The Dan Ellison Group Real Estate Video Blog

5 Things Every Homebuyer Needs to Know About New Construction

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Tue, 6 Mar 2018 09:27:00 -0800

If you want to buy a new construction home, there are five important things that you need to know.

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Buying a new construction property is very different from buying a resale property. There are five things that every homebuyer needs to know about new construction:

1. New homes may not be listed in the local MLS. This is important because you may not know all the new construction inventory available. You should connect with your local real estate agent who can give you insight as to what new construction homes are available and what new communities are coming into the area.

2. New construction homes are often sold before they are built. New construction communities may have floor plans available, but you won’t even see that inventory when you are ready to buy in a new area. If you are looking at a more established community, that’s why there are only a few homes available for sale, if any; the homes were sold before they were even built.

3. The first buyers may get the best discounts. New construction builders have relationships with lenders, and there are incentives available for you, especially if you buy while a new construction community is still in the first phase. They may offer credits, discounts for rates, or even some kind of credit towards your closing costs if you work with their preferred lender.

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The builder may give you a design center credit rather than coming down on the price.

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4. Builders don’t have a personal attachment to the home. Sometimes, it’s just business. The numbers have to make sense for the builder. If you are buying in a newer community that hasn’t sold a lot of homes yet and there is still a lot of construction going on, the builders may work with you more on pricing. As time goes on, those prices will go up through the different phases. There will be fewer discounts available as demand grows and inventory shrinks.

5. Discounts may be available in the form of upgrades. When you work with a real estate professional, we know how to negotiate the best deal for you. The same is true when you buy a new construction home. For example, say a house is listed at $400,000 and the builder doesn’t want to go down on price. The builder may give you a design center credit so that you can pay for upgrades. For example, they may give you a $30,000 credit that you can use to upgrade your countertops, flooring, or lighting.

If you have any other questions about buying a new construction home, please feel free to reach out to my team. We would be happy to answer any questions that you may have, and we look forward to talking to you soon!

What Happens During the Inspection Contingency?

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Tue, 14 Nov 2017 08:56:00 -0800

What is the home inspection contingency, and why is it so important? I’ll go over four key points for you today.

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The inspection contingency period is by far the most important contingency when buying a home. There are four key points that you need to know about in order to understand this process a little better.

1. What is the time frame allowed for the standard contingency period? Usually, the contingency period lasts 17 days. In our current market, the inspection contingency period has dropped to 14, 12, or even 10 days depending on the property and how much activity is on it. Shortening the inspection contingency period helps the transaction move along at a faster pace.

2. What is inspected? There will be a general home inspection, pest inspection, and roof inspection. If you are buying an older home, you may want to get a sewer line or chimney inspection so that you understand the condition of all parts of the property. In addition to reviewing the physical condition of the property, you will also have the opportunity to review all seller disclosures during this time. Since they have lived in the house, they know a few more details than the inspection will review. For example, they’ll be able to tell you if there was a flood or fire in one of the rooms.

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Pay attention to major issues or safety concerns.

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3. What happens if I discover something? In other words, what happens if something comes up on the home inspection report? Once this happens, you can submit a request for repairs asking the seller to correct the issue before close of escrow. Pay attention to any major repairs or safety concerns. Don’t ask for small, cosmetic issues to be handled. If you noticed that the living room needs a fresh coat of paint or that you want to replace the countertops, take care of that on your own. The seller can agree to take care of all, some, or none of the repairs. From that point, it is up to you to decide how to proceed.

4. Don’t submit a laundry list of repairs to the seller. Again, highlight items that are important, like major roof repairs or safety concerns. Don’t ask the sellers to do something that you could easily take care of on your own, like replacing a light switch. If you do, you risk offending or irritating the seller, which could make negotiations more difficult down the line. Include bigger repairs so that the seller will take your requests seriously into consideration.

If you have any other questions about inspection contingencies or the home buying process, just give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

3 Key Tips to Selling Your Home in the Fall

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Thu, 5 Oct 2017 09:45:00 -0700

Keep your house looking neat and seasonal to make an impression on a potential buyer.

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Today, let’s talk about three key tips to selling your home in the fall.

