Proper pricing, always a critical component in real estate, and one of the most critical insights a real estate agent — whether in Mountain View, Los Altos, or beyond — can provide, has become especially important today because buyers are cautious and the market is in flux.

If fact, inflexibility can lead to missed opportunities. I’ve been working with home sellers who are facing just such a situation.

After analyzing the local market and the homeowners’ goals, I thought a property in Mountain View should be listed at $1.2 million, but the owners insisted that we start at $1.35 million.

Within six weeks, we got an offer for $1,170,000. The prospective buyer was solid and I thought the offer was strong. The homeowners (lifelong Mountain View homeowners) had nearly paid off the mortgage, so they would be walking away with a respectable profit. Yet, they rejected the offer immediately. This all happened before the recent national financial crisis.

After the house sat on the market and we received no additional offers, we lowered the price to $1.3 million for six weeks. Unfortunately, this pricing strategy yielded not one offer.

We then dropped it to $1.25 million and finally received an offer for $1.15 million. The owners wouldn’t accept that price and decided to rent the house. Three applicants applied and we found one tenant that would commit to a lease. But the owners then decided to go back and try negotiating with the prospective buyer who had made the $1.15-million offer.

Eventually, both possible deals—the one with the home buyer and the prospective tenant—fell apart. The homeowners were left with no prospects for a rental and no sale.

They’re now facing a market that has gotten more difficult because of the stock market crash and the ensuing credit crunch.

Elizabeth Weintraub of About.com offers a list of pricing techniques that this owner should have heeded, but this situation also illustrates several key points to consider when you decide to sell:

1. Consult a professional REALTOR®, a real estate agent who is a member of the local association of REALTORS®, who knows the local market, for example the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS®.  Follow the person’s advice. He or she is best prepared to properly price a property.

2. Do your own due diligence. You can find insight on pricing, how the local market is performing, and how long it typically takes to sell a property in your neighborhood by going online.

3. Be realistic when you get an offer. The emotional response is to reject a disappointing offer from the get-go. But you can negotiate and work toward a more favorable price. It’s important not to get too emotionally involved in the deal.

4. Know that in a declining market the offers may not get better. You have to really weigh your financial situation and how long you’re willing to wait for that perfect price to come in. After all, you’re likely still making money, just not as much as you once thought you would. Can you afford to put your plans on hold? If you reject an offer in hand, are you willing to risk getting an even lower offer next time?

5. You hired your REALTOR® because you had confidence in his or her abilities and the market analysis that the person presented to you. Remember that the market decides what price a house is worth, not the REALTOR®. If the listing agreement expires and you and the REALTOR® part ways, you’ll have to start from ground zero with a new REALTOR®. And that new person, after weighing current conditions, may suggest an even lower starting price than the offers you’ve already received.

6. By making impulsive decisions, you could lose valuable time and miss out on solid offers.

Enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to our blog!

A “brokers open,” as we Realtors call them, is an open house exclusively for brokers that takes place right after a home is listed but usually before buyers see the property. Brokers opens are an important first step in selling a home because they not only generate interest for a listing within the Realtor community, they’re also a great way to get feedback on listings.

Of course, brokers opens are useless unless brokers attend. I always have catered food at my brokers opens because the rumors are true—Realtors are always hungry, and they love free stuff. Sounds funny, but it works. I recently held a broker’s open in a great neighborhood in Mountain View bordering Los Altos area, and 30 agents come by. At another in a great downtown Mountain View location, 20 agents stopped in. And at a broker’s open in Sunnyvale, 10 agents attended. Those stats say something about which Silicon Valley markets are most active. Mountain View and Los Altos aren’t too affected by the economy, but some areas of Sunnyvale is seeing a slight slowdown in activity today.

The Washington Post has a great article commenting on how during a real estate downturn, the focus for selling homes shifts back to traditional marketing to brokers and real estate agents.

Once they’re there, real estate agents’ feedback at the brokers open house can be very helpful. I always ask, “What would you recommend with this listing?” I’ve had brokers suggest that I stage a certain room and even mention that the bathroom smelled funny (That was particularly helpful since I don’t have a great sense of smell).

I don’t change my marketing based on every suggestion. But if I get several remarks on an issue, it’s probably something I need to address. For example, if a few brokers tell me I’ve priced the property well, that reinforces my confidence. But if three or four tell me the listing is overpriced, I’ll discuss those comments with my sellers.

Enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to our blog!

Enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to our blog!

March of Dimes is a charitable organization that has a mission to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. They carry out their mission through research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies’ lives. March of Dimes advocates work to give all babies a fighting chance against threats to their health.

