How Pet Owners Can Sell Their Home Quickly & for Top Dollar

There are three guidelines you can follow if you’re a home seller and you have a pet to ensure your home gets sold quickly, safely, and for its maximum price.

If you have a pet and you’re looking to sell your home, there are some special considerations you must keep in mind to ensure the safety of your pet and any potential buyers, and that your property looks great and sells for the most money possible. 

The good news is most homebuyers are often looking for pet-friendly homes. Two out of every three buyers typically have pets of their own, and they want to make sure their new home is a good match for their pet. In fact, according to a recent survey, 31% of animal owners take their pet into consideration when buying a home. On the other hand, 67% of Realtors say a home that has pets is harder to sell. 

With this information in mind, here are three guidelines you can follow to strike the right balance and sell your pet-occupied home quickly and for top dollar. 

By following these three guidelines, you’ll be able to sell your home for top dollar.

First, repair any damage. Sometimes you can tell where a pet’s been just by looking at scratched doors or walls or a hole that’s been dug in the backyard. Repairing this type of damage will pay for itself many times over and help increase your home’s sale price. 

Second, hire a professional to remove any pet odors. Many pet owners are less sensitive to it than the people visiting their home and less aware of the odors that might be lingering because of their pets. Have a professional deodorize the rugs, the carpeting, the furniture, and anything else that has a tendency to absorb pet odor. Once that’s done, have a friend or your Realtor give your home a sniff assessment to see if the job’s taken care of. 

Third, remove your pet during any showings. Regardless of the time and money you’ve spent getting your home ready for prospective buyers, some of them might still feel prejudiced against it just knowing that a pet lives there. Removing them from the premises makes it a more comfortable situation for everyone. You should also remove any pet objects like toys, food bowls, and scratching pads. 

If you need more tips on how to sell your home with pets or you’re looking to buy or sell a home, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We’d be happy to assist you.

3 Reasons to Consider Selling Now

Our market conditions are ripe for those looking to move into a new home. You can sell quickly and profitably, and buy while interest rates are low.

If you’ve been thinking about selling your home, three recent developments make this an ideal time to do so. 

1. Mortgage rates have stabilized. They were at 3.4% last July, then shot up to 4.3% right after the election in November. Since then, the rates have stabilized and are still very low (historically speaking).

2. Job numbers are up. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 225,000 new jobs were created in February. Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen 2.3 million jobs created. Business is doing well, consumer confidence is high, and it all bodes well for the future of the housing market. 

It’s a great time to buy and to sell.

3. Housing inventory is extremely low. February saw an almost 18% drop in the number of homes for sale. Since October 2008, we have consistently seen a steady decline in inventory. In fact, we’ve had 100 consecutive months of decreased inventory.

What does all this mean for you? Well if you’re thinking about selling, right now is the perfect time. You can sell very quickly in this market. Last year, homes were taking an average of 43 days to sell. While that’s still a great number, homes are selling in an average of just 30 days right now. With such low inventory, you can expect to get a great price for your home sale. 

It’s also a good time to buy with interest rates staying low and steady. This market is a win-win situation if you’re looking to make a move. If you or somebody you know is interested in buying or selling soon and taking advantage of this market, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

Selling Your Tenant-Occupied Southern California Property

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Recently, I talked with a past client and they asked an important question: "How do you sell a property occupied by tenants?" Today, I'll share a few tips on selling a tenant-occupied property for a premium price.

Identify if you need to disturb the tenant at all. If the property is a single-family home, condo, or townhouse, and you expect that the buyers will want to live in the property, then yes, you will need to work with the tenants.

My team and I make this process a win-win situation for you and your tenants. We don't want to hassle the tenants, but we want to we show the property to all interested buyers in order to get the highest price.

For example, we recently listed a condo where both tenants worked during the day. We had showings on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and then for a two-hour block on Saturdays. The tenants didn't have to keep the house ready for showings every day, and we still showed the property to all interested buyers. In fact, we got three offers that Wednesday, and another three on Thursday. Even though we had limited showings, this property will be the highest sale in its building. Being tenant occupied did not affect our ability to sell the property for the highest price.

