General Real Estate Tips and Advice

In Part 1, we began to list some of the initial steps to take in finding your future ideal home.  Whether you are looking in central Alameda, or Bay Farm Island, the suggestions remain the same. 

In Part 2-below is an in depth look at some of the key factors to add on to your initial considerations.

1. What Kind of Home Do You Want?  While this may seem obvious, there is a huge variety of choices that you must make.  Important examples include:

a. What style of home appeals to you?

b. How many bedrooms do you need?  How many bathrooms?

c. Do you want a one-story or two-story home?

d. How important is the size of the yard?  Do you want a yard at all?

e. What are your childrens' most important requirements?

f. How close do you want to be to…

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The search for a new home is always a great adventure, and sometimes, a great challenge.  So much depends upon bringing together the perfect balance of affordability and practicality.  While most buyers will admit to wanting a large home with lots of amenities and a nice view, the market today may not be able to provide these things just as requested, and at the price desired.

However, whether you are looking in Alameda proper, or Alameda's Bay Farm Island, there is a way of getting a lot of what you want.  While you may have a very extensive list of things that you hope to find in your new house, the key is to isolate your highest priorities, and work with them first.  If you can tell me, as your agent, what you feel are the most important features, I…

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Sooner or later, every buyer has to submit information to a lender regarding their credit history.  This information will be critical as a means by which a decision will be made as to whether the potential buyer will qualify for the loan to purchase their future home.  This is a time that makes many people anxious because they are not quite sure how their credit is evaluated. So, whether you are considering a Piedmont home or an Oakland home, the format remains the same. 

Right now, 90% of the largest banks use what is called a FICO score to make that decision.  This FICO score is used throughout the industry to determine your mortgage rate, as well as your car loan and your credit card monthly interest fee. 

This credit rating is a number that is…

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The large majority of homes for sale in America have pets.  Whether they be cats, dogs, birds or hamsters, they live in the home, and preparing them for visits by potential buyers that they do not know, is an important issue in getting your Berkeley home prepared for a showing.

Because you and your family are familiar with their eccentricities like barking, jumping up, scratching, leaping about, etc., that does not mean that your potential visitors will like, or understand, that behavior when they come to visit your house.  While your animals may behave this way normally, many pets step up their problem behavior when new people come in. They may become nervous or anxious and act inappropriately--the exact opposite of the image that you want to…

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In Part 1, we discussed the history and development of the HAFA program, and talked about short sales.  As of June, 2012, a new version of this program has come online.  It may be of interest to Oakland and Piedmont residents whom I assist.

THE PROPOSED SOLUTION-NEWER VERSION-If the home involved is financed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the homeowner will benefit from some new guidelines:

a. Under the new rules, servicers (lenders) will have 30 days to review and respond to all short sale offers or requests.  If they find that they will need more than these 30 days, they must provide the borrower with weekly updates, and furnish a final response within 60 days.

b. During the above 60 days, the lender must tell the borrower whether a short sale will…

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When a home is put up for sale, it becomes obvious that many people are going to view it.  They will be seeing it in person with their real estate agent, or looking at it on the realtor's web site.  As a result, they are going to have a lot of questions about the condition of the home, especially since a purchase today has become a very detailed process.

I recommend that you, as the seller, should consider having a professional home inspection as soon as you make the decision to put your house on the market. Whether you live in Berkeley, Oakland or Piedmont, the same applies.

This concept is often disturbing to many sellers, because, while they may think that they know what is in need of repair, they often are concerned that many new things will turn…

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When potential buyers tour your Rockridge home, they are looking for many things.  One of the most important is space.  The more space you can show, the larger, and more appealing your home becomes.  Your goal should be to present an open, uncluttered home that allows them to envision their things in that space, and encourage them to want to live there.

 Homeowners create their home to suit their needs.  After living in that house for a long time, they may not see how cluttered it has become.  Very often, as the years go on, rooms gather much more furniture and accessories than are necessary.  Things become a jumble of style and function.  While the homeowner has learned to walk around narrow spaces, or ignore the mismatches, the possible buyers will…

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In Part 1, we talked about making sure that your financial offer was strong and attractive. 

In Part 2, we will talk about the issues that will develop in buying your Piedmont home, and how to deal with them--that is, dealing with contingencies.  Together, we will spend time, before submitting the offer, deciding what will be the shortest and simplest list of contingencies that would be acceptable to you, and potentially, to the seller.

Sellers want to move on with their lives once they make the decision to place their house on the market.  Quite often, they will need the money from the sale to assure the funds for the purchase of the new house that they have selected.  As a result, if they have a choice between an offer with a long list of…

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You have seen the Piedmont home that you want to buy.  It has the special features that you want your future home to have, and looks just like the home that you want to make your own.  The only thing standing in your way is your competition--other potential buyers.  Right now, in many areas, the inventory of homes on the market that are reasonably priced, and in acceptable physical condition is extremely limited. In some neighborhoods, the "bidding war" has begun.  As a result, it becomes important to get your offer seriously considered, and then accepted promptly, if you want to assure that you will have this property for you and your family.

Here is where I, as an experienced real estate agent, can assist you in getting what you want.  Here are the…

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At the outset, it seems as though it might be a good idea, when selling your Berkeley home, to be present during the day of the Open House.  You might feel that you would prefer to be there because no one can really "know" the property the way that you do, especially if you have lived in the home for a long time. However, the majority of real estate agents will disagree, and this disagreement is brought on by years of past experience.

The first reason uses the concept that "Time is Money". Buying a home is a huge investment for anyone.  Buyers need to look inside and out of every bedroom, closet and washroom.  They need to evaluate the kitchen and the back yard to determine if the home will meet their future needs.  This takes time. It especially takes…

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