March of Dimes is an organization that is very personal to me. Because of their mission, my daughter may not be here today. Astrid Gwyneth was born 11 weeks premature weighing only 610 grams (1 lb, 5 oz). She was born at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose with a condition called IUGR/SGA (Intrauterine growth restricted/Small for Gestational Age).
Although I thought that I was having a perfectly normal and healthy pregnancy, my last doctor’s visit revealed that she wasn’t growing inside my womb because she didn’t have the proper nutrients to keep her alive. The flow of nutrients and oxygen to her body were restricted because of an abruption to her placenta; the placenta was extremely close to being detached from her only source of life — me. It was decided that she would thrive better outside my body and have a better chance of survival, and was delivered at only 29 weeks (normal gestation is 40 weeks). She had the struggle of her life before she even had her first breath.

I continually flashback to the moment in the delivery room when I saw Astrid being quickly handed off from the doctor, and into the hands of Nurse Heather Emery; she needed to be quickly turned over from my body and into the apparatus of an incubator. Heather was Astrid’s primary nurse for the time that she spent in the hospital; she took care of my baby and saw my family experience some extremely stressful and emotional times. There were a lot of heartbreaking and anxious moments as we watched Astrid grow from a 1 lb baby to when she finally came home 3 months later weighing ~4 lb.

Today, Astrid is a beautiful and bright 3-year old. She is normal in every way. I thank Heather, thank Good Samaritan hospital, and thank March of Dimes for keeping my baby alive by giving that fighting chance that was threatening her precious life.

“March of Dimes is raising money to help fewer little ones be born early, and to make life easier on the ones who are.”

~Heather Emery, Nurse, Good Samaritan Hospital

Enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to our blog!

It always feels a bit dicey flipping open the yellow pages to look for a service provider when you’re in a pinch. It’s one reason I love word-of mouth referrals and consumer rating sites like yelp.com. Rather than buying services sight-unseen, you’re able to get a sense of the company’s or person’s performance before hiring them.

I much prefer working with people when they come to me with high recommendations from a friend or trusted website. People have given me good ratings at yelp.com, for instance. And because of that, I’ve found relationships with new clients.

I’ve developed something of my own yelp.com. After all, an important part of my business is referring clients to reliable, honest people to help them with everything from tree trimming and small maintenance projects to bigger jobs, like bathroom renovations or redecorating. Thus, I’m always looking for the names of great service providers.

Before recommending anyone, I always do my own screening, either by hiring them for a job myself or by interviewing them. I always zero in on their view of and commitment to customer service. I want to be sure they’re focused on the client, not just on the money they’ll make.

Just last week, for instance, I needed some wood chips put around some trees at a house. I interviewed one landscaping company that gave me a $1,000 estimate. The other person gave a $100 quote. He also had the chips in his truck and was able to do the job right away. Now that’s going the extra mile and really delivering.

If you ever need help finding people—movers, gardeners, painters, roofers, and so forth—don’t hesitate to call me.

Also, keep in mind that I’m always happy to add new businesses to my referral list. Right now, I could really use the names of some good movers, painters and house cleaners.

If you have recommendations, please send an e-mail that includes their contact information—name, phone, website and e-mail address. And if you’ve had an especially good experience with a person or company, please jot down a few comments and let me know what makes them so terrific or how they went the extra mile for you.

If you are interested in knowing more about businesses that I have reviewed (good and bad), you can find my them here at http://www.alexw.yelp.com.

Enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to our blog!

I’ve had a bag for old clothes in my closet for months. But like so many of us, I’ve always found something more important to do than to rummage through my clothes and bag up the ones I haven’t worn in ages. And once you see
something like a bag for old clothes in your closet for a while, it becomes part of the scenery.

But recently I was in my car driving to a listing appointment in Mountain View and heard a radio ad about Men’s Wearhouse’s National Suit Drive, and I finally became motivated to act. Through the end of October, the national menswear retailer is collecting gently used suits, sport coats, slacks, ties, and belts to benefit at-risk men and youth who are transitioning into the workforce but who don’t have the money to purchase that professional attire themselves. All the clothing it receives will be distributed in communities throughout the nation by local nonprofit organizations.

In exchange for your donation, you get a 10 percent coupon toward your next purchase at Men’s Wearhouse, along with a tax deduction.

I gathered up and took in about five suits, a dozen shirts, some pants, and some shoes. But I didn’t do it because I wanted a coupon or a tax deduction. I did it because I’ve always believed in giving back to my community. Donating clothes I don’t wear anymore was a way to help out-of-work people. Any help the unemployed can get, the better we’ll all be.

