7 Tips to Spruce Up Your House To Sell Quickly

I have watched first hand as Buyers find a great house that is in generally good shape, and literally talk themselves out of the sale after they notice one rickety gate, which snowballs into a nitpicky list of tiny fixes the seller had left undone. Whether you are planning on selling your house tomorrow or next year, here is a short list of maintenance items you should put on your spring to-do list.

1. Banish chips, scuffs, and scratches by adding a fresh coat of paint

This is one of the most inexpensive things you can do to spruce up your house, as these tiny blemishes create a shabby appearance on a home that may be in otherwise good shape, causing the buyer to think the home has been neglected.

2. Brighten and polish all trims

If you put two identical homes together and one has all the tricked out trims, including exterior shutters, eves, door knockers, kick plates and other exterior hardware, people will automatically rate the house with the beautiful trims much higher on a pride-of-ownership scale than the other. If you can add attractive trims or freshen up the ones you have, you can improve the perceived value of the home.

3. Noisy or broken HVAC systems

Maintaining your air conditioning and heating system is not that expensive, but buyers think it is. In fact, your furnace and AC systems are the types of household machinery that intimidate fist-time buyers. If you hold an open house in the winter and the heating system doesn’t work or the air conditioning system isn’t working in the middle of summer when it’s hot outside, the buyers might perceive that it is a more serious red flag than it really is. On the other hand, letting buyers know that your heating and air conditioning system have been upgraded or maintained allows buyers to breathe a sigh of relief knowing they won’t have to spring money on short term repair bills.

4. Mend your fences, gates, and screens

These items may not jump out at us in our own home, and it’s easy to rationalize your way out of dealing with them. However, screens with holes in them and gates which won’t budge or hang properly are some of the key things that catch buyers’ attention and make them want to look and see if there are additional flaws. Additionally, anything to do with fences can cause buyers to envision possible future neighbor disputes over bills.

5. Doors, cupboards, and drawers

One creaky door doesn’t usually kill a sale, but keep in mind that in some homes, these are the only functioning systems that house-hunting visitors will almost certainly use doing the course of a viewing. Make sure the entryway, interior closets, and cupboards are in good cosmetic shape and that they work well and don’t stick easily. It’s not that the buyers will get excited if they work smoothly, it’s just more of a concern when they don’t work properly.

6. Have everything cleaned and washed

Even the most immaculate of housekeepers can realize the massive refresh to the look, feel, and smell of their homes after it has been professionally cleaned. Springtime is a great time to have your driveways power-washed, to clean your windows and screens, as well as to have your carpets, rugs and window coverings cleaned. If you are on a tight budget, you might find vendors that have spring cleaning deals that offer many services for a package price.

7. Shred it!

If you have clutter from boxes and old file cabinets full of paperwork, it might be a good time to go through your items and shred the things you don’t absolutely need. Think of it this way, you will have to do it anyway when you move out, so you may as well take care of it now to reduce the clutter around your home and open up more visual space.

These are just a few tips; if you want to learn more, contact me at rsmith@fhallen.com or give me a call at 415-755-8919, and I’ll be happy to help!

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Home buying is in full swing, and sales are pretty brisk in Marin right now: currently 46% of listed homes are in escrow and Marin is experiencing double digit sales growth over last year. The housing market has really come back and there is currently a shortage of inventory.

So if you’ve been on the fence for the last four years trying to decide if now is the time, you’ll be interested in a great article that was posted by CNNMoney talking about this very subject. If you want to read the full story it can be found here.

The article sites the fact that the average home price is down 34% nationally and mortgage rates have remained at historical low levels, but they aren’t going to last much longer. Chief economist Stuart Hoffman believes home prices will flatten out by third quarter and start climbing again next year. There are a number of factors that help point in that direction, including the decline of the number of foreclosures and continued job growth stimulating the economy. Some economists, like Trulia’s Jed Kolko, expect home prices to pick up even more quickly.

Marin is already experiencing a rapid growth in prices and some city’s home prices are growing faster than others. Total overall single-family home prices are up 1.7% S-T-D, but prices in Tiburon are up 11.3%, Corte Madera up 13.1%, Fairfax 2.1%, and San Anselmo up 7.9%. Total unit sales season-to-date are up 19.3% in Marin County. The big turnaround is happening now.

Foreclosures have decreased 15% over last year, and investors are snapping up REO’s faster than the regular home consumer can get to them, either to upgrade them to become rental properties or to sell them at higher than average prices. Home buying in many cases is cheaper than renting as the market is experiencing only a 2% un-occupancy rate. I have had many people wanting to rent homes only to gasp at the rental prices. To get a decent-sized house of just 1,400 square feet in Southern Marin, rents start around $3,500 a month and only go up from there. I recently met a couple who is having to pay $7,000 a month for a 3,000 square foot home in Kentfield. Why not just buy a home?

I think people are finally realizing they’d better get into a home quickly while prices and mortgage rates are low because they are really throwing their money away by paying the high rental prices in Marin.

If you would like more information, email me at rsmith@fhallen.com or call me at 415-755-8919, and I’ll be happy to help!

Posted by:  Rick Smith

As we just celebrated Earth Day this past weekend, I thought how important it is that we try to watch our energy consumption and carbon footprint around the home, whether it be by recycling or re-using a towel or glass again, rather than automatically washing it. There are actually some real perks in making your home more green.

Save Money Now

When it comes to the economics of trying to project the return on investment in upgrading your home, sometimes the numbers can look a little grim, and most real estate agents will tell owners to perform the upgrades that they  can afford and enjoy in the time they have to live in the home. For example, your utility bills are one of the highest ongoing costs you have each year, and it looks like there is no slowing down on the rise of energy costs and utility increases. By making a number of green improvements, you can bring those costs down as much as 20-30%. If you do the math, and assume that most households have an average bill of $2000 in energy-related utilities a year, you could save between $400-$600 per year. If you install a tankless water heater,  insulate your pipes and walls, and do something as simple as adding weather stripping to your doors and windows, you will begin to save money right away on energy costs. You could then take that money you have saved to invest in a college education fund for your children, or put it in a retirement account.

Sell Your Home Faster

Green homes simply sell faster than comparable homes that don’t have the same green features. Today’s home buyers want to save money and are willing to prioritize homes that allow them to do this. This data is certainly true for homes with solar energy systems. The U.S. Department of Energy just released a report that solar homes sell twice as fast as a home without the solar investment. If your home isn’t on the market right now, you may not worry about selling your home quickly; but when you do get ready to sell, you will most likely want it to be a quick process if your family and financial plans are hanging in the balance.

Boost Your Net Worth

Not only do buyers have a preference for green homes, they are willing to pay more for them. An appraisal journal recently published data that says for every $1 that green home improvements decreased the property’s annual energy bill, the home value increased by $10-$25.  These numbers translate to an increase of $8,000 to $25,000 for a “greened-up” 3,000 square foot home. The same goes for solar homes, as having a solar heating system can add around $17,000 to a home’s value.

Look Better And Live Longer

Part of the element of going green includes planting a garden and implementing practices like taking walks or using public transportation to increase your quality of life, whether it’s to lose weight or improve the quality of air that you breathe. It can also mean shifting your diet a little by reducing the amount of red meat you eat and ingesting more of a plant-based diet, not necessarily to the extreme of being vegan, but having an eating pattern dominated by fresh or minimally processed food.

Live More Comfortably

If you have a drafty home, or hear a lot of noise outside when you are sleeping, or want to make sure you have plenty of hot water when you are washing clothes or the family is home taking a lot of baths, going green will make you more comfortable. Just installing weather-stripping throughout the home will cut down on cold drafts. Installing double pane windows will reduce your energy costs and cut the noise level down significantly for a better night’s rest. Installing a tankless water heater will save you energy and ensure you have plenty of hot water for your entire family’s use.

These are a few great reasons for going green, and it makes perfect sense whether you are trying to sell or not.

If you would like to know more about going green, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 415-755-8919 or email me at rsmith@ fhallen.com.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Being in the Real Estate profession I always get asked a lot of questions about the state of the market, buying vs. renting, the importance of location, making a low-ball offer, etc. I thought I would answer some of my most frequently asked questions to help clear up some of the blurry what-ifs about buying and selling a home.

What about Location?

Yes, it could be one of the single most important factors in the price you pay (or ask) for a home. Location effects the price of a home in many ways. The price is impacted by which school districts are nearby, as some schools have better reputations than others. The prices is also effected by the proximity to San Francisco. The further you go north or west, the prices will become less expensive. However, do you really want to spend an extra half hour in your car, as you are missing the benefits of enjoying your home while stuck in traffic? Additionally, home prices will be lower as you get closer to a noisy freeway or train tracks. In short, if you have two homes with the same similar characteristics, then location will drive the price in the end as many people will pay a little more to enjoy the benefits of where they live.

Listing Your Home High in Order to Come Down in Price

Sellers, we are still currently in a buyers’ market and competition when selling a home is steep. Even if you don’t care about selling your home right away, it’s a detriment to list your home over market price. After a home has been on the market for 60 days (and even after 30 days), people looking for homes will either forget about the home, or wonder what’s wrong with it and why it hasn’t sold yet. The Internet has made most buyers extremely savvy in buying homes today, and trust me buyers are on the internet and visiting open houses in mass. They know when a home is over-priced and when it is not, and they will not jump on buying it if you are over the real value of your home. You are much better off by getting a good listing agent to help you price the home at a fair price who will then offer the best marketing and tools to sell your home at fair market value. Once you start price cutting, the buyers want to know why it didn’t sell in the first place.

Always Offer 10% Under the List Price

Buyers, there is always a strategy in your offering price. If the home has just come on the market, chances are the owner will not want to accept anything lower than the list price during the first week, so you probably are wasting time offering a low-ball offer. If the home has been on the market for 3 or 4 months and has not received any prior offers, you may have a chance at it, but it’s important to ask prior to making an offer whether or not there have been any other offers, and get a range of what the owner didn’t accept. Every home has a situation where if it’s in a great location, good shape, and you have done your homework to ensure it’s a good value, then you should offer the asking price, or as close to the list price as possible, and you have a better chance of getting it. What you really have to ask yourself is if it is really worth walking away for a few thousand dollars, and will you have remorse if you lose the home to someone else because they offered the full price? Contact your lender to see what the difference is in payments. I think you will find that a few thousand dollars spread over a 30 year loan is probably just a few dollars more each month, and sometimes not worth losing a great home that you are in love with.

For Sale By Owner

A lot of people think they can save a lot of money by selling their own home and not paying the commission involved. The question is, do you really want to go through all this anguish? Do you really want to receive phone calls all hours of the day or night, and try to figure out whether the buyer is even qualified to own your home? Do you want unqualified people walking though your home? If you are working, do you want to take time off to show them the home without notice. Will you miss all the marketing that goes into your home from having staged, on the Internet, having professional pictures taken, being listed in the newspaper or email blasts? What about closing; are you prepared to have an attorney help you with drawing up the paperwork and assisting you with disclosures, conditions of the sale, finding a good title company, helping you, and the being there at the close of escrow? You are much better off having a qualified listing agent to help you through all of these steps, and the legalities that involved with each step. In the days of still having law suits, you don’t want to be the one who gets stung, just for not knowing the legal ins and outs of selling a home, and believe me there are a lot of them.

These are just a few things people ask all the time, and I would be happy to answer anything else inquiring minds would like to know. Just give me a call at 415-755-8919 or email me at rsmith@ fhallen.com, and I’ll be happy to help!

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Deadlines for certain real estate dates can sneak up on a lot of people and can be stressful if they become a surprise. Here are three important dates to have on your calendar, as well as three time periods to watch when buying or selling a home.

April 1, 2012: Home Owners Property Tax Due

This is a timely topic as it happened to be last Sunday. The good news is if you haven’t mailed your April payment in, you still have time this week to do it without out a penalty. April 1 property taxes are not in default if the County receives your payment by April 10. On the reverse side, if you bought your home between 2002 -2007, your property value probably is much lower that it was when you bought the property, and you should consider protesting the value of the home to lower your property taxes. This is too late for this year, but you should definitely pursue it for next years valuation, as it could save you hundreds or possibly thousands in taxes given property values have declined anywhere from 30-40% since 2008.

December 31, 2012: Expiration of Mortgage Debt Forgiveness Act

This is important to homeowners who have lost their home or are contemplating a short sale this year. Currently if you lose your home to a short sale or foreclosure, the government forgives you for the amount of the cancelled debt for income tax purposes. After this date, you could face a double whammy of having to pay thousands of dollars for the privilege of doing so in the form of income taxes. The president has proposed extending this deadline to 2014, but that hasn’t been approved. If you think you may lose your home because of unfortunate circumstances, you probably ought to consider the possibility of a short sale, to get the home in contract and ensure it closes prior to December 31 of this year.

December 31, every year Deadline to close escrow, in order to get credit for interest and taxes

If you are considering buying a home this year, you should try to be in contract roughly 60 days prior to the end of the year, so that you can close prior to December 31 and can claim any prepaid interest, points, origination fees and taxes on your income taxes for 2012. If you close a day later, you won’t lose the deduction entirely, as everything will then roll into 2013.

Other important things to know regarding deadlines:

Offer and Response Deadlines

The phrase to describe “Offer and Response deadlines” is “Time is of the essence.” It is really critical that once you get ready to make an offer that you adhere to any offer and response deadlines. Please make sure you understand these deadlines, and if you have a good real estate agent, they will probably set up a timeline for you so that you will adhere to the conditions. Currently there is a shortage of great properties in Marin, and there are lots of Buyers out there waiting to purchase a home. You would hate to have your offer not accepted because you waited too long and gave another party the chance to make a better offer. Currently this spring, there have been many new, great properties that have come on the market and they have had multiple offers made on them because of the shortage of great inventory. This wasn’t happening too much prior to this spring, as there was plenty of inventory on the market and there were fewer Buyers. This is not true in 2012. There seems to be a pent up desire to own a home that has been building for the last few years as Buyers were hesitant to buy a home and waiting for the market to hit bottom. The bottom of the market was last spring and since then things have really turned around.

