Home sellers in Silicon Valley today worry about things they never had to worry about10 years ago, many of which they have little control over.  Like what? Much of it has to do with online or web marketing via websites, blogs, web portals and social media sites.   Here are a few:

• County records on properties are now public and available online almost everywhere, including permit records, info on the structure and lot size, etc.  If the public or county records are incorrect, buyers still use them – so wrong info on home size, bedrooms, baths etc. can hurt market value, as can incomplete or missing permit files online with the city, town or county.
• If the Google street view of the property happened on a bad day (say, the neighbors were having some sort of RV get together and the street was jammed with trucks and motorhomes or the yard happened to be in disarray), it can kill viewings.  Buyers and agents may skip that house all together if the “street view” makes it look bad.
• Some websites that display the information on listed homes permit consumers to blog or comment about the home.  Consumer comments online  can be devastating if the remarks aren’t good!
• If homes need good “social media exposure” to sell for top dollar, how can home owners know what constitutes good social media marketing – especially if I’m not on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn or any of those popular sites? (Do I need to be on every site?)
• Syndicated errors: If a home’s marketing is incorrect on the MLS but corrected later, will all of the sites it was syndicated to get the correction, or will the info stay wrong and cause us harm in marketing the house or condo? (more…)

Often times, if a relationship sours between a consumer and a real estate agent in Silicon Valley, it’s not because of an intentional deceit on the part of the licensee, but rather an oversight, a blunder, or a mistake.

Sometimes, though, there are things done by the real estate licensee which are more calculated and truly are not in the buyer’s or seller’s best interest. (This runs both ways, of course – sometimes consumers pull bad stuff on Realtors, too.)  Those are the things we’ll discuss today. Sometimes the consumer never realizes that these occurances were more than unhelpful. Other times, the buyer or seller catches on – but by then, it’s too late.

First, a short list of a few real estate tricks and traps that buyers should recognize as red flags. We’ll look at each of these in detail below the list.

• 1-long listing or buyer broker contract commitments
• 2-Would-be listing agents telling sellers a higher price than is likely to happen in order to secure the listing.  We call this “buying the listing”.
• 3-trying to sell listing off market to double end it – marketing a listed home, holding open houses prior to the property being on the multiple listing service
• 4-no lockbox & all appointments through the listing agent only
• 5-bad terms in the “other terms and agreements” section of the listing or buyers’ contract that create more restrictions on the buyer or seller

#1 – How long of a listing time frame is too long? If homes that do sell are selling in an average of 60-75 days (which is often the case in some of Silicon Valley markets right now), then a 90 or 120 day listing agreement is not excessive. A six month listing could be  a little long. A one-year listing agreement is unconscionable unless the property is a luxury home or distressed property with a very long “months of inventory”.

Ditto that with buyer-broker contracts.  Often 6 months is more than enough.  Be careful if your agent wants a longer term than that.

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There are two sets of forms in use in the greater San Jose area (Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, Santa Clara, etc.) for residential real estate sales:

CAR or California Association of Realtors forms and
PRDS or Peninsula Regional Data Systems forms

Although the two contracts or purchase agreements are very similar in some ways, they are also unique in others. Depending on the property in question and your wants, needs and goals, as well as whether you are a buyer or seller in Silicon Valley, you may prefer one of these over the other.

If you are involved in a investor seller or distressed property transaction in Silicon Valley (such as a short sale or banked owned home), you may be required to use the CAR contract by the lender since it’s a strictly “as is” agreement. The banks may also force the purchaser to use a long addendum – best if that’s the case to read it very carefully and possibly even consult a real estate attorney to make sure you understand what you’re being asked to sign.