Todd's Real Estate Blog

...and some as low as $45,000!

Yep you read this correctly.  As of yesterday, 6/26/09, there are over 300 homes listed for sale in San Diego for under $100,000.  There are several homes listed under $50,000.  Who would have thought that one of the most expensive markets in America would finally deflate and become affordable again to the masses.  Check out all the homes for sale in San Diego at www.FreeHomeSearches.com.

Ready to jump into the San Diego market? Contact me before you do anything. There are alot of things you need to know about "Short Sales" and "Foreclosures".  There is a definite strategy you need to follow in order to get your offer accepted.  Most "distressed properties are receiving "mulitple offers" and you need an agent that knows the market and knows how to structure an offer in order to have the best chance of being accepted.  Your offer needs to stand out against the other dozen buyers who are competing with you.  Check out more about Armstrong & Associates at www.DwellSanDiego.com.  Let's find you the "deal of the century".  Let's find you a great first home or investment property! 

NO, they are not really stupid, they just need to do more research on their agent before they list their home.

Is it me or do you sometimes ask yourself why the "Top Agent" in your neighborhood has so many listings?  I wanted to find out so I researched 3 of the top agents in my neighborhood of Mission Hills in San Diego California.  When I say "Top Agents", I'm only basing that on the number of listings they have and the number of homes they sell in that neighborhood.  Personally I do not consider them as Top Agents.

During the research I found the reason they have so many listings and sellers continue to list with them, THEY LIE TO THEIR SELLERS.  If sellers were smarter and did more statistical research on these agents they will find some startling facts. 

What lie are the telling?  They lie about how much their home is really worth.  They inflate the price so they get the listing.  Why wouldn't a seller believe an agent whose name is everywhere and they have sold many homes in that neighborhood?   Sellers will almost always pick the agent that tells them the highest list price.  It's just a fact.  What a waste of everyone's time and effort!

If the sellers would ask to see the agent's initial recommended list price versus what the home actually sold for, they would be shocked to see that the price had to be reduced several times in order to get the home sold.   I see this as unethical and unfair to those of us that are honest about home values right from the start.  I don't like smoke and mirrors, "opinions", and "hunches", etc... I base my pricing on facts, appraisals and CMA's.   I know I have lost several listings over the years because I was honest to the sellers about pricing.  Some sellers like honesty and can see through the other agent's charade. 

One listing presentation I had was for a luxury condo over a million dollars.  After we talked about the sour market and current pricing, he looked at me and said, "XYZ agent says he can get 1.3 million for my house and he sells a lot in this building".  I turned to him and said, "I can tell you I can get 1.4 million for your place, but it just isn't going to happen."  "My pricing is based on facts in the current down market.  List your condo with XYZ agent and after your listing period expires, please call me to talk again." 

Six months later, he called me back and I'm in process of listing his condo at the correct price even though it lost more value since he waited. 

Sellers:  PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH ON AGENTS BEFORE YOU LIST YOUR HOME!  The Top Agent or #1 Agent does not always mean Top Service.   Pick the agent that is honest with you and has a proven track record.  See more about Todd Armstrong & Associates at www.DwellSanDiego.com

Alicante in Banker's Hill, San Diego, CA

Finally we have a great price reduction on a great unit in one of San Diego's best neighborhoods, Banker's Hill.  One of San Diego's best luxury buildings, Alicante, boast some of the best views of San Diego, the bay, and Ocean, Point Loma and Mexico and beyond.

This unit is minutes from Downtown and the airport and only one block from Balboa Park and San Diego's best museums, art galleries, gardens and restaurants.  It's a spacious 2 bedroom, 2 bath plus Den is approximately 1167 square feet with high ceilings, private patio for grilling, 2 side-by-side underground, secure spaces, and a huge deeded storage unit and gourmet kitchen with stainless steel appliances. To see more pictures of the wonderful unit, please visit www.DwellSanDiego.com or simply click HERE.

To see more pictures of the wonderful unit, please visit www.DwellSanDiego.com or simply click HERE.

Property Description Georgous Morley Field Spanish Remodeled Beauty!  Not a short sale or foreclosure. Ready to close fast. Newly upgraded gourmet kitchen with stainless steel appliances, New laundry room with state of the art washer and dryer, New Windows, Brinks Security System. 2 large bedrooms with custom closets.  Huge Private backyard with koi pond and room for a pool.  1 Car garage or use as extra storage. Plenty of street parking too. 1 block to Morley Field. This is a must see home.

Click here to see more pictures of this wonderful property! 

What's the purpose of title insurance and why should I have to pay for it?

A recent question from one of my many first time home buyers....

ANSWER:
When you buy a home, you're really buying "title" to the property--the right to occupy and use the space. And "title" can be limited by the rights and claims of others, which can infringe or even nullify your rights. Such hazards include:

- Deeds, trusts, or will with incorrect wording or names
- Incorrect notary acknowledgements
- Outstanding judgements, liens, or loans against the property
- Pending legal action against the property impacting the buyer
- Forged deeds
- Invalid instruments executed under an expired or bogus power of attorney
- Unknown heir of a previous owner claiming ownership
- Mistakes in public record

What protects you from these types of title hazards? Title insurance. The "owner's policy" is a one-time fee that protects you and your heirs. Good News: In southern California, this fee is traditionally paid by the seller.