1. Keep up the curb appeal. With the fall comes tricky weather and falling leaves, so just make sure that you keep everything in tip-top shape. Curb appeal is important because if someone doesn’t like the exterior of a house, they may not want to look at the interior. Keep your lawn clean, pick up leaves, and clear your walkways. Something else I like to do for every listing is to get a brand-new doormat. A clean, new one brings freshness to your porch, where an old one might not.

2. Lighting is key in the fall. The fall has shorter days and more shadows, so be sure to open the blinds and shutters to keep light coming in. You might also add some new light bulbs, making sure that all of them work, as well as bring light to the darker areas of your home. This could help a lot during showings by displaying any improvements you’ve made to the house.

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Curb appeal is important because if someone doesn’t like the exterior of a house, they may not want to look at the interior.

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3. The fall decor. Add touches like pumpkins or wreaths to freshen up that fall taste. Just make sure that you don’t go too far with it. Don’t leave your porch looking like a farmers market. Show just enough to look seasonal, but not so much that it detracts from the house itself.

If you have questions or would like information about anything else, please feel free to reach out anytime. I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

How Can You Find a Home in Today's Market?

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 10:33:00 -0700

If you’ve been in the market for a house, it’s important to know where to look. Today, I’ve got three strategies that we use to help our clients find their next home.

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In this low-inventory market, how can you find a home? Today, I’ve got three strategies that will help you achieve just that. These strategies are ones we use personally to help our clients. In fact, this year we’ve helped three different buyers find homes that hadn’t even hit the market.

Before I talk about those strategies, though, it’s important to note another component that will be key to your success: having a refined search in place. During your home search, you should narrow the homes you’re looking at by deciding what neighborhoods you’re interested in and what criteria is important to you in a property.

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Finding the right home is all about knowing where to look.

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Once you’ve got a more narrow idea of what you’re looking for, we can implement the following three strategies.

Utilize agent relationships. We have access to different portals, groups, and agents who are promoting “coming soon” listings or pocket listings. On our team, we utilize our relationships with various agents in order to dig up listings that not everyone knows about.
Engage in outbound prospecting. This is something we do a lot of. If you know where you’re interested in living, we have systems and tools that allow us to extract information from that specific neighborhood. Whether it is by calling or going door to door, we know the most effective ways to gather leads on inventory for our clients.
Search our database of expired or withdrawn listings. We have data going back about five years from listings that have expired or been withdrawn from the market. Using this data, we can call those sellers and inquire about their properties. By finding out whether they are still considering selling, we are able to find homes for our clients that not everyone on the market has already seen.

When you are looking to buy a house, having access to all of the inventory available will make a world of difference. Finding the right home is all about knowing where to look.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

How to Buy and Sell Simultaneously

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Thu, 3 Aug 2017 12:30:00 -0700

There are a few different ways you can buy and sell at the same time. Here are the strategies that work best in our current market.

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This is a really hot topic in our market because of our low inventory. With so few options to choose from, sellers know that their home will sell quickly, but they don’t know how quickly they will be able to buy. Nobody wants to end up without a place to live. There are two strategies that we have found to be the best options for tackling this problem.

The first is writing a contingency into your sale contract that you need to find your new property before the deal is finalized. This means that the buyer will agree to the purchase terms, but still give you a specific amount of time to find a home in, usually around three weeks. If you still haven’t found a new home after that time, you can try to have the seller give you more time. They could also choose to terminate the agreement at that point.

The advantage that sellers have in this market is that buyers have been more flexible. We have been able to negotiate that contingency up front to ensure our buyers are never left without options.

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It’s not impossible to juggle buying and selling.

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Another thing we can do is negotiate a rent-back. This is where we’ll close on the home sale, then the buyer will allow you to rent the home back from them until you find a new home. It frees you from having to deal with temporary living or storage. It’s an option that has become more and more popular in this strong seller’s market.

If you or someone you know is in a similar situation and needs the guidance of a professional, give us a call or send us an email. Hope to hear from you soon!

Tips for Winning a Multiple Offer Situation as a Buyer

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Mon, 5 Jun 2017 09:40:00 -0700

If you find yourself in a multiple offer situation as a buyer, there are a few ways you can ensure that your offer comes out on top.

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If you’re on the hunt for a home in this market, it can be tough. There isn’t a lot of inventory available and there is a lot of competition from other buyers in many price points. How can you make sure your offer percolates to the top in a multiple offer situation?

