The ABC’s of Planning a Move, by Carrie Benuska

The ABC’s of Planning a Move, by Carrie Benuska, San Marino Real Estate

The San Marino Real Estate Report, as seen weekly in the San Marino Tribune

There are a series of important decisions to make for a smooth transition.

Making the decision to move to a new personal residence can be a bit daunting.  There is so much work involved in packing up years of personal possessions and moving them to a new location.  In addition, there is the process of selling the home.  There is work to be done to get the house looking great.  There is also the inconvenience of making the property available for showings, while still keeping the home perfectly clean and tidy.  One definitely has to gear up for the process.

Once a home owner decides to take the plunge, there are a series of important decisions that need to be made.

1. Find a great Realtor

Having a competent Realtor to lead you through the process is vital.  Not only does working with a licensed broker give you legal protection, a Realtor can take the mystery out of the whole process.  From filling out the plethora of paperwork, to giving advice on home staging, to conducting all of the showings and negotiating any offers, a Realtor has the ability to streamline the sales process.

There are many fantastic real estate professionals who can help you achieve your goals, so take time to choose the individual that you are most comfortable with.  A great place to start is to ask a friend or neighbor for a referral.  If you have a small list of potential agents, you can choose to conduct interviews.  This is a great way to get to know a few different Realtors and to hear how they would plan to get your home sold.

2. Get a good idea of what your home is worth

Understanding your home’s value is the cornerstone of planning a move.  If you are serious about making the process happen, you will need to be realistic about market value.  Setting unrealistic expectations will only lead to problems further on in the flow of events.  Your Realtor can provide you with a range for the expected sales price.  By calculating in closing costs, repairs, and any liens that need to be paid back, you can figure out an estimate of how much money you will have to carry into a new purchase.

3. Get pre-approved with a competent lender, to determine how much you can spend on a new home

A great lender is worth their weight in gold.  Since the real estate crisis, the banks have made it much more difficult to get a loan.  In the past, loans were often made based upon stated income.  Now there is a requirement to provide ample evidence of your earnings.  If an individual is self-employed or recently changed jobs, there can be  road blocks to getting a loan.  A good loan broker can help you understand the loan you can qualify for and how much that loan will cost in monthly interest.  Beware of a lender who makes big promises that seem out of line with current market conditions.  This same person will be the one who ensures that you actually get the loan in a timely basis so that you can adhere to the deadlines set forth in the contract.  Often times unrealistic promises can lead to big disappointment later on in the process.  Together with the estimated proceeds, the projected loan amount will set the price range you can afford for a new home.

4. Decide on a strategy for how the selling/buying processes will interconnect

In a perfect world, a home owner interested in moving would find the house of their dreams, sell their home, and then close concurrently on both properties.  In today’s market, this ideal is very hard to achieve.  There is a lot of competition for great houses that are well-priced.  It is very common for these desirable homes to get multiple offers and sell over asking.  If you have a home to sell and have to write a contingent offer, you will not have the ability to compete with other buyers who have ready access to their cash.  The ideal plan would be to sell your own home first and try to seek a leaseback period with the new buyer.  This extra time would give you time to find a new residence.

Carrie Benuska, Teles Properties, 210 S. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena

San Marino Real Estate Weekly Update, by Carrie Benuska

San Marino Real Estate Weekly Update, by Carrie Benuska, San Marino Real Estate

The San Marino Real Estate Report, as seen weekly in the San Marino Tribune

Three homes came on the market this week! Here is the activity for San Marino home sales for this week 1/13/12 – 1/19/12:

Active:
1284 Sherwood Road, 4Bd, 3Ba, 3,000 Sq Ft, 12,084 Lot Sz, Listed for $1,699,000
1818 Twin Palms Drive, 4Bd, 4Ba, 3,388 Sq Ft, 8,192 Lot Sz, Listed for $1,898,000
1390 Oxford Road, 5Bd, 5Ba, 4,389 Sq Ft, 14,300 Lot Sz, Listed for $2,650,000
Pending:
1403  Pasqualito Drive, 6Bd, 6Ba, 5,529 Sq Ft, 27,878 Lot Sz, Listed for $2,680,000
Sold:
N/A

Just Listed - 1284 Sherwood Road is a lovely Tudor home located on this quiet tree-lined street.

