How to Avoid Being Taken Advantage of When Selling Your House

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Sometimes, a seller wants to show their own home to a potential buyer or a buyer’s agent, or at least be present when it’s being shown. This is generally not a good idea, but it happens, and I want to talk about the things you should never say to that buyer or that buyer’s agent.

It’s important to know that they’re going to ask you questions. They might be innocent questions, or they might be fishing for information. If it’s a very savvy agent, they could be trying to get information from you. They might use this information to give their buyer an advantage in the negotiating process when they submit the purchase agreement. They could ask you things like:

• What’s the current sales price?
• What’s the length of time the home’s been up for sale?
• Why are you selling?
• What are your neighbors’ houses selling for?
• Have you made any price reductions?
• What’s wrong with the home?
• How many offers have you received?
• How quickly would you like to close?

The buyer’s agent will already know the answer to some of these questions even if they do ask. If the buyer is the one asking, however, they may not know and they may be innocent questions.

Either way, you must be careful, because anything that you say can be held against you once that first purchase agreement appears. The best thing to say for yourself is, “Please ask my agent.”

Let them work it out. That’s what you’re paying them to do - negotiate on your behalf in such a way that will benefit you. You certainly don’t want to say anything that could put you at a disadvantage or give the buyer or their agent any indication of your eagerness or motivation to sell.

Just remember: mum’s the word. Don’t engage too frankly in any discussions that have anything to do with the price, marketing, or condition of the house. Sharing sensitive information regarding these matters could potentially compromise your negotiating position.

Hopefully, this gives you a better understanding of how to act if you happen to be showing your own house or at least present during the showings. Feel free to shoot me an email or give me call if you have any questions!

Two Wildcards in the California Real Estate Market

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Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Value Report

We’ve had a pretty good year so far in 2016, with 11 of the hottest housing markets in the nation here in California despite the fact that we’ve got low inventory. That obviously helps sellers by driving the prices up, but it also makes things a bit harder for buyers.

We’ve had a pretty strong spring, and by all accounts, that’s going to continue into the summer based on the predictions we’re hearing. There are, however, two wildcards that could affect that. One is a potential interest rate increase this June when the Fed meets, and if that happens it could drive mortgage rates up. Those rates are still very low right now.

The second is the election in November. As I mentioned earlier this year, the housing market slows down around election time because people are a little uncertain about who is going to take office and what their policies are going to be. It’s not a political issue, it’s just that people become cautious.

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The housing market slows down around election time.

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Those are the two things that could be wildcards as we head into the fall. If you’re a seller, there’s still time to get your home on the market for the summer and take advantage of the strong activity we’ve had up to this point. We had a really good April and May in most markets in California. For buyers, interest rates are still historically low, and there’s still time to capitalize. 

If you’re thinking about buying or selling, please feel free to reach out to me for advice or a valuation. I’d love to work with you in this hot market!

How Justin Bevins is excellent to work with and just good at what he does.

“Justin Bevins is just good at what he does. He is an excellent agent/broker and he’s thorough. He is so wonderful with his customer service skills and I think that is a huge plus in this industry. He is just number one, just number one. He communicates with his clients so thoroughly, hits them up with figures at the beginning of the transaction so they know what to expect. His clients are never surprised. He does nothing but communicate with his clients. Never once, do I feel like I am obligated to discuss anything with regards to a transaction or feel like I have to. He is an excellent communicator with all of his clients . I never once have I never heard one complaint. They are all extremely happy when he is representing them”

-Erica De Los Reyes