The first thing you can do—which is something our team specializes in—is work with your agent to reach out to the seller’s agent and ask them what’s so important to their client about selling their house. The reason for this is you want to match your offer to the motivation of the seller. Sometimes they want to sell the house as fast as possible; sometimes they need a 60-day rent-back agreement after it sells. If you don’t have that communication to understand what’s important to the seller, you won’t be able to position your offer accordingly.

The first thing you want is for your agent to reach out to the buyers' agents and ask for their clients' highest and best offers. You want to let them know that it might be their final chance to put their best foot forward.

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Match your offer to the motivations of the seller.

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Next, incorporate a letter to the seller and send it to them. This means writing a personal, heartfelt letter further expressing your interest and why you see yourself living there. We’ve been able to get many clients’ offers accepted that were priced below the competition based on these kinds of letters.

On our team, another thing we like to do is focus on agent relationships. We have a strong reputation for working hard for our clients. We negotiate on your behalf and make sure we’re doing everything that we agreed to do up front. This way other agents in our market know we perform our tasks and duties and do our job and it makes them more comfortable accepting your offer and moving forward with us.

Finally, ask yourself—what is the most you’re willing to pay? If your offer doesn’t get accepted, you don’t want to be kicking yourself the next day knowing that you would’ve been willing to offer more. At the same time, you want to make an offer that won’t make you feel like you overpaid if it did get accepted. Everyone has their sweet spot, so that’s up to you to determine. A lot of times, you only get one shot though.

If you have any questions about how to win a multiple offer situation as a buyer in our market, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would be happy to help.

How to Pick the Best Offer for Your Home

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Wed, 24 May 2017 07:27:00 -0700

If you sell your house and price it right in our market, there's a good chance you'll receive more than one offer. Here's how to decide which one to pick.

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If your home is for sale and it's priced right, you can expect multiple offers. The key to handling multiple offers is knowing how to engage with those buyers.

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Cash is king, but it's not always your best option.

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Then, you want to carefully consider the terms offered by the buyer. Inventory is tight in our market, and most people who sell their house have to turn around and buy another. A buyer offering the term where you don't have to move out of your house immediately after closing or allowing you to sell your house contingent on finding a new home would be very important factors to consider. We want to look at all the terms, not just the highest price.

The next big thing to consider is the buyer's earnest money deposit, or how much they're going to put into escrow. This money goes toward the down payment, but it's also at risk if something goes wrong with the transaction and the buyer doesn't perform according to the agreement. A $10,000 earnest money deposit is much more powerful than a $100 earnest money deposit.

Finally, you'll want to consider how well the buyer has their finances in order. Cash is always king as a buyer, but a cash buyer can back out of a deal just as easily as a financed buyer can. Similarly, just because a buyer is using FHA or VA financing doesn't mean they're not capable of submitting the best offer in terms of price and terms.

If you have any other questions about how to handle multiple offers when selling your home, give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you!

How Does a Comparative Market Analysis Help Home Sellers?

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Tue, 4 Apr 2017 09:49:00 -0700

A comparative market analysis plays an important part in a home sale because it gives agents an idea of how to position your home on the market.

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What role does a comparative market analysis play in a home sale?

A comparative market analysis (CMA) is important to determine the value of your home before placing it on the market. The way we agents determine a CMA is by comparing your home with the value of other homes in the neighborhood that have either sold, are pending, or are still on the market.

Of those three categories—active listings, pending listings, and sold listings—sold listings are the most important because they give us a true picture of what homes are selling for. We use pending and active listings to determine other factors. The goal is to pull at least three to five homes that are similar to yours in size, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and any type of amenities and make adjustments based on that criteria to determine where to price your home.

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A CMA gives agents a good idea how to position your home in the market.

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Ultimately, the buyer is the one who will determine the value of your home, and you can price your home according to your specific situation. If you’re not in a rush for it to sell, you can price it on the higher side. If you need to sell your house contingent on finding a replacement property, then you may price it more aggressively to generate multiple offers.

Pending data tells us where the market is currently at. If a home has been on the market for only five days and is in escrow already, we can assume that it sold pretty close to asking price. Depending on how many properties are active on the market, that will tell us the inventory level and if there is a lot of competition that could affect your pricing.

If you have any questions or have any other real estate needs, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

2nd Quarter Sacramento Real Estate Update

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Tue, 21 Mar 2017 07:34:00 -0700

The market is still hot in Sacramento as we head into the second quarter. Home sellers can benefit from the low inventory and high demand while buyers can benefit from extremely low interest rates.

