We all know the benefits of staging, or at least I hope we do.
Unfortunately, it's sometimes difficult to convince our Clients about the benefits of staging, especially when there's a fairly significant expense involved.
I take the position that I'm only out to sell my services, and if I can at least get my Clients to call a stager, or a home inspector for a pre-listing inspection, those professionals can sell their own services.
I think Realtors trying to sell the services of other professionals is simply the wrong way to go about it, although it seems that Realtors do more and more of that all the time.
Nonetheless, I just found out about a virtual staging company that will take photographs of a property and stage it virtually by inserting landscaping, furniture, pictures, changing paint colors, etc. I am aware of a lawsuit against a Seller about eight years ago because the Seller took a photo of his property, a property with a view, and erased the utility wires in the view by using Photoshop. At that time it was considered fraud.
I'm wondering now about whether there are new lawsuits or statutes that say virtual staging is okay, or whether the benefits, or lack thereof, have not yet made it through the court system. The company claims -- and probably truthfully -- that they "improve" the property without the hassles of physically redecorating, without the significant cost of staging. Virtual staging then gives online properties a distinct advantage over similar properties, but at what cost to the reputation of the Seller or the Seller's Realtor for fraud and misrepresentation when the Buyer finds out that the property is absolutely nothing like that shown in the pictures?
I haven't checked out the company in detail, but if others want to, the name of the company is Virtually Staging Propeties.
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Jim Frimmer, Realtor, Century 21 Award Mission Valley California real estate license #01458572 619-729-5701 -- jimfrimmer@century21award.com
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Need help buying or selling a home in San Diego County? Moving here to work on Stimulus Bill projects? Visiting and would like a vacation home here?
I can help you find the best just the right home or just the right buyers to meet your real estate needs, wants, and goals.>
I'm available 24/7, so feel free to contact me by phone or email.
A couple of years ago I worked both sides of a transaction for a real nice condominium. The Seller, who was 67, had lived there for over thirty years. Not only had he lived there for over thirty years, but he was an original owner, as well. If you do the math, you'll realize that the condominium complex was built in the 1970s, and if you think real hard, you'll probably come to the conclusion that it had popcorn ceilings. Your conclusion would be correct.
Fast forward to the sale, which closed escrow with no problems, and remember that I represented both the Buyer and the Seller. The Buyer went to remove the popcorn ceilings and found water stains, stains which her renovator said would cost about $5,000 to repair. Now to me there's a difference between stains and damage, although stains can indicate underlying damage.
Seventeen years ago the condominium above his had a plumbing leak which left some stains on the Seller's ceiling. Everything was repaired and the ceiling repainted. Unfortunately, I didn't find out about this until the Buyer was in the midst of renovation, and even then it took a lot of work to drag out of the Seller the fact that seventeen years ago there was a leak. I could not get the Seller and Buyer to agree on anything, so the case wound up in Small Claims Court. From what I heard from both sides, it looked like the odds were stacked in favor of the Buyer. Surprisingly, the Judge found in favor of the Seller, stating that a problem seventeen years ago that had been repaired would not necessarily be an issue that needed to be disclosed.
Now today I'm reading Calemine v. Samuelson, a February 17, 2009, decision issued by the California Second District Court of Appeal. The basic premise of the case is that the Calemines had bought a three-story condominium in 2002, and the lower level garage had flooded in 2005. Apparently there had been flooding problems between 1983 and 1999, although the latter date doesn't jibe with other facts.
In 1986 the HOA sued the developer, and in 1992 hired Westar Flooring to repair and waterproof the affected areas. The work was ineffective, and the HOA sued Westar Flooring. Construction Headquarters was then hired to do repairs, which were completed in 1998. Here's where the date doesn't jibe: the Seller did not have any further flooding problems but did have occasional damp spots during periods of heavy rain.
The Seller, Samuelson, disclosed that he was aware of "flooding, drainage, or grading problems," but stated that he was not aware of "any lawsuits by or against the seller threatening to or affecting this real property, including any lawsuits alleging a defect or deficiency in this real property or common areas...."
Samuelson indicated that he said no because he thought the form required disclosure of lawsuits that were pending, not lawsuits from the past that had been resolved.
