Think Green and how you can save money on your energy bills!

The National Association of Realtors now offers a Green Designation which teaches you how to be the "source" of the "source" of green information. Since I am environmentally conscious and believe we all need to become more Green in the future, I decided to take the course to become Green Certified. I walked away with an abundant amount of information that I will, most likely, share with you via my blog. This entry will focus on some low cost, easy ways you can decrease energy consumption and costs. Please feel free to contact me if you have Green questions! I can point you to the source that can help you! The following information come from www. GeeenandSave.com. GreenandSave indicates that the following retrofits earn over 100% of your original investment in one year. Vistit this site to obtain additional energy efficiency information. Enjoy. Crista :)

Staging Tips!

I receive articles all the time from various sources and sometimes I receive some information that is worth forwarding to my clients and prospects. Below is one such article. I think it has valuable information in it that may be useful to you in the future. Enjoy!

RISMEDIA, March 19, 2010—(MCT)—Want to sell your home? Get out the bucket, mop and Mr. Clean. The key to making a positive first impression is simple, said Sandra Rinomato, host of HGTV’s popular “Property Virgins” show.


“Get it clean, clean, clean,” said Rinomato. “If your house isn’t clean, it instantly sends up negative thoughts that the home is not well maintained. If your house is spotless, you’re ahead of the game,” she said.

But don’t stop there, advised Rinomato. To increase your chances of making a sale, “stage” the house to make it as attractive as possible. Until recently, “Staging meant pulling out all the stops—setting the dining table with your best china and crystal, arranging flowers, lighting candles,” she said. “Now we take the minimalist approach. Basically, you want to strip the house to its bare essentials, depersonalize it so potential buyers can superimpose themselves and their lifestyle on the house.”

Rinomato offered the following tips for staging a home:

1. Visit model homes and examine shelter magazines for inexpensive decorating ideas. Always keep in mind you are not decorating for yourself but for the general public.

2. Start with the outside. Give the house a fresh coat of paint, add shiny hardware to the front door and plant a few flowers to send a subliminal message the house is loved and well cared for.

3. Declutter every room to make it look larger. Get rid of family pictures, trophies and knickknacks. Closets and drawers should be no more than 30% full.

4. Invest in eco-friendly but bright lights. Open the drapes or remove them completely. “Light, bright rooms give the impression this is a happy place—and everyone wants to move into a happy place,” said Rinomato.

5. Feature only a few pieces of furniture with mainstream appeal. Pull pieces away from walls to make rooms look bigger.

6. Make sure a room’s primary use is obvious. A bedroom should look like a bedroom, not an office, hobby center or gym.

7. Bedrooms and kitchens are difficult to stage because they are in daily use, but make the effort. Clear everything off the counters and nightstands, roll up the rugs and hide the laundry hamper. Buff the cabinets with car wax and clean under the sinks. Invest in pristine white bed linens and towels.

8. Minimize the “pet effect.” Remove food bowls and litter boxes to the utility room. Deodorize thoroughly.

9. Organize the utility room and garage. Hang up the bicycles, roll up the hose. Renting a storage locker is worth the cost if it helps you sell faster and for a higher price.

10. Once your house is staged, invite your friends or Realtor over and walk them through to get an objective opinion.

(c) 2010, The Orlando Sentinel (Fla.).

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

C.A.R. releases 2009-2010 “State of the California Housing Market”

C.A.R. (California Association of Realtors) released the 2009-2010 “State of the California Housing Market”. I think you will be encouraged about their findings!


Affordable home prices, tax credits for home buyers, historically low interest rates, and a large number of distressed properties prompted many first-time home buyers to enter the market in 2009, according to C.A.R.’s 2009-2010 “State of the California Housing Market” report released today.

California’s median home price hit bottom in February 2009 at $245,170. Since then, the median home price has increased steadily in month-to-month comparisons, but remained below 2008 levels throughout 2009. The annual median price is projected to increase to $280,000 in 2010 from $271,000 in 2009.

Homes priced $500,000 or less dominated the sales mix throughout 2008 and early 2009, but peaked at 85 percent in January 2009. Meanwhile, the market share of homes sold for more than $500,000 increased from 15 percent in January 2009 to 25 percent in July 2009, holding steady around that figure for the remainder of last year.

What's a better investment?

I am currently working with a buyer prospect who is looking to spent between $350-400k on a townhome in North County Inland area. We have been looking at two and three bedroom townhomes built after 1985. My client asked me a very good question in regards to the resalability of a two bedroom versus a three bedroom. Will a two bedroom be harder to sell than a three bedroom? I thought I would share my response to this question with you.