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Today let's take a look at what's going on in the market as we head into the second quarter.

The market is still extremely hot in terms of low inventory and high demand for homes from buyers. Without much to choose from, we're seeing multiple offer situations in certain price ranges and certain areas depending on desirability. In fact, we sold two of our recent listings above full list price before they even hit the market!

That said, it's still a great time to buy or sell a home with interest rates still low. Yes, the Fed did increase the interest rate by 0.25% recently, but rates are still extremely low from a historical perspective. Money is still cheap for a home loan.

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Even with low inventory, the low interest rates make now a great time to buy a house.

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If you want to sell your house, you can definitely take advantage of this seller's market and the low interest rates to move into your new house. This will be advantageous by saving you lots of money in the long term whether you're upsizing or downsizing.

Even with the market favoring sellers this strongly, you might be thinking that you don't want to sell your house because you'll have to compete to buy your next home. However, we have specific marketing strategies we use to help our clients get into homes in multiple offer situations that other agents and teams can't offer you.

If you have any questions about the Sacramento market or how we can help you take advantage of it whether you're buying or selling a house, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be more than happy to help!

What Do We Need to Watch in the Sacramento Spring Market?

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Thu, 2 Feb 2017 11:35:00 -0800

As we head into the spring market, there are a few key points you should keep an eye on if you plan to buy or sell a home in the near future.

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What can you expect as we head into the spring market? There are a few things in particular that we want to pay attention to.

The first is inventory. As we head into the spring market, we'll see many sellers come out of hibernation after holding off on selling through the winter and the holidays. You can expect to see more homes come on the market, but inventory is still at an all-time low.

The absorption rate tells us what kind of market we're in. We calculate it by figuring out how long it would take to sell existing active inventory if no new houses came on the market. Looking at absorption rates from the past couple months—especially December—we see that we're at just one month. A regular market would be four to six months of inventory.

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It's still a great market for both buyers and sellers.

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Based on the 1.1 month absorption rate from December, we can see that we're in a seller's market. Anything below four months of inventory is considered a seller's market.

The second point to keep an eye on is that even though it's a seller's market due to low inventory, it's still a good market for buyers thanks to such low interest rates. Rates have crept up a little bit recently, so we'll want to watch whether rates continue to rise.

Rising rates can affect a buyer's purchasing power; a buyer who could qualify for a $400,000 home would only qualify for a $370,000 house if interest rates went up 1%. This could also put some downward pressure on home prices, but I'm not saying that will happen quickly. Historically speaking, though, interest rates are still really good and buyers will want to take advantage of it.

These are the key things you should look out for in the spring market this year. If you have any other questions about the Sacramento market or you're thinking of buying or selling a home, give me a call or send me an email soon. I'd love to hear from you!

5 Questions That Will Help You Find the Perfect Agent

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 12:36:00 -0800

Asking the right questions is the best way to find the right agent when selling your home. Today, I've put together the five most important questions you should ask to find the right agent.

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When you sell your home, you want to find the best agent possible to help you get a great deal.

There are five questions you should ask to make sure you find the best agent to help you sell your home:

How long have you been selling homes? You obviously wouldn't want to go to a doctor who is fresh out of medical school to take care of a serious operation. The same is true in real estate—you don't want to work with someone fresh out of real estate school to handle your $500,000 home.
How many homes did you sell last year? A lot of agents like to use the data from their brokerage, which doesn't truly represent the numbers that they personally put up from last year. Be sure to ask them for data specifically about the transactions they were responsible for. A newer agent who sells 30 to 40 homes a year will have more experience than a veteran agent who only sells one or two homes a year because the newer agent is more in tune with the current market, thanks to the fact that they're negotiating more transactions at the moment.

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Make sure they have a plan to keep you informed before, during, and after the transaction.

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How are you going to market my home? This is important because it's the specific reason why you're hiring a particular agent—to get the most exposure in the market. Make sure they come with a step-by-step strategic marketing plan to get your house the exposure that you need to sell your home for top dollar in the least amount of time with the least amount of hassle.
Will you represent me exclusively? In California, an agent is allowed to represent a seller, a buyer, or both. Make sure you understand the concept of dual agency, and if your agent is doing this, that you understand the nuances and details involved in the transaction.
How will you keep me informed? Communication is so important. You want to make sure they have a plan to keep you informed before, during, and after the close of the transaction.

