6 Tips of Why You Don't Want to Sell Your Own Home

There are a lot of challenges to selling your home on your own. Here are just a few of them.

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Every year, tens of thousands of homeowners attempt to sell their own homes. If you’re thinking about it, here are six things that most FSBO (For Sale By Owner) home sellers forget that you’ll need to know in order to have a successful sale:

1. Complete the paperwork. 82% of those surveyed had no idea about all the different contracts involved and how to do the paperwork that is specific to where they live. If you don’t know, it could be a huge liability.

2. Getting the right price. Most people have no idea what the true value of their home is because they don’t know anything about the market and how homes are valued within it. Using Zillow or any other online home value estimator based on data alone isn’t a good way to figure out your home’s market value.

3. Fixing up your home for sale. There are certain things, including staging and curb appeal, that you’re only going to be able to get with the agent. You simply don’t have that expertise on your own unless you’re a real estate professional yourself.

4. Attracting potential buyers. 94% of FSBO sellers surveyed don’t know how to properly attract a buyer. Most FSBO sellers just put a sign in their yard and hope buyers see it. The thousands of agents here in our market know how to get that home listed on the local MLS so that thousands of buyers are exposed to it every day.

5. Selling within the planned time. If you’re looking to sell your home in a short amount of time, selling FSBO isn’t the best route. It will take at least 90 to 120 days. With a real estate agent, you’ll be able to expedite your sale.

It can get overwhelming quickly if you aren’t experienced.

6. Energy and effort. Unless you are in this business full-time, you have no idea how much energy and effort it takes to get a home sold. With all the paperwork, marketing, and communication involved, it can get overwhelming quickly if you aren’t experienced.

If you have any questions for us or want our help to make your home sale a breeze, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Pros and Cons of Living on a Golf Course

If you’re looking to buy property on a golf course, there are many factors you should take into account.

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Recently, one of my clients was interested in purchasing a home on a golf course. While this might sound like a great idea, there are seven different things you should consider before you go through with the purchase:

1. Find out if it’s a private, semi-private, or a public golf course. If it’s a public course, you might expect to see a lot more people playing there than if it was a private course.
2. Do they host other events? This may affect certain things, such as area parking and traffic, depending on how close to the course your property is.
3. Is the property located on the green, the fairway, or the tee box? Properties on or near the green will expect to see golfers meandering around for longer periods of time, whereas properties closer to the tee box will only see those people teeing off, and golfers will spend less time nearby. On the fairway, golfers may not even be in front of your house at all.
4. Consider the views. Can you see the course itself? What about the lake or other water features? Does it have a view of the mountains? Perhaps the house is on or near a signature hole at the course. These can have a definite impact on pricing the house.
5. Does the golf course require membership? Find out whether or not you’ll need to pay for membership. It may not be a bad idea to look into what other features they offer, such as tennis courts, restaurants, or pools, and what it might cost to enjoy those amenities.
6. You have to consider those playing on the golf course if you host your own event on your property. Disturbing players with noise and distractions may get you into trouble later down the road.
You have to consider those playing on the golf course if you host your own event on your property.
7. How well is the course maintained? Golf courses require a lot of meticulous upkeep, so there will likely be maintenance crews near your property using noisy machines like mowers and blowers throughout the day.

Finding the answers to these seven questions will help you determine whether or not living in a home near a golf course is the right fit for you.

If you have any other questions, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

A National and Local Market Update

What has been going on in our market? Today, I’m going to bring you the latest numbers from both a national and a local perspective.

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What does our current market look like? Today, I wanted to take a look at some of the numbers from both a national and a local perspective.

After 2009, people nationwide are much more apt to believe that real estate is a good investment. In fact, 34% of people believe this is the case, whereas only 26% of people think the same about the stock market.

Following the recession and recovery in our market, there is more consumer confidence in today’s market. Interest rates have reached historic lows, confidence in retirement savings is higher, and unemployment is down.

Here in Southern California, we’ve seen a 6% increase in prices since last year. This means that areas like Riverside, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County have an anemic amount of homes available for sale.

Not only has this driven up prices, it has also caused a rise in demand. This is especially true for homes that are under $700,000.

Recently, a client I’ve been working with has made four offers on four different homes that were all listed under $550,000, and has lost out on each one because of cash buyers and hot competition.

In San Clemente and Mission Viejo, we have about 200 to 250 homes currently on the market. In Mission Viejo, the average price is $789,000. In San Clemente, however, the average price is about $1.8 million.  

Escrow is taking about 39 days to close for homes under $1 million. For homes over $1 million, the average days it has been taking to close escrow has been around at least 77 days.

Right now is a great time to sell.

Ultimately, now is a great time to sell. If you price your home correctly, you’re more likely to expedite the entire process.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.