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HOW TO SELL YOUR HOUSE IN HIGHLAND CALIFORNIA – HIGHLAND CA REALTORS

Q: What goes into a successful home or property sale in Highland, California?

A home sale can be simple, difficult or unsuccessful depending on the property, seller or agent. Careful consideration must be given when venturing into the competitive Highland CA real estate market.

A successful sale consists of a compelling listing, effective exposure and competent negotiations and completion.

When a Highland home is listed, it should first be analyzed and objectively compared to recent comparable sales and other competitive listings in the area, also known as a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis).

Then the seller, under the advice of their savvy Realtor, should carefully digest and consider the CMA. Every detail must be exhausted. Does the seller’s Highland California property have the same features and amenities? Is the property worth more, less or equal to other comparable sales? Is the location, lot position or structure more, or less appealing? A seller must also consider the terms, conditions, inclusions and exclusions of the sale.

But a potent market value and list price is just the beginning. When the Highland CA property listing is ready to go public, exposure is everything.

Q: What is effective exposure for a Highland real estate listing?

How can anyone buy your Highland California house if no one knows it’s for sale?

A home will only realize it full market value in a sale if multiple potential buyers have been reached.

How is that accomplished? Real estate marketing has changed dramatically with the advent of the Internet. Gone are the days of yard signs, newspaper listings and open houses. Today more than 85% of homebuyers begin their property search online.

But where online are they looking? The short answer is ‘Everywhere’. From major sites like Zillow, Trulia and Redfin, website search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing, email listing sources from agents, brokers and other real estate services, to Craigslist and even direct online MLS (Multiple Listing Services).

So where is the best place to list your Highland CA property online? Again, the only right answer is ‘Everywhere’.

But does online marketing mean traditional marketing should be ignored? Of course not. But the evolution of real estate marketing should dictate the appropriate allocation of time and resources.

Q: Then What?

Once your Highland home has been effectively marketed, buyers will view the property and determine, along with their agents, what their best offer is. Choosing the right buyer is key: Have they offered a fair price and reasonable conditions? Are they capable of executing the purchase and do they have the means, money and/or credit? Are they truly interested in the property? These and other questions must be asked and answered.

After all of this, the sale of your Highland California property is still not complete. Escrow must be opened. Disclosures must be addressed and signed. Contingencies must be met and waived. And finally, funds must be deposited and dispersed.

Q: So what is the first step to a successful sale of your home or Highland CA property?

Choose the right Highland real estate agent.

So call us now and let’s talk.

Call Now: (888) 9 LIST-IT. Or just dial 888-954-7848.

You can also email us at: GarrigusRealEstate@yahoo.com

FIND A NORCO CA REAL ESTATE AGENT - FIND A NORCO CA REALTOR ®

Whether you're planning on buying or selling a Norco CA home, choosing the right Real Estate Agent is one of the most important decisions you'll make.

When selling Your Norco CA home:

When selling your Norco CA home, a professional real estate agent can be an indispensable resource. We can give you up-to-date information regarding prices, financing, terms and conditions of competing properties, and information about the Norco CA housing market in general. We will market your property to other real estate agents via the MLS (Multiple Listing Service), as well as to the public, including extensive on-line exposure. As professional and successful Norco CA real estate agents/REALTORS®, we can also help you objectively evaluate buyer proposals, and then, finally, help you close the sale.

When buying a Norco CA home:

When buying a Norco CA home, having the assistance of a real estate agent/REALTOR® can be equally as important. Real estate agents have access to resources for assisting you in your home search not available elsewhere. A real estate agent can also provide you with objective information about each property, and give you advice based on years of experience. Our Norco CA real estate agents/REALTORS® will help you negotiate - and also steer you through - the closing process to make sure everything goes smoothly.

About Us:

We understand how difficult it can be to buy a home for your family or to sell your home on today's real estate market. We list and sell real estate standard sales, short sales and foreclosure sales. We also assist buyers in finding their next home or property.

Call Us Now: (888) 9-List-It.

That's (888) 954-7848.

