"Hear me now, and Believe me in two weeks"

You can't afford to be a "girly man" in this market. You have to be up on all the newest trends, on line, offline, staging , gas shut off valves, how to market yourself, your listing, your company, and do it all on a shoestring budget. This is when you pass or fail the test.

 You must inform your client that as a Seller you might want to revamp your whole mindset. Don't think about getting what your neighbor got for his home that was exactly like yours down to the pool house... WAKE UP AND SMELL THE TREND. It has become a buyers market in most areas that are over built and away from job centers. Saddled with soaring fuel costs and longer commutes these sellers are in areas that have, and will continue to see over-leveraged owners selling short. The areas not too affected are the areas where there are quality schools surrounded by stable demographics, and shorter local commutes to high paying job centers in San Francisco San Jose and the East Bay.

You must conversely inform your client that as a Buyer in this market they are met by much more inventory at better prices and they think they're in the driver's seat. Well nothing could be further from the truth. First, find out if you are qualified to buy a home with my in house lender Bill Freeborn. This CRUCIAL FIRST STEP is the most important, since many lenders have gone belly-up and appraisers are not getting values  of homes to come in where the offer is valued... well you know where this is going, no escrow is guaranteed to close on time, it's up to the principals in the transaction. You must get pre-approved and be ready to produce a letter of commitment from the underwriter on your loan to get a home you just won the bid on. Yes... there are still multiple offers going on in this market so prepare yourself.

Getting YOU pumped-up about the Real Estate market.

Its about survival of the fittest.

Dean Farry

Alain Pinel Realtors