Pay Attention to These 5 Tips When Entering a Hot Housing Market!

The real estate market is a fickle beast, but right now, it’s a seller’s dream! If you’re thinking about buying any time soon, pay attention to these 5 tips!

Making the decision to buy a house isn’t something you can do all willy-nilly. You need to be 100% certain that this will be a good move for you and your family. Of course, you may not have a choice and have to buy a house for one reason or another. 

Regardless of the why, it’s important that you know what the housing market is like in your area. Homelight released their Q3 2020 survey, and 92% of agents report they are experiencing a hot seller’s market. 

As daunting as this may seem, we have a few tips that’ll get you prepared for this competitive market. 

1. Be informed about your desired location

You might have an idea of where you’d like to buy a house, but you cannot dive in head first without knowing anything about said area. You have to take your time and learn as much as you can, especially if you’re moving to a different part of the state or a new state all together. 

Some things you’ll want to find out include:

• What is the cost of living in the area

• What are the job prospects like

• How does the school district rate in the state

• Is there access to public transportation

• How far will your budget go (how much house can you afford)

2. Choose a lender and get pre-approved

There are countless lenders you can try to get a mortgage with, but you don’t want to apply for a mortgage with just anyone. You’ll want to know what type of loan is best for your situation, choose the term of your loan, whether you want a fixed rate or adjustable rate loan, and compare rates from one lender to the next. 

Once you find a lender that you’re comfortable working with, you will want to get a pre-approval letter. This letter will let your agent know how much money you’re able to borrow and find homes that fit your budget. It also can be used as a bargaining chip when submitting an offer, as it signals to the seller that you’re serious and will have the funds to close.

3. Hire a top-rated real estate agent from the area

It’s not uncommon to find homes that are for-sale-by-owner, but unless you’re a savvy real estate investor, a real estate agent is going to be your right hand man in the homebuying process. You’ll want to do your homework and find an agent who is very familiar with the area, who has a proven sales history, and has a good reputation within the community. You could go one step further and look at an agent’s ratings on sites like Yelp, Angie’s List, or Homelight.

4. Don’t low-ball! Come in with a strong offer

You may be a whiz at getting someone to lower their price on something, in a strong seller’s market, it’s not going to work, especially considering 87% of surveyed agents say inventory in their area is lower than usual. The truth of the matter is, there are more buyers entering the market than there are listings. 

A low-ball offer will probably get ignored and you’ll lose the house. So, if you want to get your offer accepted, you need to make it an offer that at least is at asking price. If you are serious about making a lower offer, you can sweeten the deal by making a clean offer instead. That means you won’t ask the seller to pitch in with your closing costs, you won’t have any contingencies, nor will you ask them to make any repairs. 

5. Consider making offer sight unseen

Some buyers are foregoing the entire process and are just making an offer sight-unseen! What this means is that they look online, find a house they like, and submit an offer right there on the spot. They don’t set up any appointments to walk through the home and are just basing their offer on the photos and description! 

This is a tricky move because you never really know what you’re going to get. The house may look move-in ready, but there could be some issues lying under the surface. If you’re the type of person who likes to take a gamble and intends on overhauling the house anyway, perhaps this is the way to go. 

Buying in a hot seller’s market can be tricky, but these tips and working with an experienced real estate agent will get you through the process with little to no stress.

What To Expect When Hiring A Realtor

When choosing a Realtor, you should always know exactly what you are going to expect! Purchasing or selling a house is a big commitment! When choosing the right Realtor for you, you should always make sure they have your back, 100%! With Janet Anderson & Associates, you will always get that, plus so many more benefits. Check out the video below to see everything you will receive when working with us!

Janet Anderson CalBRE #01837381

209-321-5981

Keller Williams CalBRE #01390486

5 Of The Most Expensive Homes EVER Sold!

Have you ever wondered how expensive a home could be? Growing up, I thought a $1 million dollar home was as expensive as they came! As I grew up, I realized I was definitely wrong about that! With this thought in mind, I was always curious as to what the most expensive home ever sold was. Hence, this blog you are reading today! Check out the rest of this blog to see five of the most expensive homes ever sold! (Source of List: SignatureHomesAndCo)

Xanadu 2.0 (Washington DC, USA)

For those of you like myself, I had never heard of this house. EVER. However, this beautiful home belongs to none other than Bill Gates himself. It is 66,000 sqft, and cost Gates about $63 millions dollars to build it. Crazy enough, today this home is now worth about $127 millions dollars. With 7 bathrooms and over 18 bathrooms, this home is a for sure, stop in your track site to see!

Kensington Gardens (London, UK)

This home has everything you would ever want. Belonging to Lakshmi Mittal, this Italian style home is located on one of the worlds most expensive streets to live on. This home is not only located next to Prince William & Kate Middleton, but is on Billionares Row. This mansion has 12 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms, an indoor pool, and a giant garden. Valued at $128 million dollars, this house is crazy!