If you’ve found this blog just by searching on the internet, there’s a good chance you’ve read the advantages a Short Sale can have over simply “walking” from the property and letting your lender foreclose.

In case you haven’t heard the reasons, let’s list some of them:

1. No Deficiency – if you have a “recourse” loan in California, you can be subject to further collections and a deficiency judgment after foreclosure. On the other hand, California Civil Code 580

e prohibits lenders of 1st and junior mortgages from seeking the shortage after completion of a short sale.

2. Less credit impact – while it’s true that in many cases a Short Sale is treated equally as foreclosure in loan applications, keep in mind that a human (as opposed to a computer) will view a person’s attempt to settle a debt vs. simply walking from it reflects better character.

3. Less Stress / Guilt – most homeowners that are facing foreclosure say that their biggest source of stress is uncertainty. The thought of a sheriff eviction or their home being listed as  a “Bank Owned” home shatters confidence. In a short sale, the sale of the home at least adds some certainty and timeline when to move on thehomeowner’s terms as opposed to the bank’s.

We’ll cover the biggest advantage of a Short Sale over Foreclosure in a minute.

In most cases, at least 2 of those 3 reasons are worth taking the time to hire a Short Sale Specialist and cooperating with showings of your home.

On the other hand, when does Foreclosure become the better option over a seeking a Short Sale Settlement?

1. When you have a non-recourse loan and your lender is requiring a significant cash contribution or promissory note. This is on a case-by-case basis and everyone’s situation will be different. You’ll need to put a dollar amount on how much the credit damage will cost you in terms of higher interest rates on credit and your ability to re-enter the Real Estate market while prices are low. If the lender’s amount exceeds this amount you estimated, then it’s not worth it. Of course, you’ll want an attorney to review your loan to see if it’s truly a non-recourse situation.

2. Short Sale becomes Counterproductive - The biggest advantage to seeking a short sale is maintaining the mindset of person who wants to move on from this “transitional” period in their life. Staying in “limbo” adds to a homeowner’s stress and doesn’t focus on recovery. When a short sale negotiation doesn’t go right, it can conflict this goal of recovery. Even after you hire a Short Sale Specialist Realtor to reduce your workload, there’s still time and decision making required on your side. If you have a foreclosure auction scheduled and the lender is unwilling to mutually postpone, attorney and court fees can pile up. When certain lenders or their investors get too difficult to deal with, it may be better to cut your losses and just let the lender foreclose after giving the short sale settlement a “reasonable” attempt.

Of course, you can offset some of the possible frustration with a sound gameplan. A seasoned Short Sale Specialist will know which scenarios are usually toughest to deal with: Mortgage Insurance (also known as “MI”), non-delegated servicing agreements, investors who usually don’t cooperate with short sales, homes with auction notices, notoriously difficult 2nd lenders (Chase, Greentree, Cal HFA, Bank of America, etc). You can read some of the horror stories here on this website. The key to any short sale negotiation is anticipation. You can be pre-emptive in determining possible payoffs, cash contributions from other parties, etc. 

3. The home is vacant and the cost of maintenance will be too high. A vacant home is a liability. If your home has significant costs outside of the mortgage (Homeowner’s Association Dues, utilities, insurance, upkeep of the pool, grass, etc) you have to compare which option will be faster. Put a dollar amount on these costs and see if it outweighs your estimate of how much credit damage a foreclosure will cost you. Regardless of which option you choose, a home gathering code violations from the city and delinquent HOA dues can come back to haunt you even after the sale is completed. Again, a good Short Sale Realtor will have other options including having your lender subtract the balance from the payoff amount or settling the costs.

4. Lienholders who won’t cooperate – These are usual private individuals (people you know) who have placed a lien on your home.  Yes, there’s a motto that “everyone has a price,” but my experience tells me that disgruntled parties may want only to make your life miserable. I’ve had ex-spouses of some of my clients demand full payoff or “substitute collateral.” I’ve had contractors who placed contractor liens and simply laughed when they were approached on a settlement. Again, a short sale is only worth so much money and your dignity.