Contingency Period Expires

Most Buyers these days negotiate some sort of contingency as a way to get out of a deal if there is either something wrong with the home after doing inspections, they can’t get the property to appraise, or they can’t get a loan. The contingency period is the timeline the buyer has to back out on a loan and not lose their deposit money or incurring liability. The most important thing is to work quickly on doing your inspections and work with your lender to get final approval on a loan. If you wait too long to get inspections done, and discover issues with the home where you need to either get additional estimates or additional inspections, you run the chance of running over the deadline. If you find this out at the end of the contingency, you could risk losing the home to another buyer, unless you ask for an extension. I have found most Sellers are okay with extensions if there has been good will in the transaction, but some sellers are hard nosed at the deadlines and would rather put the house back on the market , if they feel they can sell it quickly and not bend on giving the buyer concessions. Whatever the case, just make sure you work quickly on getting paperwork back and forth to your lender, and have your inspections done well in advance of the contingency dates.

Rate Lock Expiration

Mortgage approval letters are issued with details of the loan amounts, interest rate, and other terms such as how long the rate is locked in and when the terms expire. It’s important that you understand the deadlines. It’s important that you understand that not only do you have to find the right home, you have to get into contract on it, and then have inspections done, appraisals done, and have underwriting done, all of which takes a long time. If you don’t have everything completed on time, your rate lock could expire and you may have to pay for an extension.

This may not have been an issue in the last couple of years as interest rates were declining, and you possibly could even get a better rate. The lowest rates happened this past fall, and we are currently seeing increases in interest rates again. Don’t get me wrong, interest rates are still excellent, but for some people who qualified for a loan at a super low rate, they may not qualify if the higher interest rates puts them in a higher debt to loan ratio. Also, just remember even a quarter of a point can cost you thousands over the course of a thirty year loan, and that’s the real reason to adhere to these guidelines.

These are some of the important dates to remember either as a homeowner or someone looking to buy or sell a home. If you would like more information, as always I would be happy to help, just give me a call at 415-755-8919 or email me at rsmith@fhallen.com.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

When getting ready to sell your house, you need to ask yourself, “What can I do to make my home more attractive without spending an arm and a leg?” Here are 10 ideas that won’t cost a ton of money and will be well worthwhile.

Decorate Your Doors

Swap out old knobs, hinges, and cabinet hardware with finished metal pulls and handles. You’ll spend around $3-$5 a piece at most hardware stores and your guests will take notice.

Molding

Adding molding on doors, ceilings, walls and windows brings a third dimension to your rooms, making them look larger and more lavish. For less than $100, you can buy panel molding, rent a miter box saw, and create a new dimensional appearance to your home. Depending on how far you want to go, it will cost you about $150-$300 per room, but the quality three-dimensional effect will make your home stand out against its competition.

Refresh Your Tiles

Bathroom renovations can be very costly and sometimes run into the tens of thousands, but re-grouting your tiles is a fast, easy and inexpensive alternative. Scrape out the old grout first, then pick out a fresh color to breathe new life into the decor. This is only about a $10 cost.

Paint A Wall

Re-painting is an easy way to upgrade a room, but if you really want to make it pop, only paint one wall. Take the main wall that people will see most often and put your favorite color on it to contrast with the furnishings in the room. The cost will only be about $25 per room (if you change colors) and your eyes will immediately jump to it:  it’s like putting a giant mural on your wall. If you are repainting a dark wall, you’ll need to add primer and three coats to make sure the darker base color doesn’t show through.

Lighten Up

Changing light fixtures is an easy, inexpensive upgrade that adds elegance. Many hardware stores sell light fixtures for less than $100; just make sure you have turned the light switches and breakers off first before attempting to work with the wires. Also, you may want to take a picture first of the wiring, so that you remember which wire goes where.

Light Switch Swap

Replacing light switches with dimmers allows you to change the mood of the room. Changing the light level will also visually change the shade of the paint, something you can’t do with simple on and off switches.

Refinish Your Floors

Dents, dings, scratches, and pet accidents are par for the course, but in just two or three days you can erase them all. A 110-volt sander, sand paper, and wood stain will do the trick, and two coats of satin finish, water-based polyurethane will help protect the floor from further damage. Most people will paint walls, but a nice job on your floors will give your house a whole new look.

Fence Off Your Yard

If your fence is falling apart, a new 8-foot fence is an aesthetically pleasing way of saying this is my yard and not yours. It’s an unbroken rule to give the nicer looking side to your neighbor, so be sure to abide. Ridding your yard of an old, broken or sagging fence will give your yard much better appeal to a prospective buyer.

Illuminate Your Lawn

All it takes is a couple of lights to enhance your home’s appeal night or day. Low voltage bulbs will do the trick and they will last for five or more years. Scattering several small outdoor light fixtures under shrubs, and placing up lights under tall trees will really make a difference at night.

Paint That Paneling

There’s not much worse than a dreary, dark paneled room. Rather than removing the paneling all together, choose a light color and give it a few coats to really brighten things up. You will be amazed at the difference. Then add a few lights and great pictures and you have totally transformed the room to a new, cheerful part of your home.

These are just a few ideas of how you can inexpensively upgrade your home to make it stand out against the competition when it is time to sell. In fact, these ideas are also useful if you’re just looking to refresh a space without spending a lot of money.

If you would like to know more, give me a call at 415-755-8919 or email me at .

Posted by:  Rick Smith

As there continue to be quite a few Short Sales in Real Estate, there also seem to be quite a few misconceptions about what the issues are. In this post I address some of these misconceptions – many of which I heard while talking with puzzled Sellers and Buyers.

Common Misconceptions About Short Sales

Homeowners must fall behind in their mortgage payments in order to qualify. It probably was true prior to 2012 but not now. Now the factors that come into play are: Is there an existing financial hardship, such as the Adjustable Rate Mortgage increasing the monthly financial payments? Has there been a loss of a job or income? Are there current health or medical issues that have arisen? Has there been an extraordinary loss in home value, which could be considered a hardship? The bottom line is, if you don’t want to have a major credit report issue, then you shouldn’t miss a payment if you don’t have to.

Banks would rather foreclose on a property than approve a short sale. Absolutely not. Banks would prefer NOT to foreclose on a property due to a short sale, as it will probably cost the bank an additional $50- $70K . Banks lose much less in a short sale than they do on a foreclosure.

Sellers have to be pre-approved by their Bank in order to do a Short Sale. Absolutely not true. Most lenders will consider a short sale offer: the main thing to remember is each Bank works just a little differently from the other, and the Seller must understand and follow the process closely.

Short Sales take months and months to close. This depends, but if you have a good listing agent who has experience in this area, it could go rather quickly. Again, certain issues may slow down the process, and no two transactions are the same; just having an agent who knows what to do when there is a stumbling block could speed up the process.

Damage to the Sellers’ credit in doing a short sale is the same as if being foreclosed upon. Totally untrue: you are much better doing a Short Sale as they lead to a faster recovery on your credit score. If a Seller has not missed a mortgage payment, they may be able to purchase another home almost immediately after closing a short sale transaction. If a Seller did miss payments, then some with otherwise good credit may be able to purchase a government-backed Fanny Mae mortgage around 24 months after the short sale.

After a Short Sale, a homeowner will receive a 1099 form and be forced to declare his sale as income. The homeowner may receive a 1099 form due to the 2007 Mortgage Forgiveness Relief Act , but the homeowner may not owe any taxes as a result of doing a short sale. However, this act will expire at the end of 2012.

A lender can still sue the homeowner after the close of a short sale. Untrue: California has anti-deficiency protections in place for short sales and foreclosures.

I hope this helps clear up some of the misunderstandings, but as in all cases, it is advised that a homeowner consult with a tax advisor to get any legal issues clarified as a result of doing a short sale. There are always different circumstances for each homeowner.

If you would like further help in understanding what is required for a short sale, just give me a call at 415-755-8919 or email me at rsmith@ fhallen.com and I’ll be glad to assist.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Your home purchase is most likely the largest purchase you will ever make, and it might seem that emotional side effects like panic and fear are inevitable. You have the power to manage these emotions if you know what to expect upfront, and will be able to minimize the discomfort in most cases.

Here are some keys to having a great buying experience:

Fearing What You Don’t Understand

Most people don’t run around buying homes every day, and things have really changed in the last few years in the home buying process so there is typically the normal fear of buying a lemon or taking the wrong mortgage. Since you are not in the market every day, the best thing to do is to start educating yourself months in advance by reading books, talking to potential lenders, visiting open houses, scouting neighborhoods, and asking questions on message boards frequented by experts. Of course, the best thing to do is consult with a professional real estate agent whom you will be able to rely on for help with your questions and who will know the market you are considering.

Ask Your Experts To Manage Your Expectations

I have found many buyers on emotional roller coasters when they start out with unrealistic expectations or resist the recommendations of experts such as a real estate agent or broker. The bottom line is if you have a good agent and broker, let them advise you; ask them questions you have regarding how your offer may be handled, how long things might take, what amount you will need to bring to the table at closing, and when you will need to be available to sign papers. Listen to your hired professionals: they do this all the time, so you need to trust them.

Understanding Timelines and Deadlines

There are literally hundreds of pieces to the equation of buying a home, and the timelines are moving all the time. Understanding what needs to happen and when will help neutralize the drama of each deadline. For example, a home inspector might recommend that you get a roof or foundation specialist involved; you will need additional time to get new inspectors out, possibly pushing you over an inspection contingency deadline. Or maybe your Broker needs additional information from you at the last moment to be able to lock in your rate or release loan contingencies. Working with your real estate agent and lender to get out in front of these deadlines becomes critical. When they ask you to provide something, it’s best to work as quickly as possible to get back to them, not to delay making a deadline.

Understand That You Are Not The Exception

Be immune emotionally that things are not predictable when buying a home. Short sales take a long time (from 3-6 months), so you will have to be patient when buying a home that is a short sale. Documentation to a lender floats around to different financial underwriters and administrators, and sometimes they lose paperwork that you have to provide again. If you expect the glitches and delays, then you will be better equipped to emotionally handle the situation.

Manage Your Mindset

Ultimately you have the power to manage your own mindset. Get educated about the full range of things that may happen, and plan accordingly. Try to avoid mentally dwelling on or stressing over hypothetical disasters. Learn that things are not always under your control. Focus on the things you can control. If a curve ball is thrown at you, consult your experts, make a logical decision, and then don’t look back after you have made the decision.

The bottom line is to pick the right professionals that you can communicate with, educate yourself before the process, and mentally prepare yourself for the natural curve balls that come when buying a home. If you would like more information, give me a call at 415-755-8919 or email me at rsmith@ fhallen.com, and I’ll be happy to help!

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Statistics released on March 8, 2012, show that out of approximately 254 homes in Novato, approximately 152 are under contract. These homes account for 60 percent of all homes in Novato, which is a significant percentage. Such a trend would generally be considered by real estate professionals as indicative of a seller’s market. However, with historically low interest rates and rapidly dropping home prices, the market is ideal for both buyers and sellers. There has never been a better time to make your move in the Novato real estate market.

Given such great market conditions, it’s highly advisable to buy a home if you can afford to do so. In order to buy a home, you’ll need to qualify for a loan and should be sure that you can afford the mortgage payments. Interest rates are quite low, with most home buyers qualifying for an interest rate of between 3.8 and 4.8 percent. Given such interest rates, it’s realistic to say that a new home owner could pay off 25 to 30 percent of the total principle on their mortgage over the next seven to 10 years.

Even if rates are between 6 and 7 percent, which is considered reasonable in a normal market, you would only be paying off approximately 10 percent of your mortgage during the same time span. Think of how much equity you can build by paying off a substantial portion of your mortgage over the next seven to 10 years. As the real estate market stabilizes, this equity will definitely be to your advantage.

If you are interested in purchasing a home, you should speak with a certified public accountant (CPA) or financial advisor to ensure that you are making a good investment given your personal financial situation. With the real estate market on the upswing, buying property is generally a great investment. Novato is an expanding real estate market, making it an ideal location for your next purchase.

If you are looking to sell and downsize, buy or simply sell, please contact me. I am happy to provide you with a free analysis of your real estate needs. It is my goal to help every single client find the property of his or her dreams. You can place your faith in me for all your Novato real estate needs because I love where I live. Please call me at 415-328-2637 today.

Posted by:  Peter Schardt

Even if you don’t have children going to school in Marin, it’s in your best interest to support your local public schools. Why?

The excellence of our schools here in Marin is one of the main reasons our real estate market continues to outperform the state and the nation. It is why so many young families travel over the Golden Gate Bridge to buy homes in Marin. As the San Francisco school scores continue to remain low, most people in San Francisco have to send their children to private school, costing them a hefty fee for tuition.

The one thing I always tell my Buyers is that you can always write off the cost of interest and taxes on your income tax, but you can’t write off the cost of tuition. It makes sense to invest in a home in Marin as the county is a draw for better schools without paying private school fees.

Each district offers fun and creative ways for you to support them, and here’s just a sampling of what’s coming up:

Larkspur and Corte Madera Schools – Spark

• March 23: The Spark Fashion Show at the Mill Valley Community Center will be held the evening of March 23. This is always a fun and lighthearted event, and promises to be even more fun as it switched to an evening venue and the men are included. This one is not to miss!
• May 5: The Cinco De Mayo Spring Auction will be held at the Mt. Tam Raquet Club.
• May 28: The annual Paradise Foods pancake breatfast event will be held on May 28^th.

Redwood High School – Redwood High School Foundation (RHSF)

• March 31: This year’s Redwood Rocks! “Denim and Diamonds” event is slated for March 31, from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Corte Madera Community Center. A casual “kick back and be a college kid again” kind of event, this one is always fun!

Mill Valley Schools – Kiddo!

It’s a year off for Kiddo’s big gala and golf show, but coming this year are two events:

• March 21: Middle School Spring Cabaret
• May 4: Kiddo! Night at AT&T Park

Kentfield Schools – Kik!

• May 11: Kik! Golf swing tournament and wine auction, to be held at Stone Tree.

Ross Valley Schools – YES

YES offers parent parties year round. There are ski trips, co-ed mountain bike rides, cocktail parties, and a mother-daughter brunch.