These five questions will really help you find the best agent to sell your home.

If you have any questions we can help you with, or you're looking to buy or sell a home in the Sacramento market, give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help.

The 3 Contingencies You Need to Know About During Escrow

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 12:47:00 -0800

There are three basic contingencies implemented within the escrow period: the home inspection contingency, the appraisal contingency, and the loan contingency removal.

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During a home sale, there are three basic contingencies implemented within the escrow period that you need to know about.

The first is the home inspection contingency. This contingency period allows the buyer to do all of their investigations (home inspection, roof inspection, pest inspection, etc.) as well as review all of the documents and disclosures that the seller has provided them, which they are required to do in California within seven days of accepting the contract. This also gives the buyer time to do their due diligence and feel comfortable that they’re getting the property they first wrote the offer for.

This contingency period normally lasts about 17 days. It can be shortened, though. We normally ask the buyer to reduce the timeline to 12 days because it doesn’t take that long to go through all the paperwork and do all the inspections.

The second contingency is the appraisal contingency. The lender plays a big role in this contingency. When they know that they’re doing a loan on a property, they hire a third-party appraiser to go out and do a valuation on the house to make sure that the offer the buyer wrote for it is actually worth that much money. This way, the bank can feel comfortable and confident when making their loan.

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These contingencies help move the transaction along.

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Sometimes, an appraiser appraises a home for lower than what the contract price is. At this point, more negotiations ensue. Let’s say, for example, that you got a contract at $400,000, but the appraiser appraises the home at $390,000. The buyer can pay cash to close the $10,000 difference, the seller can reduce the price from $400,000 to $390,000, or both sides can meet somewhere in the middle. If the home is priced correctly the first time, however, it should meet the appraisal price. The appraisal contingency lasts about 17 days as well.

The third contingency is the loan contingency removal. This just means that the lender has gotten all the documents they need from the buyer (bank statements, taxes, W-2s, etc.) and they are confident enough in them to release that loan contingency. Normally, this loan contingency happens 21 days after the acceptance of the contract.

These three contingencies exist to make sure the buyer is doing what they need to do to move the ball forward. As always, if there’s a problem, we solve it by negotiating.

If you have any questions or have a topic in mind you’d like to learn more about, please feel free to reach out to me. I’d be happy to help!

5 Keys to Position Your Home Sale for Success

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 11:50:00 -0800

Positioning your home from a marketing perspective is the best way to sell for top dollar. These five things are the keys to positioning your home to maximize your exposure.

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When you sell your home, it's important to position it well from a marketing perspective if you want to get top dollar and sell as quickly as possible. There are five main points to focus on to do this:

Pricing. You want to price it as close to fair market value as possible because this will give you maximum exposure from all qualified buyers in the market. Pricing too high, like many sellers tend to do, will give you less traction and less access to qualified buyers. You want to try to get multiple buyers who want to write an offer on your house.
Bring in a staging consultant to see if there's anything that needs to be done to the property. When you went on your first date with your spouse or partner, you spent some time to look sharp and get ready to impress them—we want to do the same thing with your house. How you live in a home is not how you sell a home. Some of my clients have simply removed some furniture and excess clutter while others have spent $5,000 staging the home professionally. Each home has different needs.
Use professional photography, videography, and maybe even drone video. These days, 97% of buyers will actually start their search for a home online. If your home isn't positioned well visually on the Internet and buyers aren't drawn to the pictures, they probably won't see it in person. Photos are the number one thing we have to do to be sure your home shows well online to all those buyers.
Market syndication. This means your listing is pushed out not just to one website, but to hundreds or even thousands of real estate websites. There are many buyers who could come from many places, so you want to put your home in front of as many qualified buyers as possible on a myriad of real estate websites.
Make sure you have the back end operations to capture all that lead data. You want to be sure the agent and team you hire have the operations in place to make sure they're converting on the activity your home is seeing from the marketing; it should be proactive, not passive.

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You want to expose your home to as many qualified buyers as possible.

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With these five keys in place, you'll be in the best position to sell your home quickly for top dollar. If you have any other questions, always feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help!

Don't Skip These 5 Inspections When Buying

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 08:04:00 -0700

If you're buying a home, we recommend investing in five different inspections to get a better idea of the condition of the home you’re buying.