The trial court found in favor of Samuelson, but the appellate court reversed that decision based on an earlier case, Pagano v. Krohn(November 1997), which found that sellers have no duty to go into detail about the type or scope of repairs, but did have a duty to disclose the existence of previous lawsuits, even if resolved, and not just pending or ongoing lawsuits.
Both Pagano v. Krohn and Calemine v. Samuelson were certified for publication, which means that they create case law rather than statute law.
Just one more example of "When in doubt, disclose, disclose, disclose."
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Jim Frimmer, Realtor, Century 21 Award Mission Valley California real estate license #01458572 619-729-5701 -- jimfrimmer@century21award.com
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Need help buying or selling a home in San Diego County? Moving here to work on Stimulus Bill projects? Visiting and would like a vacation home here?
I can help you find the best just the right home or just the right buyers to meet your real estate needs, wants, and goals.>
I'm available 24/7, so feel free to contact me by phone or email.
The Torrey Pines Gliderport has an envirable location just across the street from the University of California at San Diego, right next to the Torrey Pines Golf Course where the 2008 U.S. Open was held and right above Blacks Beach, one of the world's best clothing-optional beaches.
Torrey Pines Gliderport was established in 1930 and is the home to hang gliding, paragliding, radio-controlled model sailplanes, and full-scale man-carrying sailplanes. It is a National Landmark of Soaring of the National Soaring Museum, a San Diego City Historical Site (#315), a Model Aviation Landmark of the Academy of Model Aeronautics (#1 in the nation), and is listed on both the California Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places. It is commonly referred to as the "Kitty Hawk of the West."
Many aviation pioneers have flown at Torrey Pines, including Charles Lindbergh (for whom San Diego's Airport is named), Woody Brown, Hawley Bowlus, Bud Perl, Bill Beuby, John Robinson, Dick Essery, Bill Ivans, Helen Dick, Richard Johnson, and Paul McCready.
There is something going on year-round since the winds don't recognize any specific season to come in off the ocean and rush up the 350-foot sandstone cliffs.
If the following slide show does not work on your computer, click here to watch it at slide.com.
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Jim Frimmer, Realtor, Century 21 Award Mission Valley California real estate license #01458572 619-729-5701 -- jimfrimmer@century21award.com
*****
Need help buying or selling a home in San Diego County? Moving here to work on Stimulus Bill projects? Visiting and would like a vacation home here?
I can help you find the best just the right home or just the right buyers to meet your real estate needs, wants, and goals.>
I'm available 24/7, so feel free to contact me by phone or email.
With public fireworks shows costing between $20,000 and $40,000, there will be noticeably fewer of them in San Diego County this year due to the recession and the budget deficits that so many cities are facing.
That doesn't mean that the show won't go on, though. After all, this is America!
Following is a list of both the big shows, typically put on in the City of San Diego, as well as those that I know about in East San Diego County.
La Jolla cove - Fireworks at 9:00 p.m. Good viewing areas along Coast Boulevard, Scripps Park, or La Jolla Shores Beach.
La Mesa - Fireworks at 9:15 p.m. at Lake Murray Community Park, 7001 Murray Park Drive. Music Fest begins at noon. You don't have to be in the Park to see the fireworks since there are many observation points outside of the park.
Mira Mesa - Fireworks at 9:00 p.m. Independence Day Parade at 11:00 a.m. beginning at Greenford Drive and Mira Mesa Boulevard and going west. Festival from 1:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. with rides, dunk tank, live music, and fireworks at the Mira Mesa Community Park and Gil Johnson Recreation Center, 8575 New Salem Street.
Mission Bay Yacht Club - Fireworks at 9:00 p.m. Members only, but viewing is possible along the Bay.
Ocean Beach Pier - Fireworks at 9:00 p.m. Newport Avenue and Abbott Street. Thirtieth anniversary show. If you're going to this one, go early. Traffic is always horrible getting into and out of Ocean Beach, but particularly on this night. Plan on it taking a couple of hours for you to get home after the show ends.
Old Town State Historic Park - No fireworks, but patriotic music, a pie-eating contest, a parade, and a cannon-firing demonstration reflect life in the 1800s. 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. No charge.
