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Buyers: Use common sense negotiating repairs

By Don Dunning | July 15, 2013

“Common sense is not so common.”
– Voltaire

Despite its technical aspects, almost everything in residential real estate involves common sense, including negotiating for repairs after a home inspection. Successfully doing so requires knowledge of the business and of people and their circumstances. It is important to use good judgment. Not everyone does.

Although getting money back for problems is more difficult in a seller’s market such as we have today, there are situations where it is appropriate. Nonetheless, how you handle your request can be the difference between a successful closing and a frustrating sale that flops.

Sellers: Your agent could land you in court

By Don Dunning | May 19, 2013

Earlier this year, I counseled buyers and sellers against contracts without contingencies in an article called “Contingency-free Contracts Can Be Dangerous”. Several weeks later I read an article by a licensee that advocated what I had warned against, but did not mention the substantial risks involved with these practices.

This led me to consider a different approach — to appeal directly to sellers and help them see how their agent can get them into really hot water.

Today’s seller’s market is creating future victims: An Insider’s Look at Multiple Offers

By Don Dunning | April 5, 2013

“Common sense is the most fairly distributed thing in the world, for each one thinks he is so well-endowed with it that even those who are hardest to satisfy in all other matters are not in the habit of desiring more of it than they already have.”
– Rene Descartes

It is no secret that a shortage of inventory, combined with historically low interest rates, has led to a market where, in certain areas and price ranges, multiple offers are the norm. Recently, I wrote about the dangers of contracts without contingencies.

There are few areas of real estate where buyers need outstanding representation more than in the handling of multiple offers. Sadly, some buyers are working with licensees who lack the knowledge, caring, or both to protect them from paying more than necessary.

Buyers: Listing Agent is Not Your Agent

By Don Dunning | December 10, 2012

There are ethical restrictions and legal considerations for Realtors in dealing with another agent's client. This is related to making sure the agent acts in the best interests of his/her buyer or seller. These are generally unknown to the public.

Buyers are often not clear about what real estate licensees do and the differences between the role of the buyer’s agent (selling agent) and the seller’s (listing agent). This can lead to misunderstandings and upsets on all sides. Two recent situations illustrate this point.

Seller’s Market for How Long?

By Don Dunning | October 28, 2012

Human beings consistently fail to learn from history. If you are or will be in the market to buy or sell a home, not paying attention to the past could cost you dearly.

Trials and tribulations of a real estate expert witness

By Don Dunning | September 21, 2012

Being a Bay Area real estate expert witness can sometimes be fun, like the time I testified in court with a giant blow-up of one of my newspaper articles in front of the jury. Mostly, however, it is a stressful assignment that only a handful of real estate licensees choose to experience.

As an expert witness, I volunteer to be verbally accosted by opposing attorneys. In their zealous attempt to discredit my opinions and testimony, many lawyers on the other side of my cases seem to want to chew and spit out my larynx.

Aside from the jousting at depositions, arbitrations and court, other issues add to the difficulties of doing expert witness work.

Formula for listing – good for sellers?

By Don Dunning | August 10, 2012

Sellers often ask my advice on what work needs to be done to prepare a house for sale. In certain cases, they had spoken with other agents and were uncomfortable with suggestions which seemed to benefit the agent more than the seller.

Some agents fall into a pattern of how they approach sellers and what they recommend to get the home sold. The agent’s advice tends to be similar for all sellers, despite differences in the properties and/or the sellers’ needs. This one-size-fits-all approach is often not best for the seller. Sadly, the average seller rarely takes the time to investigate what a listing agent should be doing for him.

Choosing to sell for a loss

By Don Dunning | March 12, 2012

In the mid-nineties, I had a listing where the seller did not receive any money back. Instead, he had to write a large check at close of escrow. As years passed, especially the rip-roaring seller’s market of 2004 through 2006, it seemed unlikely that could happen again. Times have changed.

Recent reports indicate that at the end of 2011 there were 11.1 million U.S. homeowners with mortgages higher than their homes were worth. That was an almost four percent increase from the previous three months.

Rather than choosing foreclosure, a short sale or deed-in-lieu, there are hordes of potential sellers stressing over whether they should, or even if they can, write a check in order to sell. I have spoken with many of them in the past three years.

Buyers and sellers need analysis of research

By Don Dunning | December 11, 2011

Referred by my former clients, I recently received a call from a prospective seller who bought her home in the last seller’s market with another Realtor. This seller feels her agent did not provide important information for her to consider prior to making the offer on her house. Among the missing input was a way for her, as a buyer, to place the purchase price into perspective relative to previous “hot” markets and what happens when the market cools down.

Before I go further, I suspect some readers might be thinking, “With hindsight, it is easy for someone to look back and criticize another agent for not knowing the future.” My response is that no one should expect real estate licensees to be clairvoyant, but using experience from past markets for the benefit of clients is something that differentiates top agents from the rest.

List of required disclosures keeps growing

By Don Dunning | February 8, 2011

As time goes by, the number and types of disclosures that must be made by a seller and/or his agent continues to expand. Many of these have resulted from lawsuits; all are meant to avoid legal disputes in the purchase of a California home. The California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) “Sales Disclosure Chart” contains 39 of them for various property types.

When I am called to review a case as an East Bay and Bay Area real estate expert witness, the question arises as to whether the non-disclosed item was a “material fact.” This is defined as information needed to help the buyer decide whether or not to purchase and how much to pay.

Many sellers and a surprising number of agents seem not to understand the importance of full disclosure; this can turn out to be an expensive mistake.

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