Need to Sell Your Temecula Valley Home?

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Upside down on your mortgage? Facing foreclosure? A short sale may be the next best option for you. Call Direct 951.491.4063 today for more information.

Temecula Real Estate – A site to search Temecula Real Estate

I have launched my new website, searchtemeculavalleyhomes.com

Hope you like it. It’s free to use. Register and you can save searches and favorite homes for sale. Under the “Market Insider” tab, you can look up market reports for a particular zip code, get community info and find schools.

Search for homes in Temecula, California and anywhere in Southwest Riverside County California on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). You can search by city or zip code.

If you have any questions, please call direct 951.491.4063.

Does It Make Financial Sense?

It seems it’s part of our nature to get emotionally attached to our homes, but does it make financial sense to struggle to keep paying on an underwater mortgage?

In Temecula Valley California homeowners are experiencing their home values plummet to 50% of their mortgage debt. Even if your lender agrees to a temporary loan modification, they do not care whether your choice makes financial sense. Your loan servicer is there to collect a debt.

The numbers show that very few homeowners get a permanent loan modification. Lenders plan on borrowers re-defaulting on their mortgage.

Temecula Real Estate Agent – Responsiveness Rated as 3rd Most Important Quality

The National Association of Realtors® (NAR) surveyed buyers what qualities they considered most important. “Responsiveness” rated as 3rd most important. The most important quality was honesty, and the second, knowledge of purchase price.

It’s not clear to me exactly what would be included in the “responsiveness” category of the survey. I know I’ve signed up clients because I answered my phone on the first ring. I’ve been told other Temecula real estate agents did not return my clients’ calls.

Timelines and deadlines characterize real estate transactions. I have to keep track of those deadlines, and take the right actions. Because there are many people involved in a real estate sale, it’s frustrating when trying to get in touch with someone when you need them and not be able to.

I can imagine how a buyer might feel this same way when their agent doesn’t respond to their messages. They could be missing out on buying the home of their dreams. I’ve discovered it’s best to stay at my post and keep the lines of communication open. That way I can respond at a moment’s notice.

Temecula Real Estate Agent – 2nd Most Important Quality Valued by Buyers

In my recent post on the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) March 2011 survey, buyers rated knowledge of purchase price as the second most important quality when choosing a Temecula real estate agent.

When previewing homes for my buyer clients, I search the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to see how the list price fits in, not only with what is available and pending in escrow, but most importantly, with other comparable homes that have sold in the last few months. As a practicing Temecula real estate agent, I use the standard practice of “last 90 days” that came about because of the real estate bust.

When a buyer client considers making an offer on a particular home, I dig deeper through county records for comparable sold prices. This information assists me in analyzing the local market and to help my clients offer a price that is in line with the current market.

When it comes to purchase price, there are other things to consider. Is the home a distressed property? What is the condition? Do the property taxes include special assessments? Is there a Homeowner’s Association? Any known material defects?

The answers to the above questions affect purchase price. I can see why buyers would consider knowledge of purchase price as an important quality when choosing a Temecula real estate agent.

Temecula Real Estate Agent – Nine Qualities Considered Most Important by Buyers

The National Association of Realtors® published a survey last March 2011. The results of the survey are what buyers considered the nine most important qualities they valued in their real estate agent. Starting with the most important quality first and least important last, of the home buyers surveyed,

  • 98% – honesty
  • 95% – knowledge of purchase price
  • 93% – responsiveness
  • 92% – knowledge of the real estate market
  • 85% – communication skills
  • 84% – negotiation skills
  • 79% – people skills
  • 79% – knowledge of local area
  • 40% – skills with technology

Honesty rates number one home buyers consider as the most important quality.

As it’s been said a thousand times before, buying a home is one of the largest purchases most people will make in their lifetime. It’s understandable that buyers would want an honest, truthful and loyal Temecula real estate agent.

In my opinion, a Temecula real estate agent who is honest doesn’t seek the “good opinion of others” because delivering the truth may sometimes make them unpopular. The truth is not always rosy. I’m reminded of the famous line of the Jack Nicholson character in the movie, “A Few Good Men,” who says: “You can’t handle the truth.”

Depending on the situation, a Temecula real estate agent may find it difficult to handle the truth, but I consider that a large part of my job. As I’ve discovered over the years, as I’m sure you have too, that in the end, honesty always wins over dishonesty, as truth always comes to light.