San Diego - Big Bay Boom at 9:00 p.m. Hosted by the Port of San Diego, this is often the big one since firewords will be simultaneously going off from four different barges in the water. Great viewing areas at Seaport Village, Harbor Island, North Embarcadero, and Shelter Island.
San Diego - Embarcadero Marina Park South - Star-Spangled Pops Concert directed by Marvin Hamlisch (yes, that Marvin Hamlisch -- "The Entertainer," "The Way We Were," and "Nobody Does it Better," and more) starts at 7:30 p.m. and will end at 9:00 p.m. for the San Diego Big Bay Boom. Cost is $15-$75.
Santee - Fireworks at 9:00 p.m. Food court, kids fun zone, and live music from 3:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Town Center Communityy Park ball fields, 9400 Cuyamaca Street.
Spring Valley - Fireworks at 9:00 p.m. at the Swap Meet parking lot at 6377 Quarry Road. Also see the show at Spring Valley Park at 8735 Jamacha Boulevard.
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Jim Frimmer, Realtor, Century 21 Award Mission Valley California real estate license #01458572 619-729-5701 -- jimfrimmer@century21award.com
*****
Need help buying or selling a home in San Diego County? Moving here to work on Stimulus Bill projects? Visiting and would like a vacation home here?
I can help you find the best just the right home or just the right buyers to meet your real estate needs, wants, and goals.>
I'm available 24/7, so feel free to contact me by phone or email.
Week eleven came in with 43 visitors to my web site, on par with the previous week which had 47 visitors.
The percentage of visitors who have signed up for listing alerts in these eleven weeks is at 71%, well above our goal of 10%.
I got one new prospect out of the 43 visitors, bringing my total to nine active prospects in eleven weeks.
Although no inactive prospects have returned to my site, I have had additional contact (through email) from a current active prospect who was interested in viewing property. However, my follow-up calls and emails have received no response yet. I've learned not to read too much into that since I have no idea what else is going on in that person's life. In general, though, I have had a lot of difficulty actually speaking to any of my prospects on the phone.
Although I had planned to take Vision 301 Webinar on June 25, I was unable to attend it since I was writing an offer for a non-Growth Leader Client. Hey, I shouldn't be complaining about writing a purchase offer, right?
My previous Growth Leader blog posts can be accessed by clicking here.
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Jim Frimmer, Realtor, Century 21 Award Mission Valley California real estate license #01458572 619-729-5701 -- jimfrimmer@century21award.com
*****
Need help buying or selling a home in San Diego County? Moving here to work on Stimulus Bill projects? Visiting and would like a vacation home here?
I can help you find the best just the right home or just the right buyers to meet your real estate needs, wants, and goals.>
I'm available 24/7, so feel free to contact me by phone or email.
I was looking through the visits to my blog this morning and discovered something really cool. Sitemeter shows you the visits to your website and you can click to see the page that brought them there - the google, yahoo, bing search or whatever.
Well I clicked on one of the links to see the referring site and what did I see but my blog - in Spanish!!
It's yet another nifty Google application - Google Translate. Someone in Spain was reading my blog in Spanish via Google Translate. How cool is that?
Enter a url - or text - and with a click of the button Google translates into the language of your choice - over 40 of them - from Albanian to Vietnamese. It's amazing! And fun - I couldn't help but play around and check out how my site looked in half a dozen languages. If you hover your mouse over the translated text it will show the original English. Very cool.
And of course it's amazingly useful too. When I think of all the times over the years when I needed to translate a document - score yet another one for the web and for Google.
And if you're working with international clients or clients whose first language isn't English this is a great option to make your blog more useful for them.
I've still got to think about how I might use this on my home page - perhaps a link to the application encouraging people to translate the page into their language. Are any of you making use of this?
Just for fun - here's my blog in Italian - at least mostly in Italian - it misses a few words here and there:
If you don't know it by now, Big Brother is here, and he's keeping his eye on you, all in the interest of safety and the good of the public.
If you walk into a grocery store in San Diego County, it's highly probable that you'll see some television screens, and if you're lucky, you'll see your smiling face on them.
If you get gas at almost any service gasoline station, inside there are a couple of television screens keeping an eye on everyone at the gas pumps.
If you go to any mall, don't look now, but there's a security room with dozens, sometimes hundreds, of television monitors keeping an eye on every square inch of the area outside the individual stores. And, of course, the individual stores have their own monitoring systems.
