Jessica's Humboldt County Real Estate Blog

Take a Vacation to Your Desired Destination Before Buying a Home There

2008-06-26T12:18:03Z

Before you decide to move to a new area, do you at least spend a little time getting to know that area before making a decision to buy there?

What I’m finding here in Humboldt County, California is many internet buyers who call me or other Realtors that I keep in touch with, are “ready to find a house,” or Humboldt County is one of the areas they are considering buying a home, because they liked what they saw in the photos. From there, many of them say, “We would like you to show us property, when we’re in town.”

Guess what happens to a portion of those buyers. They get here, or they buy here and then realize that Humboldt County (our weather and general environment) isn’t exactly what they expected. Some stick it out and Humboldt County grows on them and some move within a year or two, selling their home for less than they paid for it.

Now granted, I love Humboldt County. I think it is a beautiful place to live, and to be honest our area is very eclectic. And it really isn’t very remote. Although it’s much slower paced than say the Bay area or Los Angeles. You can live near the coast or the bay in the hip college town of Arcata. Or live in what we call “the Big City” of Eureka ($26,000 population), which has a high concentration of older homes. You want a spectacular ocean view home? Then you want to live in Trinidad. Each little city or town has it’s own flavor.

You also have to think about weather. Living on the coast up here is much cooler than living on the coast down in San Francisco. Our coastal weather is similar to Oregon’s weather: foggy in the summer and rainy in the winter. You can also live inland about 45 minutes from the coast where it is much hotter and drier in the summer and rains and snows a lot more in the winter time.

So my advice to you is this:

Do your homework first. Plan a vacation to visit Humboldt County or any other area you are considering and spend some time checking the place out. Get a map and drive around the different cities first. You are only wasting your time and the seller’s time looking at homes or properties when you haven’t even made a decision that Humboldt County is really the place for you. Once you have decided that Humboldt County is the right place, then is it time to have your Realtor help you find an affordable home or property that meets your needs and some of your desires.

Copyright 2008 Jessica Bigger. All Rights Reserved.

The Story of 3 Overpriced Listings

2008-06-18T19:48:16Z

It seems that in this slower market I am seeing more active rain articles reminding sellers and Realtors about the risks of putting a house on the market for more than fair market value.

So I thought I would take a different spin here are give you three separate overpriced listing stories:

1) Overpriced Listing 1 - My agent recommended a higher price and we listed at that price. My Gut said it was too high.

Years ago when the market was dropping on the East Coast, my uncle decided to list his place in Jersey. Having some marketing experience and watching the real estate market trends he felt his home was worth let's say $200,000 at the time. But his Realtor recommended they list at $275,000. Needless to say the home sat on the market, with very few showings. My uncle's gut told him to drop the price to his original guess which was $200,000, but his agent insisted he could get much more. Unfortunately my uncle listened to the agent who essentially took the listing just to list the property and not to sell it. When my uncle finally dropped the price to the $200,000 price it was already too late. The market had dropped well below that price and my uncle was forced to keep his house for another 8 to 10 years.

2) Overpriced Listing 2 - Home sells for well below the original listed price

There was this beautiful Victorian that my buyers liked. It was originally listed at $489,000. Based on my Comparative Market Analysis the market value for this home was in the price range of $415,000 to $425,000. The home had been on the market for over 6 months and by the time my buyers put in an offer the list price had dropped to $469,000. My buyers started at $395,000 based on all the media doom and gloom articles etc. There was some back and forth negotiations, but in the end buyer and seller walked away. My buyers ended up buying a different Victorian. I think there was one more price reduction around $419,000, exactly where the home should have sold almost 8 months before. Well, a year later the home sold for $401,000. I see this situation all the time. The seller wants to get more for their home than the buyers in the market are willing to pay and in the end the seller gets even less than they should have. Price it right or slightly below market from the get go and you'll have a better chance of selling your home in a reasonable amount of time for market value, especially in a slower real estate market.

3) Overpriced Listing 3 - Home never sold

This was an expired listing that I had spoken too. They listed their home for close to $670,000 almost a year and a half ago. The home was in average condition and needed quite a bit of updating. The house had a partial ocean view. Based on my comps I gave a price range around $490,000 to $520,000 at the time. The sellers felt they could get much more than that. The last price it was listed at was a little under $600,000. Unfortunately the home didn't sell. So make sure you prepare your home for sale, stage it right and price it to sell. Especially if you have a home that needs quite a bit of updating and it probably costs you more to update the home than to lower the price to get your home sold. Lower the price and do some minor repairs and cleaning to help improve your chances of being one of the 50 homes in the same price range that sells this year.

It's Not All Doom and Gloom - Staying Positive and Building Your Skills in a Down Market

2008-06-18T19:08:09Z

Our market in Humboldt County has been changing. Maybe not as dramatically as in some cities in California like Stockton for instance, where they have foreclosures (bank owned properties) coming out of their ears, but never the less our market is changing. Inventory is up and the number of buyers ready, willing and able to buy a home, has dropped.

And of course with all this change comes doom and gloom articles from the media which doesn't necessarily paint a realistic picture of what's happening here locally in Humboldt County's cities like Eureka, Arcata, McKinleyville, Trinidad, Fortuna and Ferndale. So many buyers are on the fence unsure of what is to come. I hear so many agents day in and day out tell me and the public how bad the market is and how they're barely making in it the business and they don't know if they are going to survive, because there aren't enough buyers out there.

So how can we look at this changing market in a positive light?

1) Remember unless nothing is selling in your market, there are buyers and sellers who need a Realtor to assist them with their real estate needs today. You just have to find them.

Where can you find people who need to buy and sell?

Open Houses

Sit Floor Time (if you know the most active floor shift times in your office, ask your broker to schedule during these times)

Start meeting expired listing and For Sale Buy Owners and building your relationship with each group.

Go to a networking event - be out there meeting people

Please, Please, Please...Follow up with those buyers who may not buy today, but plan to in the near future.