Tiburon/Belvedere – Foundation for Reed Schools

• May 9: Kids’ BINGO Night
• May 11: Fashion show and luncheon
• May 12: The School of Rock Regatta Auction Dinner Dance
• June 1: Tiburon Day at the Giants

As always, please get in touch with me if you know of someone who would like to buy or sell a home in any of these fabulous school districts. Also, if you are an empty nester, give us a call if you are ready to downsize and offer your home for sale for a fabulous family who may want to enter your neighborhood. Please give me a call at 415-755-8919 or rsmith@fhallen. com.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

There was a terrific article today at Bloomberg.com that talks about the housing market return. Click here to read the full article.

To summarize, the article reports that pending home sales across the nation picked up 2% last month according to the National Association of Realtors. In Marin, total unit sales are currently up 15% season-to-date, indicating strong signs of recovery this year; in fact inventory is very low compared to a year ago, and there is a real need for additional sellers.

Buyers look to be returning to the real estate market on the heels of faster job gains for three straight months, falling home prices, and record low interest rates. According to Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York, housing demand has bottomed and we should see a gradual improvement in sales. Unfortunately, there still seems to be a supply of foreclosures that are expected to come on the market this year, which may cause home prices to remain about the same as last year in some areas.

Lower appraisals and rejected mortgage applications due to stricter lending standards have resulted in the biggest breakdown in deals. In January, 33 percent of Realtors polled said they had experienced contract failures, up from 9% a year ago.

Builders seem optimistic, as Doug Yearley, chief executive officer of Toll Brothers, said that orders were up significantly, deposits are up, and traffic is up. Borrowing costs remain low as the average rate on a 30-year loan averaged 4.09%, and in many cases I have seen them averaging around 3.75% if the Buyers credit score is higher than 730.

Faster hiring and reduced job cuts may provide a further incentive for home purchases as the unemployment rate declined to 8.3% nationwide, which is the lowest rate since February 2009.

If you would like to know more about what properties are available, give me a call at 415-755-8919 or email me at rsmith@fhallen. com, and I will be happy to assist.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

The buying strength in the Marin County real estate market is perhaps the strongest anyone has seen in the last 15 to 20 years. This extreme buying strength is a result of short sales and bank-owned properties (aka REOs) currently in the market. The purchasing power that these properties provide makes this a perfect time to buy real estate in Marin County.

It is also a great time to sell a property. Inventory is very low and demand is high: homeowners can sell their property, then buy a new property at the very bottom of the market. After their purchase, they can watch the equity increase immensely as our market begins its future recovery. This is a great way to amass a small fortune quite easily. Who wouldn’t want to take advantage of this? If you are thinking about selling, now is really a great time to do so.

Boosting the market with lower rates, mortgage lenders have made it even easier to buy, sell and obtain a new mortgage in the current market.

With all of these great reasons to buy or sell, it should not take long for those who wish to exercise this new power to start buying up the surplus of REOs and short sales. It’s simply a very smart, strategic financial move. The combination of low mortgage rates and low market prices in Marin County may not be seen again, so taking advantage of them while they exist simultaneously is very wise.

This is also a great time to purchase a Marin County property to flip. Investors will find this market perfect for rehabilitating properties that have been priced low. Once these properties are repaired and restored, they can yield a nice profit margin once flipped.

Marin County is perhaps one of the most beautiful areas in the United States, and is a highly desirable area for real estate. It only stands to reason that if anyone uses this new buying strength to purchase a property, they will be richly rewarded when the market is on the upswing. Marin County Buyers are taking advantage of the lower priced market for the potential that it will certainly offer in the future.

This is a golden opportunity for anyone interested in profiting from the abundance of real estate opportunities.

Posted by:  Peter Schardt

There was great article in DS News the other day that spoke to the end of the housing crisis and cited lenders loosening up the credit standards as a major factor towards the crisis ending by year’s end. To read the full story, click here.

The analytics firm Capital Economics notes that the average credit score required to obtain a mortgage loan is 700, and while this is higher than scores required prior to the crisis, it’s about the same as one year ago. However, other market indicators point not just to the stabilization of lending standards, but also a loosening of credit availability. Banks are now lending amounts up to 3.5 times the borrowers’ income level. This is up from a low during the crisis of 3.2 times the borrowers’ earnings.

Banks are also loosening loan-to-value ratios (LTV), which denotes the clearest sign yet of an improvement in mortgage credit conditions. In contrast to a low of 74% reached in mid-2010, banks are lending at 82% LTV.

While credit conditions may have loosened slightly, some potential home buyers are struggling with credit requirements. Capital Economics points out that 8% of contract cancellations were a result of a potential buyer not qualifying for a loan. It is highly recommended that once a buyer starts to seriously look at homes, the potential buyer must get pre-qualified from a bank or lending broker. It’s the only way to know for sure that a buyer can afford the price point they are considering. Additionally, Capital Economics says, “Any improvement in credit conditions won’t be significant enough to generate actual housing price gains,” and potential ramifications from the euro zone situation do pose a threat to future credit availability.

If you would like to know more about what’s happening in the housing industry or about lending practices, give me a call at 415-755-8919, email rsmith@fhallen.com, or leave a note in the comments.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

The FHA loan limit for lower conforming interest rates was reduced to $625,500 on October 1, this year, which actually moved quite a few prospective Buyers out of the home buying process. Realtors in California lobbied pretty hard to raise the limits back up to where they were previous to October 1, which was $729,750.

What this means is that not only will Buyers in this range get a lower interest rate, but they will only have to put 3.5% down to buy a home in this range. For example, prior to the passage of this measure, if a Buyer only had 3.5% in cash to put down, they could only buy a home up to $648,000. In Marin County and for most of the Bay Area, this really won’t buy a “dream home” and Buyers were limited to whatever was available in the lower price range. With this new measure, a home buyer who puts 3.5% down can afford up to $749,000, which makes a big difference in buying power.

The passage of this extension of FHA insured mortgages will stay in effect until December 2013. It also provides for a short term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) through December 16, 2011. Both the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) and National Association of Realtors (N.A.R.) are also pushing Congress to work on a five-year NFIP plan to provide a bill that would promote certainty and avoid further disruption to real estate markets.

There was disappointment that Congress did not extend this new conforming loan limit to either Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae insured loans. There is a strong feeling that they could follow suit later this Spring, so there is still hope. The C.A.R. and N.A.R. have long advocated making permanent higher loan limits.

So let’s see, if you are considering buying a home, why is now the right time?

1. Home prices have been rolled back to 2001 levels
2. There are historically low interest rates right now
3. You can move into a home priced up to $749,000 with only 3.5% down
4. Home prices have stabilized over the year, and fewer people have had to “bail out” of their homes

Hmmm, I would say it’s an excellent time to make that jump into finding a home versus giving your money away to a land lord, and it’s a great time to sell a home because you will have more Buyers out there looking after these enhanced measures. Let’s face it, homes will not get back up to the high priced levels of 2007 for a very, very long time, and may never get back to those extraordinary high prices. The best a Seller can hope for is a gradual increase of 2-3% over the next several years.

If you need more information about buying or selling a home, give me a call at 415-755-8919 or email me at rsmith@fhallen. com.

Happy Holidays!

Posted by:  Rick Smith

The outlook from consumers improved for the month of November signaling that the concern about another recession is starting to disappear.

The Bloomberg consumer comfort index climbed to a minus 32 (which is the best reading since July) from minus 45 the previous month. The measure of current conditions climbed for the second week in a row for the period ending November 13, after sinking to an almost three-year low.

Household spending, which accounts for 70% of the economy, has picked up in the second half of the year even as stocks and confidence sank. The recovery may mean Americans are going shopping to relieve pessimism brought on by the jobless rate. The jobless rate actually was reported to drop below the 9 percent that it has been hovering around for the last year.

It sounds as though there has been pent up demand for products and that consumers are finally opening up their wallets again, although it’s too early to conclude that consumer sentiment has bottomed out.

An important indicator this week will be Black Friday and Thanksgiving sales. If consumers head out to shop this weekend despite the lack of an agreement by Congress on the debt crisis, it could mean that people are “over” the government stalemates that continue to haunt us, and are going to spend anyway. Holiday shoppers are likely to be looking for bargains again, and retailers will be competing for market share during this time frame.

Applications for unemployment decreased by 5,000 for the week as well, and is at the lowest level since April; in addition, the number of people on unemployment benefits fell to a three-year low.

Builders broke ground on more homes in October and construction permits climbed to the highest level since March 2010.

Finally, it was reported that confidence among men exceeded that of women, and Democrats are less pessimistic than Republicans for the third straight week.

Click here if you would like the full story.

Questions on how it all relates to real estate? Please don’t hesitate to call me: 415-755-8919 or email: rsmith@ fhallen.com.

Have a Wonderful and Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Probably the most important requirement from a lender is the upfront cash for a down payment on a home. To a lender, this is the rough indicator of the borrower’s financial discipline of saving up to buy a new home, in the sense that a borrower that provides a large down payment will be less likely to default on the loan.

But many buyers forget that there is also cash required for closing costs, which generally range around an additional 2% of the cost of the loan. Many of the lenders may allow the settlement costs to be rolled into the loan if you are refinancing, as all it does is make the loan amount higher, and they benefit on the interest charged over the course of the loan.

There are two ways a first time buyer can do this. One way is to agree for the home seller to pay for the home buyer’s closing costs, in return for selling the home at a higher price to recover costs of closing the loan. For example, let’s say a buyer agrees to buy a home from a seller for $600,000 and he can meet the minimum down payment of 20% or $120,000, but can’t come up with the additional $9,600 for the closing costs to settle the loan. The parties can agree to raise the price of the house to $609,600, with seller paying the closing costs.

The buyer now has to borrow $487,680 instead of $480,000, which raises the mortgage payment on a 30-year loan around $30 a month. The buyer can afford to make the higher monthly payment, but does not have the additional $9,600 to close the loan. This procedure doesn’t always work however, because now the appraiser has to agree that the house is worth more. This was pretty easy when values in the last decade were skyrocketing, as it was assumed the home would be worth more in a short amount of time. Lenders also limit the amount that sellers can contribute to closing costs at around 3% of the sales price as a way of capping over appraisals.

The second way a buyer can take care of his cash shortage is to obtain a cash contribution from the lender in exchange for a higher loan percentage. The key issue though is whether it’s really worth paying a higher interest rate. If the buyer originally could get a loan at 4%, and now they will need to pay 4.87% to secure the additional cash for closing, this increases the monthly payment to $3,123 per month from what would have been $2,835 or $289 a month. The buyer can afford it, but realize that the result of paying a higher interest will cost the buyer an additional $104,000 over the course of 30 years. The only real advantage of this is that the seller will not have to raise the sales price, and it stands a greater chance of the home appraising correctly.

There is a major silver lining of doing this for the buyer if he is in a higher tax bracket, in that in the short term, the buyer can deduct the higher interest charges off his income taxes.

The buyer can then turn around and refinance at a lower rate once he builds up a small amount of equity to possibly reduce the house payments going forward.

If you would like to know more about how this works, please don’t hesitate to call me at 415-755-8919 or email me rsmith@fhallen .com.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

The news has come that everyone has been waiting to hear, whether you are a homeowner, investor, or in fact just about anyone. The data released recently from the commerce department revealed that the economy grew 2.5% last quarter, signaling the movement towards a growing and more stable economy.

Consumer spending, particularly cars, helped boost the economy. Consumption increased 2.4%, compared to a .7% increase in the second quarter.

Much of that increase came from consumers and businesses catching up after an extremely sluggish economy the early part of the year, caused by the shortages in inventory by the Tsunami and Japanese earthquake. Japan is now back to catching up with the supply of automobiles, parts, and electronics that Americans depend on. Third quarter growth was a step in the right direction, but economists are still cautious as to whether the trend will sustain itself.

There are continued woes in the housing market, as reports are still coming in that Banks are still holding back shadow inventory in order not to glut the market with additional foreclosures and REOs and to keep prices stable. Reports about Marin housing are that there will be some additional shadow inventory that will pop up through 2013, but Marin homeowners will be spared a glut of homes being released like what has and is still happening in places like Florida, Nevada, and Arizona. This should help restore confidence to Marin homeowners by keeping their home prices stable; we may actually see some single digit growth in 2012 and beyond.

The threat of a double dip recession is behind us for the moment, although the economy is muddling along. Fears of a double dip recession grew in Spring as the economy only grew at a rate of .4%. A recession is considered two economic quarters of negative growth.

Also released were reports that the unemployment rate declined slightly as well, to 9% from 9.5%, where it has been hovering for quite some time.

Last month the government had revised its second quarter growth up to 1.3%, so it’s terrific that the economy grew at a faster rate than originally forecasted.

It helps answer the question of whether it’s a good time to buy a home in Marin.

Let’s see: Home prices are back to 2001 levels, interest rates remain at historical lows, and the economy is growing.

Hmmm….... I would say it’s an awesome time to buy a home in Marin!

If you would like more information, I would be happy to talk to you, just give me a call at 415-755-8919 or email me at .

Posted by:  Rick Smith

For Sellers, it would be great to receive an all cash offer, with no contingencies. With times as they are however, and with higher than average prices in Marin, all cash offers are not common unless a Seller has a really low-end distressed property with a low sale price. In many cases, Buyers may need to sell their home first in order to buy a new home, so it begs the question: Should Sellers accept a Contingent-Sale offer from prospective Buyers?

Until a transaction is closed, there is always risk involved. Buyers have been known to make the mistake of making another big purchase, like of a new car, just before closing on a home, which could put their loan-to-value capability at risk, and the loan could fall through. Even an all cash offer coming from overseas has a chance of never showing up.

An offer made contingent on the sale of another property is also risky as the Buyers may never sell their home; if the Sellers have taken their home off the market, the result is a waste of valuable time in possibly selling to someone else. For this reason, not many Sellers will risk it.

That said, Sellers shouldn’t ignore an offer contingent on the sale of the Buyers’ house without first exploring the possibilities, as some sales are not as risky as others. (Plus, Sellers might have the opportunity to get a higher price for their home, especially in this economy, as the Buyers will really need to give something close to the asking price, which isn’t always the case these days.) The first thing Sellers need to do is check to see if there is a valid listing agreement on the Buyers’ current property, then Sellers should call the Buyers’ listing agent to see if they can really get a sale in 30 days.