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Home inspections are a vital part of any real estate transaction. Which ones should you get and how much do they cost? These are the top five inspections we recommend when buying a home:

Home inspection. This one is obvious; the home inspection will make the overall condition of the property clear. There is no specialty for things like heating and air, but they can identify problems that will need further investigation from someone like a plumber or electrician. It's a general overview, and it's great because you can do a general walkthrough following the two-hour inspection period. This will help you understand any concerns the inspector may have. These home inspections generally cost between $400 and $450, depending on things like your foundation and crawlspace.
Pest inspection. This not only checks for actual termite activity, but also dry rot and fungus. These issues, if not addressed immediately, can only get worse. Pest inspections usually run about $100.
Roof inspection. This will tell you if there is any part of the roof that needs maintenance or repair, and what the costs would be in order to get a roof certification. Roof certifications normally cost about $250, and there could be some items that need to be corrected in order to get it. The report for the roof inspection is actually free, so there is a lot of value there.
Chimney inspection. You just don't know the condition of a chimney, and yet, there could be a lot of issues going on. For $150, you can have a specialist come out for a cleaning, and they'll also inspect the condition of the chimney and the flue and make sure it's all functioning properly and is safe to use. You don't want to start any fires in an unsafe chimney.
Sewer line inspection. Not everybody gets this, but it's only $100 and they actually run a camera through the sewer line. Our inspectors have found multiple instances of issues with sewer lines that could have cost up to $6,000. We have been able to correct these issues or get a credit from the seller to fix them simply because most people wouldn't do it.

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These inspections are well worth the investment.

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These are the top five inspections we recommend, but there may be more special inspections depending on the type of property. These inspections are all well worth the investment on a property that's $250,000, $500,000 or more, just so you know what you're buying and that things are working properly, and if they're not, we will ask the seller to take care of them before the close of escrow.

If you have any questions about inspections or about the Sacramento real estate market, give me a call or send me an email. Let's talk soon!

3 Reasons to Sell Your Sacramento Home This Fall

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 11:52:00 -0700

Should you put your home on the market this fall? The answer is absolutely yes, and there are three main advantages to listing now rather than waiting for spring.

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This time of year, I get the same question from a number of potential sellers: “Should I sell my home in the fall?”

My answer is absolutely yes. Fall is a great time to sell, and there are three main reasons why you should put your home on the market now.

1. You will face less competition as a seller in the fall. Why? Most people think that spring is a great time to sell your home, and it is. Still, when your home is on the market and five neighboring homes are on the market, there is more supply and less demand. If there are only two buyers looking in your neighborhood, then only two of those five homes might sell. In the fall, you might be the only one on the market in your neighborhood, so you only need to find one buyer to make that transaction happen.

2. Buyers are more serious in the fall. These buyers have come out of the summer market without finding a home and most of them are looking to get into a new home before the holidays. These buyers are highly motivated people who want to get settled as soon as possible.

3. Interest rates are still phenomenally low this fall. Low interest rates mean buyers still have a lot of purchasing power. We don’t know what will happen with interest rates after the election, so most buyers will want to take advantage of those rates now, which is good news for home sellers.

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Buyers are more serious about getting into a home in the fall.

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As you can see, putting your home on the market in the fall comes with many advantages. If you have any other questions about selling your home this fall or are interested in exploring other real estate topics, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I would be happy to help you!

3 Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a New Construction Home

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Wed, 24 Aug 2016 13:57:00 -0700

When you buy a new construction home, there are three main mistakes you should avoid:

1. Not hiring a real estate professional. A lot of times there is room for negotiation when you buy new construction - if you know where to look. For example, we have a client who just went under contract and the home is halfway built. I was able to get them $20,000 off the asking price and a $5,000 credit for blinds. There are many nuances in the new construction contract, and you need a real estate agent by your side to negotiate price, terms, and conditions.

2. Not doing research. You need to research the property and the surrounding environment. A lot of new construction homes are in underdeveloped areas; it’s important to know what kind of infrastructure will be going into that area over the next three to seven years. You should also know how that will affect your home’s value and its sellability in the future.