Temecula Valley Short Sale Conundrum

To make repairs, or not.  The conundrum for many Temecula Valley homeowners when short selling their home is the decision whether or not to spend money on repairs since they will not receive any financial gain from selling their home. In most short sale situations, homeowners do not have the funds to make repairs.

The unfortunate risk is the homeowner may lose the opportunity to short sale their home. Most lenders will not pay for repairs, but would expect either seller or buyer to pay. Depending on the nature and cost of the repair, that could be enough to sink a deal.

Fix it and move on, or do nothing and wait for chance. For a Temecula Valley short sale seller, leaving the home as is and disclosing its problems would drop a large pool of buyers. Since many buyers are using mortgage loans, their lender would need certain defects, such as, a leaky roof, termite infestation, or dry rot, fixed as a condition to getting their home loan.

Disclosure. Sellers must disclose to buyers any known material defect of their home, even in a short sale. If not, sellers could be sued later if they did not disclose a known material defect.

  • Disclosing material defects at the start will also save valuable time because they will most likely be discovered during a buyer’s home inspection anyway.

If repairs cannot be made, then a short sale seller must wait for chance that a buyer with all cash will buy “as disclosed.”

#3 Least Expensive Step to Make Your Home More Appealing to Buyers

De-clutter.  This step cannot be said enough. Paper clutter is a detractor, but other clutter can detract from your home as well.

  • Toys. If you have small children, toys seem to find their way in every room. Although most buyers will understand, toys in every room will detract from buyer’s focus on the features of your home. Keep toys limited to one room, or pack in boxes to send to storage.
  •  Family pictures, awards, and certificates. Take them down. The goal is to keep a prospective buyer’s attention on the features of your home, not on you and your family. Keep in mind that pictures on your walls may end up in photos your agent posts on the internet to market your home!
  • Collections. Again the goal is to keep buyer’s focus on the features of your home. Displayed collections are a distraction. It would be best to pack and send to storage.

You can hire a professional organizer or stager to help you prepare your home for sale. For free tips on de-cluttering your home, visit one of my favorite websites, flylady.net

Temecula Homes For Sale Zip Code 92591 – September 2011

There are over 100 homes for sale in Temecula, California zip code 92591. Many are short sales, REO’s (bank foreclosures) and standard sales.

List of Temecula Homes for Sale in zip code 92591, as of September 19, 2011.

#2 Least Expensive Step to Make Your Home More Appealing to Buyers

Curb appeal. We’ve all heard it. There’s been tv shows made about it. First impressions are lasting ones. If you are selling your home, you may have a spending plan that doesn’t include funds for re-vamping your curb appeal. The least expensive step to make your home have more curb appeal is water and cut the lawn, trim bushes, hedges, and trees.

Inviting front entrance. Most important is to keep the walkway to your front entrance free of debris, toys, shoes and clutter. Sweep cobwebs, dried leaves and twigs. Wash your front door mat, or for a few dollars, buy a new one at your local home store. If you don’t have a front door mat, then get one. Buyers will notice if there is not one when they step in to your home. It’s a small item that costs only a few dollars, but makes a huge difference in a buyer’s first impression.

Clean the front door entrance! If the paint, or finish, on your front door looks faded, or peeling, you may want to re-paint it. If that is not option, then an alternative is to clean your front door, and that includes the threshold and adjacent molding.

With a little time, effort and a few dollars, your home can have the curb appeal that will leave a favorable first impression on prospective buyers.

#1 Least Expensive Step to Make Your Home More Appealing to Buyers

De-clutter your home. We all have those areas in our homes that seem to collect clutter. Paper clutter being one of the worst.

Because of technology you’d think we’d have less paper, but there seems there’s more personal papers, magazines, newspapers, bills, junk mail. When your home is on the market, eliminating clutter will focus prospective buyer’s attention on your home’s features, and not on the clutter.

  • You don’t want personal papers left out when you are showing your home to agents and prospective buyers.
  • Your home will photograph better without paper clutter!

There are professional organizers and home stagers that can help you de-clutter and stage your home for marketing. Most of us these days are on tight spending plans and because I like free, I recommend flylady.net, a DIY website full of free tips, ideas and a system on how to de-clutter your home.