Other factors to consider are the condition and location of the Buyers’ property. Is it in pristine condition and in a great neighborhood that others find desirable? If it’s likely to sell quickly, Sellers may want to go with the contingent offer, especially if their home has been on the market for a while and they are heading into the dead of the Holiday season and winter, when property sales really slow down dramatically.

In addition, Sellers should ask their agent to talk to the Buyers’ listing agent to see if there are any foreseen problems with the Buyers’ property when releasing the contingencies to close the sale. The contract with the contingent Buyers should include a clause that requires them to notify the Sellers in writing if their deal is cancelled for any reason, and should also include an option for the Sellers to cancel the contract if they get another offer. If the Buyers have a back up offer, the Sellers may want to continue the sale.

Sellers may also want to put a provision for approving the list price of the Buyers’ house. Furthermore, Sellers may want to accept a contingent sale offer that includes a protection clause permitting the Sellers to continue to market their home for a back up offer. A release clause or kick-out clause should also be in the contract. The release clause allows the Sellers to notify the Buyers that they have a certain time period, such as 72 hours, to perform and remove their contingent-sale stipulation or withdraw.

If you would like to know more about how to proceed with or consider a contingent-sale offer, let me know, and I’ll be happy to answer any of your questions. Contact me: 415-755-8919;

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Marin has so many unique neighborhoods, yet many times I meet new Marin buyers who have not been clued in about some of Marin’s very special enclaves. Kentfield Gardens is one such neighborhood. This area is home to approximately 150 homes, primarily built in the 50s and 60s. The neighborhood is flat and is within walking distance to parks, bike paths and award-winning Bacich Elementary. Many homes back up to open space, offering lovely views and privacy.

A new listing at 7 Berens Drive is one that exemplifies Kentfield Gardens living. This home is situated on a level lot and has a wall of French doors that truly offers indoor/outdoor living. This 3 bedroom, 2 bath home has also been tastefully updated with newer hardwood floors, remodeled bathrooms, stainless appliances and concrete countertops in the kitchen, allowing one to move right in and enjoy the Marin Lifestyle.

Posted by:  Adrienne Murphy

So, you have been looking for a new home, and you finally found the perfect one. You put in an offer and low and behold, the seller accepted it. Congratulations! Then that sinking feeling comes in….. Buyer’s remorse.

It’s not unusual for home buyers to experience the feeling that maybe they made the wrong decision in buying a particular home, but it’s important to recognize it and understand how to deal with it. Here are a few last minute regrets that you may encounter and ways to rethink and counteract them.

I left money on the table, I should have paid less for the home

This is a classic regret that just about every home buyer encounters. The day after the offer is signed, sometimes even just right after signing, buyers beat themselves up for not going in lower and holding out against the seller’s counter offers. Conquer the remorse by understanding that your decision made perfect sense when you made it, and it did result in making the deal.

Unless you realize that the home really doesn’t fit your needs or you get some additional information regarding the home’s value, such as a low appraisal or major defects discovered when the inspections are done, a deal is a deal. Stop torturing yourself and let it go. Be content that you bought a home at or near the bottom of the market, and be thankful that you’ll be saving thousands in the long run with today’s great interest rates. Even if you think you might have paid a few thousand too much, the low interest rates will more than compensate for that over the lifetime of the loan.

I’m so scared about making this 30-year commitment

Thirty years seems like a long time, but here’s how to re-think it. You will always need a place to live, and with any luck, you’ll be content to stay in the home long beyond your 30-year commitment. Unless you have access somewhere to free living space, here are your options:

• Rent a home and pay a landlord the rest of your life
• Buy a home and pay cash
• Use mortgage financing to buy a home and make payments over time

Realize that the commitment of paying on a 30-year mortgage, that you have the power to pay off over time, is still much better than the alternative of throwing your money away on rent and having nothing to show for it. It’s true that you are bound by a mortgage, but remember you can always sell the property. Just remember to make sure that you are selecting your home wisely and thinking about the resale value when you want to sell. Choosing the best home in a bad neighborhood, or buying a home in what’s considered a poor school district, may affect your ability to sell down the line. Also, you are not totally bound to paying a mortgage for 30 years: you can shave 5 to 10 years off your commitment by paying a little extra each month towards your mortgage principal. If you get a raise, and you really don’t need it to pay off other bills, build it into paying off the mortgage on a regular schedule.

I can’t believe I went through all my savings to buy this house

Gone are the days of getting into a house for free or with very little down. Lenders are requiring down payments that put more commitment to the buyer in purchasing a property. Perhaps you watched your nest egg build up over a few years, and suddenly writing a few checks takes it all away. It can be worrisome to some people, but keep in mind that you didn’t throw the money away, you just made a large investment in a home that you and your family will live and flourish in. This is precisely why you saved the cash in the first place, and if in 30 years you decide to downsize because you don’t need that much space, you could make a lot of money when you sell that can help with your retirement.

Finally, due to the timing of making your investment in buying a home today, you are buying a home at 2001 prices and at the absolute best interest rates in over 50 years!

Feel good about your investment. You did a great job!!!

If you would like to know more about investing in a new home, please email me: or give me a call: 415-755-8919.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Many buyers today hunt for months, and sometimes even for years, before finding the right home. Even if buyers have narrowed their hunt to a specific area and price range, finding the ideal home can still be difficult. However, there are certain indicators you can use to determine: “This is the one!”

1. You instantly feel possessive about the home
   A winning home will bring a smile to one’s face, and the urge to write an offer as quickly as possible so as not to lose out can take over. If another agent shows up while you are viewing the home and you secretly look at the other potential buyer with daggers in your eyes, that’s also a pretty strong signal that that home is “The One.” If you walk through the place wondering how quickly you can get an offer in, and how much you should offer to beat other buyers out or to lock it down quickly, it might be “The One.”
2. You start dismissing the home’s flaws or shortcomings
   Let’s face it, if you have been searching for a home for a long time, you come to realize that there is no perfect home. There may be some that are close to perfect, but 9 times out of 10 you will have to make some allowances in what you think is the perfect home. Smart buyers should be aware that the aesthetics of a beautifully staged home with amazing curb appeal can hypnotize buyers, leaving them blind to negative property features. However, if you have determined that a home has 75-80% of the things on your wish list, and then start rationalizing that you didn’t necessarily need the other 20% (so, you wanted a flat back yard for the kids, but now you have a hill. So what. By the time kids are in the 4th or 5th grade, they never go outside anyway, they just want to play video games with their friends), it’s “The One!”
3. The bathroom and kitchen don’t disgust you
   For some innate reason, the kitchen and bathrooms are significant keys to what  I call “gross out potential.”  There is just something going on with those rooms that seems exceptionally intimate. So if you find a home and are getting excited about the marble bathroom floor and shower, or love the way the built-in cookbook stand on the countertop looks, those are signs that you’re falling in love with the property and that it’s “The One.”
4. You envision where your own family, furniture, and decor go in the home
   The best staging helps prospective buyers envision themselves living in a home. If you find yourself inserting your own sofa in the living area and wondering how  it will look,  or you visualize your daily meditation in the breakfast nook, or even discuss taking walls out entirely, it’s possible you may be in “The One.”
5. You lose interest in seeing other homes
   I took some buyers out that had been searching for a home for six months. I planned to show them seven homes, but when they got to the fourth property they declared they had found “The One” and there was no need to go any further. I wanted them to finish looking at the other three, if for no other reason but to confirm that was the right home. They went along with me and viewed the other three, but then promptly wanted to put an offer on number four before someone else moved on it. They bought the house and live there today, still extremely happy with their choice.

When you find “The One,” continuing on the house hunt you may have obsessed about for months or years may seem like a waste of energy. Trust me, if you have any of the above symptoms, you most likely have found “The One” and you should go with your gut instinct to go for it!

If you have any other questions about the home buying experience, just give me a call: 415-755-8919; or email me: rsmith@fhallen.com.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Once you have decided to buy a new home, you will most likely be interested in getting a great price on a great home, and avoiding homes that may cost you a good deal of money in improvements or repairs down the line. If you have been doing your homework, and you see an unbelievable price on what you think is a great home, the first thing you should do is to have your Real Estate Agent pull the comparable sales (comps) in the neighborhood. If the home is significantly lower than the comps in the neighborhood, it could signal that the sellers have priced it that way because they know there may be issues that need to be addressed.

Here are five strategies that potential home buyers can act on to prevent buying a lemon:

1. Attend your inspections. Probably the single most important thing to do after getting into contract is scheduling inspections, which at a minimum should include a pest and general home inspection from reputable companies (names of which your agent can supply). Once the inspections are scheduled, it’s important that you be there to talk with the inspector so he can show you any items that may need repair. Unlike just reading a report that spells out all the issues, the inspector can give you an opinion about how major the needed repairs may actually be. A report will give you most every tiny repair that a home may need, which could potentially be scary, so you need to understand which repairs are minor, and which ones may require a great deal of money to fix.
2. Read the reports and disclosures. After the inspections, you will get lengthy reports generated by the inspectors, and reports and disclosures provided by the seller. Things to watch for and investigate further include repairs that the Seller completed themselves, repeated repairs on the same home system, water and leakage issues, and any reports of non-functioning mechanical systems of the home. Be sure to look at your own inspection reports carefully and question anything you don’t understand. You have hired the inspectors, so don’t hesitate to call them on the phone for further clarification and ask what they think the cost might be for a potential repair. If they don’t know, be prepared to get a specialist involved to give you an estimate so you know what you are looking at in real dollars and cents.
3. Get multiple repair bids while your pest and roof inspectors may give you an estimate of repairs, generally a home inspector will not. Be prepared to get two to three estimates of what a major repair might be while you are still in the contingency period to avoid surprises; use these estimates to provide for renegotiation of credits or a price reduction on the property.
4. Don’t expect that you can do it yourself inexpensively unless you are a construction professional, most major home repair projects require a lot of time and money, more than you would expect at the outset. It is still wise to get the repair estimates from professionals, so that you can at least be armed with the information and what it will cost if you can’t complete them yourself.
5. Price reductions and credits are better than seller repairs. Remember, if you are asking for a credit, you will be able to pick the professional, and the quality of materials yourself, and you can be assured the job is done to your liking. A Seller has a vested interest in getting a repair done at the lowest possible price and may cut corners and skip quality materials. It is much easier on both the buyer and seller if you request a price reduction or credit for repair at the close of escrow.

These are some of the best ways to avoid getting stuck with a money pit. If you would like to know other ways or need further explanation, please email me or give me a call at 415-755-8919, and I’ll be happy to help!

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Selling a home today is very competitive, so making a good impression on prospective buyers is critical. There are a few home improvement projects that you can do that can make a huge impact and could give you a big return on your investment when you decide to sell.

1. Painting
   This one is sort of obvious, but it is the first thing you should do to increase your home’s appeal. Go for white or neutral colors that will lighten your rooms. Now is not the time to experiment with colors like fuchsia and lime green as you could turn off quite a bit of your audience of buyers. Buyers have an easier time imagining how they would infuse their own personalities on a “blank canvas.”
   
   Painting lightens and brightens rooms and instantly removes scuffs and dings that may have happened during your ownership. Adding fresh exterior paint is also an option, but if you are on a limited budget you may just want to paint the trim, doors, and shutters to improve the appearance at a low cost.
   
    
2. Landscaping
   Curb appeal is important! Buyers will be more excited about looking inside your home if the outside looks clean, trimmed, and inviting. Make sure you mow the lawn, trim the hedges, pull the weeds, and plant a few colorful annuals to improve the look of the exterior. Make the landscaping look low key and low maintenance. Although you may want to turn your yard into an English garden, there are many people out there that don’t want to take on the cost and time of the maintenance. Think clean, simple, and elegant to get the biggest boost in value.
   
    
3. Cleaning and de-cluttering
   As much as you love your family photos, start preparing your home by removing all personal photos from walls, dressers and counters, and remove all the “stuff” that ends up cluttering tabletops. Buyers want to envision their lives in your home, not yours. Personal items and the clutter they create have shown time and time again to block buyers’ ability to create this vision.
   
   Also, take a look at how much furniture you have in each room. Buyers are evaluating the size and space of each room in the house. Remove furniture that takes up too much space and fills up rooms. Make sure clothes, boxes, and mail are properly stored out of sight. Clean the home, and keep cleaning while your home is on the market. Kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms should look “unlived in.” Don’t forget to clean windows, doors, and floors, and to polish the appliances.
   
    
4. Plumbing repairs
   Make sure you have fixed any leaky faucets and toilets throughout the home. Water leaks under a cabinet could provoke and disgust a prospective buyer, and if the space under your sink looks like a cluttered mess, be sure to store or toss all the half-empty bottles and containers to free up some space.
   
    
5. Staging
   Staging your home can make a dramatic difference in the price your home sells at. Removing your personal belongings and replacing them with more artwork and decor, and adding newer looking furniture can make a difference. When the staging work is well done, it can convert your home from “just another listing” to a home that buyers can envision themselves in; a place where they can start the new life of their dreams. Professional stagers have special skills and materials they use, and know that items like lamps, pillows, artwork, and even furniture can tell a visual story.

These are the top five things I would do when getting a home ready to put on the market. Talk to your agent as there may be additional things of value that could contribute to getting a better price. If you need more information or ideas about getting your home ready to sell, don’t hesitate to call me at 415-755-8919 or email me at for a free evaluation.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Buying a home is very different today from when homes were sold a few years ago. Then, the house hunt was fun, there were only a few inspections that needed to get done, and you quickly closed the escrow and moved in! Sounded fairly simple, and the whole process took around 30 days. Now, as soon as a buyer decides to make the move, it sometimes becomes a test of nerves through the entire escrow process, as contracts often get cancelled, and buyers can’t relax until they get the keys in hand.

Here are three of the most common reasons today why contracts get cancelled, and a few steps on how to defuse some of the problems in successfully closing an escrow.

Problem #1: Appraisal Comes In Too Low

Some buyers think and hope that the appraisal will come in low so they can negotiate a better price from the seller. If the appraisal comes in just a little bit lower than the contract price, you can usually get the seller to lower the price or have the buyer kick in an extra few bucks to make the sale happen. However, there are so many sellers that are barely breaking even at current sale prices, as they may have purchased only a few years ago when prices were substantially higher, that when the appraisal comes in 5- 20% lower, they can’t afford to sell and most buyers won’t budge.

