How does a home owner compete with a bank owned property? This is a question more and more homeowners in the TriValley area are having to ask themselves as more short sales and foreclosures crop up in local neighborhoods.

The first piece of advice for San Ramon, Danville and Dublin homeowners facing this situation is: don’t panic. The second is: don’t get hung up on price.

Bank owned properties are often in disrepair because the vacating homeowners quit putting their money into upkeep long ago. And banks will usually not invest their money in making needed repairs.

So, the first line of defense is home repair and curb appeal. Homeowners competing with bank owned properties need to have the better valued house, a home people can move into without investing $25K or more in repairs and cleanup.

Banks, in trying to reduce the costs of unloading a foreclosed property, will usually cut the commission offered to any real estate agent bringing them a buyer. San Ramon, Danville and Dublin homeowners can encourage agents to bring more buyers by out-performing banks on agent commission.

Given the current market conditions (too many homes and too few buyers) it is good to offer the full 3% to the buyer’s agent.

In-depth real estate market details for local communities can be obtained here.