Again, none of those above scenarios are no-brainers. At the very least, you’ll want an experienced Short Sale Realtor to review your situation. Be careful — there’s always someone desperate to take any listing to simply get a sign in your yard. A good agent actually turns down a good portion of short sales for the benefit of both parties.

I have read several news and Blog pieces about 2012 being the bottom of the market and how the best time to purchase a home is now. In good conscious I cannot sit idly by without voicing my opinion.

The news and columnists have based their analysis on the low number of inventory currently on the market for sale and the fact that it is 22% less than this time last year. They further site a 30% increase in property searches on Realtor.com which is one of the top search websites where consumers make purchase decisions. The reporters further substantiate their point by stating that interest rates are the lowest they have been since the great depression. Well folks, I am here to let you in on a few things. I am a distressed property real estate broker and live in the numbers and happenings on the ground. Last year alone I personally closed $17 Million in real estate. More than three quarters of my sales were short sales and bank owned property sales. My job revolves around tracking properties that have defaulted on their mortgage payments and listing the property for sale before it ends up in foreclosure. When properties do end up going to foreclosure the banks also contacts me to sell the properties back into the marketplace as a bank owned property. This is also known as a REO (Real Estate Owned) property.

In dealing with the lenders on a daily basis I have the ability to see how many mortgages are current or behind in any part of California. The numbers are staggering! One in three properties in San Diego County is currently underwater (owe more than what the property is worth).
Many of you may have heard of the “Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007” which is set to expire at the end of 2012. This means that anyone wanting to do a short sale has until the end of this year to get it done to avoid the enormous tax and deficiency implications. As homeowners scramble to do short sales, the banks are absolutely inundated with files. Banks have increased their loss mitigation departments to handle the amount of short sale requests as the deadline draws near.

So to shed further light on the subject of a “recovery,” I would have to say that the reason there is a 22% decrease in inventory on the market for sale is due to the “Robo-signing” debacle which simply held up the foreclosure process for a few months. Furthermore, the lenders have started issuing three month extensions to foreclosure sale dates rather than the standard 30 day extensions. The numbers are artificially adjusted to modify the supply and demand ratio. Also, the news columnists have stated that the average nationwide sales price has started increasing and the market is recovering. This is not quite correct because the number of higher end distressed sales has dramatically increased. In other words, if 100 homes sell at $200K and 900 homes sell at $500K, the average home price may have increased.  However, what they are not saying is that the home that is currently selling at $500K was purchased in 2005 for $900K.  See how they are messing with the numbers. Just because the average nationwide sales price has increased, does not mean we are recovering.

So I would maybe agree that the lower end has reached the bottom whereas the middle and higher end have room to fall.  Far be it from me to state that 2012 is the “Big Housing Recovery.” New young families or recent college graduates will also add to the lower end recovery as they will need to purchase in this range.

The number of Baby Boomers now wanting to downsize will further hamper the prices of the middle and higher end as they add to the supply. There are currently 30 million Americans in this segment of the market.

The FED made an error in judgment a month ago when they stated interest rates would remain low through the end of 2014, which took away the immediate driving force to purchase now. If interest rates would remain low for an extended period of time, why would anyone be in a hurry to purchase when they know how much shadow inventory the lenders are sitting on?

As the world has become a global economy, few have shed light on the fact that China has begun their housing crisis with more than half the cities reporting huge decreases in home prices. This may have an influence on our economy further down the road as this may affect the cost of consumer goods locally.

Gas prices are at an all-time high and could further contribute to inflation and gyrations in the consumer price index.

Unemployment is still stubbornly above 8% and steam rises from the printing presses at the Fed.

I don’t know folks. Recovery 2012?  I am not so sure. And over the years I have learned that in the long run it pays to be honest rather than bending a situation for personal gain. There is a reason I am renting right now. Though the rents are higher, cash will soon be back on the thrown to be crowned King. Don’t be in any hurry to purchase unless you find a great deal.

This is my honest humble opinion.