Dear homeowner,

This letter is to provide you with money-making real estate tips and information that may be helpful now or later, whether you will be a seller, buyer, or both.

Selling tips -- If you want to get your home sold fast and at the highest price the market will bear, put yourself in the shoes of the buyer. Make it attractive and easy for a buyer to buy. This is based on my experience and expertise. Suppose, for example, your home listed at $800,000 and you wanted to sell for at least $790,000. However, buyers were not making offers for one reason or another. One common reason is many buyers are strapped for cash, even if their fico scores and earnings are high. So what should sellers do to take advantage of this situation? 1) Offer to pay for a few inexpensive items that will help buyers with limited cash. Paying for part or all of the buyer's closing costs, or the buyer's property inspection and appraisal will attract more buyers. (I often reimburse the seller for the property inspection and appraisal costs). 2) Advertise the items you will pay by having your Realtor enter in the MLS property profile sheet: "Seller shall pay for buyer's non-recurring closing costs up to $4,000. Or "Seller shall reimburse seller for buyer's property inspection and appraisal fees." The seller benefits from this because since the upfront cash helps the buyer, he/she will probably make a higher offer, and the house will sell faster. Also, if the timing of the market is favorable you could sell at even a higher price by generating multiple offers. However, generating multiple offers successfully requires explicit steps. No boasting intended, but I know exactly how to attract high offers via multiple offers, as well as by the standard method.

Buying tips -- Buying a home is easy for first-time buyers: get pre-approved for a loan, find a desirable home in a good location, find a good deal, make an offer, get it accepted, and close escrow. However, when homeowners want to sell and buy at the same time it is more complicated. Here are four challenges: 1) selling contingent on closing escrow on a home you are buying, 2) buying a home contingent on selling your existing home, 3) simultaneous escrow closings (when a seller closes escrow on the sold home and new home at the same time), and 4) tax-deferred 1031 exchanges.

For more helpful information, click "More"  at the top right of this page. Also, if you are interested I will provide you with a sample copy of the California Association of Realtors' (C.A.R.) new Residential Purchase Agreement (RPA-CA), along with my brief explanation of all 108 paragraphs and sub-paragraphs, and a separate sheet containing the most important paragraphs, contract timelines, and an index containing 175 entries. All real estate questions are welcome, including investment property topics, calculating the current true market value of your home, as well as selling at the highest price.

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