By Don Dunning | July 28, 2008
For safety reasons, each city or local jurisdiction has specific rules and codes to help identify what is a bedroom. You should always consult with local officials for a definitive determination. I was on broker’s tour today and reminded of how the “average” agent has little idea of what is and is not a bedroom. […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | July 15, 2008
The real estate market is suffering from negative news. Is “going green” on older homes the way to add value? This led me to do research about what it takes for an existing home to be considered green. Right away, I learned a new word, “greenwashing.” It is defined as promoting “a house as green […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | July 9, 2008
Lots of people are interested in real estate prices, whether they are thinking about buying, selling, or just curious. To determine current values, Realtors® search for comparable sales, “comps,” in any given neighborhood. In a buyer’s market, such as we have today, one of the key variables is the CDOM, cumulative days on the market. […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | July 3, 2008
With negative news about the real estate market and economy cropping up daily, it might appear that no one should sell his home now. On the contrary, despite the doom and gloom, there are some excellent reasons why selling today could make good sense.
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | June 13, 2008
As a state director of the California Association of Realtors, I spent most of last week attending meetings in Sacramento. As usual, the thousand-plus of us present heard about new laws, legal cases, changes in forms, Multiple Listing Service (MLS) updates and a forecast for California real estate. Different and shocking, however, was the reported […]
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | June 9, 2008
Clients called me today, very excited about a property they had found online and wanting to know why I had not told them about it. I explained that I had previewed the house for them, and found it had too many “issues.” From our initial interview, and subsequent conversations, I knew they would have found it unacceptable.
According to a California Association of Realtors survey, eight of ten home buyers use the Internet for searching. They can quickly find an address, see photos, price, bedrooms, baths, square feet and much more; however, a great deal of essential information never shows up on the screen.
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | May 10, 2008
Will you get a bargain or the short end of the stick if you buy a bank owned property? Some of my clients have been asking me this question.
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | March 21, 2008
Real estate disputes sometimes pop up after close of escrow. It is typically the buyer who has the complaint. The issues can range from lack of disclosure on the seller’s part to poor representation by one or both agents. Once this process begins, there are four possible approaches. Based on the method chosen, there can be a fast, inexpensive resolution, or a time consuming, costly and aggravating stalemate.
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | March 1, 2008
Few buyers and sellers know about the 1980 “Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act” (FIRPTA). Likewise, many real estate licensees are not aware that failing to follow the act’s stipulations is a violation of Federal law.
Read MoreBy Don Dunning | January 20, 2008
Our actions are heavily influenced by what we anticipate will happen in the future. We often act on what we perceive to be true, rather than what is true. A recent national survey regarding expectations and current conditions revealed that consumer confidence was the lowest since October 2005, the end of our last seller’s market, and the second lowest since our last buyer’s market in the early 1990s.
Pessimism has now replaced positive expectation, a classic characteristic of a buyer’s market. This is where we find ourselves today. Rather than jumping in quickly, most buyers hold back and feel there is no rush to purchase because current homes will probably still be available later and, if so, may sell for less.
As a buyer or seller, understanding your personal expectations as well as actual market conditions can be the difference of thousands of dollars to you.
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