Want to sell your home in San Ramon, Danville, Dublin or Pleasanton fast? Want to get top dollar for your home in this market?

With all of the bad press, many people feel that this is a puzzle that can’t be solved in today’s real estate market. BUT, this is not the case. It’s a question of truth and knowledge.

If you want to sell a home in the San Ramon Valley or the TriValley areas in this market fast and get top dollar for it, reflect on these two questions:

• What is the current real estate market and public mindset around local real estate?
• What is your attitude toward the real estate market, what you think your home is worth, and your willingness to hear the truth?

The truth you say? Nobody wants the truth. The truth in most people’s mind on the current real estate market is - it sucks!

Well, here is just one line from the recent issue of the California Association of Realtors magazine – California Conundrum – The Bay Area market runs contrary to what is happening in the rest of the Golden State.

The I-680 corridor from Walnut Creek to Pleasanton is one of the most stable real estate markets in the country. The area is peppered with micro-markets. Many of these micro-markets in Danville, San Ramon and Pleasanton continue to thrive in spite of all the negative press.

If your home hasn’t sold or you are thinking of selling, consider the value of knowing the truth of the market. Any real estate agent that allows you to tell them what your home is worth isn’t worth the money they spent on their license. Choose an agent that knows the market, that will spend the time to completely understand your unique situation and mindset, and is strong enough and flexible enough to help you sell your home fast and for top dollar.

Houses are selling everyday in the San Ramon Valley, why isn’t yours?

Let me point you to a Realtor that I have a lot of respect and admiration for. Mariana Wagner is a Keller Williams agent in Colorado Springs. Here are a few tips from her that will be of use to sellers in San Ramon, Danville and Pleasanton, CA.

Our Free Market Detail Reports are a invaluable source of information on the current market conditions in your zip code.

Home sellers in the San Ramon and TriValley areas are starting to experience what much of the country has been experiencing months ago – ya gotta give a little to get a lot. The East Bay has many real estate markets that have fared the housing market storm in good shape, but the continued rennovation in the lending industry is sending ripples through many of the local housing markets once thought to be above the fray.

Housing affordability for first-time buyers and tightening credit standards for all are affecting the local real estate dynamics. Many sellers are just beginning to realize – it’s the market, not the marketing.

Here are some tidbits from around the nation today that help make the point:

Theresa Boardman had this on her St. Paul Minnessota blog today: Recommendations to REALTORS® and their customers:

• Housing must go on sale. (During the boom, sellers got a premium for their properties–that bloom will be reduced in this market.)
• Prices must drop or homes taken off the market in order to reduce the high and rising inventory.
• Buyers are being realistic in their offers…it is the sellers who do not understand three things:
• Their home values increased a lot from 2000-2005.
• They are selling into a falling market so 10% less today is better than 20% less next spring.
• Selling in this market (getting less for their home) permits them to buy in this market (buying for less).

TOUGHER LENDING PRACTICES DAMPEN BUILDER CONFIDENCE – Home buyer skepticism, fueled in large part by tougher mortgage lending practices, is straining builder confidence in the single-family market, according to the recent National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

Some notes from Bankrate.com today
These are the times that try the skills of real estate professionals, says Jim Crawford, a real estate coach in Atlanta.

"It's a buyer's market without buyers," he says. "Of the top 40 markets, 36 are down. In Atlanta at this time of year, we should have a maximum of 52,000 homes for sale; we have 114,000. What's happened is, if you can't sell in Chicago, you can't buy in Atlanta. If you can't sell in Boston, you can't buy in Florida."

Here's the squeeze: Rising inventories make it difficult to set — and get — your asking price. Buyers, caught in the same predicament, are reluctant to buy, hoping prices will return to earth shortly.

Dianna Kokoszka, vice president of Mega Achievement Productivity Systems at Keller Williams Realty, says today's buyer wants money-in-pocket value, not frills and playthings. If your home is competing with nearby new construction, be prepared to offer the same or equivalent incentives as the builder.

And, similar to the down market of the late 1980s, home sellers must now compete not only with builders, but with foreclosures, thanks to all those subprime loans you've been hearing about.

"In order for a home to sell once, it has to sell twice: You have to sell it to the Realtors and then the Realtors sell it to their buyers," says Kokoszka.

