Q. Tom, I heard recently that re-sale homes need to be outfitted with a carbon monoxide detector … do sellers have to comply or is it voluntary?
A. Thanks for asking … you are referring to a new California state law requiring homeowners (not just sellers) to install a carbon monoxide detector in single-family residences by July 1, 2011. It is mandatory – nothing voluntary about it. The detector device can be battery powered or a plug in with battery back-up and must be tested and certified pursuant to AMSU and UL requirements; the cost is between $20 and $200.
Q. We are in the early stages of searching for a home and really just want to familiarize ourselves with the market without needlessly taking up the time of a Realtor or quite candidly without being bugged by an agent wanting to sell us a home before we’re ready. What is the best way to ‘shop’ for a home at own pace without being bothered?
A. Great question! I meet prospective buyers all the time who are in what I call the ‘information-gathering’ stage. They want accurate information regarding homes coming onto the market and occasionally want my experienced perspective but for the most part they just want to view homes online, drive by homes that arouse their curiosity and drop into Sunday Open Houses at their leisure. And they don’t want an agent to bug them! Many times a real estate salesperson will inevitably push too hard and too fast and the prospective buyer will disappear. As a real estate consultant, I recommend the buyers … 1 – download a mobile phone application such as Redfin so that they have a great resource at their fingertips if they drive by a home that catches their eye 2 – log onto my website, sign up for Homes By Email and type in the parameters of their desired home search (community, bedrooms, baths, price range, etc.) so they are emailed every new home listing daily that fits their criteria and 3 – drive by any home that looks interesting or drop into a scheduled open house; if any home really looks like a good fit, then email me and I will report back all the particulars such as pricing history, its last sold price, why the owner is selling, offer activity, builder reputation, neighborhood values, school rankings, unusual disclosures or inspections, etc.. If they want to see the home on a pre-arranged appointment then I’ll set it up but only if they call me first. I sometimes work with buyers for 1-2 years in this manner until they are really ready to buy.
Q. Tom, I keep hearing that ‘short sales’ are still a substantial part of the overall market … how do the number of short sales compare to the number of regular sales in Danville in a given month?
A. The reality is that short sales still do make up a significant amount of the pending sale transactions in almost every community. The statistics in Danville as of the time I write this column show 149 pending sales in all price ranges of which 47 are ‘pending subject to lender approval’ meaning that they are short sales. That’s over 31% of the market. The good news is that the overall percentages of pending short sales has trended downward over the last six months from 50% levels previously to about 1/3 of the market today. The not so good news is that the current level of short sale activity is expected for the foreseeable future.
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