Advice: The best way to avoid this when buying a new home is to have your agent check the comparable sales in the neighborhood to make sure you are buying the home at the right price to begin with. Make sure you are not making a high offer over the comps, even if you get into a multiple offer situation, unless you are prepared to deal with a surprise in the appraisal a couple of weeks from closing the escrow. It’s also important to choose a local mortgage broker who originates his own loans, as these lenders have the ability to choose from a smaller pool of appraisers who know the area better than an outside area appraiser, who doesn’t necessarily know the neighborhood.

Problem #2: Property Condition Issues

After the home market crash a few years ago, many lenders found themselves holding properties that were in awful condition, and when they were taken over in foreclosure, they were worth thousands less than the market value they were purchased for originally. Lenders now pay much more attention to the appraisal and the ragged condition of distressed properties being sold. Homes that have extensive wood rot, termites, dangerous decks, missing appliances, sinks, or electrical work, will raise a flag, and need to have these issues resolved prior to the lender accepting the loan.

This is tough, because if the property being purchased is a bank-owned REO, the sellers will refuse to fix the properties 9 times out of 10, since the buyer is getting such a rock bottom deal. When the property is an REO and is listed “as is,” the bank really means it. It is bought “as is” with no other credits to fix the property condition.

Advice: If you are buying a distressed property, make sure you understand the requirements of the lender on what they will or will not accept as a minimum condition of the property and keep that standard in mind when hunting for a home. Some buyers have the money to make the repairs, and may be willing to pay for them if they know they are getting a great deal, but other buyers may only have the cash to close the deal, and any extra to invest in further repairs may not be available.

Problem #3: Loan Approvals

Buyers know they need to get pre-approved for a mortgage before they start house hunting, and many assume that once they are pre-approved, that is all that needs to be done to get the loan. Many don’t realize this is just the first of a long list of things that have to happen before the loan is finally approved. In fact, many buyers become pre-approved months before the purchase of the home, and things can change in the process. If you have taken on more credit card debt for example, this may throw you out of qualifying for a loan. The lender may have a long list of questions, that seem like picky questions, about the appraisal, about the buyers, where the funds are coming from, divorce decrees, employment status if they are moving from another part of the country, etc. It never seems like they ask for everything at once, thus it can take longer than the standard 17 days written in the contract for it to close.

Until final approval is in place from a lender, it is unwise for buyers to lift a loan contingency as it could lead to a loss of their deposit if the loan doesn’t come through and they have to default on the purchase of the property. Many buyers will ask for an extension from the seller, and the seller may grant the extension, especially if there is not a back up offer in place, but I have also seen sellers cancelling the contract as well, as they become frustrated with the buyers, and want to move on to sell their home to someone else whom they know will close.

Advice: The best advice is to be prepared for lots of document verification and all kinds of requests, and to move as quickly as possible to provide what the lender is requesting. Both buyer and real estate agent should be checking on the loan every few days just to ensure everything is on track and there are no surprises, and to avoid having to ask for an extension for the loan contingency.

These are just three reasons why a contract might get killed, and there are obviously many more. If you would like more information on how you can avoid issues when buying a home, please contact me or leave a note in the comments.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

As the computer age has evolved, there are a lot of users who have decided to utilize websites such as Redfin and Trulia for getting information about comparables of what price their home is worth in today’s market. They are shocked to find that when they talk to a Realtor, the values are sometimes completely different from what the website information reports.

Real estate websites have transformed the whole experience for consumers and have made what used to be private information that was difficult to get, namely listing and sales data about homes across the county, easily accessible to the masses.

However, you have to remember, these are all computer programs, and there is nothing personalizing the data to determine the accurate value for your home.

What’s involved is a computer taking the location and description of your home (the number of bedrooms, baths and square footage), from public records from the county recorder’s office, or from a recent listing, and comparing it to others that have sold recently with similar data on record. But what if nothing has sold in your neighborhood for a while?

The computer cannot necessarily distinguish differences in a property’s condition or aesthetics, nor does it correct for whether the house two blocks over was a short sale or foreclosure.

Depending on where you live, how similar homes are to one another in your area, the level of sales activity and level of accuracy in the public records for your house, the “comparables” (or comps) really aren’t that comparable at all.

If you live in a subdivision where the homes are fairly cookie-cutter, such as in neighborhoods around Terra Linda and a few neighborhoods in Novato, then you are likely to get a good set of comparables, and a value estimate that’s at least in the ballpark. But in most areas of Marin, the homes vary pretty dramatically even within a neighborhood.

For some examples of what might skew the comps, please consider:

1. If your home is older and has had a lot of improvements or even additions that aren’t in the county records.
2. If your homes in your area are very different from one another, you might get bad comps.
3. If you live in a neighborhood very close to another neighborhood where homes have a much higher or lower value than your area. Maybe you live in a different school district or even the other side of the city limits. I live in Kentfield, which is among the better school districts in Marin. However if you go just over the hill a couple of blocks away, you are in the San Rafael school district that has good schools, but doesn’t score quite as well as Kentfield, so the property values are much lower.
4. If your home is in an area where homes are very dense, the algorithm might jump over many properties to get a relatively dissimilar one even a 1/2 mile away.
5. Finally, and most importantly, if your property has been well-maintained and in sparkling condition with all the great aesthetics a property can offer, but the comparable property that was recently sold was run down and in bad condition, you might get a lower comparable of what your property is really worth.

The data provided by these web sites can be very useful for trying to stay on top of home sale prices in your neighborhood or area. However, they are less useful, in my opinion, for placing values on a property.

When it’s time to sell your home, you really need a good Real Estate agent to come in and figure out what it’s worth. No computer is as accurate as a living, breathing local real estate professional who sees and sells all different types of homes in your area and knows what able and willing buyers will actually pay for them, especially in a wide a widely varying county such as Marin, where just about every property is different, even if they are next door to each other.

It’s important for sellers to interview a few listing agents to get their views on what the are properties are really worth, then to go with the agent they feel best about, not just the one who says their home is worth the most. In many cases it might not be, and the property could take a huge amount of time to sell or may not sell at all.

If you would like more information, please don’t hesitate to call me at 415-755-8919 or email me at for free advice on what your home may potentially be worth.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Interest rates have fallen to record lows, and a lot of homeowners are taking advantage of the terrific savings, especially since some of the homes may be underwater, to at least reduce their house payments.

However, homeowners who anticipate that they will want to sell in the next couple of years need to understand what they may net if they re-finance right now. Some owners view re-financing as a way to save money on their current mortgage. Borrowers who do this often ignore the impact of the re-finance on the size of the loan balance that they will have to pay when they sell.

For example: Say the current balance on a 4.125% mortgage is $300,000, with a payment of $1,685 and 23 years remaining. The borrower expecting to sell in two years refinances into a new interest only adjustable rate loan at the same rate, reducing his house payment to $1,031 per month, $654 per month reduction. Sounds pretty good, right?

The closing costs are $6,000, but the borrower has reduced his payment $654, which over two years sums to $15,696. By logic, the owner thinks he is ahead by $9,986, which is the difference between the two sums.

What he has overlooked, however, is that if he would have stayed with his original loan, he had paid down the balance by $16,307, which would have resulted in the additional net proceeds going into his pocket at the time of sale. What he thought was a gain of $9,986, is actually a loss of $6,321. Of course, if the new loan has a significantly lower interest rate than the original loan, the refinance could result in a larger net proceeds at the time of sale.

Interest rates are definitely on the very low side right now, and if the rates are significantly lower than your original loan, it may be well worthwhile to lock in a new low rate. If you are planning on moving anytime soon, however, I would definitely make sure to talk to your accountant about it first, just to make sure you are getting the greatest savings possible, and you will be netting as much money as possible, at the time of sale.

If you would like to know more give a call at 415-755-8919 or email me at rsmith@fhallen.com

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Home ownership rates have dropped significantly since the 2009 recession, as many people lost jobs, and were underwater on their home values. Currently, the home ownership rate is around 59.2%, which is the lowest level since the Census Bureau began keeping quarterly records in 1965. Falling home prices along with reduced access to credit have kept may prospective buyers out of the market.

The top benefits for home ownership haven’t changed however. Here are five good reasons why you should buy:

1. Savings – You could be saving money by buying a home once you consider all the tax breaks; and once you build up equity, you could have an automatic savings account for retirement or for purchasing another home once it comes time to sell.

2. Tax Breaks – Home owners are able to take the mortgage interest as tax deductions each year, and also benefit from great rebates and credits associated with upgrades made to the home.

3. Equity – When you rent and pay a landlord, it’s basically money thrown away. When you are paying on a mortgage, you are paying towards owning something. You may still owe $200,000 but in time your home can be worth much more and you stand to make a large gain when it comes time to sell.

4. Budgeting – Unless you are living in a rent-controlled apartment, each lease renewal could mean an increase in the rent. As un-occupancy rates are at around 2%, rents have gone up an average of 6% this year, and it’s looking like they will go up again if the predicted un-occupancy rates remain low. If you were paying $3,000 a month to rent a home, that’s an average of an additional $180 per month or an extra $2,160 per year. With a fixed-rate mortgage you know what you are going to pay for the life of the loan, so you can budget your money more effectively.

5. Security – When you own, it’s yours. You can paint, improve, decorate, add landscaping – because it’s your investment for life.

Homeowners are in neighborhoods, giving an owner a chance to meet other people in the neighborhood to build friends and relationships. Studies have shown owners rank themselves much healthier that their renter counterparts, because of these relationships. Experts have recommended for years that if you are planning on staying in the same place for five or more years, then buying becomes a better deal. You will have time to recoup any extra expenses found in closing costs and you are now making an investment through price appreciation.

Home affordability is at near record highs. It is a great time to run the numbers to see if it makes good financial sense for you .

If it does, then you’re in store for a wealth of benefits that only homeowners can experience!

If you would like to know more, please give me a call at 415-755-8919 or email me at . I’d be happy to help.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Labor Day weekend signifies many things: the unofficial official end of summer, back-to-school, and one last three-day weekend hurrah before fall and eventually the holidays, which always seem to come too soon.

Historically, Labor Day constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. And what better way to celebrate hard work than with a nice, relaxing long weekend.

Here are our top picks for Labor Day activities around the North Bay:

Downtown Days on the Green

Saturday, September 3
901 Sherman (next to City Hall), Novato
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Free concert on Novato’s City Green featuring local blues/country/rock band Lucky Dog.

EcoFair Marin

Sunday, September 4
Marin County Fairgrounds, San Rafael
10 AM – 7 PM

The first annual community celebration to inspire a healthy and sustainable Marin. Activities include speakers and exhibitors, music and activities for the whole family. Every feature of EcoFair Marin – from public to back-of-house operations – will be sustainably produced.

Sand Sculpture Contest

Sunday, September 4
Drakes Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore
9 AM – 3:30 PM

This annual contest is one of the most popular family-friendly events in the North Bay and Reason #46 Why We Love Where We Live

Sausalito Art Festival

Saturday, September 3 – Monday, September 5
Marinship Park, Sausalito
10 AM – 6 PM (Sat/Sun); 10 AM – 5 PM (Mon)

Renowned outdoor event held annually Labor Day weekend in Sausalito, California, since 1952. The 2011 Art Festival will feature over 275 artists and live performances by The Romantics, Men Without Hats, Kenny Loggins and more. The festival is part of Reason #10 Why We Love Where We Live.

Sausalito Open Studios

Saturday, September 3 – Monday, September 5
Industrial Center Building, Sausalito
11 AM – 6 PM

Sausalito Artists at Work, a group of local artists, will host open studios during the Sausalito Arts Festival. The studios are located in the Industrial Center Building, a short walk from the Festival.

Wine Country Weekend

Friday, September 2 – Sunday, September 4
Wineries throughout Sonoma County
See website for times

An epicurean event unlike any other, Sonoma Wine Country Weekend combines the elegance, sophistication, and style of Taste of Sonoma at MacMurray Ranch, with the festivity, frivolity and fundraising of the Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction at Cline Cellars for three unforgettable days of celebration.

Is there a Labor Day weekend community event that we missed? Add it in the comments to let everyone know what else is going on this weekend.

Posted by:  Frank Howard Allen Realtors

As the stock market has declined significantly over the last four weeks, there is a silver lining to an otherwise dark cloud for investors: as many people cashed in equities and moved money into bonds, interest rates have moved to historically low levels.

Based on these low rates, you may be considering refinancing your home to lower your house payments. Does this make sense? Aside from lowering your interest rate and house payment, let’s take a look at how much you can potentially save in the long run from going to a 15-year fixed rate.

Depending on when you bought your home and the rate at which it was financed, switching to a 15-year loan may result in a little bit of a higher monthly payment. For example, in my case, when I bought a property in 2005 I got a good interest rate at the time – 5.75% for a 30-year fixed loan. After refinancing, my new rate is 3.87% for 15-years and my total monthly house payment is about $50.00 a month higher than my 30-year payment.

You may be asking yourself, why would I want to pay more than my current loan? Isn’t the goal to pay less?

To answer the question, you have to look at how much you would be saving over the course of the loan. Assuming your current 30-year loan payment is $2,000 per month, you would be paying a total of $720,000 over the course of 30 years or 360 months. If you go with a 15-year loan at an increase of $50 per month, you will instead pay $2,050 per month, for a total of $369,000 over the course of 15 years or 180 months. A savings of $350,100!

Some people can’t afford a 15-year loan as their income can’t support the higher monthly bill. Those worried about job security or a business failure may opt to go with a 30-year loan to lower their monthly payments. It’s basically the cheapest way to borrow money. However, if you are pretty confident in your income being stable and you can afford a little bit extra going towards your monthly payment, then I say, “Go for it!”

When comparing the two types of loans, there are other things to consider as well. If you are currently stuck with a high mortgage payment and you can’t save any money for retirement or for your child’s education, you may want to opt for the lower 30-year house payment in order to sock the money into a savings account for those future expenses. You should also consider the tax break advantages in that a 30-year loan will provide a bigger tax savings at first, as you are paying mostly interest for the first 15 years, which is all tax deductible. However, Congress is currently considering measures to wipe out the current mortgage interest and fees as a tax deduction, so a 30-year loan then becomes less appealing. That’s a whole other story – and I would encourage you to write your congressperson a letter to share your disappointment if that happens, as it currently is a hot topic in Washington.

