How Were We Able To Sell This Home in Just 13 Days?

Buying a San Fernando Valley  home? Get a full home search,  
Selling your San Fernando Valley home?  Free Home Price Evaluation

We always love it when our clients have good things to say about their experience working with us. Recently, we heard from a home seller client about why he enjoyed his experience working with our team so much. Here's what he had to say:

"We met with several agents before choosing Scott. We chose him because he seemed to have a familiarity with the area and he knew more about the local market than other local agents do. My parents always mentioned for years that he would be the one who they would choose if they ever sold their home. That made him a clear choice as far as I'm concerned. "

"Throughout the process", he continued, "Scott was great about keeping me informed on what was going on regularly. Scott has put together a great team, and the whole process was very professional, and very smooth. "

As you can see, we are always working hard to give our clients the best real estate experience possible. If you’d like to hear more about how our team can help you accomplish your buying and selling goals, give us a call or send us an email today!

How Can You Make the Most of Your Home Sale?

Buying a San Fernando Valley  home? Get a full home search,  
Selling your San Fernando Valley home?  Free Home Price Evaluation

 The spring selling season is just around the corner, so today we thought we should share some tips to help you select the right agent. We know you're busy, so we'll jump right into the 5 questions to ask a listing agent before hiring them! 

1. How many of your pending contracts close escrow? This is an intricate question that really illustrates how real estate is no longer a one-person job. When you have multiple people on your team who do tasks effectively, it greatly minimizes the hassle of a transaction. You want your listing agent to close higher than 95% of their contracts, as the national average is 96%. Anything less than that and you can almost guarantee a bumpy transaction.
2. What is your list-to-sale ratio? This is supremely important when selling a home. The national average is 92%, but here at the Scott Himelstein Group, we had an average of 98.6% in 2014! As you can see, we tend to get more money for our sellers than the average agent.
3. How will you attract buyers to my property? The agent must have a written, applicable marketing plan if you want your home to get the exposure it needs. Of crucial importance is an internet marketing plan, as 94% of buyers search for homes online. At the end of the day, a sign in the yard and an entry in the MLS is not going to help you have a successful home sale.
4. Do you assist in staging a property? For properties that are vacant, especially of larger size, we always recommend putting some furniture in the home and positioning it in such a way that really looks spectacular in photos online and in person. We work with multiple staging companies in order to get our sellers top dollar.
5. How many homes have you sold in the past 6 months? The answer to this question really tracks the agent's record of success. If you're a buyer, the high number tells you that the agent may have access to homes that are not on the MLS, and vice versa for sellers. Last year, we sold 11 homes before we even put them on the market, due to our large buyer database. 

 

As you can see, you need to be thorough when interviewing an agent to sell your home. By asking these questions, you will get a good idea of how capable an agent is, and whether they are the one to help get you top dollar for your home. 

If you have any questions about the selling process, or if you would like to interview us, give us a call or shoot us an email. We would love to show you what we have to offer!

The Secret to Making Smart Investments

Buying a San Fernando Valley  home? Get a full home search, 

Selling your San Fernando Valley home?  Free Home Price Evaluation

 
Today we have some advice for those of you interested in buying real estate as an investment. It's a perfect time to make the market work for you, but we want to share 3 things to know before financing an investment property so you can make the most of it! 

1. Have a sizable down payment: You don't need to come into an investment property with cash only, but private mortgage insurance won't cover investment properties. Because of this, you'll need to have at least 20% to put down for financing. If you can amass 25%, you may be able to qualify for a better interest rate. 
2. It helps to be a strong borrower: There are a lot of factors that go into this - such as loan-to-value ratio and other policies of the lender you're dealing with that could affect your ability to take out a loan. Typically, when you're buying an investment property, any score below 740 can start to cost you money at the same interest rate. If you own other investment properties, the bank will want to make sure you don't have any vacancies to ensure you're not dead in the water. 
3. Avoid the big banks: If your down payment isn't quite as big as it should be, or if you have other extenuating circumstances, you should go to someone who is a direct lender, who has their own money and programs. This will give you more flexibility because they have access to a wide range of loan products and can find programs for you that would not be available from the big banks.

If you're looking to finance an investment property, we highly recommend taking a look at the above tips to inform your decision making. If you would like help with the process, or if you have any real estate questions of any kind, don't hesitate to give us a call or shoot us an email. We would love to hear from you!