Silicon Valley Real Estate

marcy@marcymoyer.com

Ca B.R.E. 01191194

650-619-9285

Monday, January 6, 2014

Where Do Palo Alto Buyers Come From Part 3

In Where Do Palo Alto Buyers Come From Parts 1 and 2 http://actvra.in/48kQ#sthash.72NoBZSb.dpuf, http://actvra.in/48hM#sthash.oRB1OcTH.dpuf I discussed the fact that 40% of buyers come from the internet and 35% come from other agents. That means that on a national basis 75% of buyers come from the internet or agents and 25% come from other sources. This blog will talk about those other sources.

On a National basis 11% of buyers will come from a yard sign. There are still people who want to buy in Palo Alto who will drive through neighborhoods looking for open houses and for sale signs. When you are selling your home in Palo Alto it really is a good idea to have a for sale sign in your yard. It is not that important what the color, height, or sign post looks like. Just make sure that the Palo Alto agent you chose to sell your home in Palo Alto has a sign with a large phone number on it so that if someone drives by it is easy to see the phone number they need to call to get the info on the home you are selling in Palo Alto.

Nationally about 6% of all buyers of homes are friends of the seller and that is how they find their home. Given that it is not a bad idea to post the fact you are selling your Palo Alto home on Facebook, take fliers of your home to work, and talk it up with your friends.

5% of homes are sold by builders so this does not apply to you if you are selling your home in Palo Alto.

2% of all homes nationally are sold because of a newspaper ad. Everyone knows that newspaper ads sell real estate agents, not real estate. So if a Palo Alto real estate agent tells you they are better at marketing because of all their beautiful newspaper ads ask to see their internet ads and put that in the mix.

2% of all homes are sold by owner. The numbers are not in your favor to try it that way.

Less than 1% of homes find their buyer in magazines.

So if you are selling a home in Palo Alto it is a great idea to keep these figures in your head when you are interviewing Palo Alto real estate agents. this will help you make a more objective decision.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

CA BRE 01191194

650-619-9285

Friday, December 20, 2013

Where Do Palo Alto Buyers Come From Part 2

Yesterday I spoke about the internet being the major source of buyers when selling a house in Palo Alto. Today I want to discuss real estate agents.

Palo Alto real estate agents are the second largest source of providing a buyer for the home you are selling in Palo Alto. When I first became a Palo Alto real estate agent 19 years ago agents were the number one source. While Palo Alto agents are no longer the keeper of all information, they are still an important resource when you sell your Palo Alto home.

Buyers look to their agents for advice and to keep up with what is going on in the market. Palo Alto buyers with specific requirements will often ask their agent to preview a home first and let them know if it meets their needs.

The Palo Alto real estate agent you choose to help you sell your home in Palo Alto should have a marketing plan for agents as well as for buyers. This can include a variety of methods:

1. MLS listings with private remarks for agents. These remarks should highlight some features that may not be allowed on the public remark section like showing instructions, where the lock box is located, if there is a trick to opening the door. This seems minor but if an agent can not get in your home will not be shown.

2. Broker open house tour with a giveaway or food: You want as many agents as possible to see your home for sale, even if they do not think they have a client for it. If you entice an Palo Alto real estate agent to see your home they may find it actually works for one of their clients, even if they did not think it would.

3. Email blasts: Even though the home you are selling in Palo Alto is on MLS having your agent send email blasts to other agents may help get someone's attention who has a client that may want your home.

The most important thing a Palo Alto real estate agent can do to help you sell your home is be nice to other agents. You want an agent with a reputation of being fair and honest with other agents. There are some real estate agents who are known to cross ethical boundaries that other agents do not like to work with. In this competitive market buyers do not want to waste their time making offers on homes where their offer will not get a fair shot, so the agents are reluctant to present an offer. Things like the listing agent representing a buyer or even multiple buyers or the listing agent's buyer assistant consistently winning in multiple offers will turn other agents away from presenting offers and you may lose out on the best offer.

So while the internet is a vital tool in selling your home in Palo Alto, real estate agents have not gone the way of the Dodo bird and are invaluable in this endeavor.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

CaBRE 01191194

650-619-9285

Where Do Palo Alto Buyers Come From? Mostly the Internet!

As a Palo Alto real estate agent I am often asked by potential sellers about my marketing plan. While it is true that it is probably easier to sell a home in Palo Alto than most other places, marketing is very important. However, the type of marketing that works in today's market is not the same as the type that worked 20 years ago, and this change should be reflected in your Palo Alto agent's marketing plan.

