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All Forum Posts by: Sonia T.

Sonia T. has started 14 posts and replied 42 times.

Post: Listing Agent Expectations

Sonia T.Posted
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • Posts 43
  • Votes 6

Hello,

How does one evaluate a listing agent? Is it reasonable to ask for their MLS listings of the past X number of years to see how they are in terms of getting a good sense on how they operate? I say this because I asked for this in the past to weed off the "top 1 percenters" in the country, region, etc according to their website to find out that they often a great deal of expired, closings at 96% of listing price, etc.?

Any help in weeding the true superstars would be greatly appreciated... Thank you!

 
Originally posted by @Justin Thompson:
It's their "Opinion" of value... So one guys opinion is different than the others. One might have looked at something the other didn't or they pulled comps in a different school district etc. a lot of different info goes into the valuation process. I'm in the appraising field so I'm a little bias on getting BPO's verse getting an appraisal. I've met hundreds of agents on the appraising side of the field and on the investor side of things. Out of all the agents I've met, not saying all agents because there is bad appraisers as well but just my thoughts of the agents I've encountered very few actually were knowledgeable enough to actually price their homes in line with the local market.

 Interesting point. I read somewhere that if one wants to list a house, the money is better spent on a good appraiser to accurately price the house than a listing agent that just tells you what you want to hear and gets the listing... 

Totally agree with you on "few actually were knowledgeable enough to actually price their homes in line with the local market"

Post: Is hiring an agent "required"???

Sonia T.Posted
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • Posts 43
  • Votes 6
Originally posted by @Candace Ellison:

I would recommend using an agent. The agent gets paid from the sellers. You will not owe the agent anything. 

Trying to ask this in the nicest way without getting stoned: you mean to say that  the buyer agent is paid with the money that their buyer brings to the table, right? 

I often see this stated over and over that a buyer agent is "free" but in reality is paid from the proceeds of the sale. Furthermore, it is beyond their control since the seller is the one that sets the commission when they hire the listing agent. 

Am I missing something? Please educate me if I am wrong...

Post: Evaluating a realtor

Sonia T.Posted
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • Posts 43
  • Votes 6

Pardon my ignorance but how different are the comps from MLS as opposed to Zillow's Price This House feature?

I had one 20+ years "experienced" agent do a CMA by going physically to each house (so I was told) to determine how much to list my house. End result? Not listing with you!

Post: Evaluating Brokers

Sonia T.Posted
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • Posts 43
  • Votes 6

 Joel,

What if you had the intention of buying a few properties a year and real estate investment is your main goal as opposed to being a full time real estate agent? 

Joining a brokerage that requires a flat fee for each deal be better for someone thinking to start a brokerage firm later? 

Thank you!

Post: Picking Design Choices.

Sonia T.Posted
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • Posts 43
  • Votes 6
Originally posted by @Ryland Taniguchi:

If you are awesome at picking this stuff out, then maybe do it yourself. I flip a lot of houses and am horrible at picking colors (literally have no God-given abilities). So I hire a designer that charges $190 for a 90-minute consultation. For a light rehab, I can get everything picked out in 90-minutes and out type of fence material and style, deck shape, wood type and style, cabinets, interior and exterior paint colors, curb appeal, hardwood stain color, front door style, etc. 

For a more extensive one, I schedule a 2nd consultation at Lowes and pick out carpet style and color, what type of laminate planks to use, tile backsplash styles, colors and patterns for kitchen and bathroom, door styles, trim styles, faucet fixtures, shower glass door, toilet style, fireplace brick paint choices, etc.

One thing to be careful with a designer is that they will tend to take you way over budget. So I scope my project in detail and let my designer know thing I have a budget of $3 per square foot for the flooring here or I can go $40/sq ft for countertops here. With a detail scope with exact measurements and budget, I can find the best options for my budget. Most times, I make my budget so conservative that actual costs tend me be 50% to 60% lower than my estimates. I would rather over-estimate than underestimate. 

I also hire a lighting specialists on all of my flips and get all the lighting fixtures picked out in 90-minutes, but don't necessary do this on our "fix and refinance" to rent properties.

Hello,

Any recommendations of designers in the Greater Seattle area?  I never heard of lighting specialists. Are there other specialized areas in the design world? 

If one is starting out in a house (live first for a couple of years then sell or rent) that needs work (structural and dated elements), what do you recommend? Go with a trusted contractor first to decide on what to do (ie. remove cabinets), then a designer afterwards (ie. color and style of cabinets)?

Thank you!

Post: Tacoma/UP/Edgewood/Des Moines/Burien

Sonia T.Posted
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • Posts 43
  • Votes 6

Hello!

Looking for SFH or Du/Tri/Fourplex in these areas with potential but not as saturated as in King County and for easy commute to Kent, WA. Plan to use the BRRR methodology.

I see nice places along the coast but they seem to be sitting on the market for a while. Any reasons why? And I am looking around good school districts too...

I am puzzled!

TIA,

Sonia

Post: Tacoma/UP/Edgewood/Des Moines/Burien

Sonia T.Posted
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • Posts 43
  • Votes 6

Hello!

Looking for SFH or Du/Tri/Fourplex in these areas with potential but not as saturated as in King County and for easy commute to Kent, WA. Plan to use the BRRR methodology.

I see nice places along the coast but they seem to be sitting on the market for a while. Any reasons why? And I am looking around good school districts too... 

I am puzzled!

TIA,

Sonia


Post: Business credit card

Sonia T.Posted
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • Posts 43
  • Votes 6
Originally posted by @Steve Vaughan:

If I didn't already have a business, I certainly wouldn't go and establish one just to get a credit card @Account Closed . I don't use credit cards, period anymore, but that's just me as I have grown.  Starting out I used them for sure. 

There is no real advantage to using a business credit card vs personal. I've had both.  Had to sign personally anyway on the business ones and all activity was on my personal credit report.  

I also don't put single-family homes in my LLC. Too much trouble getting financing and insurance.

Interesting your point about SFH in LLC. So it is better to just use the dweling (fire) policy on the SFH from your Home owners insurance instead of a Commercial policy?

Also, does it make more sense to just assign one of the personal cards just for business expenses instead of opening a business credit card then?

 Thanks!

Post: Work in Kent, WA - Live in North or South of Seattle?

Sonia T.Posted
  • Santa Barbara, CA
  • Posts 43
  • Votes 6

Hi all,

I searched thru the site but could not find much and I hope you can help me. If one has to commute to Kent, where are the areas that are worth considering? SFH, multifamily, no HOAs preferred. It makes more sense to live/invest South of Seattle but based on the forums, people are flocking to the North. What are your two cents?? Thanks!