If the property is a multi-unit property, such as a duplex, and we expect the buyer to be an investor, we may not need to disturb the tenant at all. We price the property on the market and let potential buyers know that the property is being offered subject to inspection. Once we receive an offer, we will open up the property for a showing.

This is a common way to sell multi-unit properties. Once all the offers are in, we schedule a time for the buyers to walk through the property. You still need to communicate with the tenants, but it's only to set up one showing.

We recently sold a five unit property with multiple offers. We only disturbed the tenants once, and ultimately, the property sold above asking price.

As you can see, selling a tenant-occupied property is not as difficult as it may seem. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Is Selling During the Holidays a Good Idea?

First, let’s talk about the cons. The biggest one is that no one wants to spend the time during the holidays to show their home. That is a valid concern, but there are ways you can limit when your home is shown to potential buyers. We can reduce the number of days your home is available for showings, and can even make certain days throughout the holiday season “off-limits” for showings.

The other big con that this presents is moving during the holidays. We can help reduce this problem for you. If your home is for sale in December and scheduled to close at the end of the year, a lot of times we can negotiate either a delayed closing or a 2-4 week rent-back period, so you don’t have to add that stress on your plate until after the holidays are over.

While there are a few drawbacks to listing your home on the market right now, there are also plenty of advantages to selling now that you don’t get at other points in the year.

The biggest pro to selling during the holidays is the low inventory. Right now, we have the lowest level of inventory that we’ve seen in the last 10 years all over Orange County. With less homes to compete against on the market, your home stands out more to buyers.

Another great reason to list right now is because of all the serious buyers out on the market right now, looking to close on a deal before the end of the year, either for personal or tax reasons. A lot of times these buyers don’t mind allowing a rent-back for the holiday season, because they don’t want to move then either.

These are just a few of the pros of selling during the holidays. We have found that this time of year is a great time for home sellers to list their homes and get back the equity they have gained in recent years. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you!

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What’s the Danger in Trusting Your Zestimate?

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Today I am going to talk about the difference between online home valuation websites view homes as opposed to how a real estate agent prices the home. I’m sure a lot of you are familiar with sites like Zillow or Trulia and their home valuation services. It can be a useful tool for a general idea of what the market is like, but there is a big difference in how they price your home and how an agent will price your home. 

An online tool, like Zillow’s Zestimate, has no idea what your home looks on the inside. It doesn’t know about any remodels you have done, or what views you have, or other things that could significantly affect your home’s market value. All these sites know are your number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, your square footage, and its physical location. It doesn’t take into account anything that makes your home unique.

With an agent like myself, our job is to not only look at your home as a physical property, but to determine exactly what the market value of your home is. By being able to look at all the relevant information from your home, including seeing what it looks like from the inside, we can figure out how to maximize the price of your home.

What kinds of things do we do to help increase your home’s value? For starters, we work with a great staging company and have found that staging a home can increase the sale price 6% to 8% over what an unstaged home would sell for. In addition to that, we use a professional photographer to make sure your home looks the best it possibly can when people are browsing online.

These are just a few of the ways we can help you maximize the value of your home. If you would like to get an idea of what we could sell your home for in our current market, just give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

How to Sell Your Home or Investment Property Tax-Free

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You may also call me at 562-900-9430 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Hey everyone, today I would like to discuss how to sell your property in 2015, tax-free.

One of the great benefits of owning real estate is that the IRS has set up ways for you to sell your property tax-free, without having to pay any capital gains.

The first question you need to ask yourself to determine if you can do this is, "Is the property owner-occupied?"

Even if it's not current, if you have lived there for 2 out of the last 5 years, you can sell the property and have up to $250,000 of tax-free capital gains if you're single, and $500,000 if you are married.

Another way you can avoid taxes on the sale of real estate is if the property is considered an “investment property” by the IRS. A 1031 Exchange is where you sell your investment property and purchase another one whereby your tax basis transfers to the new property, and you do not have to pay capital gains at the time of sale.

There are specific requirements to do a 1031 exchange, so if you have any questions, make sure you talk to a tax professional to see if you could qualify.  If you have any other questions, let us know.  We would be happy to answer them and send you some more detailed information if you need it. 