While over 80% of buyers start their home search on the internet, 40% actually find their home on the net. This is critical! Almost half of all buyers find their home in the internet and then go to see it. So how and where your home is on the internet is the most important thing you can do to get your Palo Alto home sold for the best price price and term. Since these numbers are national, I suspect that in this tech savvy area the figures are even higher.

Not all Palo Alto agents are equal when it comes to internet marketing. Just putting a Palo Alto home for sale on the MLS and letting it get picked up by other sites does not cut it in the wild west of the internet. Your Palo Alto real estate agent should put your home and as many pictures as possible on as many sites as possible. There is a service I use called List Hub that syndicates to 900 real estate sites. It is also important to add as many pictures as possible to the internet because some sites rank the order of the home by the number of pictures. Even sites like Trulia and Zillow needed to be massaged by your Palo Alto real estate agent in order to make sure there are as many pictures as possible, that the open house days and times are listed, and that as much detail on the information about the home is included.

Marketing a home you are selling in Palo Alto should revolve around the internet, but I will talk about other paths tomorrow.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me,

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

Cal BRE 01191194

650-619-9285

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Don't Pay For Termite Repairs On A Palo Alto Home In Escrow

As many of my blog followers know I sell a lot of Palo Alto homes in trust and probate. The owners were often very old, as are the homes, and frequently in need of repair. While it is often a good idea to keep repairs at a minimum in order to decrease the liability to the estate, sometimes it is necessary in order to allow buyers to be able buy and move into a home safely, or in order to increase the value exponentially.

I am currently sellling a Palo Alto home that needed some major bathroom repairs since it was unclear an adult could stand on the bathroom floor without falling through to the crawl space. No amount of staging was going to fix that problem. The second bathroom in this Menlo Park home was not much better.

The seller of this Palo Alto home decided to redo both bathrooms and Preferred Termite company was generous enough to allow the $15,000 payment through escrow.

The house went on the market generating plenty of interest and multiple offers. The seller of this Palo Alto home chose a nice couple who were pre-approved for a loan and felt comfortable enough with the reports and repairs done by the seller that they waived the property condition contingency, knowing that there was still more work to be done on the termite report. They could use the new bathrooms and felt the rest of the termite work and replacing the roof could happen over time.

Unfortunately their lender did not agree. There was no problem with the appraisal or underwriting. However, one day before we were due to close the funder looked at the seller's HUD1 (final closing statement) and saw that there was a $15,000 payment going to Preferred Termite. They said that all work called for on the termite report, including providing more access to the crawl space by making a new opening, had to be done before funding the loan.

Lesson learned. Fortunately neither the seller of the Palo Alto home or the buyer were trying to meet a deadline so the buyer switched lenders, the Palo Alto home seller will pay the termite company out of escrow so it is not on the closing statement and we will close in 2-3 weeks.

So remember, when selling a Palo Alto home do not put payments for inspections or termite repairs in escrow or the buyer's lender may ask to see them and muck up the sale.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto please fell free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

www.marcymoyer.com

Cal BRE 01191194

650-619-9285

Selling Palo Alto Home With Really Ugly Kitchen Counters?

If you are going to sell an older home in Palo Alto which has really ugly counters you may be in a quandary about whether to leave them the way the are, or replace them so the house does not look so bad. Since so many of our older homes are being purchased as tear downs, or at a minimum for major remodel you may wonder if it is worth spending the money if the house and or kitchen are going to be demolished anyway.

I actually think that unless your home is red tagged by the city and unsafe to enter, it is a good idea to make it look livable, and as welcoming as possible when you are selling a home in Palo Alto.

The reason is simple. While it is true that many older and especially smaller homes in Palo Alto are sold and torn down, it is not true for all of them. There are still Palo Alto buyers out there who want to buy a home in Palo Alto and live in it. Some of them will eventually remodel or tear down, but they still plan on spending time living in the Palo Alto home you are selling.

Also, even if the plan for the home in Palo Alto you are selling is to tear it down and build a new one, this process takes time, often a year or more. During that time period it is very common to have the home occupied, either by the person who purchased it, or by a renter. the more livable the home in Palo Alto you are selling the more it will be worth to a potential buyer.

Ikea sells counter tops that are laminate, but look very nice and are cheap. It is about $60 for an eight foot counter plus installation.

The improvement in look is worth much more than the cost to do it.

Remember, when selling a house in Palo Alto the goal is to get as many people as possible interested in your home, no matter what the condition. My making some inexpensive cosmetic improvements you can appeal to end user buyers, people who want to remodel, and people who want to tear down.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto

CAl BRE 01191194

650-619-9285

Monday, December 2, 2013

Why It Is a Great Idea To List Your Palo Alto Home on Dec 26th

I know what you are thinking, I am going to wait till after the first of the year or the spring to sell my home in Palo Alto. It would be stupid to list a home during the holidays, no one does that. Or no one is looking for a home during the holidays.