3. Neglecting Paperwork. New home builders have their own contracts instead of the standard California Association of Realtors contract. I have a client who has a new construction contract with 164 pages. There is a lot of fine print to go through. Luckily, I noticed that this contract would have required the buyer to pay $3,000 in closing costs and was able to save them that money. Again, that’s why you need to hire a real estate agent - to catch things you might not know about.

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A real estate agent will guide you through negotiations and mountains of paperwork.

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If you have any questions about buying new construction or about real estate in general, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

5 Steps to Win a Bidding War in the Sacramento Area

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 11:16:00 -0700

There are five easy steps toward making your offer more desirable and winning a bidding war:

Write a letter to the seller. Almost everybody loves their home, so when you compliment the seller on things like the decor or the lighting fixtures, you build a rapport with them that resonates far more strongly than simply writing an offer.
Include proof of funds in your pre-approval. Show them that you have the cash for your down payment. This will establish your seriousness far better than a lender writing a pre-approval letter vouching for a loan.
Make sure your purchase offer is detailed and complete. It’s your agent’s job to verify that all of the information on the offer is filled out completely, including things like the listing agent’s name, office information, phone number, license number, and brokerage number. This proves to the agent representing the seller that you’re going to do the work that you’re responsible for, and that they won’t have to worry about it.
Forget lowball offers! In this market full of multiple offers, a lowball offer might not even be addressed at all. I always advise my clients to write their offer at a price that they feel comfortable with. Decide what your sweet spot is and put your best foot forward.
Shorten the contingency period. An inspection contingency, for example, usually takes around 17 days, but it shouldn’t take that long. You can shorten it to 10 and show the seller that you’re serious and want to take the next step into the escrow process.

If you have any questions or any other real estate needs you want brought to my attention, just give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to talking with you soon.

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Decide what your sweet spot is and put your best foot forward.

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Don’t Let Changing Interest Rates Weaken Your Purchasing Power

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 10:06:00 -0700

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Our purchasing power is affected by rising interest rates. Right now, interest rates are at an all-time low, historically speaking. What that means is that you’re getting a lot more house for your dollar because money is cheap. Today I wanted to discuss the effects of changing interest rates on your purchasing power.

So what does this mean when—not if—interest rates start to go up again? These rates won’t stay low forever. Let’s look at how a rise in interest rates would impact your purchase price.

As an example, let’s say $1,500 is the amount you want to spend on your monthly mortgage payment, and 4% is the current interest rate. How much house can you buy with 10% down? This equates to a $350,000 purchase price.

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Now is the time to buy in case interest rates rise again.

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Now let’s say that six months down the road, interest rates tick up another 1%, but you don’t want to pay more than that $1,500 per month. Your purchase price would now be $311,100. This 1% rise in interest equates to nearly $40,000 less in purchasing power. A 2% rise would bring your purchase price down to $278,550, a 3% rise would bring you to $251,100, a 4% rise would leave you at $227,650, and so on.

This information is important to know as a buyer because you can easily see what a great position you’re in with the 3.5% interest rates in place today. This is also why if you’re a seller, you’re going to have some great exposure with access to such cheap money. Interest rates are low enough that buyers can now afford more house for less money per month.

If you’re thinking about buying a home sometime in the next six or 12 months, now is the time to buy, in case interest rates rise again and lose you over $40,000 off of your potential purchase price.

For more information, please feel free to reach out by phone or email. I’m happy to be a resource for you!

How Making Small Improvements Before Listing Can Net a Large Return

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Wed, 13 Jul 2016 11:34:00 -0700

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A lot of my clients wonder what improvements they can make to their house to get top dollar in the best amount of time with the least amount hassle. I have a system and a process in place where I bring in a staging consultant and we create a punch list on how we can position the property without having our client - the seller - spend a lot of money on things that are not necessary.

Our goal is to position that house on the market so that it appeals to the buyers. The staging consultant on our team works really closely with us to determine simple things like doing interior paint or switching out light fixtures. It doesn’t have to be a full-blown kitchen remodel or countertop replacement. Just a few small updates can go a long way!

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Making small improvement before listing can yield a huge return.

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For example, I once came across a property that had sat on the market for 145 days under the direction of the agent before me. It was a smaller home listed at $189,000. I decided to get in contact with the seller after it came off the market, and they decided to put me to work. We then went through the property using our previously mentioned system and decided that only a few small things were needed: a one-room paint job and a professional staging of that room. Most buyers view your house online first so you want it to make a good first impression and stand out with staging and professional photography.