Seven The Pinnacle (Montana, USA)

The cabin-style home is one of the most beautiful home I have ever seen before! This home is located in Big Sky, Montana and is considered the largest property within the Yellowstone Club community. This entire home is filled with heated flooring, a gym, several pools, and even a ski lift! It is valued at $155 million dollars, but with some negative troubles that have happened recently, its safe to say the value has gone down some.

Villa Les Cedres (French Riviera, France)

If you want to live in a home fit for royalty, than you have got to check out this one! This estate is 18,000 sqft, has 14 bedrooms and is set on 35 acres of land. With it being 190 years old this year, it is filled with priceless antiques and furniture, making you feel like you are living in the early 1900s. This estate features an Olympic sized swimming pool, a stable that could potentially fit 30 horses, and a 3,000 holding sized library! If you were curious after reading all that information, the value of this home has gone up to a whopping $567 million dollars. That is insane!

Buckingham Palace (London, UK)

Last, but certainly not least, I present you with the most expensive home to date. Of course it would be none other than the Buckingham Palace. This mansion has more to offer than any other home in the world! It features 775 rooms (including over 180 staff rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, and 78 bathrooms). This is a palace fit for a King & Queen! Which it has held for centuries! Currently, it holds 7 groups of the Royal Family, including Price Harry Meghan Markle, and Prince William & Duchess Kate. Can you guess what it is valued at? Try $1.17 BILLION dollars, making it the most expensive home! Totally worth it though!

As you can see, there are some pretty insane houses all over the world. However, moving you into a new home doesn’t have to cost anywhere NEAR those price points! Contact me today to set up a free consultation on how we can get you moved into your dream home!

Best Ways To Get Your House Sold for Top Dollar!

As a Realtor of more than 20 years, my goal is to always get my client’s homes sold for top dollar pricing. Otherwise, is it really worth it? You deserve to get the best price offered on your home! Here are just some ways that you can get your home ready to sell, and sold for top dollar pricing!

1) It’s Time To Purge & Clean Your Home

The best way to begin getting your home ready to sell is by cleaning it! You always want the best photos possible when getting ready to list your home. I would say you should start truly packing and cleaning your home about 30 days in advance to listing it. That way, you are not cleaning all at once and becoming stressed out over it! I would recommend selling or giving away anything you don’t want to move with. That way, there is less to pack! This is just one way to start the pre-moving process! Here are some of the best places you can sell your items near you!

• Poshmark
• 5Miles
• LetGo
• OfferUp
• Craigslist
• Mercari

2) Curb Appeal Is A Must!

When house shopping, the first thing a potential client sees is the outside of the home. You always want to make sure that the exterior of your home is perfect! These first impressions are everything. It does not matter if the inside is immaculate, if they do not like the front of the house, it won’t sell. If your lawn needs new grass, get some new sod to lay down. Or if your roof needs new shingles, hire a contractor or handyman. It may seem like little things here or there, but curb appeal is extremely important when it comes to selling. Here are some tips to brighten up your curb appeal!

1. Mow your lawn enough times to make sure it looks clean in the front yard. You don;t want overgrown weeds, or brown grass to stand in your way of a potential client
2. Power wash your home. You do not realize how dirty your home may be until you do this, but once you do, it will seem like a brand new house!
3. Paint the exterior. Sometimes, pressure washing a home may not be all a home needs. Sometimes you will have to get a fresh coat of paint on the exterior. This may seem like a lot of work, but it will also be extremely helpful when it comes to listing the home.

3) Make Sure Your Realtor Hires A Professional Photographer

I cannot express it enough on how important good pictures of a home are when it comes to the selling process. Nowadays, people search for their home solely on the internet before going to look in person. With this being the case, you want to make sure you have some great photos posted on the internet for the potential client to see. Here are some tips to make sure your photos come out perfect!

1. Stage Your Home: If your house already has furniture moved out, hiring a stager for the photos will be your best bet. That is because people like seeing a home set up the way they potentially may want it if they were to move there.
2. Take Photos from The Corner Of Rooms: This will make your room look a lot larger than it may actually be!
3. Take Photos During The Daytime: This is when you will get the best pictures, with the natural lighting provided. The photographer I hire actually is able to create a twilight photo (as seen below) so that way you can imagine what the home would look like at night with all the lights on in the home.

4) Make Sure Your Home Is Priced Right

This may seem like something that is already well-known, but you don’t realize how many people over-price their home. You always want to make sure you have an accurate CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) done on your home to see what it should be priced at! To get a FREE one from me, click here! If your home is over priced, other realtors and clients will be able to tell, so price it right from the get-go!

Getting your home ready to sell can seem so daunting, and super stressful. However, it does not have to be. As long as you take the time prior to putting it on the market, to get it ready, everything else will come as it is! I would love to help you get your home put on the market and get Top Dollar for it like you deserve! Contact me today for a FREE Market Analysis of what your home is worth, and let’s get it sold!