If you would like further explanation or more information, please don’t hesitate to call me at 415-755-8919 or email me at rsmith@fhallen. com for more details.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

As property and home values have declined over the last three years, there may be an opportunity for you to lower your property taxes as well.

Property values are back to 2002 to 2003 levels, or roughly down 30-40% from their peak in 2007, depending on the neighborhood and town you live in. If you bought your home between the years 2003 to 2008, you may have experienced a decline in your home value as well. There isn’t anything you can do to change the tax rate, which is roughly around 1.25% of your property value. (This can vary from town to town depending on the amount of school bonds, emergency services, library services, etc. that your community supports.)

It is currently estimated that over 50% of home owners are paying too much in property taxes today. What you can do is to file an appeal with the county. To do this you have to go to the tax assessor’s website and pull similar properties in your neighborhood that have sold in the last six months. You need to be sure they are similar in size, have the same square footage, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, garage, etc. Before you pull those numbers, it’s a good idea just to make sure the assessor has your own home recorded properly. If your records have been incorrectly overstated, then you want to get that corrected first.

Armed with this knowledge, and having printed out the neighbors’ lower assessments, you can file an appeal. About one fourth of these appeals result in a lower assessment.

Filing an appeal is pretty simple: just print out the form from your county tax assessor website and provide the information you have collected. The assessor will look at each of the comparable property sales and question homes that were foreclosed on or other distressed sales. Note that since the housing market has been weak, there may not be enough comparable sales to make a judgment. You may have to hire a professional appraiser to value your home, which can run between $400 to $500 for the assessment. You can also hire a tax lawyer or property tax consultant to do the leg work of the appeal, if you are willing to pay for it. A property tax lawyer can charge 30 to 50% of the tax savings for the year.

The effort could save you a lot of money not only for the current year but in years to come. According to California law, the most the state can raise your property value is a maximum of 2% per year.

Say you bought a home for $1.2M in the peak year of 2007, and your property taxes, without the local taxes included, were 1% of the property value, or $12,000. If your home value decreased by a minimum of 30%, your value could be $840,000 today; your property taxes would be 1% of the value or $8,400, for a savings of $3,600 a year!

While knowing your property value has declined stings, at least you can save a pretty substantial sum by getting it re-assessed. You should also check to see what interest rate you are paying on your current mortgage, as it could also make sense to get your home refinanced, since interest rates are at a 50-year low. Between refinancing and the re-assessment, you could save hundreds of dollars each month for just a little bit of effort.

If you need more information or have any questions, don’t hesitate to call me at 415-755-8919 or email me at .

Posted by:  Rick Smith

There was an interesting article on August 17 in the Housing Wire news publication that talks to the fact that mortgage applications increased at a rate of 4.1% for the week ending August 12.

I’ll give you a quick synopsis of what was said, and you can find the complete article here.

The article states that, as a result of the recent stock market plunge, interest rates fell to the lowest level since the 1950s as people pulled money out of equities and put them into bonds. Based on what happened last week, I too decided to refinance my home this week at a ridiculously low rate of 3.78%.

The significant drop allowed me to refinance my 30-year loan and convert it into a 15-year loan where I am basically paying about the same monthly amount, but now it will be paid off 10 years earlier. My total savings over the life of the loan will be a whopping $240,000!!!

These lower rates will also allow first-time buyers to qualify for a larger loan amount and buy a better house than what they may have been able to do just 30 days ago.

Home refinancing comprised of almost 79% of the loan applications last week; the average contract interest rate across the country fell to an average rate of 4.32% for a 30-year loan.

I would also suspect, that as a result of the stock market declines last week, home prices could dip, as an incentive for Buyers to buy now, rather than the seller risking a longer time on the market to sell their home.

July home sales dipped 3.4% in Marin. I have to add that July 2010 was one of the worst months we have in real estate, so the number of sales were already at a low basis to begin with. As sellers see lower activity in the market, they’re faced with having to reduce their prices to move homes that have been sitting on the market since spring.

If a buyer were thinking about selling versus renting, now would be a great time to buy. Rent prices in Marin have increased 6% over last year and the vacancy rates are at extremely low rate of about 2%. Rents will only continue to go up with these low vacancy rates, as it becomes a landlord’s market in getting higher lease rates.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Before you put an offer in on a new home you need to find a Mortgage Broker or bank to prequalify you.

Here are five important questions you should ask your mortgage professional:

1. Are you working with a Bank or a Broker or both?

Mortgage lenders that are banks have more control over the appraisal process, which is helpful as they can find local appraisers who understand the neighborhood you are looking at and can better ensure the appraisal comes in at the stated value that you negotiated in the contract. Brokerages with their own in-house bank and a large list of lenders provide a larger range of fallback options than plain old banks, and that can be an advantage if you are having trouble acquiring a loan.

2. What are the charges on a Good Faith Estimate?

A Good Faith Estimate is a pretty clear description of all the costs associated with acquiring a loan, but you should still ask your broker to go through the costs to make sure you understand everything. While the estimate shows all the costs, it sometimes doesn’t show the actual amount of funds you’ll need to close the loan, so ask your representative to prepare a fee sheet or estimate of funds as early in the transaction as possible.

3. How long will it take to close my loan, and how much time do I need to release my loan and appraisal contingencies?

This is a very important question because there is no standard time period. Some lenders can get everything ready to lift contingencies in 10 days, while others need up to 30 days, depending on any complications on the loan. Whatever the time period is, that needs to be stated in the contract because you don’t want to have to extend your contingencies, as it may throw you out of the contract if the seller doesn’t want to extend.

4. Are there any fees for the loan application and approval process?

You should ask to see if there are any fees associated with the process and understand that there is always a fee for an appraisal. A Buyer will have to pay for the appraisal up front prior to the investigation whether the home appraises for the contract value or not.

5. How long have you been doing this?

Mortgage professionals that have been around a long time know how to troubleshoot and work around issues in advance, which is essential in hiring a lender. You can even ask the lender to provide references to check to see how efficient the lender has been in the past in closing loans. If you get a relatively “green” broker, they may not know all the ins and outs of handling issues when they arise, and you may not be able to close the loan on time…It’s a lot easier if you know the loan is in the hands of a seasoned professional who can be trusted with your largest asset and the largest financial obligation you may ever have.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

So you have put an offer on a home, the Seller has accepted it, you’ve done all your inspections and got the financing for the loan lined up – Hurray, you are ready to close escrow and are almost the proud owner of a new home! While you may be inclined to sit back and relax, this is still an important part of the buying process.

Here are four key things you need to know when getting ready to close escrow:

1. Don’t Make Any Large Purchases

Most people understand they shouldn’t go out and buy a new car when they are ready to buy a new home, but you would be surprised how many people don’t know you also shouldn’t open any new credit card accounts to buy new appliances or open up financing for the remodel of a kitchen or bathroom for your new home. New accounts can show up on the account endangering the deal, generating a surprise “no deal” at the time of closing. Lenders also check the funds on your bank account to make sure no unexplained large amounts of money have either appeared or disappeared. They know that sometimes borrowers are inclined to borrow money from friends and family just before closing to help pay for the close. The lender wants to make sure you don’t have any outstanding obligations to repay that may interfere with paying on their mortgage note.

2. Disclose Everything When You First Apply for the Loan

Today’s underwriters are real sticklers for reviewing and re-reviewing facts on your loan application. As the lending guidelines have toughened up, so have the underwriters and lenders. Sometimes you may have a chain of underwriters reviewing your loan in order to close the deal. Understandably, the underwriter is the one who is responsible for funding hundreds of thousands of dollars for the loan, so they want to make sure everything is totally buttoned up and there are no mistakes when they are responsible for making the loan.

3. Watch the Closing Dates

Once the closing dates have been established and you have locked in the interest rate, make sure you understand how long that rate is locked in for. Many times a Buyer can get an approval and lock a rate during a short sale, but since a short sale can take anywhere from 3 to 6 months, the rate that was locked can expire. Now you may be looking at a higher rate, which may knock you out of qualifying for the loan, as your income to debt ratio has changed. Make sure both your Real Estate Agent and Mortgage Broker are in tune with what’s going on with your loan at all times so you can avoid any surprises, and solve issues as quickly as possible when they come up. If you are buying a short sale property or REO, make sure the Mortgage Broker knows this up front, so they don’t lock in the interest rate too quickly, and they have plenty of time to close without endangering your loan rate lock. Also, on a short sale or REO, it is advised that you keep a little bit of a cushion of cash for any unexpected surprises in case the closing is delayed for reasons beyond your control.

4. Review Your Closing Documents In Advance

Buyers should work with the Title Company and Mortgage Brokers to review the closing documents at least one day in advance. If you have to review a ton of papers and you have already determined your move dates, you want to avoid any surprises that could delay the close of escrow and prevent you from moving into your new home as planned. The best thing is to get the documents in advance and review the interest rate, the loan amount, the monthly mortgage payment, and closing costs. If you have any questions, you can get clarification before the close date and surface and resolve any issues, without disrupting the close of escrow.

Avoiding surprises before the close of escrow can really prevent a great deal of frustration and worry at the time of closing. Pre-prepare for any issues that may arise, communicate daily with your Real Estate Agent and Mortgage Broker, and above all, move as quickly as possible when you are asked to provide additional documentation. This will keep you on track for the smooth close of escrow so you can get into your new home on time.

Questions? Leave them in the comments or contact me: 415-755-8919 or rsmith@fhallen.com.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Credit: Brandi Korte via Flickr

We’ve been saving this one. Reason #100 why we love where we live is the Golden Gate Bridge. The elegant structure has graced our landscape for nearly 75 years (with the anniversary in 2012), yet remains to this day an awe-inspiring work of art and engineering.

With its soaring towers, 4,200-foot long suspension span, striking, distinctive red color, and licorice-like cables, our Golden Gate appears magical. Add to that its setting against the backdrop of the skyline of San Francisco, the royal blue ocean and bay, and the green rolling hills of the Marin headlands, and it’s no wonder it’s famous the world over and draws thousands of visitors every year.

But that’s just our view as drivers, pedestrians, and admirers from afar. We wanted to learn what it’s like for those who experience the bridge in a different way – by actually working on it. We were fortunate enough to be able to connect with Tim Hanson, a Marin resident and one of the handful of people who care for the bridge on a daily basis. Here’s our conversation:

Credit: Brandi Korte via Flickr

Tim, what does your work involve?

I run a paint crew and we are currently working at the north end on the structure beneath the roadway. This entails rigging and setting up the sand blasting equipment in a contained area, doing a full removal of the existing paint and applying fresh primer and top coat.

What is it like to be one of the few who work on the bridge?

I feel privileged to work on this great structure and to have such a spectacular view from ‘my office’ but don’t get me wrong, it’s hard work taking care of the bridge and we are constantly battling wind, fog, cold and moisture.

Can you share a fact that not many people know? Or correct a misconception?

Credit: John K. Steddin

It’s a common misconception that we start painting at one end of the bridge, get to the end and start over. Crews are sent to work on specific areas which have the greatest need. Some areas need more paint than others because of corrosion; the weather patterns come in and corrode some areas faster than others.

What is the most fascinating aspect of the bridge for you?

The ever changing scenery and atmosphere: weather patterns, the ships, whales, sail boats and, of course, all the interesting people from all over the world.

Though for some the Golden Gate has probably become just a routine means of getting from point A to point B, for many of us in the North Bay it never ceases to be a magnificent, living masterpiece – and the most wonderful sign that one is home.

A special thank you to Tim and Nancy Hanson for their contributions.

Follow along as the full list unfolds – 100 Reasons Why We Love Where We Live

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Posted by:  Frank Howard Allen Realtors

Though we’re surrounded by water in the North Bay, falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves, the lap of the bay on the shore, or the flow of a rushing creek is not something many of us often get to experience – unless you’re among the few who have discovered the many wonderful camping options available in Marin, Sonoma and Napa.

Yes, with the recession came an increase in popularity – and necessity – of the stay-cation, and camping close to home is an ideal option, especially when you consider the amazing sites that our North Bay offers.

Credit: Emily Hoyer via Flickr

Steep Ravine in Marin is considered by many to offer the most stunning location. Located on a bluff above Stinson Beach, the rustic cabins (no running water, electricity, or curtains) and tent sites have spectacular views of the coast and sunsets.

In Sonoma County, Doran Park and Westside Park, both in Bodega Bay, are ideal for those who like to fish for their dinner and then enjoy a stroll on the beach.

Those who prefer the more predictable and warmer weather of inland sites head to Bothe – Napa Valley State Park, just north of St Helena. Campsites are located near redwoods and along a creek, and on sunny slopes – and even offer hot showers.

Whether your budget calls for a stay-cation, or you’ve just mustered the nerve to graduate from “camping” in your cozy backyard to the great outdoors-close-to-home, it’s hard to beat the North Bay for sleeping under the stars.

Resources:

Credit: Emily Hoyer via Flickr

Marin County 

• Angel Island 
• Marin Headlands 
• Samuel P. Taylor 
• China Camp 
• Mt Tam 
• Marin County Parks and Open Space

Sonoma County

Napa

• Skyline Wilderness
• Statewide Camping
• California State Parks Camping Page

Follow the reasons on Facebook

Posted by:  Frank Howard Allen Realtors

One of the most important aspects of buying a new home is the home inspection. If you aren’t familiar with a good inspector, your Real Estate Agent should know of a few good ones. After the home inspection you will usually get a 45 page report covering just about everything you can think of, including the plumbing, roof, water heater, and wiring, just to name a few items. The home will be compared to 2011 (or current) standards, so you will find a lot areas that may not be up to today’s standard but were standard when they built the home. These reports can become frightening to a prospective new Buyer if they have never seen them before. I always call it “45 Pages Of Why You Don’t Want To Buy A Home.”

The language used is pretty technical, and most of the time the reports need to be “decoded.” It’s really important for the Buyer to be present at the inspection so that the inspector can take you around the home and explain what they are speaking about in the written report.