While I was in the store dropping the clothes off, it was such a positive experience knowing that everyone there was working toward a common cause. After I left, I felt really good. I felt like I’d accomplished something and donated to a charitable cause.

Do yourself—and somebody else—a favor. Take an hour to rifle through your closet, and pull out the clothes you know you won’t wear again. Then join a good cause by taking a drive over to a Men’s Wearhouse near you.

Enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to our blog!

Skeptical? Hear me out. A two-bedroom home in foreclosure near a state university recently sold for an amount that allows the buyers to break even by renting it out. And in Sacramento, a four-bedroom home sold for less than $100,000. The buyers are renting it out for $750 a month, which essentially covers the mortgage.

You’ve heard me say it before — now is the time to buy. But do it with your eyes wide open by understanding the difference between, and the complexities of, short sales and foreclosed properties (often called REO based on bank terminology of “real-estate-owned” properties).

In a short sale, sellers who owe more on their mortgage than their home is now worth put their home on the market. If they receive an offer, they ask the bank to accept the less-than-mortgage-amount price and release them from the obligation to pay the difference.

You can find short sales today, but to complete the purchase, you’ll need an experienced agent to guide you through the complex and delay-plagued process. It may take weeks or months for the bank to respond to your offer, and even then the final answer may be a no. So start looking, but steel yourself for banks to be sticklers and even deal-breakers.

The benefit of investing in REO properties is that you know you’ll receive a timely response from the bank because no lender wants to own a large portfolio of REO. On a recent sale, the bank accepted my client’s offer within two hours. On another property in Santa Clara, the lender responded to my client’s offer within two weeks.

Banks are pushing hard to get rid of their foreclosed properties. They’re not giving them away, but they often list them at below market price. For example, I recently helped a buyer acquire a foreclosed property that sold for $780,000 in 2005. My client purchased it for $655,000.

Investing today is simply smart. But it takes patience and a good agent to help you find—and close—those great deals.

Enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to our blog!

“Strong apartment demand, a credit crunch and affordability challenges deliver boon to property owners.”

The Registry is a great an informative magazine on the Bay Area residential and commercial real estate markets. It was not only an honor, but quite a coincidence that I’ve been able to work with three different writers and contribute to the past three editions of The Registry.

Enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to our blog!

The letter continues by saying…

My intention is to transfer this sum of $15.5M in the aforementioned account to a safe account overseas.  I am therefore proposing that you quietly partner with me and provide an account of set up a new one that will serve the purpose of receiving this fund.  For your assistance in this venture, I am ready to part with 30% of the entire funds to you.

Well, if you haven’t caught on yet, THIS IS A SCAM. I see a great deal of these types of scams (see Nigerian Scams) flooding my email inbox, but I was surprised to see one come directly to me through snail mail.

Receiving this letter got me thinking about how I deal with unwanted mail.  Whenever I receive any junk mail in my mailbox, I immediately do what i can to stop it from coming again.  Today, I receive very unwanted solicitations in my mailbox.

Here are some resources that may not stop someone from sending you a Nigerian Letter, but at least these tools should be able to help you stop the majority of junk mail flooing your mailbox:

CatalogChoice.org - Catalog Choice is the free service that lets you opt-out of unwanted catalogs.

GreenDimes.com - This service was pretty cool.  The sign up is easy and I was amazed that I the amount of mailing and marketing lists I was on.  Green Dimes says that they can help eliminate 90% of your unwanted mail.

41Pounds.org - This environmentally friendly non-profit has a $41 for a five-year antI-junk-mail plan.

Hope you find these sites useful.

P.S. As I had mentioned earlier, nowadays I receive very few junk mail solicitations, however in the past, I would receive a ton of junk mail.  I learned a great and useful tip on what to do with the unwanted junk mail and how to support our United States Postal Office (USPS) at the same time:

Step 1: Take everything that was included in the solicitation, including the envelope, and place them all into the “postage paid return” envelope.

Step 2: Mail it back to sender.

Step 3: Feel good that you have less trash to throw away and you helped the USPS with some additional revenue.

Enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to our blog!

The City of Sunnyvale is sponsoring this papershredding event.  No appointment needed and it’s free of charge!

Bring your boxes or bags of personal paper records and files for on-site shredding by a professional document management company.  For more infomation, call the City of Sunnyvale Recycling Program at (408) 730-7262.

Enjoy this post? Get more like it by subscribing to our blog!