Sandra's Blog

Worn paint on garage doors, trim, or front doors is one of the biggest turn-off for clients. Before any home goes on the market today, one of the best things a Seller could do to improve their bottom line, is pick up a gallon of outdoor paint and freshen up the front of the home.Faded paint on fr...

Today I talked to a bank about a client giving a property back-----"deed in lieu of foreclosure" ---only to learn the property MUST be listed by a Realtor for three months before the lender will accept the deed!  We have had the property listed, although not for three months, but even with VERY c...

Our market in Southern California has changed so much. We are seeing many short sales and foreclosures. Great neighborhoods have abandon homes that the bank has not started marketing. Most of the sales in our area in the past few years were 100% financing with the seller paying closing cost. The ...

I was just reading the blog about range pricing when I realized that maybe I was a little too opinionated to just respond without writing an entire book. So here I am telling my sad, sad story---well maybe that IS an exaggeration!I had been showing houses to old client for several weeks when we f...

Today I read an article on MSN about that suggested the best way out of some of real estate problems might just be a UHaul to move to a more affordable area. It really gave me something to think about. Recently at our meeting, someone in my office was plugging some low income houses to sell when ...

The other day my client and I ended up across from the listing agent at an empty home. The agent's husband was the builder --- so we were all at the table discussing the offer when....the other agent picked up a small, very fashionable box and set it on the table---pulled out her laptop and a sma...

Like most realtors---I hope I'm not alone---it is again Monday morning, Open Houses and weekend clients are long gone and again it is like the beginning of a new "year"--without funny hats and noise makers! I try to set about every week with my list of "New Year Resolutions".What could I have don...

Today everyone is looking for the best deal. Is the best deal a foreclosure that has been trashed before the owners moved or a realistically priced home that has been well cared for by the owners?Often by the time the foreclosure gets to the bank, the bank's price isn't that different from a well...

Staging is a wonderful thing for home Sellers. Stagers know colors, they know furniture placement, they know what sell homes! If anyone isn't familiar with staging, it is someone who comes into a home and helps you set it up, decorate and clear out things in order to sell the home faster.There ar...

It is so hard to tell someone who loves their home that there needs to be some changes to get the most money-or even a timely sell-out of their home. (EEEUUU)I am definitely developing more and more tactful words to try to help clients. We all get our first homes and decorate and paint and fluff-...