There are several questions you should ask your inspector during the inspection to understand the gravity of the report:

Is it really that bad?
The best home inspectors are pretty unemotional and aren’t alarmist; they are all about facts. Sometimes their straightforwardness makes it hard to understand which issues are big and which are minor. You simply need to ask them if fixing is a big deal or not, and nine times out of ten you will be able to understand from them whether it’s a big issue or not by the way they express themselves.

Who should I have repair that?
I always ask this question because the response is important. If the inspector suggests a repairman or contractor, it could be a big deal. But, if he says you don’t need to hire someone, just to go down to Home Depot and pick a “whatever” to repair it yourself, that eliminates the question of whether it’s a big deal or not, especially if you can repair it yourself at a minimal cost. Even with larger repairs, you should be able to get referrals from your Real Estate Agent or Home Inspectors. Then you can have estimates done in order to negotiate a credit or reduction in the sales price with the Seller before the close of escrow.

If this were your house, would you fix this issue? And if so, when?
Many times the inspector will report that an item is “at the end of its serviceable life.” If this comes up, you should then ask them if it they would replace this item in their own home. You might be surprised to get an answer of, “I wouldn’t do a thing right now. It could break in 5 months or in the next 5 years.” Use the Home Inspector to help you prioritize the big issues and understand what needs to be repaired right away and what doesn’t. Get used to understanding that there IS constant home maintenance and it’s all part of owning a home.

Can You Show Me How This Works?
Most home inspectors are delighted to show or teach a new owner how to work things and where emergency shutoffs are for water, gas, and electricity. This one single thing is such a stress saver in the end and is worth missing a day of work to have someone explain where everything is and how it works.

The best idea is to make sure that if you don’t walk around with the inspector all day during the inspection, to at least have him walk you through everything during the last 20-30 minutes so you can go through everything on the report. It’s best if you have an inspector that takes digital pictures and includes them in the report, so that you can go back and understand what he is talking about when you receive the written report.

If you would like more information on home and pest inspection reports, I would be happy to answer them. To contact me: rsmith@fhallen.com,  415-755-8986 or leave a question in the comments.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

If you have tried qualifying for a loan lately, you probably have noticed a dramatic change in the requirements.

In the period from 2000-2007, prior to the housing crash, you could pretty much go to any lender with a stated income and a credit score as low as 650 – 690, and they would be very willing to give you a loan. That is not the case in today’s market. You should be prepared to show lenders your financial reports, W2’s, and credit scores: they now look at everything under a microscope. You must now have a credit score of 720 or higher to get a loan, and one closer to 770 or higher to get a great interest rate.

You can obtain your credit score from several firms online including www.equifax.com, www.transuniton.com, www.experian.com, and www.myfico.com. Just be aware that checking your credit score will actually take your total score down, but at least you will know where you stand on getting a loan.

Here are several ways that you can actually improve your score in order to get the best interest rates possible.

• Pay on time: No secret here, make sure you make every loan and credit card payment on time. If you have had lapses in paying on time, you may need to wait six months or so to improve your score. Scoring rules weigh the recent time frame more heavily than the past.
• Correct credit mistakes on your report : Your score should not be reduced by reporting mistakes, which are very common.
• Detach yourself from the wrong vendors: Getting a loan from a finance company instead of a bank is not a great way to go as finance companies generally lend money to high risk candidates, so the score of any borrower owing money to a finance company is lower than if the creditor were a bank. The same goes with borrowers who have credit cards with department Stores. Borrowers are penalized relative to what their score would be with a card issued by a bank.
• Reduce your balances on revolving credit cards to less than 50% of their maximum limit: A high utilization ratio is read as a sign of weakness and potential trouble and it reduces your score. Better yet, pay off your credit cards, and any balances within 30 days of a charge to really improve your score.

A reverse way to increase your score if you can’t get your credit cards paid off is to have the maximums raised by the credit card source so you are under the 50% level. In many cases, the credit card issuers are willing to raise the limits at a borrower’s request.

• Minimize the number of inquires: First, don’t apply to any more credit card companies, insurance companies or any company that requires your social security number. Credit scoring systems may not penalize borrowers who shop multiple credit grantors within a short period, but you can’t be sure.

The bottom line to applying for credit is to find your own score that you can deliver to the vendors.

• Pay off collection accounts: This will reduce your score in the short term by converting the account from an older entry with a low weight, to a new one with a higher weight. You can’t get a loan with a collection account on your record, so you must pay it off , the sooner, the better.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Sometimes there are complications when buying a home, especially if it’s an older home and there is a lot of deferred maintenance that needs to be performed.

For instance, you may love a home, its location, and the area schools, but once you have done your inspections, you find there is a bathroom floor that needs replacing or a shower that leaks, and it’s going to take $10,000 to correct the issues. In most cases the Sellers won’t want to do the work before the close of escrow, so they may want to reduce the selling price by $10,000 and sell the home “as is.” In the long run, if the Buyers have the additional cash to pay for the repairs after the close of escrow, it’s better to buy the home at a lower cost, as close to $100,000 in interest can be saved over the course of 30 years.

However, Buyers who don’t have the extra cash for repairs could ask for a price that doesn’t reflect a reduction in the sales price, but rather a credit of $10,000 at the close of escrow to take care of nonrecurring closing costs. Even though the Buyers pay a higher price, now they don’t have to bring $10,000 to closing and can instead use the money they had reserved for closing costs to make the repairs themselves after the escrow closes.

Generally, a Buyer will be able to get a few estimates and ensure that the work done is of good quality and to their specifications. A word of caution though: Buyers should always check with their lender to see how much is allowed for nonrecurring closing costs. It does no good to collect $20 to $30,000 to find out that only $10,000 can be applied to closing costs. The excess amount will simply have to be given away if it can’t be applied. In that case, a combination of a reduction in price and a credit at the time escrow closes may be the best bet.

Almost any home you buy will not be perfect and will need modifications to satisfy your taste. Perhaps the house needs to have a new backyard developed, or maybe a deck, or repainting in colors you prefer. Most people feel they should recoup investments they make when they sell their home. However, studies show that most remodel projects never pay back 100% of the amount invested. For this reason, always be selective in what projects you invest in and keep the resale value in mind.

Making changes to a home to reflect your taste improves the quality of your lifestyle while living there, and the longer you live in a home, the more valuable the enhancements will be to you.

If you would like further explanation on how all this works, don’t hesitate to call me: 415-755-8919, or email me: . I’ll be happy to give an in-depth explanation.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Sunshine, festivals and quality time with dad. There are a ton of fun events happening this weekend all around the North Bay. Here’s our round-up of some of the best. Have we missed anything? Let us know in the comments!

Friday, June 17, 2011

Friday Nights on Main / Tiburon / 6 PM – 9 PM
Tiburon’s annual “Ultimate Block Party” kicks off tonight and runs Fridays through September 30. Info

Jazz & Blues by the Bay / Sausalito / 6:30 PM – 8 PM
The weekly summertime event continues tonight with artist Wendy DeWitt; food sponsored by Sausalito Youth Sailing Foundation, serving brats, hot dogs, potato salad, chili, cornbread, and cookies. Info

Film Night in the Park / Old Mill Park, Mill Valley / 8 PM
This local favorite kicked off last week in San Anselmo and tonight the cinema moves to Old Mill Park for a showing of How to Train Your Dragon. Info

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Tiburon Classic Car Show / Shoreline Park, Tiburon / 11 AM – 4 PM
Celebrate the beauty of classic cars against the stunning backdrop of Tiburon’s waterfront. Info

Cotati Jazz Festival / La Plaza Park / 12 PM – 7 PM
The Cotati Jazz Festival takes place every year in La Plaza Park and surrounding clubs and restaurants in downtown Cotati. Best of all – admission is Free. Info

Rodney Strong Annual Summer Concert Series / Rodney Strong Vineyards, Healdsburg / 4 PMThe summer series presents Jazz Attack!: Rick Braun, Gerald Albright, Peter White performing amongst acres of beautiful vineyards on the winery’s intimate concert venue, The Green. Info

Marin Art Festival / Marin Civic Center Lagoon / 10 AM – 6PM
Join over 250 fine artists in a spectacular setting by the Lagoon for two days of art, music, dance, wine, food and stilt walkers. Info

Furb on the Green – Music By the Bay / McNear’s Beach, San Rafael / 12 PM – 7 PMAn afternoon of food, drink, laughter and music by the Bay. Proceeds from the silent auction and food and drink sales will be used to help raise awareness about Huntington’s Disease.  Info

Art Houses of Marin Gala and Auction / Mill Valley Community Center / 5:30 PMGourment sit down dinner, beer and wine tastings, margarita bar, live auction and live music. All to benefit the Ritter Center. Info
 
 
Sunday, June 19, 2011 – Father’s Day 

Marin Art Festival / Marin Civic Center Lagoon / 10 AM – 6PM
Join over 250 fine artists in a spectacular setting by the Lagoon for two days of art, music, dance, wine, food and stilt walkers. Info
 
Hairspray / Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre, Mill Valley / 2 PM
If you haven’t made it to the Mountain Play yet this year, Sunday is your last chance as it’s the final show of Hairspray. Info

Tiburon Music Festival / St. Hilary’s Church, Tiburon / 7:30 PM
This evening’s program pairs Albert Lortzing’s fanciful 1832 sing-spiel “The Life of Mozart” with local composer Vincent Stadlin’s cantata “Anna’s Windows,” a musical tribute to Anna Allsman, the late Marin artist who created the stained glass windows of St. Hilary’s Church. Info

Posted by:  Frank Howard Allen Realtors

Everyone agrees that to sell a home, you need a reputable real estate agent who will: advise you on how to prepare the house for market, hire a professional to take the photographs, and show the home as often as possible. Here are five more things that will help you get your home sold – that may not have occurred to you as a prospective seller.

1. Neighbors & curb appeal- Most homeowners know that they need to make their home as appealing as possible both inside and out. What they also need to understand is the importance of how the neighboring properties look. It’s in your best interest – and theirs – to inform the surrounding neighbors that you are trying to sell so that they might also put their best foot forward in attracting the right buyers. Furthermore, neighbors can help you sell your home because they may have friends or family looking to move into the neighborhood. For these reasons and more, it’s important that the realtor send “Just Listed” postcards to neighboring homes.
2. Sights, smells, and sounds – It’s no surprise that smelly foods or animal odors, or the sound of sirens from a fire station next door, can make selling a home a real challenge. What many don’t realize is that pleasant scents and sounds can truly help seal the sale of a home. A yard with jasmine or lavender can be attractive to even the allergy victims out there, but do refrain from artificial air fresheners as they can be a turn off. Of course, the wonderful aroma of baking bread always seems to do the trick for many homes. Although you may be desensitized to the views your home offers, always pull back the curtains and turn on every light in the house to make your home lighter and brighter. If you are thinking of doing some painting inside, refrain from using dark colors: the lighter and brighter the better as they make rooms appear larger and more appealing.
3. Your dog-  If you have a well-behaved dog, believe it or not, sometimes they can help in making the home feel more inviting to a family, just make sure it is clean and doesn’t smell. Ask your agent if you are not sure. Sometimes even showing pets in the listing photos can be an appealing idea to get the welcome message across.
4. Your happiness- Video and even letters that talk about all the virtues you love about your home, environment and neighbors are terrific to show prospective buyers. Wide open curtains that stream light and accentuate home features create the thought that people that live here seem very happy to live here. Of course, keeping the home in terrific condition, with the gardens well cared for and children’s rooms decorated in a customized fashion always helps, but make sure you don’t over do it. Having 20 posters of Justin Beiber carrying a theme for a child’s room may turn off many prospective buyers. Staging your home for a life well lived is the way to go. It’s not just about paint and carpet.
5. The freeway you think is too close- There is such a thing as having a train or freeway too close as to rattle the walls, but attitudes are changing as gas prices continue to rise. Being close to freeways and bus lines is starting to make a little more sense in cutting commute time. I’ve never heard so much talk about the environment and buyers looking to own homes that allow them to get rid of their cars entirely as I have in recent years. What might have been too close to the freeway before, may now have a new spin as a convenient commute to San Francisco!

These are only a few things to help benefit you as the Seller. If you would like more ways, don’t hesitate to call me at 415-755-8919 or visit my website.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

The North Bay counties of Marin, Napa and Sonoma are known worldwide for their natural beauty. With breathtaking redwood forests, spectacular coastlines, lush open space and gorgeous vineyard valleys, it’s no wonder that residents want to preserve that beauty for future generations. The policies and practices of nearby uber eco-conscious cities San Francisco and Berkeley, and our own conscientious communities like Bolinas, Fairfax, Sebastopol and Guerneville, illustrate how sustainable living is woven into the fabric of our culture and more than just a fad.

Sure, it’s cool to drive a Prius (and chances are you’ll park next to an identical one in the Whole Foods parking lot), but for those who are serious about green living and preserving the environment, the North Bay is ripe with resources. Solar powered pizza parlors, a bounty of organic foods, green contractors and landscape architects, solar hybrid busses, green MBA’s, natural and organic gifts, green career counselors – all these and more allow us in the North Bay to live green from head to toe and from roof to floor.

Green Guides 

SF Green (Green Guide from the SF Chronicle):

Marin Green Guide (sponsored by the Marin County Department of Public Works)

Green Living Tips (sponsored by the County of Marin)

Living Green (Santa Rosa Press Democrat blog) 

Green at Home

Build It Green

Energy Star

Household Emissions Calculator

PG&E ClimateSmart Program

Living Green

Bay Area Green Business Program

Clean Green Napa

EcoBroker

EcoNow Networking Events

Environmental Education Coalition of Napa County

Green Chamber of Commerce

Marin County Sustainability Team

Marin Organic

Marin County Bicycle Coalition

Marin County Parks & Open Space

Napa Valley Sustainability

Recipe for Sustainability

Sonoma County Energy and Sustainability Division

Sonoma County Energy Independence Program

Sustainable Napa County

Sustainable Sonoma County

Walk Score

Green Events

Earth Day Napa County

Green Wine Summit

Harmony Festival

Sustainable Enterprise Conference

West Coast Green Conference

Follow along as the full list unfolds – 100 Reasons Why We Love Where We Live

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Posted by:  Frank Howard Allen Realtors

I get a lot of questions regarding the use of an owner’s home insurance for repairs. I ran across one recent home buyer who had purchased a home that was 10 years old; as the rainy Marin winter has now subsided, it appears that exterior paint is flaking off the house and they have noticed that the deck that was painted, is now rotting and lifting. If the home was staged or prepared for sale, chances are that the owner may have elected to use lower grade materials or didn’t prepare the surfaces properly at the time the paint was applied. That doesn’t mean they were trying to cover up defects, although I’ve seen that too. This point goes back to whoever did the home inspections prior to buying the home. A great home inspector uses a screwdriver to poke around the outside of the house and decks to see if there has been any dry rot, and may be able to tell you if there are issues prior to lifting your contingencies. At this point, prior to releasing contingencies, your buying agent should be able to go back and ask for a credit for repairs at the close of escrow, allowing you to take the money and enlist your own contractor to do the repairs with higher quality materials.

