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The Featured Guests on Program #180:

Janet Meiselman, PsyD, Geriatric Psychologist
jmeiselman@mac.com

Q: It’s been over twenty years since we have sold a home. We are experiencing a whole new process. During the Broker Only tour, we had over a dozen buyers sent by their agents, since then we have had unaccompanied buyers knock on our door expecting us to show them the house. I work from home so I also field the calls. Several agents made appointments to show the home only to have their buyers showed up unescorted. What has happened to protocol and how can this behavior best be curtailed?

A: The explosion of real estate licensees also created an implosion. Real estate licensees must work under a supervising licensed broker. Many brokers are “degreed brokers,” who substituted years of mandated sales experience with a 4-year college degree. Likewise, many brokers owning property management or loan firms who never sold a property are “supervising” licensees in real estate sales. The old school training one receives at a real estate sales office is waning. Therefore, the agent opening the home to colleagues should make it known with proper signage that it is a broker tour ~ no exceptions. In addition, a well crafted note posted on a front door can politely remind visitors there must be an agent present and an appointment set. Lastly, remind the agents setting appointments, that you expect them to accompany their buyers ~ and if necessary, earn their pay.

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Do you have a question for the Market Wise column in the San Jose Mercury News?
If so, please email your question to: SiliconValleyBroker@gmail.com

Pat Kapowich. Broker/Owner
CERTIFIED RESIDENTIAL BROKER
ABR, CRS, GRI & SRES
Home Sales Expertise and Experience
(408) 245-7700

Pat Kapowich, CERTIFIED RESIDENTIAL BROKER, Home Sales Expertise and Experience

Parr Law Group
1625 The Alameda, Suite 101
San Jose, CA 95126

(408) 267-4500

Q:  The former next door neighbors were original owners who recently sold their home after residing there for over fifty years.  The new buyers are now claiming that our mutual fence is just shy of one foot into their property.  They are insisting that we move the fence back into our yard and split the cost.  The former owners told us that the fences have been replaced a few times, but never moved.  We just replaced the fence in question less than 2 years ago.  Wouldn’t this fence and its boundary have been ‘grandfathered -in”?

A:  Legal questions in your very common case will be answered by a Real Estate Attorney and/or, eventually, a mediator, arbitrator or judge.  At each juncture the costs sharply increase.  Conversely, hiring your own surveyor and maybe even requesting a county surveyor will confirm or deny the existence of a border dispute.  Two things you can count on if the fence is on the wrong property line. The issue will not go away and paying for a surveyor and half of the “good neighbor” fence is considerably less expensive than the alternative.

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Do you have a question for the Market Wise column in the San Jose Mercury News?
If so, please email your question to: SiliconValleyBroker@gmail.com

Pat Kapowich. Broker/Owner
CERTIFIED RESIDENTIAL BROKER
ABR, CRS, GRI & SRES
Home Sales Expertise and Experience
(408) 245-7700

Pat Kapowich’s De Anza College Course Series

Feb/25/12 @ 9am-12pm

Guest Speaker: Shawn Parr

Buyer and Seller Beware: Only prepared buyers and sellers should enter into transactions involving distressed properties. Short sales, pre-foreclosures and foreclosures are fraught with potential missteps and ramifications that are normally not found in an already stressful situation ~ the buying or selling of a home. Banks have become more aggressive toward buyers, sellers and their representative. Learning all sides of a transaction is paramount when negotiating, especially when the banks have loss mitigation departments that are overwhelmed and/or ill prepared.

Real Estate Shawn Parr is a specialist in lending, escrow, title and bank controlled properties. Pat is a Certified Residential Broker and a contributor to the Saturday Q & A column Market Wise in the San Jose Mercury News.

Be a Savvy Consumer and Learn the Particulars:

• Loan Modifications vs Short Sales

• Short-Sales vs Foreclosures

• Pre-Foreclosure & Foreclosures

• Debt Relief Tax Consequences

• Banks Demanding Loss Repayment

• Agent Contracts vs Bank Contracts

• Dealing with Multiple Lenders

Click Here to Enroll on the De Anza College Website:

Saturday ~ 1 Session ~ 9am to 12pm

Course Fee: $39.00

Location: De Anza College, G Building, Room G-4

Project Sentinel’s dispute resolution services are centered in our Sunnyvale office. This office provides counseling to both tenants and landlords as well as rent mediation and dispute resolution services for the cities of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Mountain View, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale. The Sunnyvale office is also the HUD counseling center, overseeing first time homebuyer, mortgage default and tenant assistance for Santa Clara and San Mateo counties. The office is open from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Project Sentinel Sunnyvale Office
298 S. Sunnyvale Avenue, Suite 209
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Martin Eichner, Director
Phone (408) 720-9888
Toll Free (888) 331-3332
Fax (408) 720-0810
mediate4us@housing.org

Q: Our listing agent has tried unsuccessfully to negotiate the short-sale of our home as promised. He has repeatedly tried to work with our lenders with very little headway. The buyers we had in contract gave up waiting and pulled their offer. We have decided to cancel our listing agreement and hire an agent touting short-sale experience. But, our current agent refuses to cooperate, sighting all the work I have put into this. We don’t want to lose another month with our current listing agent and perhaps risk a foreclosure as well. How do we part company with this agent and the firm he represents?

A: You’re in luck. A new rule under the federal Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS), allows sellers who are in your predicament to cancel the listing. This is due to your agent claiming as part of his service that he will negotiate with your lenders on your behalf to solidify and avoid foreclosure. Conversely, the MARS rule does not apply if this agent simply performed the normal duties of a listing agent and left you or your real estate attorney to deal with the lenders while avoiding foreclosure.

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Market Wise Column

Send questions to: SiliconValleyBroker@gmail.com

Q:  We hired a top real estate agent to sell our home. Yet, his assistant is the one helping us most of the time. Sometime another “assistant” will call us to convey information. Our adult daughter is furious that the agent she recommended to us has turned over the day-to-day activities, including Open Houses to others. We were told it’s common to have the top-producing agent reappear once we have an offer in hand. How prudent is this team approach?

A: The most successful teams communicate all day long about each one of their Buyers and/or Sellers. The problems arise when the “top” agent is kept in the dark about his clients. This business model is so he or she can focus on prospecting for new business, or, in your case, sales and negotiating for existing clients.

Were you were told about this team effort upfront? If not, it’s time, together with your daughter that you had a sit-down with the agent you hired. If the team approach is what you signed up for, ask that unlicensed assistant be restricted to non-sales and marketing activities, especially, conversations with you about your listing.

The other concern is that the most experienced agent might not promote your listing via conversations with the public or their representatives upon an inquiry. That duty is delegated to his or her staff. When that happens, the chances of a strong offer, let alone any offer are greatly diminished.

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Do you have a question for the new real estate Q&A Market Wise column in the SJMN? If so, please email them to: SiliconValleyBroker@gmail.com

The TDS (Transfer Disclosure Form) form has been revised to include check-box in Section IIA for a seller to disclose whether the property has water-conserving plumbing fixtures (low-flow toilets, shower heads, and faucets). The revised TDS also clarifies in Section IIB that, by January 1, 2017, a single family residence built on or before January 1, 1994 must generally be equipped with water-conserving plumbing fixtures. If, however, the single-family residence is altered or improved on or after January 1, 2014, the water-conserving plumbing fixtures must be a condition of final permit approval.
Senate Bill 837(codified as Cal. Civil Code § 1102.6) (effective January 1, 2012).