2) Work on improving your real estate skills

a) Do you have trouble getting buyers or sellers to hire you to represent them, then take some online courses to help you.

b) Learn something new in the field you haven't done before - REOs, FHA loans, 1031 exchanges, how to work with investors.

c) Learn a new marketing tool in the industry.

3) Practice your buyer and listing presentations

4) Practice handling objections

5) Educate your buyers about what's really going on in YOUR market

OK, we don't have a crystal ball to see the future, but we do know what's happening today. In some areas the local real estate market is fairly stable. Yes, our average price range in Humboldt County fell 4.5% so far in 2008, but our prices are not plummeting at all.

So remind your buyers who are on the fence that they have to remember that:

a) Real Estate is a long term commitment.

b) Interest rates are still fairly low right now and they are not going to be this low forever.

c) There are plenty of homes to choose from.

d) Don't play the woulda, coulda, shoulda game -

When my husband and I bought our house 4 years ago for close to $300,000, we reminisced about when home prices were $150,000 only a few years before and how we should have bought then. Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda. If you're ready to buy a home. Buy one. You won't know when the bottom hits until the market is going back up. By then interest rates might be much higher and you end up gaining nothing by waiting. So if you are ready to start building equity in your future and not your landlords' future then there's no better time than the present to start looking for your new home.

6) Don't give up.

Many agents are leaving the business and some have already left. Stick with it. Build your skills, become an expert in your area and you'll do just fine. Remember that no matter what market you are in, there are always going to be people who need to buy and need to sell. You just have to be ready to help them when you finally meet those folks.

Delta Airlines Service to Humboldt County California Begins June 5th!

2008-05-30T14:05:05Z

Delta Airlines is starting up their new flight service to and from Humboldt County California, starting June 5th.

What does this mean for folks in Humboldt County, those thinking about visiting or even moving to our area?

Better Access!

We currently have 2 other airlines servicing our area: United and Horizon(Alaska Airlines). So I'm looking forward to adding a third one, because the more airlines servicing our area the more options we have and hopefully all this competition makes for a more affordable roundtrip flight.

For flight schedules visit Delta.

I have several friends who live in Humboldt County, because it is one of the last affordable Coastal Communities available in California. Our average price range is around $320,000. Yet they don't work here. They commute to San Francisco, LA and some travel nationally for their out of area company. So increased airline competition will probably make flying more affordable and possibly decrease traveling time depending on where they are traveling to for the week.

For the those of us who have family in the Midwest or East Coast, Delta really opens up some options for us. Why? Less hassle, less stops and a shorter overall traveling time. So for those of you who have family far away Delta may make it easier to visit them or for your family to visit you.

Speaking of Better Access, What Humboldt County is working on to attact you to live here:

Airport Expansion Project - to expand one of our runways and the airport itself.
Adding Second Fiber Optic Cable - There's been lots of discussion on this. We have 1 fiber optic cable all ready, but adding a second one would ensure consistant broadband access to the rest of the world.
Confusion Hill Highway 101 Realignment Project with CalTrans - Over the years this section of Highway 101 was very unstable and every winter there were massive slides that cut Humboldt County off to the Bay area. Confusion Hill is located not to far south of Garberville or Richardson Grove State Park. So Caltrans is building several bridges across the Eel River to completely bypass this problematic area.
PG&E plan to build a larger energy plant to service a larger population. So we are starting to build an infrastructure to attract more people to live here.

Many of us want to continue to build a better community for our future in Humboldt County.

Have questions about our area? Ask me for a relocation package or just call me 707-496-5770. I'd be happy to answer your questions about Humboldt County California and our real estate market.

Spectacular Ocean Views from Your Very Own Piece of Coastal California for $3.5 Million

2008-05-29T17:52:52Z

Let's face it, it's rare to see a huge piece of coastal California property come on the market. Plus this area has pretty much been untouched by development so it has a nice rural, open space feel to it.

This area surrounding this property is better known as the LOST COAST - named for its untamed beauty!

If you want privacy then this is it! We're not talking Malibu where you literally get to enjoy the coastal sunshine with your two next door neighbors. Nope you get over 1000 beautiful rolling acres of pure PRIVACY with SPECTACULAR OCEAN views and fresh air. Plus you're only minutes from the beach and the quaint Victorian Village of Ferndale.

Close Shopping and Restaurants

And if you are looking for some more amenities then you are only a 30 minute drive to Fortuna which has some shopping and restaurants. You're only a 40 minute drive from Eureka where you can do all your major shopping at Costco, Target, Borders Bookstore, Bed Bath and Beyond, just to name a few franchise stores as well as having an opportunity to enjoy the finer boutiques and restaurants in Old Town, Eureka.

Potential Possibilities

Build your dream home here while you enjoy the recreational benefits this property has to offer:

Horseback Riding, 4-wheeling, Hiking, Hunting, Birding and more. Or if you're into raising cattle or sheep this property would definitely work for you!

You can purchase this property as a whole or buy multiple parcels separately - Contact Jessica for details and separate pricing.

According to the county planning department there may be a possibility to build a home on each legal parcel (6 parcels total).

There may also be some development potential (not in it's current zoning state) if you were to work with the county to look at possibilities for the property.

Property Details:

This is Raw Land

There is a small Farmhouse - a fixer

There is a well and septic

Guthrie Creek runs through the property

ATV easement to beach (BLM access road)

Terrain is: rolling, sloping and steep

Zoning: Timber Production Zone and Agriculture

Property has no power, but there is PG&E power lines nearby - the neighbor next door had power put in.

Many skid roads and trails to explore on!

Check out the Visual Tour!

For details on this property or other real estate in Humboldt County California contact me at jessicabigger@att.net or visit

GoHumboldtHomes.com

Not Sure Who to Vote for on Tues June 3rd? - Listen to Humboldt County Supervisor Interviews on KHUM

2008-05-28T18:47:53Z

Next Tuesday, June 3rd is the primary elections for Humboldt County and the State of California.

If you're planning on voting next Tuesday, but you're still undecided on which Humboldt County Board of Supervisor to vote for in your district, you can visit KHUM radio's website and listen to interviews of each local candidate.

