All Forum Posts by: Dustin Allen

@Genevieve Pietroski

I’m going to disagree with the majority here. I think now is a great time to list. Most people think May or summer is the best time to list which means you will have maximum competition if you wait until then. Make sure your property is the best in its class. Clean it, stage it, and market it well and you should be able to do well on the sale.

I just listed one in December (“the worst time to list!”). We were under contract over asking price in 5 days when the average is 55 days on market. I had two cash offers and 3 other interested cash buyers who were late to the party. The home was in great condition and marketed very well.  We stood out in a low inventory situation and captured the attention of the best buyers.

The most important part is the condition of the home and how you present it to the market. Go do an agent that will do all of the right things to market your home, not the one who will do it for the cheapest commission. 

@Chetan Vihite

My experience with escalation clauses is that you are better off just going in with your highest and best offer when it is competitive. Nothing is stopping the seller from just sending you a direct counter offer to your max on the escalation. Also, I’ve seen home sellers really dislike the escalation clauses and choose someone else who came in higher at the beginning even though the escalation would have been $5-10k higher in the end.

@Brian Connors

Sounds good, Brian. Will do!

@Kile Baker

Hi Kile,

We haven’t done one in a while but feel free to send me a direct message. I’ll let you know if we do another one. We might get together again over the winter.

@Gregory Saysset

Realtors tend to sell homes for 15% more than a For Sale By Owner would. I have brought buyers to FSBO properties in the past and they would have been much better served had they had representation. There is a lot of paperwork to pay attention to in California and you don't want to be taken advantage of.

@Coy Pence

First, Provide value and everything else will follow. Second, The more valuable conversations about real estate you have, the more business will end up coming your way. This may seem fruitless at the start but do those two things every day and you’ll make it in time.

@Brad E.

I have sold a property like this before. Similar situation where it was a large property split into 3 after the well was established. My buyers had similar concerns to yours. We looked up connecting to city water but would have had to pay for a mainline extension as the water main didn’t reach this particular part of the neighborhood.

When you get your title report, you should be able to look back in the original documents from when it was split up and find where they deeded the right to water from that well to each property. If you can’t find that, think about getting a new written agreement from whoever is on title with the actual well. 

This isn’t as uncommon as you’d think but I understand your concern. The other issue to understand is who is responsible for maintenance and when was it last done. Typically each of the properties pays annually for the power and maintenance to the well. Be sure to find out what those fees are and who controls that.

@Jacqueline Nguyen

Sit down and have a conversation with your broker about what type of strategies you are looking to use. Every broker has different requirements when you are buying or selling your own properties. You’ll also need to talk about how to go about doing off market properties correctly to cover yourself on liability issues. You can’t represent someone on the opposite side of a transaction than yourself because it is impossible to be a fiduciary to that person. Your broker can help you navigate these issues and help you form a plan to move forward.

 There are many reasons that this information could be material to a buyer.

If I intended to store my artwork in the basement, flooding there would be material to my purchase. If I intended to turn the basement into living space, flooding there would be material to my purchase. There are endless reasons why this event would be a material disclosure required by law. In California, you would tell the buyer and even amend your Transfer Disclosure Statement and then the buyer would have the chance to cancel for 5 days afterwards. If they don’t, you at least covered yourself by disclosing the event.

 This is the worst advice ever! Great way to be in even more legal trouble. Anyone who tells you to lie isn’t worth listening to.