I need to respectfully disagree with those sentiments. I believe December is a great month to sell a home in Palo Alto, especially right after Christmas.

Here are the reasons I think selling a Palo Alto home on Dec 26th this year is a great idea.

1. The inventory has never been lower. As of today there are only 6 homes for sale in Palo Alto. A buyer's market doesn't even happen until there are over 90 homes for sale. List this month and you will have no compettion.

2. There are many people who are planning on moving to Palo Alto who are using winter break to come and look for a home. When there are only 6 homes for sale it is not hard to see how much your home will be apprectiated.

3. If you list your home on Dec 26 or there abouts, you could get the out of towners who are here over vacation looking for homes. Kepp it on the market 2 weeks with an open house the first week in Jan and then take offers the following week. This way you can also get the locals who were out of town Christmas week.

4. Registration for Palo Alto schools begins January 16th and priority registration ends Feb 14 2014 so there are many people with school age children who want a Palo Alto address before priority registration ends. Selling a Palo Alto home at the end of December would work perfectly for these families.

So in my opinion if you are ready to sell your home in Palo Alto then my suggestion is don't let a great opportunity pass you by. If you are ready to list in December, wait until after Christmas day, and then get it on the market. Your results will be very satisfying.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto

www.marcymoyer.com

Cal BRE 01191194

650-619-9285

Friday, April 5, 2013

When Selling a Palo Alto Home You Can Never Have Too Many Flowers

When selling a home in Palo Alto I don't believe there is such a thing as too many fresh flowers, especially in the spring time. I will concede that it is probably better not to have the home look like a funeral parlor, but short of that, nothing makes a Palo Alto home for sale more appealing than fresh flowers.

Home buying may be the biggest financial investment a person makes in his/her lifetime, but it is still ultimately an emotional decision. Walnut floors and quartz counter tops may be on a buyer's wish list, but the impact of coming into a home with fresh flowers is as the saying goes, "Like a breath of fresh air." Flowers never fail to give the buyer that over joyed feeling so important for a first impression.

There is a reason that people give flowers on Valentine's day. They say, LOVE. And don't you want buyers to love the Palo Alto home you are selling?

Now that it is spring there is no reason not to use fresh flowers in every room of the Palo Alto home you are selling. Trader Joes has them at ridiculously inexpensive prices. The California Ave Farmert's Market and Downtown Farmers Market have a gorgeous selection of the finest locally grown flowers. Even Costco has a fabulous selection of fresh cut flowers for your Palo Alto home.

So, tell your home stager who brings in pretty, but not emotionally charged silk flowers, thanks, but no thanks. Only fresh flowers are good enough for the Palo Alto home you are selling.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto, please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
DRE 01191194
650-619-9285

Thursday, March 14, 2013

When Selling a Palo Alto Home Bring the Cleaners In Before You Close

Are you selling a home in Palo Alto? If so you may take a look at the market conditions and think, I don't have to be nice to the buyers, they should be grateful I am letting them buy my house. This would be a reasonable conclusion considering that so many homes have multiple offers and most buyers are paying 10-20%+ over list price with no contingencies. Seems like a Palo Alto seller's paradise right? Not so fast.

Yes, there are more buyers than sellers in Palo Alto right now. Yes, it seems like sellers are in total control; but we have been down this path before. Buyers will get caught up in the emotions of so much competition to get a home. They will make all kinds of offers that are fraught with risks for the buyer. Before escrow closes on the Palo Alto house you are selling the buyer may be grateful, but once they own the home things can change.

Buyers of all homes can never know all of the things that are wrong, or that will go wrong. As long as the market is appreciating they may not be bothered by a water heater that leaks or a heater that makes noise. But if the home does not keep appreciating the good will may start to diminish. If you add to that a buyer who feels as if he/she was bullied by the seller there is a recipe for problems, ranging from annoying calls and messages to a law suit.

There is no way to completely eliminate the possibility of being sued by a buyer, but there are some things you can do to minimize this unfortunate circumstance. There is the obvious one of disclosing everything. Don't hide material facts from buyers.