The "lender's policy" is a protection that all lenders require to make a loan against your property. That much lower fee is traditionally paid by the buyer.

Instead of short sale, they should call it, a "Long, Drawn out, Frustrating, Difficult Sale" because the process is anything but "Short".  In San Diego, the short sale process can be extremely frustrating when you are representing a buyer or a seller.  On the other hand, if you have patience, it can be extremely rewarding experience.  If you are a seller and the bank agrees to a short sale, it can be an awesome experience by helping the seller save his credit rating by using the short sale process rather than getting hit by a damaging foreclosure mark.  On the other hand, a patient buyer can get a super great deal on a property if they are willing to jump through all the lender hoops.  

The average process here in San Diego takes about 90 days from offer submission to close.  It all depends on the lender.  Once you submit an offer to the lender, it takes an average of 6-8 weeks to have someone assigned by the bank to look at the offers.  Once they choose to accept an offer, it can take several more weeks of negotiation by the Realtors, Buyers and Sellers to finally close the deal.  For those willing to wait it out, it can mean a successful sale.

I implemented a new search feature on one of my website that now allows my clients to Search for Short Sales and Foreclosures in San Diego and all other properties in the MLS at www.FreeHomeSearches.com.

Here's the results of one of my listings before and after which resulted in a huge influx of showings. See below for before and after pictures. Most of it was paint, a couple light fixtures and I staged it with my own furniture. Total Cost of transformation?  $1200 !  I'm not a stager, but a real estate agent that knows what sells a property.

After

Before

After

Before Laundry room

Converted Laundry room to home office

Before Master Bath

After Master Bath

Before

After 2nd Bath

View looking in

after

Don't forget Outside

Patio After

Losing the listing because you tell the truth?  Happens all the time and I'm fine with it. Over the years I have lost several listings to a competing agent because they agreed to list an overpriced home.  When I arrive at my listing appointment, I am always fully prepared to "walk away" from a seller who is unwilling to budge from "their" price.  It seems there is always an agent willing to take an overpriced listing either from lack of experience, desperation, or they have infinite supply of marketing dollars to waste.  I do not have the time or the money to waste on an overpriced home.  Marketing a home correctly is expensive and time consuming.

It's amazing to me that in this day in age of the internet and the statistics available to sellers, that they will still pick the agent who agrees to a high price rather than listen to an experienced agent with cold, hard market FACTS.  I'm straight forward with sellers and tell them "like it is" rather than "what they want to hear".  The current market determines the value of a home, not the agent or the seller.

I have turned down more listings in the past year than any other.  My experienced sellers realize I'm watching out for their best interests and they appreciate my candid approach.  You will demand more respect in the long run by turning down business today.  Many times, the property is listed with another agent who agreed to the higher price and it sits on the market "unsold" and then I get a call from the seller later.  I love listing properties on the second go around.  Respect the experienced agent's advice and price the home correctly the first time.

Is it me or is the active rain blogs the quickest way to get yourself promoted on the web?  Google seems to "crawl" active rain blogs every minute of the day.  I can literally post a message about a listing or an open house and "Bam"; it's listed in Google within days.  After I posted my new San Diego real estate website, it only took a few days before it was listed.

I'm finding the best and quickest way to get your name established on the web is through blogging.  You can boost your website rankings this way as well. The more sites that list or "link" to your website, the better. If you promote yourself on several sites like Active Rain, Zillow, Vflyer, Craigslist and many others, always have a link to your website.  I always try to slip a link in everywhere.  This will be one of the quickest ways to get your real estate website listed in the search engines.  The best part, it does not cost you a dime! 

It still pays big dividends to have your site and yourself professionally marketed, but there are many free things you can do quickly to improve your SEO. (search engine optimization) of your site.  Another way to boost your site rankings is an easy one. It's time.  The longer you have been on the web with information rich content, the better your SEO will be.  Keep updating your site, keep it fresh and keep blogging! I even slipped a link in this blog.

Search the entire San Diego MLS by clicking HERE!

How do I get the comparables changed?

I have a home that is on a golf course and has a Puget Sound view. My house is being compared against homes that have neither. How do I get the compariables changed?

To answer your question, You cannot change sales comparables. The only way sales comparables show up is when a home sells. If there are homes that are similar to yours in number of bedrooms, baths and roughly the same square footage, then they will all count as sales comparables. However, a good real estate agent or appraiser with experience will account for your golf course frontage and view of Puget Sound and adjust the suggested sales price to reflect your added amenities. The key here is to get the sound advice from a a few EXPERIENCED agents. What your home is worth is not determined by the agent, it is determined by the market. The agent should be telling you what price your home will sell for in the current market, not what its worth. In your mind, it could be worth 5 million dollars, but if the market does not support that price, then it will never sell at that price. Hope this helps.