It may help to rank what I think are bedroom/bath configurations that are the easiest to hardest to sell:

Hardest

1. 1 br/ 1ba - Although the cheapest (and for good reason), these configurations can be very difficult to sell.  You are pretty much limited to appealing to a single person or couple. If the home is located in an area where there are predominantly families, this configuration will be the most difficult to find a buyer

2. 2br/1ba - Although you now have two bedrooms, most buyers like to have a dedicated guest bathroom separate from the master bedroom. You may appeal to a few more buyers who dont' care about sharing a bathroom, but this configuration can also be a harder sell

3. 2br/2ba - Now you are getting to a configuration that will serve a lot broader spectrum of potential buyers. A small family perhaps, roommate situation, or just an additional room for an office or guest bedroom with a separate bathroom.

4. 3br/ 2ba - This is one of the most popular configurations to sell. Having three bedrooms and two baths gives a buyer space for a family, office, guest bedroom, etc and two bathrooms are generally sufficient to a prospective buyer

5. 3br/ 2 1/2 baths - This configuration is just icing on the the cake! Having an extra half bath for guests is the ideal situation. You can't go wrong with this configuration, espectially if your home is in the entry level price range

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions on this information. I would be happy to hear from you! Happy House Hunting! Crista :)

Green Technologies Pay Off!

For the past two years I have been involved with an affordable housing project with the City of Poway. I was hired to sell 33 brand new homes for the developer, Pacific Scene Homes. The homes were completed in December and so far we have closed 14 homes! What is interesting about this project is that the developer used some state of the art green technologies, the main one being a solar electric system. This system uses photovoltaic tiles that are installed on the roof and actually look like roof tiles. What you see is a much more aesthetically pleasing look instead of the ugly solar panels that sit on top of the roof.



Recently I asked some of the homeowners who moved into their home in December to report how much their electric bill was last month. The response was exciting! So far four homeowners replied and their electric bills ranged from $5-$20. Wouldn't that be nice to have an electric bill that small? During the various parts of the year I can imagine many of these homeowners to actually earn a credit for their energy contribution. The kicker is each homeowner will earn about a $4,300 tax credit for having this solar electric system and their assessed property value will be reduced about $15,000 due this system as well. That's what I call worth it!

These systems cost the builder about $23,000 for each home. I have to congratulate Pacific Scene Homes for their commitment to green building, given the extra costs they incurred. I believe this is the wave of the future. If want more information about the solar company or other green features in these homes please contact me. 760-458-0797

Termite and roof repairs almost Kills the Sale

In my previous post, I mentioned that I have a client who waited four months for a lender approval on a short sale. We finally received and and moved into escrow. What quickly came after almost killed the sale! Here's what happened. The first thing we did was order a termite inspection. This inspection, by the way, was not paid for by the seller or seller's lender, as I have found lenders don't approve termite inspections/repairs when dealing with short sales. But, a termite inspection is important when buying a home because the report will call out not only termite infestation, but also wood dry rot and wood damage. Turns out, our report estimated about $6,500 in repairs! That's a lot of money.

We decided to get a second opinion on wood repair. Many times you can save some money by have the termite company handle the fumigation and having a skilled handyman handle the wood repair or replacement. Our handyman bid came in at $4,000 which when added to the $1,325 fumigation cost totalled $5,135. That's a lot of savings.

We didn't stop there. There was some stains on the ceiling noted by the termite report so we called out a roofing contractor to assess the roof. Yes, there were some minor failures in the roof, mainly caused by lack of maintenance around the vents and junctions. That estimate wasa $1,400 to bring the roof up to snuff and provide a 3 year warranty.

My client was getting cold wet by this time and noticed another home in the area for sale. Long story short we ended up putting an offer on the 2nd home. . . .  by the time we heard back from that seller (reo lender), my clients decided to continue with their original decision. Yes, another ride on the roller coaster of real estate sales. Now we are back on track and my client is saving even more money after a 2nd termite company bid came in at $4,125 total! My client still will come out ahead because prices in that area have climbed a bit and I estimate even with the additional $5,500 in termite and roof repairs, he's about $15k under market value at this point!

Until next time. . . Crista :)

Lender squashes credit to buyer

The lender said "No." As mentioned in an earlier blog, we had a termite report done on a short sale transaction which came back with a $6,500 price tag to correct the damaged wood and fumigate the house. We decided to submit an addendum to ask the lender if they would credit the buyer $5,000 at closing to compensate for this unforseen cost. Sounds fair right? Wrong, the lender said , "No." So, now what? I did another check on market value and even with another $10,000 is possible repairs, my client is still looking at purchasing a home for a great price. We will initiate some additional bids on the work and see if we can save some money. . . We had a skilled handyman bid the wood replacement and he came back with a $4,000 bid. That's about $1,000 less than the termite company had bid. The listing agent is also having another termite company come do an inspection to make sure we have some consistency with what the issues are. So, for now, we will proceed and fact find to see exactly what the rest of the condition of the house is in. Tomorrow is the inspection. I will let you know how that goes. Have a great day. Crista :)