed property and the reader thought it was for sale for about $650,000 but it is in an extremely upscale suburb on the Peninsula and she could not find the home for sale on our MLS.  She didn’t want to pay to find out if this was a hoax or what, so she asked me to please have a look.

I clicked on her link and saw that it was a feed into Trulia from one of the companies which provides foreclosure information to consumers by paid subscription.  No where did it say the home was for sale, but instead it indicated that $650,000 was the home owner’s loan amount – and that the property had a Notice of Default filed against it.  The house wasn’t worth anywhere near $650,000, of course – instead it’s valued at more than $2,000,000.  (So this would NOT be a short sale – there’s tons of equity in this property.)

Some consumers think that if a home has a NOD, it is for sale.  That is simply not true.  Many homeowners (including some of my clients) have at times missed a payment and then found themselves scrambling a little to get caught up.  It’s not easy but it can and does happen sometimes. (more…)

If you’ve had your San Jose home listed for sale with a real estate professional but after several months on the market it didn’t sell, you are probably tired, discouraged, and maybe even angry.  What went wrong?

Everyone likes “easy answers”, and the most common easy answer to the question of why the house is now an expired listing is price.  Most homes that don’t sell are overpriced. This is true but an oversimplification.

Often, price isn’t the only factor, or is not even the biggest obstacle in the home’s not selling. (Sometimes it’s not a problem at all.)  Frequently, it’s a little more complicated than that.

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Today I was showing homes in Santa Clara to my buyers and saw one home with very “funky” (non compliant) strapping around the hot water heater. It was weird enough that I took a photo!

Unusual here – and confused – is the slanted lower strap that is in the top half as well as the bottom half of the water heater and goes around the ducting. Really bizarre!

What water heater strapping DOES require is a hefty strap in the top third and another in the bottom third of the water heater. Blocking may be required too. To see all of the requirements per the State of California, see the online directions for strapping water heaters (a how-to).