Happy Valentine!

#valentine

Get to Know the Unzillowables in Your Home

Inaccurate Zillow 'Zestimates' are known as a source of conflict between buyers, sellers, and their agents. The buyer complains that the list price is too high if the Zestimate is lower and the seller is not happy either if his agent suggests a list price lower than the Zillow estimate.

According to Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff, "Zestimates are a good starting point" but have a "median error rate" of about 8%. There is a reason why Rascoff is rather cautiously defining what a zestimate should be, nothing more than one factor in pricing a home.

As a real estate consultant, I am committed to come up with the most accurate estimate not only if clients want to list their home with me but also if the neighbor asks for a free price estimate.

It indeed is a team effort between the homeowner and the agent to come up with a home value that is right on the market and competitive.

While the basis for Zestimates are simply past sales in the extended neighborhood, my price estimates include a comparative market analysis known as a CMA, and more important, the factors x, y, z or as I call them, "the Unzillowables."

How does the school district look like? Does the home have a pool? Is the home very well cared after or is it in a fixer upper condition? Is the neighborhood child friendly? Even the timeline of the owner when he or she wants to be out of the house is a factor. Military families have less time than civilians to sell their homes once they get their PCS, the military relocation order. They tend to list slightly below market value to attract as many offers as possible in short time to be able to close escrow within short time.

No matter what the individual challenge is for the seller, it is always the agent's personal walk-through and the owners honest feedback that will be key factor to work together until both parties agree on a number to be the most accurate estimate and future list price. The appraisal plays a crucial role as well in this process.

No computer result can replace a great homeowner-listing agent relation based on trust, expertise, and honesty.

More about this topic from Kenneth R. Hearney.

#Zillow#Home#Real#Estate

A Low Cost and Beautifully Designed Living Room Table

#Table#Doityourself

This Month in Real Estate - January 2015 - South County Edition

#Real Estate#South#County

Compared to Santa Clara County as a whole which shows the number of sales down compared to last year January, the South County is slightly up. However last months sales numbers are down. Low interest rates are attractive for buyers and sales numbers would be better with more inventory.

I know you know that somebody knows of someone

4 Simple Steps to Improve Your Credit Score

I read this great advice in a report written 

by ScottHalliwell  |  San Antonio, TX  |  ‎12-01-2014

FICO score, VantageScore, BlahBlahBlah score.

You may already know that credit scores come in many many different forms and flavors. And you’ve probably heard that having a good score is important.

But did you know there are some surefire moves to getting a good score or improving one regardless of the scoring model being used?

Four ways to build a better credit score:

• Be in the game. To improve your credit score, first you must actually have credit. This typically starts with getting a credit card or a loan from an institution that reports to the credit bureaus. For credit newbies, a secured card might be a good way to get in the game.

• Be on time. Your credit score is designed to inform potential lenders how risky it might be to lend you money. Will you pay them back or just take the money and run? So you’ll want your payment history to be impeccable, no matter which scoring model is being used. Never, ever be late with your payments. Better yet, pay early.

• Be debt-averse. You can demonstrate creditworthiness by demonstrating restraint. Backward though it may seem, if you use too much of the credit extended to you at any point in time, you will hurt your score. So don’t carry balances on credit cards or lines of credit, and if you do, keep the balance to less than 20% of what’s available. You have to be in the game, but not all-in.

• Be patient. Credit history includes the word history for a reason. Potential lenders want to know that you’ll be a good borrower in good times and bad, and building or rebuilding that image of reliability takes time. Who cares if you’re a good borrower for a month? But a few years or a decade? That’s a bigger deal.

If you’d like the nitty-gritty details on how credit scoring works, please check out the information on myFICO.com and your.VantageScore.com. But if details aren’t your thing, these tips should get you started.

Furniture for Horse People

The perfect recliner for my horsie friends in the South County