Real Estate Information Archive

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Invest in face-lift, they say, and keep your asking price moderate

Before putting their Outer Richmond condo on the market, Megan Christoph and her husband, Scott Davis, repainted the entire apartment. They replaced the faucets and showerhead, replanted the yard and had the hardwood floors refinished.

The couple borrowed plants and artwork from friends and bought a new dining room table and chairs on Craigslist. Then Christoph and the couple's two children moved out for several weeks to keep their home pristine for the open houses and tours.

"We were very nervous to be selling in this market," said Christoph, who worked in real estate from 2002 to 2004 before returning to social work. "Out by Ocean Beach is a great place to live, but it's not necessarily where the 20-somethings and 30-somethings want to go. We felt like we had to make it look really good."

While real estate agents say that in any market sellers should put their best face forward by repainting, investing in landscaping and cleaning up the home, they say it's especially true in a down market. The other key to selling a home quickly that becomes even more critical in a slow cycle is pricing, according to agents including Cynthia Cummins, who helped Christoph sell her home.

Evaluating similar homes that sold in the neighborhood, Cummins said Christoph and Davis could have priced the house as high as $625,000.

"They opted to list it for $589,000 to make the price as attractive as possible," said Cummins, an agent with McGuire Real Estate and Christoph's boss during her two-year stint in real estate. "That may have been the single most important thing."

After a little more than two weeks on the market - what Christoph said felt like an eternity - the couple received two offers. They agreed to sell their home for $577,000, less than the listing price, and settled on a 30-day close.

"I didn't feel like I could say no to that," said Christoph. The sale closed May 23 - well before the end of the school year for her children. "I didn't feel like I could ask for those extra 14 days and still close the deal. All I wanted was to close the deal."

The family's experience underscores that it's anything but business as usual for sellers in San Francisco, where home prices zoomed up during the first half of the decade, and year after year of double-digit growth fueled a housing market where it took little more than placing a "for sale" sign out front to start a bidding war.

But San Francisco sellers say those days are long gone.

The median price of an existing single-family home in San Francisco was $850,000 in April, unchanged from the same period a year earlier, according to DataQuick Information Systems. The median price of an existing condo was also essentially unchanged at $783,000 for the same period. The number of single-family homes sold in April 2008 dropped 12 percent, while the number of condos fell 6.3 percent compared with April 2007.

To read the complete article in the San Francisico Chronicle "Click Here"

Investors in second or multiple homes stand to be among the biggest losers from the housing downturn.   That’s because proposed mortgage bailout programs don’t address second homes and investment properties.  Many owners of multiple properties don’t realize that investments they thought would help them build long-term wealth may in fact leave them in bankruptcy and facing a sizeable tax debt.

MAKING SENSE OF THE STORY FOR CONSUMERS

Homeowners who borrowed against the value of their second home, or who financed the purchase of their second home and subsequent homes by pledging their primary home or other properties as security, may be liable for taxes on the difference in value should they sell any of their properties for a price less than the value owed on the mortgage.

Under the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act, a homeowner doesn’t have to pay taxes on forgiven debt if the collateral behind the mortgage is owner-occupied.  That provision doesn’t apply to a growing number of homeowners renting out their second home or investment property.  Of some 7.5 million vacation homes, only about 10 percent are considered owner-occupied, according to the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION of REALTORS® (NAR).  Many of these homeowners borrowed against the ever-increasing (or so it seemed) value of these properties to finance improvements or to buy other properties.

There may be a way out for some, one bankruptcy lawyer counsels:  Get a lender to agree that foreclosure “fully satisfies all obligations under the loan.”  That might protect the seller from having to pay taxes on the forgiven debt – although one attorney said, “I sure don’t want to be the one litigating it” in court.

To read the full story in the New York Times, please "click here"

A modest gain in the level of home sales is possible over the next couple of months, and an improvement is forecast for the second half of this year as more buyers are able to access affordable mortgages, according to the latest forecast.The Pending Home Sales Index rose 6.3 percent to 88.2 from a reading of 83.0 in March. It's the highest index figure since last October. Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said pending sales contracts have picked up notably in areas undergoing significant price drops. "Bargain hunters have entered the market en masse, especially in areas that have experienced double-digit price declines, but it's unclear if they are investors or owner-occupants," he said. "Sharp price reductions are leading to a quicker discovery of price equilibrium points. The West is already seeing year-over-year gains in pending contracts."

To read the complete forcast and pending home sales index at NAR "click here"

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) statement. This form, sometimes called a HUD 1 statement, itemizes all the costs associated with the closing. You’ll need this for income tax purposes and when you sell the home.

I received this in an email from the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.)

C.A.R. is OPPOSING AB 2678 (Núñez) which among other things, requires that ALL homes and commercial property in California have an energy audit at point-of-sale and that mandatory energy efficiency investments be made. While C.A.R. appreciates the goal of AB 2678 C.A.R. strongly opposes the point-of-sale requirements in AB 2678 because they fail to achieve the bill?s objectives and, such mandates will further weaken the housing market. If enacted, AB 2678 could add thousands of dollars to the cost of purchasing a home, including up to $400 just to have a home audited. AB 2678 was passed by the Assembly Utilities committee. It will have a vote in the Assembly Appropriations committee before heading to a vote by the entire Assembly.

Don't kid yourself this will effect all home owners and home buyers. Call Your Lawmaker Today to Ask that  the Point-of-Sale Provision be Removed from AB 2678!

To read more AB2678 click here