And from SquareFeet in San Jose this interesting tidbit from July data: The supply of homes for sale in California now is actually greater than for the country as a whole.

 Image by Nick Buxton

Current real estate market conditions in the San Ramon Valley favor move-up buyers. Move-Up Buyers with good credit ratings and a significant equity are in the driver’s seat these days at the negotiating table. These power buyers are the people facing the least hassles and resistance in today’s challenging real estate market.

The cooling housing market in Danville, San Ramon, Dublin and Pleasanton coupled with the effects of the upheavals in the loan industry have combined to position move-up buyers into their strongest negotiating position in the TriValley area in the last 12 years or so. Though housing prices have not fallen significantly in this part of the East Bay, housing sales have cooled - see the charts.

The greatest asset a move-up buyer can have in this volatile housing market is a professional real estate agent with the following:

• Strong Negotiating Skills
• Intimate Knowledge of the Area
• Concise Understanding of Current Real Estate Trends and Conditions

Bringing together the assets of a move-up power buyer and a skilled real estate agent can result in significant savings on price as well as producing other concessions on the part of the seller that add up to increased bang for the buyer’s buck.

Some of the incentives we are seeing these days in San Ramon Valley real estate are:

• Seller paying for more repairs
• Seller paying for upgrades
• Seller paying points on loan
• Seller offering “get-away” trips for buyer

Move-Up buyers interested in purchasing a new home from a builder can also benefit from using a professional real estate agent with experience in new home sales. These agents know the game new home builders play with buyers. Agents with new home sales experience can often get a buyer the house they want with upgrades they didn’t know they could ask for.

Needless to say, our team covers all of these bases. Check out our skill set and give us a call to help you take advantage of this incredible market opportunity for move-up buyers in the TriValley area of the East Bay.

These three news items should be of interest to home sellers and buyers in the TriValley area (Danville, San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton).

State contractors board warns of scam – The California Contractors State License Board has issued a warning to consumers about electrical repair companies operating in metropolitan areas that are pressuring customers into unneeded repairs.

Bank of America Cuts Fees For Its Home Loans – Looking to boost market share when loan demand has slowed, Bank of America Corp. has rolled out a no-fee mortgage aimed at home buyers.

C.A.R. Red Alert Update

Home buyers at risk: SB 670 Defeated in Committee

SB 670 (Correa), C.A.R.’s sponsored “Private Transfer Tax Prohibition” bill was defeated today by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee today. The legislation would have protected consumers by placing responsible restrictions on private transfer taxes levied by developers and limiting the proceeds to environmental and affordable housing efforts related to the new development on which the private transfer taxes are imposed.

Currently, there are no restrictions on where or how proceeds from private transfer taxes can be spent; no accountability or oversight of the recipients of the private transfer tax funds; no limits on how long a private transfer tax may be imposed; no limits on the amount of private transfer taxes that can be imposed on home buyers; and no clear mechanism for disclosing the existence of a private transfer tax obligation to home buyers.

"We are extremely disappointed that SB 670 failed to make it out of committee today,” said C.A.R. President Colleen Badagliacco. “Home buyers in California deserve better. Private transfer taxes can add more than $10,000 to the cost of a home, with no upward limit on how much developers can charge unsuspecting consumers.

Note: As it now stands, a developer can attach a private transfer tax to the sale of a new home and if they are so inclined, can use those funds for anything – including their kids college education. Also, there is no limit on tax – everytime the property changes hands, the tax is accessed again.

Cost vs. Value Report 2006

What's the payback for remodeling? Remodeling Magazine's annual report compares construction cost with resale value for 25 common remodeling projects in 60 U.S. markets.

The 19th annual Cost vs. Value Report shows that prices continue to climb for most remodeling projects at the same time the value of improvements at resale returns to 2002 levels. None of this should come as much of a surprise to industry professionals, who have been riding the crest of the remodeling boom for several years, and this year's data confirm the housing slowdown many parts of the country are experiencing. Should you be worried? That depends on how fast and how far the housing market falls, but remember that both new construction and remodeling activity have been at record levels in recent years. Some adjustment is inevitable, but indications are that the current downturn represents a return to "normal" levels and that the prospects for remodeling remain bright.

Here are the Pacific Regional Figures

Need to buy or sell real estate in the TriValley area? Check out The Harper Team's written guarantees.