Supervisor Candidates for District 1:

Jimmy Smith (incumbent)

John Vevoda

Supervisor Candidates for District 2:

Roger Rodoni (incumbent...his wife Johanna is serving out the remainder of his term)

Estelle Fennell

Clif Clendenen

Supervisor Candidates for District 3:

Paul Pitino

Mark Lovelace

Bryan Plumley

For other information on this upcoming election - Propositions up for a vote, other local and state candidates, or general election info click here.

40th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship - One of the Wackiest Events in Humboldt County

2008-05-26T15:00:46Z

You know summer is around the corner when the Kinetic Grand Championship kicks off at the Arcata Plaza at High Noon on Saturday, Memorial Day Weekend. There were between 8,000 to 10,000 spectators waiting to cheer their favorite Kinetic Sculpture teams on. This is a 3-day race through an insane race course that started at the Arcata Plaza and ends in downtown Ferndale. Today racers are on their way to the finish line in Ferndale, California as I write this post.

So for those of you who know nothing about the Kinetic Grand Championship (originally named the Kinetic Sculpture Race - long story about why the name was changed, might include that in a different blog down the road) - it's a race that combines artistic creativity with engineering genius - People Powered sculptures all competing "For the Glory" though a wild race course throughout Humboldt County. Racer's not only must survive windy conditions, but must be able to get down Deadman's Drop (steep dune path to the beach) and they're people powered sculptures must be able to float (in Humboldt Bay). Each participating racer(s) has a whole entourage to help them get through the race and each group dresses up to fit the theme of the racer's Kinetic Sculpture.

The 40th annual Kinetic Grand Championship is one of many events/festivals here in Humboldt County, California and if participating makes you a little quezy - than being a spectator is nothing to sneeze at.

Warning! This is a wacky event where bribes are encouraged and the last man powered sculpture to arrive at the finish line gets an award!

Visit the Kinetic Grand Championship website for the history and details of this crazy and funfilled event.

Check out the Kinetic Website for Live streaming of this whole event or check out KHUM radio for great photos, blogs, live coverage and more!

Below are some photos of the beginning of the race this past Saturday at the Arcata Plaza:

The Biking Vikings

Team Hippypotamus

One Sick Mutha

One Wacky Kinetic's Participant!

Show's Over - Spectators head over to the Manila Community Center to watch the Kinetic Sculptures and their crew brave Deadman's Drop - one of the steepest dune paths down to the pacific coast.

For those of you want to know more about this event, I encourage you to check out the several links I posted above. And remember next year you can listen to live coverage of the Kinetic Grand Championship on KHUM radio and cheer on your favorite team...

FOR THE GLORY!

Arcata Farmer's Market, A Great Place to Meet Friends

2008-05-20T11:21:23Z

I know spring is right around the corner when the Arcata Farmer's Market starts up in April. It's by far one of the largest farmer's markets in Humboldt County and a great place to bump into some of those friends you haven't seen all winter long.

Every Saturday morning from 9am to 2pm, local organic farmers from all over Humboldt County come together on the Arcata Plaza to sell us fresh fruits and vegetables, literally harvested that morning.

Plus around 10am the music starts. Each Saturday there is a different local band that will serenade you while you're shopping for Saturday's dinner. And if you get hungry after making the rounds, there are plenty of local food vendors waiting to quiet that grumbling tummy of yours. Last Saturday the Compost Mountain Boys played (great local bluegrass band).

By far, the greatest thing about the Arcata Farmer's Market is that it brings the community together. We're all out there enjoying the sunshine, great music, fresh vegetables and eachother every Saturday morning. What more could you ask for :)

I'm looking forward to some serious fruits and vegetables soon, but in the meantime there are plenty of vegetable starts, greens, house plants and flowers available. This is a great time to start buying plants to put in your own garden and socialize while you're out looking for that perfect fuschia plant you want to put in your front yard.

The North Coast Growers Association hosts several smaller farmer's market throughout Humboldt County.

There's 2 farmer's markets in Eureka, 2 markets in Arcata (including the big one), and 1 in Fortuna, just to mention a few.

So if you're already a local or thinking about becoming one and want to know when the farmer's market will start in your neighborhood, just check here for the Humboldt County Farmer's Market Schedule.

Does Your Local Chamber of Commerce Events Bring you Business?

2008-05-16T19:51:54Z

"Business Networking Events are not worth your time because you meet other people who are jobless and just there to look for a new employer." This is what many of the networking articles and books mention. If you're building relationships than you need to go to other community volunteer events where you really can get to know someone better because you share something in common...your passion for that organization or event you're involved in together.

Now that may be true in most cases, but not in Eureka California.

I'm a Eureka Chamber Ambassador for the Eureka Chamber of Commerce and we host a mixer every third Thursday of each month. I don't know if it's because we are a smaller community (there are approximately 130,000 people that live in Humboldt County California and maybe under $30,000 people that live in the City of Eureka alone) or that many of us in the business community just see each other at various public events on a fairly regular basis, but at our mixers have been a great environment to build a relationship with those who attend.

The great thing about our mixers is that many of the same people show up and over time you get to know some of these business owners better. And what's really great, is that even though there are the regulars, you always get to meet several newcomers each month so there is an incredible pool of people to get to know who are building their business along with you.

I think of it as the coffee shop theory - If you hang around the coffee shop enough, you start to get to know the regulars and they get to know you. This happened to me all the time back in college. My time at the coffee shop improved my social life. It definitely didn't improve my grade point average however. Over time you get to build some closer personal relationships with some of these folks.

Well the same can happen at some of these mixers. They have for me. I've gotten to know some incredibly inspirational people and some of them have even become my cheerleaders who make a constant effort to help me in my real estate business. So it can happen for you too, whether you're running a real estate business or a Doggy Daycare business.

We just had our mixer yesterday at The Red Lion Hotel (business chamber member who hosted May's mixer) and as you can see we had lots of fun getting to know other business folks in our community.

To your right you can see that our chamber members are being very attentive

while our ambassadors give away fun prizes donated by participating businesses...SHHH

if you talk to much you might not hear your name being called.