The Perils of Online Home Searches

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You may also call me at 562-900-9430 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Hey everyone, today I am going to discuss the hazards of online home searches and home evaluation websites. As you will see, there are a lot of inaccuracies in them that can be solved by looking elsewhere.

The top real estate sites in the country like Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com play an important role in our industry. On one hand, they are a good source of local real estate trends. On the other hand, they aren't so good at providing accurate value estimates or information about homes for sale. Why aren't they as accurate as some other sites?

For starters, they gather data from tax records, which is not always accurate in terms of providing fair market information. For example, if somebody sold their home to a family member or relative, they may sell for less than market value on purpose. However, this value will skew the home's value.

Another technique these sites employ is an algorithm to determine your home's value. This algorithm is only taking into consideration public information from public records - things like bedroom count, bathroom count, and square footage. The problem is they are not taking anything from inside the home into account. You may have made some great improvements to your home, which increased its value, but that won't show on these sites. This could lead to your home being undervalued by as much as 25%.

If you are looking to buy a home, you need to know the home listings online are typically delayed anywhere from 1-5 days. What often happens is that by the time a home is listed for sale, every agent and every buyer working with an agent is already aware of this property. If you are in a hot market, it has probably already been sold.
 
If you want to have access to homes the instant they go on the market, the only way to do that is by working with a real estate professional, like myself, who can get you access to the MLS.

If you have any questions for me, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to talking with you soon!

Five Ways to Increase Your Home's Value

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You may also call me at 562-900-9430 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I'm going to go over five different ways to increase your home's value. It's relatively easy and inexpensive to do, and with the spring selling season approaching I thought this would help you to prepare for a great sale.

1. New Front Door: This can really help with curb appeal and in drawing potential buyers inside. It's quite amazing what a change a door can make on a home. 
2. New Interior Doors: For around $100-$200,  you can replace your interior doors, and this can really elevate the feel of your home.
3. Window Replacement: A lot of the homes here in Long Beach have old, wood windows which really don't insulate very well. By replacing them with newer, vinyl windows you can increase your curb appeal and also save on heating and air conditioning because the windows will insulate much better. 
4. Kitchen Remodel: Kitchens are known to sell houses, and an updated kitchen is a tremendous way to modernize your home and increase your pool of potential buyers. A good kitchen remodel can get pricey, but in my opinion, when it is done well, a kitchen remodel can return 2-3 times the investment. 
5. Bathroom Remodel: Consumers love seeing updated kitchens and modern bathrooms. You can typically spend around $3,000 for a bathroom remodel, but even little changes can add a lot of value.

Believe it or not, a lot of renovations don't add a lot of value to your home, but these five are certain to increase the worth of your home. They'll cost you up front, but you'll reap the benefits when you sell in Long Beach.

If you have any questions or would like to get in touch with good contractors, please don't hesitate to contact me. As always, use me as your #1 resource for Long Beach real estate.

What's the Best Process for Selling Your Old Home and Buying Your New One?

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You may also call me at 562-900-9430 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I am going to be discussing how to purchase a new home when you already own one. Should you buy first, sell first, or own two at once? I've compiled a list of 5 typical ways to get from your existing home to a new one. Here they are:

1. Temporary Rental 
This is when you sell your home first, and then rent a property for a few months while looking for your new home. This will give you more time to find the perfect home, but will require you to move twice.
 
2. Contingent Offer 
You can make an offer on a new home and have it be contingent on you selling your current home

3. Contingent Sale 
Another option is a contingent sale. This is where you sell your home first, but make the sale contingent on your ability to find a new home. This way you won't close the sale until you've found your new home.

4. Sell and Rent Back
You can also sell your home, and ask the buyers to rent back the home for a few months to get time to purchase your new home.

5. Bridge Loan
A final option is obtaining a bridge loan against the equity on your current property, then using the loan on a down payment for a new home purchase. This gives you peace of mind to find the perfect home, but will result in you having two mortgages for a short period of time.
 
There you have it, the top 5 ways to buy a new home if you currently own one. If you are nervous about this process, you shouldn't be. I'm here to help guide you and provide you with expert advice. If you have any questions at all, please give me a call or send me an email.