To answer the question of utilizing your home insurance to receive repair money, chances are the insurance company will tell you this is a routine maintenance issue that is not covered. A word of caution though, if the insurance company does cover the cost, please understand this may go on your insurance record and your insurance costs may go up. Furthermore, depending on the amount of the claim, they could cancel your policy. The second thing that might happen, if you try to change to another insurance company, is that you may be a high risk and could have problems getting the insurance, and if you do, it will be at a higher cost. It takes three years for a claim to come off your record, after which you start at ground zero again, and you could switch companies.

An important thing to do as you buy a home is to try to set up a home maintenance fund where you are saving each month to do the necessary repairs and maintenance when needed. The upside is that you will not only have the costs covered, but you will also be choosing top quality materials and thus you may not have to do these same repairs for a very, very long time.

If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to call me at 415-755-8919.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

C.A.R. reported Marin home sales dropped 10.2% in the month of April and the median price declined 7.4% from a year ago. Median home prices for the month of April were $726,060.

However, statewide, single family homes increased 5% over last year and the median price declined by 4.5% for the total state of California. A big reason for this change is that a year ago both the state and U.S. government were offering tax rebates to entice home buyers. I suspect we will see another decline in May, as people were closing on the homes bought in April last year. June, July, and August should be the best indicator so far this year, as the tax credits were pretty much over within that time frame last year, and the playing field becomes level once again.

Other highlights in the C.A.R. report for April include:

• The unsold inventory index for existing homes was 5.4 months, down from 5.3 months in March, but up compared to 4.9 months of supply in 2010.
• 30-year fixed mortgage rates averaged 4.84%, down from 5.1% in 2010, which is great news for buyers.
• The median number of days it took to sell a home was 53 days in April 2011, compared to 37.4 days in 2010. Another indicator of how well the government programs were helping to stimulate sales last year.

You can read the complete report here.

Each town in Marin has its own set of trends, many of which are very positive. If you would like to know more about how the home sales and prices were in April in any specific town in Marin, give me a call at 415-755-8919, and I’ll be happy to go over them with you.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Still pondering what to do this Memorial Day weekend? With three free days to frolic, it’s a great chance to explore some local activities you may have yet to experience. Here are our top picks for how to enjoy this long weekend close to home:

1. Watch a musical atop Mt Tam

2. Make friends with a pinniped

3. Spot a Peregrine Falcon

4. Cycle out to West Marin and enjoy a well-deserved sticky bun in Point Reyes

5. Enjoy a brew with a million dollar view

Fort Cronkhite Photo taken by John Weiss

6. Spend time with Snoopy and the Gang

7. Take a scenic drive along the Sonoma Coast

8. Enjoy the company of friends over a round of golf

9. Observe life on the square

10. Spend a day at Fort Cronkhite

11. Head out in search of falls

12. Saddle up

13. Go treasure hunting

14. Feel the wind in your sails

15. Swing like Tarzan, drink like Dionysus

Looking for more ideas? Check out our list of 100 Reasons Why We Love Where We Live.

Posted by:  Frank Howard Allen Realtors

Recently I’ve had buyers frustrated over two common scenarios: 1) The buyers place a bid on a home that has been on the market for a long time without any other offers. However, once they put an offer on the property a ton of others come in right after it and they lose out to a higher bidder. 2) The other frustration has been with short sales, when a short offer is accepted by the seller, and the bank then comes back with a higher counter offer. Buyers get confused because there weren’t any other offers even being considered. You hear every day that it’s a buyer’s market and what great deals there are on short sales and foreclosures – and then this happens.

To address the first frustration, most listing agents with “normal” sales strive to get the highest possible price for their clients’ homes, so it’s common for them to call any past prospects who were interested in the property to let them know there is an offer on the table and they have 24 hours to make their own offer if they want. The psychology behind this is that it creates a frenzy, gets people excited that there is now action on the home, and makes other buyers want to bid on the property as well. The key here is for the buyers’ agent to write the offer with a tight time frame to respond, eliminating the window for other buyers to swoop in. The other thing to do is to have the buyers’ agent keep in close contact with the listing agent, even two or three times a day is not overkill, once the offer is submitted.

In the second situation, on the short sale offer, it’s important to realize that what a seller is willing to accept on a short sale could be totally different than what the bank will accept. If there is a huge shortfall on what is still owed on the mortgage by the seller, the Bank may not want to accept the offer as they think the home is worth more. The bank is ultimately in control of what they will sell the home for since they are going to take a hit, not the seller. The seller just wants to get out of the loan and move on. To deal with this frustration, the buyers’ agent needs to change the approach at formulating the price they are offering. The buyers’ agent needs to get an analysis of similar properties that have sold in the area. They should also look at the list-to-sale price ratio. If homes in the area are selling under or over their asking price, find out what by what percentage and consider putting an offer with the same percentage. Getting a great deal is not necessarily the same as paying at or below asking. It’s critical to rely heavily on the analysis of the comparable sales to drive the price you offer, and then take into consideration the amount of work that will need to be performed on the home, so you are not over paying.

Last of all, it’s not a good deal if you don’t get the home. Prices have rolled back to 2003 levels; you don’t really need to beat up a seller on a price, as they have already been reduced, and whatever a buyer pays with the current historically low interest rates, will be a great deal.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

The question of whether one should sell now or rent is a common one these days.  There really is no way to know whether selling later would ensure a higher sales price, especially in the near future. If you were planning to rent your home for 10 years and then sell, there’s a good chance it will go up in value, but will the value rise next year, or the year after? There is no telling.

At the recent Marin Association of Realtors (MAR) meeting that I attended this week, the forecast was not for home values to rise this year. There is apparently a string of foreclosures waiting in the wings as shadow inventory, and MAR was predicting the last of it will not be flushed out until 2013. As long as the distressed inventory is still hanging around, it is less likely home prices will go up, as the comps in the neighborhood will remain low.

There are strong indications that massive shifts in the mortgage market may happen, with the possible elimination of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. If this happens, it may narrow the availability of home ownership and then it will be even more difficult to sell your home.

There is belief that the first areas to recover will be the coastal cities, including the Bay Area, but timing the market accurately has been, and will still continue to be, manipulated by government forces.

The next real question you have to ask yourself is, do you want to be a landlord?

There are many factors to consider here. If you plan on living in another state or city, it will be more difficult as you have to be able to take care of tenant issues. What happens if a pipe breaks, the heating system goes out, or a window is broken? Dealing with these types of things becomes really difficult from a distance unless you pay a property management company. You also have to consider landscaping. What if the tenants don’t water or mow the grass and your lawn looks like a disaster area when you get ready to sell? Tenants don’t have pride of ownership, and they could damage the inside and outside of the home, including the carpeting. When you are ready to sell, you could face some huge costs of deferred maintenance in order to get your house ready again. The potential costs could be more than what your home value has increased over the time you rented, and yet you have had to deal with all the time and trouble of being a landlord.

I think the big incentive for a person to sell right now is the historical low interest rates that buyers are getting.  Why is that a big deal to sell? If home loans are more affordable, there is a larger pool of people that have the ability to buy a home in a higher priced area such as Marin. If the interest rates start creeping up, and fewer and fewer people can qualify for a loan, then not only will the values not rise, but there are fewer people to buy. It may take much longer to sell your home.

It’s actually a great time to buy or sell your home in Marin!

Posted by:  Rick Smith

While more and more people are becoming conscious of the “Green” movement and trying to be more energy-efficient, the best incentive for many to go green is saving money! There was a great article in the San Jose Mercury News with four great ways to go green and save money. To read the full story, click here.

To summarize, here are their four key tips:

Tip One – Get Rid Of The Vampires!

This refers to appliances that suck energy when not in use. The biggest culpits are small appliances like coffee makers, TVs, laptops, cell phone charges, fans, and hairdryers. You can cut back on the vampires by unplugging them after every use or installing a central power strip to easily turn off all of them at one time. The estimated savings has the potential of $200 a year on an annual basis.

Tip Two – Turn Down Your Water Heater

Water heaters can account for between 14-25% of your total energy costs in a given month. The preset of most water heaters from the factory is about 140 degrees, which isn’t necessary for most washing machines and dishwashers. Most clothing items wash well in warm or cold water. Also think about buying a front loader next time, which will cut down on water and drying times.

Tip Three – Change Your Light Bulbs

You are eventually going to have to switch to florescent bulbs when the U.S. phases out incandescent bulbs. According to Energy Star, switching to florescent lights will save the U.S. about $600 million in annual energy costs, and prevents 9 billion pounds of greenhouse gas.

Tip Four – Heating and Cooling

On average, about 43% of your total energy bill each month is for heating and cooling. Buying a “set-back” thermostat is a good investment as it can automatically turn down you heat in the evening while you are in bed, when you go to work in the morning, and when you are not utilizing the home. Also, clean and replace your filter on a monthly basis and change out the heater if it’s been over 10 years since you bought the last one, as they are much more energy-efficient these days. During the heating season, keep your south window blinds open to allow the sun to heat the home, and in the summer, do the opposite; keep your blinds closed to keep the sun from heating the house when it’s sunny and warm outside.

These are just a few easy things you can do around the house to save money and help protect the environment.

Do you know of other good ways to cut down on energy costs? Please share them with me in the comments.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

Forget the humdrum slippers or gift cards. Vow to make this Mother’s Day one that she and the whole family will enjoy and remember by planning a special excursion in the North Bay. With so many places to explore, we’re sure you’ll find something to please any mom. We’ve even done the leg work by scouring our list of 100 Reasons Why We Love Where We Live for our top Mother’s Day picks:

1. Paddle boat on Spring Lake: Reason 4
2. Enjoy fine art inspired by our surroundings – Marin Arts Open Studios is this weekend: Reason 10
3. Build a sandcastle at Doran Beach: Reason 19
4. Take a scenic drive along the Sonoma Coast: Reason 34
5. Discover the magic of the ring: Reason 69
6. Dine like royalty: Reason 92
7. Go “spelunking” in the Wine Country: Reason 41
8. Take flight: Reason 6
9. Climb an island: Reason 90
10. Sink into some mud: Reason 75
11. Wind down in the Valley of the Moon: Reason 96
12. Explore nature by hoof: Reason 73
13. Look for the rainbow at the end of a waterfall: Reason 70
14. Go wine surfing: Reason 93
15. Spend a day at Fort Chronkite: Reason 59

Still need ideas? We’ve got 81 more here.

Moms – how would you most like to be spoiled on Mother’s Day? Tell us in the comments below.

Posted by:  Frank Howard Allen Realtors

There are always a lot of questions about remodeling and trying to increase the value of one’s home.

Most of the time, depending on the work you do, the average amount most people recoup is around 75% of the total cost of the remodel. You may ask why bother, but consider this: first, you will enjoy your home more, and second, when you do get ready to sell, if you haven’t remodeled and updated, you may have a difficult time finding a buyer as competing, remodeled homes may be more attractive and appealing. So in that case, remodeling or making improvements will definitely help sell your home.

I ran across an article recently from the San Francisco Chronicle about increasing the value of your home by installing solar panels.

You can read the full report here.

To summarize, the article talks about the sales of 2,000 homes sold between 2000 to 2009, and what value they recouped by installing solar panels. The data reveals that a typical home generally sells for an additional $17,000 above the cost of a comparable home. That’s in addition to saving on their electricity bills. If there are two comparable homes out there, Buyers are choosing the ones with solar panels, as they understand the long run benefits as fuel and electricity costs continue to climb. I think as people see fuel costs rise, they are more cognizant and recognize that fuel costs are never really going to go down in any significant way, and will most likely continue to climb.

Solar is a way of the future, and making this investment could really be worth a homeowner’s time and money, in both the short run by saving on electricity, and when it comes time to sell.

Posted by:  Rick Smith

There was another positive article in the Marin IJ newspaper last Friday, which really gave home owners a boost in how the Marin housing market is doing. This article can be found here if you would like to view it.

To summarize, there was an 11% increase in home sales in the month of March over last year. And even better news was that the median price of a home in Marin rose 2.4% to $779,000, according to the County Tax Assessor.

This was the first time in six months that both the sales volume and prices have increased at the same time. In the past we have seen the sales volume increase over the previous year, however, the sale prices were at a reduced level because of all the distressed property sales, which in reality, have also driven down the overall home prices.

The median sales price of $779,000 was up +28.2% over the previous month, which shows the number of distressed sales are slowing down and there is an improvement of non-distressed home sales. I know from my open house last weekend that the number of people visiting open homes is way up from what it was prior to March. Sales across the country are improving as well, and there is a lot of pent-up energy out there to buy homes that are driving the increases in sales.

One of the key factors that we have not seen in the last couple of years is the activity in the high-end of the market. 28% of the homes priced from $3 to $5 million were in contract last month, up from only 5% from the previous month. People with money are deciding that now is a good time to buy. Meanwhile, the more affordable range of under $500,000 has 49% of the homes in contract, and the price range of between $500,000 and one million now has 41% in contract. A balanced market is when about 30% are in contract at any given time, and 40-50% signals a seller’s market.

All in all, it’s a great time to buy. We are also starting to see interest rates increase, which will mean the affordability of house payments could force people to rethink what they can afford.

If you are thinking about buying, my advice is to go for it now before interest rates go up any higher!

What is your sentiment about the current spring market?

Posted by:  Rick Smith