Below are some of the other Chamber Ambassadors that I volunteer with:

Have many of you been able to build some great business relationships through your Chamber of Commerce?

Heat Wave Hits Humboldt County California

2008-05-15T22:58:43Z

I don't know about you, but where I live in Eureka, CA it was just plain HOT today. We had record temperatures all over Humboldt County as a matter of fact. The highest temperature recorded was around 109 degrees and that was inland. But even in Eureka and Arcata (our coastal towns) the temperature reached 94 degrees Fahrenheit. Since we live so close to the ocean up here in Northern California, our average temperatures in the summer aren't even this high. We usually average around 60-65 degrees during spring and summer and maybe get as hot as 80 degrees on occasion. I love it! Never gets too hot or too cold. Especially coming from a girl who group up through many horrid Michigan winters and sweltering hot summers(Got to love boating season!).

So how did our happy Humboldt County folks cool off? Two words: Beach Party! Lots of folks were caught swimming in the ocean (which is usually way to cold to even wade in). Crazy huh?!

So anyone else out there hit record high temperatures today? Because out here it was a heat wave!

Questions as an Agent You May Have Not Thought Of When Interviewing Real Estate Companys

2008-05-12T16:55:32Z

After reading Lenn Harvey's post My Real Estate Company, How Do I Love Thee, Let Me Count the Ways, which is about the questions you need to ask yourself when choosing the right real estate company for YOU as a new agent looking to start in the real estate business or an experienced one looking to find a brokerage model that best fits YOUR needs.

By the way if you haven't read Lenn's post, please do first. She has some great advice on how to choose the right office and she breaks down the different brokerage models out there.

So, why did I write this post? When you're a newer agent you usually go for a brokerage that will give you a lot of support (ie: training and floor time and postitioning in the market), but it's hard to know what questions to ask when you're looking for the right brokerage to work with at the very beginning.

After a few years those questions and details start to become apparent as you work your way through this real estate business and hopefully while you build your own.

So here a few more questions to think about when choosing a broker:

1) How many Active listings does this broker have at any given time?

The reason to ask this is to find out the number of company signs out on the market, promoting not only that particular listing, but the company itself. If your broker carries over 100 listings on average at one time and a good portion of them are standard company signs (ie: not ones with the listing agent contact number on them - and I would ask about this too) then there is a good chance that there will be a decent number of buyers who call into the office directly from that sign.

Which leads me to Question #2

2) How many main office calls (Floor Calls), calls that are fair game to the agent who answers the phone, does the broker get daily, monthly, etc?

If you're a new agent this is one of the ways you will get some of your first real estate deals, so you want to be sure that the phone is ringing on a regular basis to increase your chances of getting a few buyer leads. One's that you can build a long term relationship with (most won't be ready to buy until 6 months from the time they called).

3) How much floor time (time spent answering the main phone to potentially capture buyers looking for property) will your broker give you and what are the best times to be sitting answering phones?

A large franchise company may be established in the community and have many listings to make the front office phone ring more often (depending on their advertising strategy), but there are more agents that you work with in an office like this, which means that floor time is divided among all the agents. So if there are say 40 agents, you may get floor time 3 or 4 times a month.

A smaller boutique office or smaller franchise company may not have as many listings, but maybe you work with only 2 other agents and you can be on floor more often increasing your chances.

4) How is the brokerage company set up? Are you competing with your broker or does he just manage the business?

5) What about the buyer or seller leads that come in from the internet? What is the broker's policy on passing out these leads?

Some brokerages are designed so that the successful broker is the "rain maker", his advertising, years of experience, etc. bring in a large number of buyer and seller leads per year and he gives all (if he just manages) or some of those leads to his agents to work on. Some agents are buyer's agents so even though they can bring in their own clients or listings, the broker gives them all of his buyer leads and only deals with listing property. So it's important to ask all of these questions.

6) How many buyer (or seller) leads can you expect to receive from your broker on a yearly basis?

So there you have it. A few more questions to add to the list when looking for the Broker that's RIGHT FOR YOU :)

NBC Today Show's Desperate Landscapes Contest - And the Winner is....

2008-05-08T16:56:50Z

For some of you who read or commented on my post yesterday Fortuna Couple Compete for Yard Makeover... many of you wanted to know if our lucky couple won today's competition on the Today Show.

Well first of all it was cool to watch. There were four competing (the husband's competed, wives stood on the sidelines), each husband teamed up with one of the Today show hosts - Mark Marquez, our Fortuna homeowner, teamed up with Matt Lauer. There were 4 obstacles each team had to accomplish and of course the first team to finish won!

1) Obstacle One - Laying down the Sod!

Each team had to roll out two rolls of sod

2) Obstacle Two - Leaf Blower

Each team had to fill a bag of leaves using a leaf blower - this one was tough! It took each team a few minutes to figure out that in order to get the leaves to STAY in the bag the one holding the leaf blower had to hold it down facing the ground and step back a couple of feet.

3) Obstacle Three - Water Hose Contest

There were four tall cylinders filled with water and each had a plastic ball at the top. The goal was to get the plastic ball to fall onto the ground using only a water hose with a spraying attachment on the end. This one was the most challenging for everyone! It took each team several minutes to work on this obstacle and even when all team members had filled the water to the rim the ball kept getting caught on the side, keeping it from falling. Finally one team was able to get theirs losoe and then the other three teams followed.

4) Final Obstacle - Lawn Mower Run

One Team member had to drive a lawn mower to the finish line while our Today host team members had to run to get to the finish line.

Needless to say: Our Fortuna couple came in 3rd place! But it was great fun watching! And I know Mark and Mandy are probably having a blast exploring Manhattan for the first time. I'm sure they're neighbors might be a little more bumbed than our couple.

Fortuna Couple Compete for Yard Makeover on NBC's Today Show - We're hitting big time now!

2008-05-07T10:28:01Z

This is just too cool. This morning as I went out to get the Eureka Reporter, and I found this story on the front page of the paper. Since we live way up in Northern California on the coast, just a 2 hour drive south of the Oregon border, we don't usually get national media coverage(unless it has something to do with PALCO and tree sitters), but a Fortuna couple is changing that.