After that $1,700 investment, they were able to list the house for $11,000 more. Not only that, but the very first day it was back on the market, we got an offer above listing price and sold for $202,500. Just by doing these simple things, the seller invested a minimal amount of money and got a huge return.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out by phone or email. I’m looking forward to continuing to be your resource and answer any questions that you may have.

The Inaccuracies of Zillow Can Ruin Your Home Sale

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 10:22:00 -0700

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Thinking of buying a home? Search all homes for sale on the MLS

We see a lot of misinformation in this industry and lately, a lot of it has been coming from Zillow. Zillow’s “Zestimate” sounds sexy, but more often than not it fails us by getting sellers’ hopes up about the value of their property by providing inaccurate information.

The Zestimate is found using an algorithm that doesn’t take into account many of the things that give your home value. Nuances like the school district, location, and upgrades that control the behaviors of a buyer are not taken into account by Zillow.

To demonstrate just how inaccurate a Zestimate can be, we have a great example to share with you today. We have a Zestimate for the house of the CEO of Zillow, which was put on the market in July 2015. The Zestimate for his home at that time was $1,491,000.

When the home eventually got listed on the market, it was priced at $1,295,000. That’s already a $200,000 deduction on what his own website said the home was worth! Over time, the market sent the message that the home was still overpriced, and priced reductions followed. By the time the home sold, it was eight months later. The home ended up selling for just $1,050,000. That doesn’t sound like a success story to us, and shows that basing your value off a Zestimate is probably not going to help you get top dollar.

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Basing your value off a Zestimate is probably not going to help you get top dollar.

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Other problems we’ve seen on Zillow include inaccurate or outdated listing information. A lot of times I’ll get a call from a buyer looking at a property on Zillow, and that property will either be sold or not even on the market yet. Our proprietary website solves this problem, as it pulls data directly from the MLS, which is updated in real-time. We want our clients to be able to see every property that hits the market, not just the ones that people choose to post or not post on Zillow.

If you have any questions for us or any suggestions for future video topics, give us a call or send us an email. We are always looking for ways to help you become more knowledgeable in the market so when it comes time for you to buy or sell, you’re ready.

Can You Buy Another Home If You Still Need to Sell Your Current One?

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 10:34:00 -0700

Thinking of selling? Get a free home valuation

Thinking of buying a home? Search all homes for sale on the MLS

How can you get your offer accepted when it’s contingent on the sale of your current home? My team and I have done this a million times, and we have a proven system to get the job done.

First, you need to understand your finances. Make sure your loan is squared away. Work with a quality lender who will make sure your pre-approval is good to go. You can even get that pre-approval underwritten ahead of time so that you have an actual approved loan. That will make your offer appear incredibly strong in the eyes of the seller.

Next, prepare your home for the market. Have a staging consultation, do all the light painting and touch-ups you may need, and declutter the property. Make sure your home is ready to go on the market whenever your offer is accepted. That will make your life a lot easier because you won’t have to scramble to prepare your home for the market.

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Make sure your home is all ready to hit the market.

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Make sure you write a strong offer. Don’t just offer a good price. Pay attention to terms as well. For example, the seller may need some sort of rent-back, or they may ask you to pay the closing costs. Understand what the seller wants and write the offer according to what’s important to them.

Finally, you want to work with the right agent who has your best interests at heart. My team and I can make sure you get into your new home even if you have to sell your current one.

If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

Announcing the Launch of Our New Real Estate Blog

dan@teamellison.com (Dan Ellison) — Wed, 11 May 2016 12:43:00 -0700

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Thinking of buying a home? Search all homes for sale on the MLS

Hello and welcome! We’re excited to announce the launch of our new video blog dedicated to being a helpful resource for real estate and everything that has to do with real estate.

We hope to provide a resource for you to come for any of our knowledge and expertise in real estate through a series of videos and blog posts. We’ll send out two videos per month regarding different aspects of real estate and answer questions you may have about a number of topics.

We’ll touch on things in your hyperlocal neighborhood, anything to do with lending, interest rates, and anything to do with real estate in general.

What questions do you have? What are you curious about? We want to hear from you! We’re really looking forward to using this blog to communicate and provide value for you!

For any questions you may have or any topics you may be interested in, feel free to reach out via phone or email. We’d love to share our thoughts and expertise with you.