San Marino Real Estate: A 2011 Wrap-up

San Marino Real Estate:  A 2011 Wrap-up, by Carrie Benuska, San Marino Real Estate

The San Marino Real Estate Report, as seen weekly in the San Marino Tribune

The beginning of a new year represents a fresh start.  Many people use this time to make new year’s resolutions.  The resolutions are intended to help turn over a new leaf.  This effort to set our sights on the new year is fantastic, but it is also important to look back on the previous year to gain wisdom on what transpired.  It is only through this analysis that we can effectively set goals for the upcoming year.

Similar to the act of reflecting on the previous year from a personal standpoint, there is also benefit in looking back upon the performance of the local real estate market.  By analyzing what happened with median sales prices over the past year, we can better understand the health of our market.  None of us know what will transpire during 2012, but we should embark upon the new year armed with accurate information.

Since I am a statistics fanatic, I keep track on a regular basis of San Marino sales data.  I gain my information from what I consider to be the most accurate source, the Itech system of the Multiple Listing Service.  This is a system used by Pasadena area Realtors, and it tracks all listings by community.  Most articles that I read in newspapers and blogs about the real estate market in San Marino contain mis-information.  Rarely do I find statistics in these broad-sweeping articles that accurately report median sales price, sales volume or average price per square foot.  Therefore, I seek to provide the most accurate information possible.  It is only through the analysis of correct data that we can gain an accurate understanding of San Marino’s sales performance.

I will be providing detailed sales statistics for all of the Greater Pasadena markets in a few weeks through the quarterly real estate section.  I find it helpful to look at San Marino’s performance in comparison to other local communities.  I also like to read articles about the luxury markets across Southern California.  From a broader economic sense, the Southern California high-end markets usually follow similar trends.  Interestingly, San Marino has experienced less volatility during the most recent real estate crisis than other Southern California luxury markets.

For the sake of this article, I am going to concentrate on the trend for median sales price in San Marino.  There are other ways to look at home prices, such as average sales price or price per square foot.  Both of these formulas will give a different view of the market, but median home price seems to be the most common point of comparison for home sales.  The median is defined as the point at which half of all homes sold for more than the figure and half sold for less than the figure.  Using the median instead of the average takes out the extremes at either the high or low end.

The attached graph of median sales prices in the city of San Marino over the past seven years shows that our market experienced declines in both 2010 and 2011.  The largest drop happened in this past year.  When the rest of the country was experiencing drastic drops in median home prices during 2007 through 2009, the San Marino figure showed no signs of decline.  During the year of 2011, the San Marino market declined 8.8%.  There was also a small loss in the year of 2010 of .5%.  As of December 31 of 2011, the San Marino median sales price was very similar to the same date in 2007.

In 2011, the median home price dropped while the number of homes sold rose 10%.

I would like to point out that a table over the same period for price per square foot would show a different trend.  This value decreased during the years of 2008 and 2009, started to rise again, and then dropped in 2011 (otherwise known as a “double dip”).

I am not a fortune teller, so I am unable to predict what will happen to median home prices in 2012.  I am encouraged that the the number of homes sold in 2011 rose by 10%.  This is a great sign of recovery.  I am confident that the San Marino market will turn a corner and begin another period of growth.  Compared to the rest of the country, we have much to be thankful for.