Mark and Mandy Marquez are the first couple in Humboldt County to compete in any national Home/Yard makeover contest. They were chosen to be finalists, out of 10,000 entries. They're on their way right now to New York to be on NBC's Today Show to compete with a few other couples. Apparently the competition was inspired by a Do-it Yourself network show called "Desperate Landscapes."

So I don't know about you, but I'm watching the Today Show tomorrow around 8:30am to see if our Fortuna couple wins a yard makeover. Because we all know in real estate - curb appeal is very important!

Check the Eureka Reporter article here for the whole enchilada.

And if they win I'll let you all know tomorrow!

What is Your WHY? Why Real Estate?

2008-05-06T23:34:51Z

This blog was inspired by Borino from expiredplus.

This weekend I sat through a teleconference that Borino and Jennifer Allan hosted about how to get your listings sold successfully. By the way if you weren't there you missed an incredible talk that was extremely helpful for those of us trying to hone in our listing skills to help sellers get their homes sold.

One thing that Borino had mentioned is that when you approach a seller, whether that seller is hiring you to list his home for the first time or a seller who's listing has expired and you're there to help him sell his home so he can move on with his life, it is important to know why you are in real estate to begin with. The true motivations. Not materialistic motivations like money and such. This applies to helping buyers too. What motivates you to be in this business in the first place. Why did you choose real estate? The more you know about your why, the easier it is to really approach a potential client who you are trying to help. Because your true motivation will shine through and believe me your potential future clients will pick up on it. So.....

Why did you choose to be a real estate agent? What is your Why?

There are many of us who come from different walks of life who decided to get into this business. Some of you might be looking at a second career/business approach. Others might be getting into it for investment purposes. And some of us crazy agents made a career change early on in our career life cycle. But these are not your Why, your true motivator for continuing to serve others.

What is your Why?

What motivates you to wake up every morning and go out there to help buyers and sellers with their real estate needs...and to occasionally face rejection?

I'll tell you mine:

1) Seeing a smile on my first-time home buyer's face when I hand them the keys to their first home.

2) Knowing that I have the ability to educate my community about our local real estate market - arming buyers and sellers with knowledge they need to make an educated decision that is right for them.

3) Being able to help a client look at their financial options for home ownership.

4) Helping my seller move to the next phase in his or her life.

Most importantly - Knowing that I made a difference in my client's life.

My job is to help people achieve their real estate goals first and the money is secondary and a result of the service I have provided.

Not the other way around

So, tell me...What is Your Why?

Sunset Photo courtesy of FreeFoto.com

Humboldt County CA Market Update Jan 2008 - April 2008 - For Eureka, Arcata, McKinleyville and Fortuna

2008-05-05T19:19:27Z

So far for 2008 we are seeing a slight increase in home prices every month. Take a look at our numbers below:

Market Update for Humboldt County, California

Jan 2008 - Average Price Range: $332,000

Jan 2007 - Average Price Range: $364,000

Total # of Homes Sold (Jan 2008): 70

Feb 2008 - Average Price Range: $346,000

Feb 2007 - Average Price Range: $344,000

Total # of Homes Sold (Feb 2008): 42

March 2008 - Average Price Range: $367,000

March 2007 - Average Price Range: $362,000

Total # of Homes Sold (March 2008): 29

Market Update for Eureka and Cutten

Jan 2008 - Average Price Range: $317,500

Feb 2008 - Average Price Range: $354,000

March 2008 - Average Price Range: $360,000

Market Update for Arcata

Jan 2008 - Average Price Range: only 1 house sold (not enough data)

Feb 2008- Average Price Range: $383,000

March 2008 - Average Price Range: $452,800

Market Update for McKinelyville

Jan 2008 - Average Price Range: $329,000

Feb 2008 - Average Price Range: $304,000

March 2008 - Average Price Range: $315,000

Market Update for Fortuna

Jane 2008 - Average Price Range: $261,000

Feb 2008- Average Price Range: $352,000

March 2008 - Average Price Range: $358,000

For Market Update Information on other local markets like Trinidad, Ferndale, Manila, Samoa, or Big Lagoon email me, I'd be happy to send that information to you.

Data is from Humboldt Association of Realtors MLS and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

When Your Buyer Makes An Offer, Then I’ll Address His Questions

2008-05-04T14:49:54Z

I notice this happening more and more in Humboldt County, California. The listing agent doesn’t want to give too much information about their seller’s property, whether we’re talking about vacant land or a home, unless the buyer is “serious” and willing to put in an offer.

Why dig a little bit more to provide comprehensive info about the property if the buyer isn’t going to make an offer, right?

So here’s my question:

As the listing agent...Are you really wasting your's and the seller’s time if you provide a packet of information about the property for any buyer or buyer’s agent who inquires about your listing? And is a buyer who's asking more detailed questions not "seriously" considering the property for themselves?

As listing agents we have a duty to provide/disclose information about our seller’s property. We need to ask the right questions from our sellers from the get go and provide information to buyers and their agents who ask.

Personally I think it’s a worse situation to have a buyer not ask enough questions, put in an offer, get it accepted, find out something they don’t like about the property during the inspection period and back out of the deal. That waste’s everybody’s time – the lenders, the buyer’s agent, the listing agent and definitely the seller’s time.

Put yourself in the buyer’s position:

Don’t you want to know as much info about a property you are considering putting in an offer on just to make sure there is not anything obvious that would make you change your mind?

I know I would.

What I try to do is create an informational packet to give to buyer’s agents or a buyer who calls on my listing, especially if they have a bunch of questions. And believe me most do. And it's easy. You spend the first week compiling info and then you can create a digital file so it's easy to send to agents or buyers who start asking more detailed questions about your listing.

A great thing to do at the beginning of the listing is put together a property profile packet, especially if you are listing vacant land:

Things that are good to included:

A basic property profile sheet - acreage, water info (rivers, creeks, wells), septic info, zoning, lot size etc.
Zoning information
Aerial/Satellite image of property w/ parcel line overlay
Parcel map of property
Title information – info on easements Features and Amenities
Any other information – ex: bathroom not permitted and so on.

Although a buyer might still back out of a deal after discovering a structural problem with the home after inspections, at least you are increasing your chances overall to work with a well informed buyer who is “serious” about purchasing your seller’s home.

Home Owner Tip - Use Coffee Grounds to Keep Pets Out of Your Garden and Flower Beds

2008-04-30T18:26:48Z

It's Spring Time again and you know what that means. It's time to get out there are do some Spring Cleaning. Time to clean up your flower beds and vegetable gardens and get them ready for new growth!

But how do you keep those neighborhood cats from using your flower beds as their litter box?

How do you keep your dog from trampling all over your flowers, plants and shrubs in your backyard?

The Answer... COFFEE GROUNDS

Our local Eureka California Starbucks gives this stuff away for free! And not only does it keep those pesky pets out of your yard, it helps you nourish your plants too! I live in a neighborhood where we have good number of cats, both strays and ones who have owners, who hang out near my house all the time. Of course it doesn't help that one of my neighbors feeds the strays. Oh well. Last year, while doing some needed weeding, I would always grab onto some cat poop accidentally. Thank goodness I wore gloves. It's kind of gross.

So my husband and I started adding coffee grounds to our flower beds and viola, no more kitty litter flower beds for us. Plus our flowers and roses looked healthier. So guess what...we killed two birds with one stone. We found a way to keep the local pet community out of our yard and help our plants grow healthier in the long run.

Keeping your Dog out of Your Flower Beds

Another problem was Benjamin (my dog) and oh yes he is very cute, but also very destructive. He had this ritual of walking the perimeter of our backyard every morning, (which is where my landscaped beds are located), trampling on every plant in site. So my husband and I decided to try the coffee ground method and see if it made a difference. We applied several bags of coffee grounds on all of our beds, and lo and behold it worked!

Benjamin is staying away from our flowerbeds. Yeah! Last year our perimeter beds looked like a war zone, this year they are lush green and beautiful!

Other garden pet repellents:

Just like coffee grounds, I've heard that Cayenne Pepper can also help keep pets out of your garden and flower beds. Just like coffee grounds cats and dogs don't like the smell or the taste (especially Cayenne--OUCH) when licking their paws clean. So it's negative reinforcement for your pets. They quickly learn that going in your flower beds becomes an unpleasant experience.

Edited: Thanks Elizabeth for bringing this up - I wanted to mention that personally this has worked for me and Ben has not shown any signs of caffeine poisoning, but I would definitely check with your local vet - dogs can get sick from caffeine including coffee grounds (see Elizabeth's vet link in the comment section) just like they can if they eat enough chocolate. So check with your vet first if your concerned.

Pushiness and Manipulation are NOT a Long Term Sales Strategy

2008-04-30T13:00:43Z

It was 8pm on a Thursday night in Eureka, California. The doorbell rang and my husband answered it. In front of him was this young energetic teenager asking if he could help her earn points for a mentor program she was involved in. “By the way, your neighbor Jim suggested I talk to you to get support for my mentorship," she stated. She told my husband about the program and that by earning these points she’ll be able to take this trip and gain experience in life, and told him that she needed to be evaluated by others to get these points. So my husband went along with it.

Here’s where the Manipulation part comes in:

She made my husband believe that in order for her to earn these mentor points, she had to get out there and be face to face with people. Each person would evaluate how well she communicated with him/her one on one.

Then, the teenager pulled out her pamphlet of magazines. My husband immediately figured out that she was selling him something. He had to buy a magazine in order for this girl to earn any points. My husband politely declined.

Here’s where the Pushiness comes in:

After being told NO, she got aggravated. She told my husband that Jim had gladly paid for the magazines to help her earn the points she needed and that she needed these points to win a trip. My husband again politely declined.

But she wouldn’t back down. She actually got nasty and tried to guilt trip my husband into buying a magazine or two. She again mentioned our neighbor and how supportive he had been. He understood the importance of supporting her efforts.

Finally my husband had to tell her to go away and just closed the door in her face. And he was extremely irritated by the end.

In Conclusion:

Now this girl obviously wasn’t building a long-term relationship with my husband or any of our other neighbors, but if she took this approach in real estate she wouldn’t last very long. This hard selling approach usually backfires and it should. Who wants someone to continue to push and convince you to make a decision that may not be in your best interest?

When it comes servicing your buyers and sellers, it’s about working in YOUR client’s best interest. Yes they may need a little push from time to time to help them make an educated decision, but they don’t need a vulture pushing the sale down their throat.
Nobody accomplishes anything by being manipulative and pushy.

Humboldt County California, Photos

2008-04-21T21:02:15Z

I remember when I was a kid growing up in Detroit, Michigan my parents and I would go on a camping trip up north every summer. There was always so much to do there and so many sites to see. So when I moved to Humboldt County, California almost 8 years ago I felt like I was a kid again, but this time I was one of those folks you see who actually lives in one of California’s most beautiful destinations to visit. I finally was living in a place where many city folk come to visit and explore.

We have a vast network of nature trails that run through our county, state, national and forest service parks. We have numerous rocky coastlines and beaches to explore, wildlife marshes to birdwatch, the magnificent redwoods, plus interesting towns rich with history. Although I live in Humboldt County, when I visit some of these popular visitor destinations, I too feel like I'm on vacation.

So I thought I would share with you my top 5 places to visit in Humboldt County, California:

1) Trinidad, California - which is the smallest, oldest and most westerly city of California. See for yourself!

Here is a view of Trinidad Pier off the Trinidad Head Trail. After a nice hike you can grab a bowl of clam chowder at the Seascape down at the pier while watching seabirds circle around.

Below is a view of Trinidad's rocky coastline off the Trinidad Head trail.

2) Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Weott, California

Hiking through these forests are pretty awe-inspiring

3) Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge (only a few minutes South of Eureka)

4) Old Town (Downtown) Eureka (Incredible Historic Architecture)

This is the famous Vance Hotel in downtown Eureka, California. It is no longer used as a hotel, but houses many offices on the top floors and commercial retail, plus one of our terrific local spas.

5) Stone Lagoon, part of Humboldt Lagoons State Park (one of 3 lagoons in our area - Big Lagoon, and Dry Lagoon are the other two).

Humboldt County is rich with different things to see and do. Just check out my top 5 places, you'll see why I love visiting them time and time again.

Helped My First Time HomeBuyers Get On Financial Track Towards Home Ownership in Eureka, CA

2008-04-16T14:16:40Z

Yesterday, I had a meeting with my clients who are first time homebuyers. Originally when they approached me several months ago to help them search for a starter home. To respect their privacy I have changed their names to Shannon and Jeremy.

After meeting Shannon and Jeremy, I referred them to one of the local lenders that I work with frequently in Eureka, CA. Although they qualified for a 100% financed loan to buy a home at the lower end of the market in Eureka, California, they still needed to save enough money to pay for their closing costs.

While it took the lender and me several meetings with our buyers educating them on the financial responsibilities of home ownership, we were finally able to drive the message home. Although my clients qualified for a loan, they were not financially ready to buy a home in our current Eureka, CA real estate market. They had not saved a penny. The lender had told them they would need at least $5000 for their closing costs.

Shannon called me a couple of days ago to tell me she and Jeremy were ready to start looking for homes again and that she had the $5000 saved for their closing costs. So I set up an appointment to go over a few things with them. I knew they were not ready yet, but I wanted to meet with them to help them figure out an appropriate savings plan.

So back to yesterday's meeting: I met with Shannon and Jeremy and went through the costs of purchasing a $200,000 home. I showed them an itemized list of closing costs and miscellaneous fees that they would be responsible for paying up front. The $5000 they had saved would help, but I told them that they really needed to save more. I explained to the them the difference between a buyer who had at least 5% to put down on their home plus closing costs compared to a buyer with 100% financing with only a portion of the cash to use towards closing costs and why the one with 5% down was in a stronger financial position. After going through this process with my buyers they agreed to save a certain percentage of their take home pay each month to put towards the purchase of their new home. Together they are able to save about $2000 a month.

At the end of our meeting, Shannon and Jeremy agreed with me that they were not quite financially ready to purchase a home. And after some consideration felt that they would be in a much stronger financial position if they were able to save at least 5% of the purchase price, plus closing costs.

As I walked Shannon and Jeremy out to their car after our meeting, I couldn’t help but smile. With all the stories I read about so many folks losing their home, it felt good to know that I had helped my buyers get on the financial track towards purchasing their first home. Sometimes a little patience and planning do pay off. It will for Shannon and Jeremy in the long run.

Update: After several months of working with my firstime homebuyers, we are finally in escrow on a house and we should close in the next few weeks (7/7/2008). See patience and a little palnning do pay off :)

Does Anyone Know How to Prevent AR Comment Notifications Forwarding to Our Email

2008-04-04T16:51:58Z

To be fair, I was a good little AR blogger and first tried searching for a blog about this. I'm sure this info is embedded in someone's blog.

But regardless my question is this:

How do you turn off the setting that enables any comments you receive on your AR home page from being forwarded to your email account?

I've searched the my profile settings and I must be missing something.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Edited: Hopefully I can ask this question in a clear way...

Ok, So I comment on someone's blog, right. And I click the (notify me of comments box) because I want to stay in touch with what's going on.

Every time someone comments I get a notification in my Active Rain home page. But I also get a notification in my email box.

Now yes if I unclick the notify me box or unsubcribe myself, I no longer will receive comments (That is no notifications to my home page or my email).

BUT...

What if I want to continue receiving notifications, but I only want to receive those notifications once? That is, I don't mind receiving AR comment notifications on my home page. I just don't want to open my email account and see the same exact comment notifications in my inbox. Is there a way to have AR only send those comment notifications to MY AR Home Page?

How Many People Do You Think Read Your Blog Silently But Never Respond?

2008-04-03T23:44:17Z

How many people read your blog silently, but never respond? Is there a silent majority out there that are reading your posts but never responding? In a conversation not to long ago with a fellow active rainer and good friend, John Ford mentioned to me that he already had gotten a referral from someone on AR. John writes about all sorts of things but when it's something that has to do with our local area, he gets very few comments on his local blogs. I've found the same to be true for my blogs.

So being the science person that I am…oh I just can’t help myself, I started to read other Active Rainer’s local blogs to see how many comments they receive. And on average, they also received very few comments. But what I constantly hear from folks is if you post about your local area you are building a reputation and even though very few people comment there is a group of people reading your blog and YOU are making an impression.

So, all points aside, do you always need to write some blog that is so hot and gets you featured, to build a reputation that you are the expert for your local area for those anonymous readers who never comment? I’m going to vote no.
But local expert aside, don’t just throw something on AR just to get your 200 points either. Content still matters. So keep that in mind, even when your posting about a new listing you just put on the market.

I know that I probably read hundreds of blogs before I joined AR and I never commented on one blog, but I found many blogs to be very helpful. And during that 6 month period I learned a lot from our AR community. Now in hind sight, I wished I would have signed up earlier and connected (not commented) with the authors of each blog that helped me not only become a better real estate agent, but a better person in general.

I know that it's important to right good content, and maybe bring up a controversial topic that inspires many to comment on your blog, but don't you think that your local content makes an impact on your business too?

What are your thoughts?

A Closer Look at Lissa Uder's post How Expired Sellers Really Feel - Borino Are You Out There

2008-04-03T11:30:08Z

I read Lissa Uder's post this morning called Expired Homeowner, Tell Me How You Really Feel, which is great. If you haven't read it yet definitely take a moment and check it out. I have always had trouble bothering people even if it's not for business, because I am the anti salesperson kind of person. If you call me on the phone to sell me something I'll usually get irritated and eventually hang up on you. Sometimes I have to get a little nasty. So I'm with most of the folks who commented on Lissa's blog today.....

However, the reason I wanted to put this post out there is to get some perspective from the folks who have had success contacting and "helping" sellers who's listings have expired for the first, second or third time.

Borino for example has a great expired listing program called expiredplus, which I have purchased but have not implemented yet partially due to my own fear of bothering people. Because the fact is, you have to call or meet these people in person to see if you can really help them or not. But in light of the DO-NOT-CALL list how do you really handle contacting these people, especially if you don't want to bother them at 8am in the morning at their doorstep?

Ok, Jennifer Allan, I know that you commented on Lissa's post wishing more folks in the industry would respect seller's wishes of not being contacted but seeking out an agent themselves, but you do feel that Borino's system, although aggressive, is a very respectful way to approach expired sellers. And yes, you do have to call or meet these folks in person. So I'm curious to hear you elaborate on this a little more.

Nestor and Katerina also work with expireds and they have had great success so I'd love to hear their perspective as well.

And, if anyone else has a different perspective or comment I would love to hear about it :-)

My Craziest Real Estate Deal, What Didn't Kill Me Made Me Stronger.

2008-04-01T20:19:37Z

I have to admit the first couple of years in real estate are the hardest. In general I have found that each transaction has it's quirks, but one Eureka real estate deal really stood out for me and the lessons I learned have made me a better real estate agent.

I had listed a property, that wasn't your standard 3 bedroom/2 bath home on a city lot.

Why was this home different from all the other homes in Eureka, California?

Because it was nonconforming building, on a substandard lot. This home was really a loft which had no "true" bedrooms. Well, if this was New York City, we would have no problem financing this place. But in Humboldt County, California, we really don't have any lofts that sell in our area. At the time the lending world was in a frenzy and appraisers and underwriters were tightening up their standards on what they considered to be financeable. Because there was no "true" comparable properties (ie: no other lofts or firehouses that have sold in the last 3 years), lenders and appraisers were warning me that this particular building may not appraise. I was also told that a buyer would have a better chance of getting a loan on this building if he or she put more than 20% down cash.

Based on my competitive pricing strategy and aggressive marketing the property went into escrow after being on the market for 20 days. The buyer had asked for a 60 day escrow, $30,000 less than list price and 20% down. I gave my sellers all the info they needed to make a decision. I told them that it's up to them to accept a longer escrow, but we could ask for the standard 45 days. My sellers chose to accept the 60 days, but countered on the price. The buyer of course accepted our counter offer. And then the fun began. We knew up front that the buyer was going to do a refinance to pull extra cash out to put down on our property and then get a loan for the remainder. How much cash from the refinance was the buyer willing to put towards the loft was not revealed at the time.

I educated my seller that the lender had informed me that getting our property to appraise might be a challenge since underwriters wanted to see other similar (lofts) properties sell. At that time, underwriters had "cookie cutter" guidelines. I told my sellers it was easier for lending houses to lend money on a standard 3 bedroom/2 bath home than a property they don't really see very often like our loft.

Keeping up with the lender and the buyer's agent I started noticing the RED FLAGS:

1) Buyer chose not to do any inspections.

2) After 45 days lender had not done an appraisal, but kept telling me his concerns about the building appraising.

I pushed the lender to do the appraisal and he refused. Finally I got enough info to find out that:

The buyer was trying to do a refinance on a multi-million dollar property that he just purchased, and the lender couldn't pull off the loan until a certain amount of time had passed. Uh, but we were in escrow and the clock was ticking.

Although we had a backup offer in our back pocket, I felt like I was playing poker. With very little info in hand, it was hard to tell which deal was more likely to close. Was it the back up offer, with 20% down, or our current situation? If we walked from this current deal, would the backup deal pan out (especially with the appraisal concerns)? And of course timing was an issue for my seller, because her family had put in an offer on another property contingent upon this loft selling.

Day 60 came and went.

I gave my seller the low down on each situation. At the time the buyer revealed his hand. He was willing to put $150,000 cash on the table, instead of the original 20% down stated in the contract, which would at least increase the buyer's chances of getting a loan. Plus, the other buyer's agent for our backup offer was a hard core negotiator and would most likely renegotiate after inspections. And now, the back up buyer had a financially weaker offer than this current buyer did. Well my client chose to continue with the refinance buyer.

120 days later....We finally closed escrow. Oh and yes although the appraiser was able to appraise the property for the sale value he warned me that the underwriter may still have a problem with his appraisal and sure enough the underwriter flagged the appraisal asking for more comparable properties to back up the appraised price. In the end though we closed. Whew!

What did I learn from this experience?

1) Get as much info about the buyer's refinancing situation; including time lines, where the refinance is coming from, etc.

2) Don't (unless dealing with some crazy high end development deal or commercial property) accept a 60 day escrow time frame. Advise your sellers to accept either a 30 day or 45 day escrow. That way if there is a problem you can move on to the next buyer.

April Fools! Share Your Most Hilarious April Fool's Day Stories.

2008-04-01T10:36:03Z

Happy April Fool's Day!

Ok, I'll start. When I was the promotion's director for Humboldt County's local radio stations, KHUM, KSLG and KWPT (The Point), every April Fools we did something creative to throw off our listeners.

Before I tell you the two April Fools Joke's the station pulled, let me give you a little background on each station.

KHUM is a progressive radio station with all live DJs who get to choose the music you get to hear. The selection is very eclectic ranging from blues, jazz, bluegrass, international to pop music. (By the way they are now streaming on the internet, so if you want to a breath of fresh air, check them out. It's pretty cool.)

KSLG (K-SLUG) is more alternative rock and mainstream rock. All live DJs. (KSLG is also streaming).

KWPT (The Point) falls under classic rock. Also has live DJs.

Joke 1 - KHUM and KSLG switched transmitter signals so if you listened to KSLG on a regular basis you woke up listening to KHUM . Folks would turn their dial to 94.1 (dial for KSLG), but hear a totally different station. Of course those KHUMers woke up to KSLG DJs in the morning and all day long one April Fools day.

Joke 2 - One year the DJs on KHUM and KSLG spoke completely in Esperanza (language of peace and love). I'm sure listener's got a kick out of that one.

Ok, your turn. Tell us about one of the funniest April Fools Jokes that was played on YOU or you played on someone else.