If you go to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, almost every street now is monitored by video cameras.
Here in San Diego County, we also have what is called a "red light camera" at many traffic intersections. They are set to take several pictures of the driver, and the front and rear license plates, and the car as it goes through the intersection after the traffic signal has turned red under the guise that Big Brother watching you cuts down on accidents and, by association, injuries and fatalities. To find the red-light intersections in your city, click here to go to photoenforced.com.
From May 2008 to April 2009, 8,261 citations were issued in the City of San Diego by the red-light camera program. The amount of each ticket is $436, of which the City only gets $157, with the rest going to the company that made the cameras and runs them, for a total of $3.6 million in fines, with the City getting $1.3 million. Personally, I think the City is getting taken. Anyway....
If you're driving in the City of San Diego, here are the current red light camera locations and the number of tickets issued from May 2008 and April 2009:
Del Mar Heights Road and El Camino Real - 16
Genesee Avenue and North Torrey Pines Road - new
Mira Mesa Boulevard and Scranton Road - 78
Mira Mesa Boulevard and Westview Parkway - 64
Garnet Avenue and Mission Bay Drive - 466
Clairemont Mesa Boulevard and Convoy Street - 60
Balbo Avenue and Kearny Villa Road - new
Aero Drive and Murphy Canyon Road - 1,839
Camino del Rio North and Mission Center Road - 197
Camino del Rio North and Qualcomm Way - 139
Cleveland Avenue and Washington Street - 178
Rosecrans Street and Nimitz Boulevard - new
Grape Street and North Harbor Drive - 4,503
10th Avenue and A Street - 676
10th Avenue and F Street - 45
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Jim Frimmer, Realtor, Century 21 Award Mission Valley California real estate license #01458572 619-729-5701 -- jimfrimmer@century21award.com
*****
Need help buying or selling a home in San Diego County? Moving here to work on Stimulus Bill projects? Visiting and would like a vacation home here?
I can help you find the best just the right home or just the right buyers to meet your real estate needs, wants, and goals.>
I'm available 24/7, so feel free to contact me by phone or email.
I was over at the San Diego Zoo recently, and on my way out to the parking lot after my visit, I passed a car with an unusual graphic on it.
Now I know that there are pigs at the Zoo -- wild ones, not people ones -- well, there are people pigs at the Zoo, too, but nonetheless....
I didn't know that the Federal Stimulus money and our desire for universal health care had already created the Swine Flu Response Team. I wonder if they were checking the pig pigs or the people pigs.
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Jim Frimmer, Realtor, Century 21 Award Mission Valley California real estate license #01458572 619-729-5701 -- jimfrimmer@century21award.com
*****
Need help buying or selling a home in San Diego County? Moving here to work on Stimulus Bill projects? Visiting and would like a vacation home here?
I can help you find the best just the right home or just the right buyers to meet your real estate needs, wants, and goals.>
I'm available 24/7, so feel free to contact me by phone or email.
Animals or pets loose on the street? Need a dead animal removed? Did you miss trash collection? Know of a traffic signal that is not working, or vandalized or missing street signs?
Following are numbers for assistance in East San Diego County.
El Cajon Animal Control for dead animal removal or loose animals or pets on the streets - 619-441-1580 Waste Management for missed trash collection - 619-596-5100 Streets Division for road debris or street sweeping - 619-441-1658 Traffic Engineering for traffic signal malfunctions - 619-441-1653
La Mesa Animal Control for dead animal removal or loose animals or pets on the streets - 619-667-1436 EDCO Disposal for missed trash collection - 619-287-7555 Public Works Department for traffic signal malfunctions - 619-667-1450
Lemon Grove Chula Vista Animal Care for dead animal removal or loose animals or pets on the streets - 619-691-5123 EDCO Disposal for missed trash collection - 619-287-7555
Santee County of San Diego Department of Animal Services for loose animals or pets on the streets - 619-236-4250 Public Services for dead animal removal - 619-258-4195 Waste Management of missed trash collection - 619-596-5100 Traffic Concerns for traffic signal malfunctions, missing street signs, or vandalized street signs - 619-258-4100 x190
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Jim Frimmer, Realtor, Century 21 Award Mission Valley California real estate license #01458572 619-729-5701 -- jimfrimmer@century21award.com
*****
Need help buying or selling a home in San Diego County? Moving here to work on Stimulus Bill projects? Visiting and would like a vacation home here?
I can help you find the best just the right home or just the right buyers to meet your real estate needs, wants, and goals.>
I'm available 24/7, so feel free to contact me by phone or email.
If something needs fixing in your neighborhood -- potholes, graffiti, non-working street lights, etc. -- you can contact your city goverment to request repairs.
Many city governments are understaffed and under budgeted, so any help you can provide to help keep our cities and neighborhoods safe is appreciated.
Following are some of the most common numbers for cities in East San Diego County.
El Cajon Public works - 619-441-1658 Graffiti hotline - 619-441-5533
La Mesa Public works - 619-667-1450
Lemon Grove Public works - 619-825-3810
City of San Diego Street Division - 619-527-7500 Water Department - 619-515-3525 Transportation Engineering - 619-533-3126 Graffiti hotline - 619-525-8522 Waste code violations - 858-694-7000
County of San Diego Road maintenance - 877-684-8000 Traffic signals and street lights - 858-874-4155 Traffic signs - 858-874-4063
Santee Public works - 619-258-4195 x100 Potholes and graffiti - 619-258-4116
Caltrans 619-688-6670
Metropolitan Transit System 619-557-4555
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Jim Frimmer, Realtor, Century 21 Award Mission Valley California real estate license #01458572 619-729-5701 -- jimfrimmer@century21award.com
*****
Need help buying or selling a home in San Diego County? Moving here to work on Stimulus Bill projects? Visiting and would like a vacation home here?
I can help you find the best just the right home or just the right buyers to meet your real estate needs, wants, and goals.>
I'm available 24/7, so feel free to contact me by phone or email.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
We all know the benefits of staging, or at least I hope we do.
A couple of years ago I worked both sides of a transaction for a real nice condominium. The Seller, who was 67, had lived there for over thirty years. Not only had he lived there for over thirty years, but he was an original owner, as well. If you do the math, you'll realize that the condominium complex was built in the 1970s, and if you think real hard, you'll probably come to the conclusion that it had popcorn ceilings. Your conclusion would be correct.
Seventeen years ago the condominium above his had a plumbing leak which left some stains on the Seller's ceiling. Everything was repaired and the ceiling repainted. Unfortunately, I didn't find out about this until the Buyer was in the midst of renovation, and even then it took a lot of work to drag out of the Seller the fact that seventeen years ago there was a leak. I could not get the Seller and Buyer to agree on anything, so the case wound up in Small Claims Court. From what I heard from both sides, it looked like the odds were stacked in favor of the Buyer. Surprisingly, the Judge found in favor of the Seller, stating that a problem seventeen years ago that had been repaired would not necessarily be an issue that needed to be disclosed.
The Seller, Samuelson, disclosed that he was aware of "flooding, drainage, or grading problems," but stated that he was not aware of "any lawsuits by or against the seller threatening to or affecting this real property, including any lawsuits alleging a defect or deficiency in this real property or common areas...."
The Torrey Pines Gliderport has an envirable location just across the street from the University of California at San Diego, right next to the Torrey Pines Golf Course where the 2008 U.S. Open was held and right above Blacks Beach, one of the world's best clothing-optional beaches.
With public fireworks shows costing between $20,000 and $40,000, there will be noticeably fewer of them in San Diego County this year due to the recession and the budget deficits that so many cities are facing.
Week eleven came in with 43 visitors to my web site, on par with the previous week which had 47 visitors.
Here in San Diego County, we also have what is called a "red light camera" at many traffic intersections. They are set to take several pictures of the driver, and the front and rear license plates, and the car as it goes through the intersection after the traffic signal has turned red under the guise that Big Brother watching you cuts down on accidents and, by association, injuries and fatalities. To find the red-light intersections in your city, 
I was over at the San Diego Zoo recently, and on my way out to the parking lot after my visit, I passed a car with an unusual graphic on it.
Animals or pets loose on the street? Need a dead animal removed? Did you miss trash collection? Know of a traffic signal that is not working, or vandalized or missing street signs?
;)
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