Carrie Benuska, Teles Properties, 210 S. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena

San Marino Real Estate Weekly Update, by Carrie Benuska

San Marino Real Estate Weekly Update, by Carrie Benuska, San Marino Real Estate

The San Marino Real Estate Report, as seen weekly in the San Marino Tribune

After the quiet start to the New Year, this week San Marino Real Estate is back in the swing of things. Here is the activity for San Marino home sales for this week 1/6/12 – 1/12/12:

Active:
2140 South El Molino Avenue,  4Bd, 3Ba, 2,941 Sq Ft, 9,810 Lot Sz, Listed for $1,598,000
1066 Kewen Drive, 4Bd, 4Ba, 4,472 Sq Ft, 24,100 Sq Ft Lot Sz, Listed for $2,695,000
Pending:
N/A
Sold:
1424 Bradbury Road, 3 Bd, 2 Ba, 1,689 Sq Ft, 8,098 Lot Sz, Listed for $950,000
2550 Melville Drive, 4Bd, 3Ba, 2,851 Sq Ft,  12,097 Lot Sz, Listed for $1,598,000

2140 S. El Molino Avenue - this beautiful home in the Mission District has been in the same family for 35+ years.

Carrie Benuska, Teles Properties, 210 S. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena

Short Sale Bargains, by Carrie Benuska

Short Sale Bargains, by Carrie Benuska, San Marino Real Estate

The San Marino Real Estate Report, as seen weekly in the San Marino Tribune

A Great Short Sale Deal at 5281 Haskell Avenue in La Canada Flintridge

The last two weeks I have explained the ins and outs of short sales.  Historically, I have not encouraged my clients to pursue these distressed properties, because they require tedious negotiation with the bank.  The bank is the entity losing money on a short sale, so they have a protocol for handling these transactions.  The abundance of short sales has been overwhelming to the banking industry, so the procedure is full of frustration and inefficiencies.  A buyer on a short sale needs to be willing to sit tight as the bank does its work.  It is a painstaking process, led primarily by the listing agent.

If the home owner has several loans from different lenders, the process is even slower and more difficult.  In this scenario, the listing agent is working with more than one bank, multiplying the amount of work and irritation involved to get the issue resolved.  Some banks have adapted to the increase in short sales and work quicker and more efficiently.  Other banks are renowned for having slow response times and ineffective procedures.

With a short sale purchase, the bank is looking for a good offer with the very best terms.  Although they want to maximize the sales price, even more important to the bank is the buyer’s ability to close quickly on the property.  This can make it tricky for a buyer who needs to sell their current residence in order to purchase the home.  The bank will not want to deal with a buyer with a contingency for the sale of their home.  They are looking for a great buyer who has easy access to the cash needed to close.

Even with all of the irritation involved with short sales, my attitude about them has made a sharp improvement.  The reason?  At heart I am a real estate bargain hunter, and I have seen some really great deals go through on short sale properties.  A buyer interested in capitalizing upon the strained real estate market should keep short sales in their field of vision.

I would like to highlight a specific property that I followed throughout the sales process.  Whoever closed on this home has the opportunity to make great money when they choose to sell it.

The home is located at 5281 Haskell Avenue in La Canada Flintridge and it closed in December.  It is rather nondescript from the street, needs some renovations, and is located near the fire/mud slide zone.  On the positive side, it has five bedrooms, three baths, 2,650 square feet of living space, and a 12,277 square foot lot.  It features a great open floor plan and has a ton of potential.

The home was purchased by the previous owners for $1,460,000 in August of 2006, which was the height of the real estate market.  The home recently sold through the short sale process for $971,000 to an all-cash buyer.  This represents a 33% reduction from the previous purchase price.  In addition, it sold at $366 per square foot, which is well below the average price per square foot for all of La Canada Flintridge 2011 sales ($440 per square foot).  This transaction took approximately 45 days to go through the whole process and close escrow.  The short time frame probably revolves around the ability of the all-cash offer to close quickly once the short sale approval came through.

This short sale was particularly interesting to me because of its location.  La Canada Flintridge is a well established community and has the #2 school district in California.  I am quite certain this home will appreciate well over the next few years.

Although the process is a bit daunting, short sale properties provide an excellent opportunity for buyers to make great money through the purchase and sale of real estate.  As the old English saying goes:  “Good things come to those who wait.”

Carrie Benuska, Teles Properties, 210 S. Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena