Door Knockers are at the Door

My clients called me last night, and informed me that a random realtor from Intero knocked on their door offering to purchase their house while standing next to his client, the potential buyer.  My clients were flabberghasted at the offer, and was caught off guard that this offer was actually being made.  Of course, the agent and his buyer did not disclose a dollar amount.  Adamantly, she proclaimed, "this house is not for sale" several times in response to their offer. 

This event makes me wonder how sincere these buyers and their agents are especially considering that they might not have seen the inside of the house.  Also, the style is a bit intrusive.  Perhaps they could have done better with a letter, and a phone call.

The house was in the West San Jose neighborhood, right at the intersection between the 3 cities of Saratoga, Cupertino and San Jose.  This is a highly desirable neighborhood.

Investting in this Foreclosure Market

Perhaps some of you saw the news about a Foreclosure Auction that took place right infront of the home in San Jose recently.  That sounds pretty exciting to be able to pick up a home at a steep discount.  But you might be wondering if this is for real?

The Answer is YES!  While most homes going through the foreclosure sale, and other types of distressed homes don't usually have such an exciting system to sell such as an auction, the discounts are definitely for real.

The savings on such properties could range anywhere from 10%-30% off market value depending on the current notes and market value of such properties, the desirability of the home, and the motivation of the sellers.

Right now, we're providing a service of filtering these opportunities so that you can capitalize on this market.

BLOG, BLOG, BLOG

Last week, I went to the California Association of Realtor's expo, and I learned that blogging is good.  People want to hear what what's going in the market, and what I, as an active professional in real estate, have to say about the best ways to steer in this market of opportunity.  Therefore I will share with you my readers about the ins and outs of the market, and various aspects of real estate. 

While I have a lot to say about homes, mortgages, and the market in general, I'll be spoon feeding out little by little my thoughts on real estate, and offering you excellent morsels of information so that you might be a wise and educated buyer and seller of real estate. 

Tomorrow's Blog - Short Sales

Market update

With the recent changes to the interest rate markets, there's been a bit of concern for most of you about your personal real estate, and about my occupation. 

Given the volatility of the market, I don't think there's any reason to panic, given that the Feds have opted to adjust the Prime Rate down by 50 basis points.  Also, the Bay Area is a pretty strong market overall and very resilient to these fluctuations. 

As for me, I'm in this business for the long haul, and I'm ready to help my clients to navigate through this uncertain time.  Thanks All!

Fairness in Negotiations

We all know how it feels when we are being asked for something that seems unfair to us.  In a recent negotiations, my clients were asked to close the transaction a day earlier.  This is perfectly acceptable, however, this would cost my clients a few hundred dollars in interest payments.  While we were agreeable to close earlier, we weren't agreeable to pay the extra fees of closing earlier.  Since it was the other party's suggestion, I mentioned that it might be a Win-Win situation if the other party offered to pay the fee of closing early.

Sounds fair, doesn't?  Well, the other party and their agent didn't think so.

They expected to gain at a cost to my clients.  I don't think so...

Sometimes negotiations is about making things "Fair" so that we can all walk away with some satisfaction.  And part of that is not allowing others to bully us into unreasonable situations.  And furthermore to make it a Win-Win for all especially for those I represent.

I look forward to negotiation on your behalf soon.