However, there are additional things you can do to make a buyer feel as if the transaction was a win for both sides. One of the easiest things you can do when selling your Palo Alto home is remove all personal property and trash from the home, and bring in a cleaner. Even if you had the Palo Alto home you are selling professionally cleaned when you put it on the market, do it again after you leave. When the buyer comes into a home that they have just paid hundreds of thousands of dollars more than they were expecting, and often more than the home will appraise for, don't you think they at least deserve to have a clean home when they move in? It may not seem like a big deal, but the feeling the buyer gets when they come into a clean empty home is priceless.

Trust me, the buyer will feel so much better about a Palo Alto seller who leaves them with a clean, fresh smelling home with no trash, than a Palo Alto seller who leaves a dirty home with trash still in the garbage or even worse all over the house or garage. So when you sell your Palo Alto home, take the outrageous price with no contingencies, but do something nice for the buyer. End the transaction with everyone feeling good and hopefully it will be the end, and not just the beginning a bad relationship.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

marcy@marcymoyer.com

D.R.E. 01191194

650-619-9285

Monday, February 25, 2013

Palo Alto Sellers: Which is Riskier, A Loan Or Inspection Contingency?

If you are a Palo Alto home seller which do you think is riskier for you, not the buyer, taking an offer with a loan contingency, or taking an offer for your Palo Alto home for sale with an inspection contingency?

This question pre supposed several givens:

1. You have multiple offers from which to choose

2. The buyer has been fully pre-approved by a direct lender, is from this country or has the legal status necessary to obtain a loan, and did not ask for an appraisal contingency.

3. You have done all of the inspections on your Palo Alto home before the sale including property, termite, roof, chimney, and foundation if appropriate.

So assuming all of the above conditions have been met, and you have several offers which are around the same price, which would you prefer?

As a Palo Alto Real Estate Agent my choice is different than what you may think.

I think it is riskier for a seller to take an offer for the home being sold in Palo Alto from a buyer with no loan contingency, but a property/disclosure contingency.

Here is my thinking/experience:

1. Most buyers in this market have ample income and assets to get a loan. As long as there is a strong pre-approval letter a loan contingency should not be a problem. If you have a strong buyer and one bank has a problem with the loan, there is most likely another bank who will do it. With a loan contingency there is only one reason to get out of the contract, and that is the buyer just can not get a loan.

2. A property/disclosure contingency is open ended. The buyer can use any excuse about the property, neighborhood, schools, city government, they want if they want to get out of the contract to buy a Palo Alto home for sale. Also, things can come up on the buyer's inspections that could ultimately cost money if they say they will not buy the house if you don't fix, replace, or do something expensive to the Palo Alto home for sale.

I believe if you have to choose between an offer for the Palo Alto home you are selling with a loan contingnecy, and one with a property contingency, the loan contingency is generally the less risky of the two contingencies.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer
Keller Williams Realty Palo Alto
www.marcymoyer.com
marcy@marcymoyer.com
D.R.E. 01191194
650-619-9285

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Palo Alto Sellers, Should Your Real Estate Agent Represent A Buyer?

There is an easy answer to the question should the real estate agent for the Palo Alto Seller also represent the buyer?

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!!!!!

Should I say it again? NO!!!!!

There are many reasons why Palo Alto real estate agents should not represent the Palo Alto buyer and Palo Alto seller from the Palo Alto real estate agent's perspective, but this blog is about why is is not good for the seller.

Selling a home in Palo Alto is a big deal. There are very few on the market, right now only 25 single family Palo Alto homes are for sale. There are hundreds of people trying to buy a home in Palo Alto so each home that is for sale in Palo Alto will most likely get many offers, especially if it is listed for less than 2.5 million. While it is not illegal for a Palo Alto real estate agent to represent both the buyer and seller in a single transaction it is pretty impossible to be objective when there are 20 offers and your Palo Alto Real Estate agent is representing one of them.

When you sell a home in Palo Alto your Palo Alto real estate agent should be able to guide and advise you as to which is the best offer, what is the best way to counter, or not counter, what are the pros and cons of each offer. If your Palo Alto real estate agent is also one of the buyer's agent, just how objective is that advice going to be?

So, when you you are selling a home in Palo Alto make sure that your wishes about the Palo Alto real estate agent's representing or not representing a buyer are known up front. If you don't want it (which I hope you dont't,) get it in writing

with the listing agreement.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto, please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

D.R.E. 01191194

650-619-9285

Monday, February 11, 2013

When Selling a Home In Palo Alto Should You Counter Multiple Offers?

As a Palo Alto Real Estate Agent I am asked this question many time. When selling my home in Palo Alto should I give multiple counters to the buyers who make offers?

In my opinion there is no right or wrong answer, but I can give you what I think are some common sense guidelines.

1. Where is the original list price? When you sell your home in Palo Alto your Palo Alto Real Estate Agent will give you an opinion as to where your home will sell. It will generally be a range between what he/she thinks the bottom and top are. It is just a guess, although most Palo Alto Real Estate agents will be able to give you an educated guess. If you decide to list the home at the top of that range, your decision to counter or multiple counter an offer may be different than if you list at the bottom of that range. You will have a better chance of getting a higher price with a counter or multiple counter if you have listed at the lower end of the range than at the higher.

2. Are there several offers that are all clumped together in price and/or terms? If you are selling a home in Palo Alto and the list price is $1,600,000 and the highest offer is $1,675,000, but there are a number of other offers between $1,665,000 and $1,674,000, with similar contingencies, or lack of contingencies, then as a Palo Alto Real Estate Agent I would advise you to counter all the offers in that price range.

3. If the home you are selling in Palo Alto is listed at $1,600,000 and you have one offer at $1,7000,000 with terms that are acceptable, and all the other offers are $1,675,000 and below, I would advise taking the highest offer and working with that one. My rationale is "Dont get greedy." If only one person thought the home was worth $1,700,000 and you counter that person, he/she may walk away, leaving you with offers that my never even get to $1,700,000.

4. If the home you are selling in Palo Alto has a current market value of $1,600,000 at the top of the price range, and that is where you list it, I would advise that you take the best offer of $1,6000,000 or higher and be happy you got it. If the best offer is $1,610,000 and the other offers are in the $1,550,000 range, do not expect that the others will come up, just because one buyer did.

There is a real art to knowing when to counter, when to multiple counter, and when to accept. Hopefully you will have picked a Palo Alto real estate agent who is savy enough about these negotiations to help guide you through the process of selling your home in Palo and getting you the best price and terms for the home you are selling in Palo Alto.

If you have any questions about selling a home in Palo Alto or picking a Palo Alto real estate agent please feel free to

contact me, a Palo Alto Real Estate Agent myself.

Marcy Moyer

marcy@marcymoyer.com

D.R.E. 01191194

650-619-9285

Monday, February 4, 2013

Getting Palo Alto Real Estate Agents To Show The Home You Are Selling

When you sell your home in Palo Alto one of the things you want to make sure of is that other Palo Alto Real Estate Agents will show your home. this is important because while many buyers will find your home on the internet, they will almost always be using a Palo Alto Real Estate Agent to help them make the offer, so you will want to make sure other Palo Alto Real Estate Agents enthusiastically want to show the Palo Alto home you are selling. The last thing you want is to have a Palo Alto Real Estate Agent bad mouthing the Palo Alto home you are selling.

Here are some simple steps you can take to keep everyone feeling your home is a great one to have their client try to buy.

1. When you interview Palo Alto Real Estate Agents be gracious and smile, even if you can not stand the Palo Alto Real Estate agent in front of you. You may not hire this person, but he/she may end up having the buyer for your home, or know another agent who does.

2. Pick an agent who has a good reputation in the community and who never, or only rarely double ends a property. (represents the buyer and the seller on the same home) The reason for staying clear of agents who double end properties is because other agents will feel it is a waste of time to present and offer on a home when the listing agent will have the inside track on getting an offer accepted.

3. If you interview multiple Palo Alto real estate agents try to make the ones who you do not choose feel as if it is not their fault. Tell them you found someone you feel is a better fit for you, not that the agent is mean, incompetent, or smells bad.

4. When your Palo Alto Real Estate Agent has a broker's house for other agents make sure he/she has catered food, a drawing, or coffee cart to make other Palo Alto Real Estate Agents anxious to visit your home.

5. Your Palo Alto Real Estate Agent will put a disclosure package together to give to other agents who have interested

clients. Make sure your agent has a way to get these to other Palo Alto Real Estate Agents easily. They should either email or have an online site where the disclosures can be accessed. It is annoying to have to pick up a disclosure package at your realtor's office, so verify that your agent can deal with this electronically.

6. Be nice to agents when they call. If you are still living in your Palo Alto home when it is for sale Palo Alto Real Estate Agents will call to let you know when they want to show your home to their client. Be nice and try to accommodate the schedule of the buyer. Obviously you do not need to let people in at 10 at night or 5 in the morning, but try to let them show on as short notice as possible.

This is not rocket science. If you want as many Palo Alto Real Estate Agents as possible to show your home and encourage their clients to make offers, be nice, let people come see your home as often as possible, and choose an agent with a good reputation in the real estate community.

If you have any questions about picking a Palo Alto Real Estate agent to help you sell your home in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me, a Palo Alto Real Estate Agent.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty