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Is the list price the sales price

Arroyo Grande Homes for SaleCentury 21 Hometown Realty has 300 properties for sale in company inventory today. There are about 1000 single family homes listed in the region. The top 10 brokerages in CCRMLS combined to sell about 400 homes. Century 21 Hometown sold around 100. By all accounts, the county only has two to three months of inventory. If you are searching for a home in a specific town or for a specific price, you will find that your selection is very low. For example, there are only 12 Single Family Homes priced between $350,000 and $450,000 at the time of this article. If you have your hopes on a three bedroom, two car garage and a fireplace, there are only 4.

The issue of low inventory is that it puts upward pressure on pricing. As you can imaging, if there are 20 families looking for the type of home that only has 4 matches, offers typically come in at or above the list price. You would think that if you make a cash offer with no contingencies and agree to pay list price for a home, the seller can’t say no. A recent court case says otherwise.
RealPro, Inc. v. Smith Residual Co., LLC (2012)

In RealPro, Inc. v. Smith Residual Co., the seller placed a desirable lot of land on the market. An aggressive buyer quickly offered to purchase the lot exactly as listed – all cash without any contingencies. Upon receipt of the buyer’s offer, the seller countered at a higher price. Negotiations broke down and the buyer walked away.

The buyer’s agent filed a lawsuit against the seller claiming that the seller is compelled by the listing agreement to sell the home at the price offered. The buyer’s agent reasoned that the seller unreasonably refused a buyer who seemed to match the seller’s original criteria. The court rejected this argument.

Exclusive Listing Agreements

When you list a home with Century 21 Hometown Realty or any other brokerage, you enter into an Exclusive Listing Agreement. Every ELA includes a section for your agent to enter a minimum list price for the property. However, this is more of a marketing authorization by the seller and less of a minimum sales threshold. Most form ELA’s have the clause “…or at other terms acceptable by the Seller” immediately following the space for the list price. This allows the agreement to remain valid if the property sells above or below listing price because the sale was on “other terms acceptable to the Seller.”

In RealPro, the court found that the buyer’s agent had not produced an offer that was “acceptable to the seller.”

Therefore, homebuyers should never expect that the initial list price is binding on the seller. Listing agreements simply authorize the listing agent to market the property and solicit offers for the benefit of the seller. The terms assented to by the seller in the purchase agreement are the acceptable terms which obligate payment to the real estate agents.

Homebuyer Tips

The best thing that you can do to increase the likelihood of getting your offer accepted is to get pre-qualified for a mortgage. Century 21 Hometown Realty has an affiliated mortgage partner in Prime Lending.

List your home with Century 21

Century 21 Hometown has more buyers than properties for sale today. If you do not know a Century 21 Hometown Agent already, please feel free to call any of our offices and ask for the office manager. The office managers’ name is listed under each of our offices. Select the Meet our Agents link along side any office listed here.

Top 10 Area Brokerages by Unit Volume in July

Top Central Coast Real Estate Brokers
CCRMLS July 2012

New Home Inventory at Record Lows

The National Associaton of REALTORS published a report on housing inventory today that provides an interesting national picture of what is happening in real estate. The most remarkable piece of the report was the new housing inventory report. According to sources Census Bureay and Haver Analytics, Inventory of New Single Family homes is at its lowest level in 50 years.

According to Jack Hardy, CEO of Century 21 Hometown, “Inventory for new homes is as low as I can remember. The only inventory is Shane Creek in Templeton (for sale since 2006) which should sell out in the next few months. There is also little project in Arroyo Grande on Spruce Street with one sold, and three left.”

Century 21 Hometown works with S&S Homes, one of the area’s largest new home builders.  They have a little project coming online in Nipomo this year – only 6 units.  Hardy says that other than that, “The old pig farm on Farro Road between Oak Park and 13th street should come online next year with 48 units.”

“Overall, every type of inventory is very limited. We have a backlog of buyers looking for homes. We are listing about 100 homes every 30 days but we had 197 transactions last month.” says Hardy. If you are considering selling your home, please contact a Century 21 Hometown Real Estate Agent today.

New Home Inventory

Bakersfield Real Estate poised for record appreciation

Bakersfield finds itself in a very interesting situation. As one of the areas of the United States that faced the greatest challenges during the housing recession, they are now poised to experienced the third highest growth in property values according to economists.

In a statement released today by economist Stan Humpries of Zillow , “The housing market has finally turned a corner. In Q2, we saw continued momentum in the housing recovery, despite of some economic turmoil, like flagging job growth numbers and sovereign debt issues in Europe. Nationally we hit a bottom in the first quarter of the year, and the Zillow Home Value Forecast shows that 67 of the 156 markets it covers will experience an increase in home values over the next 12 months. Nationally, Zillow forecasts home values will rise 1.1 percent.”

According to Humphries, Bakersfield California is only slightly behind Miami-Ft. Lauderdale and a few points behind Phoenix, AZ for forecasted home appreciation. “This is great news for homeowners in Bakersfield,” says Jack Hardy, CEO of Century 21 Hometown Real Estate. “The families in Bakersfield and elsewhere throughout the central valley of California needed some relief, and we are blessed to see this shimmer of recovery,” says Hardy.

Century 21 Hometown Realty agents in Bakersfield commented that inventory is low, and they are desperately seeking home sellers to meet the company’s strong buyer demand. Many home prices for active listings are moving upward as they stay on the market longer.

Here are forecasts, courtesy of Zillow.

Bakersfield Appreciation Forecast

5 Great Tips for Buying a Home

With great opportunities abounding in the housing market and historically-low interest rates still intact, consumers can secure record-breaking values on a home purchase, according to New York-based real estate attorney Adam Leitman Bailey.

“Incredible deals are on the market and ready to be made, but only for those buyers who know how to seize them,” says Leitman Bailey, author of the New York Times best-selling book, “Finding The Uncommon Deal” (Jon Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2010). “You can buy your dream home at the price you want if you are just willing to take the necessary steps that will give you an uncommon advantage.”

To help buy a home at the best possible price, Bailey offers his top 5 home buying tips:

  • Do a Credit Check—On Yourself: Check your credit report long before you start shopping for a home, as it may take several months to resolve any mistakes or complications. Challenge negative remarks in your credit report, even if they are debatably true. Under federal law, if the company placing the negative remark on your report does not respond within 30 days, the remark must be removed. If you need help, contact Century 21 Hometown and our in-house mortgage partner can help you with this with our compliments.
  • Know Your Total Budget: Don’t Home Shop Without It: Your budget includes the total purchase price of your new home, moving costs and your total monthly and annual expenses. Don’t forget to include real estate and local taxes and the policies that affect potential changes in local taxes. Once you know your budget, call lenders to shop for a loan and also learn about the different products available to finance your home. Again, Century 21 Hometown can help you understand how much the bank believes you can afford.
  • Visit the Neighborhood, Not Just the Home: Everyone and everything in town can potentially provide insight into your prospective neighborhood’s character. It’s always worth spending time and money in local coffee shops and restaurants, and participating in events and entertainment to learn more about the area. Read the community newspapers and supermarket bulletin board postings to gain further understanding of the neighborhood. Be sure to consider factors such as local community crime rates, access to medical facilities, religious venues, and any other considerations that are applicable to your personal preferences. Your Century 21 Hometown agent would be happy to provide you with a neighborhood tour.
  • Don’t Be Afraid to Negotiate: Ask the owners of your potential new home for the minimum price they would accept to close the deal. You may be pleasantly surprised by the answer and a deal may not be far off, especially if the property has been sitting on the market. Some items are easier to negotiate than others. If both sides are stuck on the purchase price, ask the seller to include furniture or cosmetic improvements at a certain price. For newly constructed condominiums, ask the seller to pay any taxes involved in the transfer.
  • Hire—and Accompany—the Inspector: Century 21 Hometown only works with experienced home inspectors. A satisfactory home inspection will play a big role in your satisfaction in the home-buying or -selling process. Cross out waivers and any limitation of liability when signing a contract with an inspector or engineer. Your inspector should be held responsible for missing any major repair items during the inspection. Also, be sure to accompany the inspector on the site visit. You will learn about your potential new home and its structure, as well as important information about the lifespan of its systems and major components. Also, make sure your inspector or engineer checks the big ticket items, which can include the HVAC or the roof.

San Luis Obispo Tribune honors Hometown Realty

Century 21 Hometown Realty is a humble company by nature. Like all people and companies we enjoy accolades, and we appreciate the opportunity to express our gratitude to the customers, managers, staff, and our sales associates that all contribute to our business success. As every homeowner knows all too well, the past three years have been brutal  to housing. Families have lost homes. Real Estate brokerages have failed. Lenders have faced government intervention. Everyone has felt economic woe in some way and it is heart wrenching.

When the housing market crashed, our company recognized that to stay vibrant, we needed to accomplish two key strategic goals. The first goal was expansion. We recognized that we needed to diversify our market service areas. Through acquisition and new offices, we now offer 13 locations along the central coast and in Bakersfield. Our agent count expanded from 100 to 300. The second goal was to focus on delivering a wider range of home services to our customers. Hometown Realty is more than a residential real estate company today. We offer our customers access to world class services in commercial real estate, relocation, property management, and have established joint ventures to mortgage and housing related financial services. We are blessed to have so much support from our community in reaching these goals.

Hometown Realty is a Century 21 franchise. Century 21 is largest real estate franchise in the world and is operated by REALOGY, a company that operates franchises for Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Sotheby’s, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, and ERA. This year, Century 21 recognized our company as the fastest growing real estate company in the world out of 7500 brokerages. In the past 3 years, the company has become one of the 500 largest brokerages in America across all franchise and independent brands.

We sincerely appreciate the San Luis Obsipo Tribunes’ article about our company which follows below.

A local Century 21 franchise has grown to 13 offices from two in less than three years, earning an award from its parent company for being the fastest growing franchise in the firm’s nationwide system.

Because Century 21 Hometown Realty was a break-even company in 2008, said CEO and Grover Beach resident Jack Hardy, “what we needed to do to survive was attack the market.”

So Hometown Realty, which at the time had offices in Arroyo Grande and Pismo Beach, approached other distressed real estate companies with offers to buy them, pare down the operations and take advantage of economies of scale, Hardy said.

In the process, Hometown Realty acquired Re/Max Ocean West with offices in Pismo Beach and Santa Maria, and South County Realty with two offices in Arroyo Grande.

It also bought other Century 21 franchises, including San Luis Properties in San Luis Obispo and Los Osos; Advantage with an office in Lompoc and two in Santa Maria; and Your Professional Choice in Atascadero.

In 2011, it opened an office in Paso Robles.

Hometown Realty has grown revenue 100 percent and earnings by 200 percent since beginning acquisitions, and is looking at buying realty companies in Ventura and Bakersfield.

Hometown Realty is owned by five partners on the Central Coast and Bakersfield, and has 300 real estate agents.

Century 21 is an international company with more than 7,500 independently owned and operated franchised brokerages in 71 countries and territories.

 

Bank of America may reduce your loan principle

If your mortgage is owned by Bank of America, you may get a pleasant surprise in the mail in the next few days.

The bank has started reaching out to more than 200,000 borrowers who may be eligible to receive partial loan forgiveness. Those who qualify will save about 30 percent on their monthly mortgage payments.

The first letters have been mailed this week, the lender says.

So here is

not eligible. Why? Because the acting director of the agency that oversee the two entities, Edward DeMarco, says it shouldn’t be done.

Federal Housing Administration and Veterans Affairs loans are not eligible for this program.

Details on what you may be offered

borrowing powerBank of America’s initiative resulted from the recent $25 billion national mortgage settlement.

Bank of America says it will help “qualified underwater” borrowers by reducing their mortgage balance to as low as 100 percent of the home’s value. Many of these borrowers owe significantly more than what their homes are worth. The lender will then modify the mortgage to reduce the interest rate to make the borrower’s payment more affordable. If needed, the bank can offer additional payment forbearance on part of the principal.

But if the lender or the investor that owns your mortgage determines that it’s more profitable to foreclose on your home than to offer you a loan modification, you may not get the deal.

According to Bank of America: “The settlement terms require a final calculation to determine that the cost incurred by the mortgage investor to modify the loan does not exceed the expected loss to the investor if it goes to foreclosure instead, commonly known as positive net present value.”

Need Help?

Century 21 Hometown REALTORS® will be more than happy to provide you with free consulting services to see if you will qualify for this program. Contact any of our agents or offices and request a CMA or Competitive Market Analysis of your home. It will provide you with an opinion of what the market price of your home would be today and help you answer the question of qualification for this Bank of America program.

Want to know what spring homebuyers are thinking?

borrowing powerPARSIPPANY, N.J. 06-21-2012 —

Century 21 RealEstate LLC, the franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, today announced the results of its Spring home buying survey, conducted online by Harris Interactive.  The survey revealed that non-homeowners are more likely to make sacrifices to own their dream home.

U.S. adults who are currently renting feel more affected by today’s housing market conditions. Of non-homeowners, 82 percent indicated they plan to purchase a home at some point, which is in line with the New York Times/CBS News poll from June 2011 in which 89% of Americans said homeownership is an important part of the American dream. In fact, non-homeowners are willing to make sacrifices for the chance to purchase their dream home. Half (50 percent) of the non-homeowners surveyed said they would cut back on dining out, 49 percent said they would cut back on shopping for non-essential items and 47 percent said they would give up luxuries in order to be financially able to purchase their dream home.

“For those who are currently renting, purchasing a home is especially attractive right now,” said Rick Davidson, president and CEO, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. “In fact, home-affordability reached a new all-time high for the first quarter of 2012.”

With record-low mortgage rates, appealing prices and an upgraded housing forecast this year (the National Association of Realtors expects existing home sales to reach 4.66 million in 2012), current market conditions continue to generate interest among first-time home buyers.  Although many see the current market conditions as a prime opportunity to purchase a home, 45 percent of renters believe they will be forced to wait because they cannot qualify for a mortgage and/or don’t have sufficient funds for a down payment.

“First-time homebuyers play a significant role in propelling the housing market forward,” said Davidson. “It is very important for prospective home buyers to work with a real estate professional to understand all of the advantages of homeownership and the opportunities available to them today.”

Renters are More Willing to Sacrifice to Own their Dream Home
69 percent of homeowners who don’t own what they described as their “dream home” would be willing to make sacrifices to their personal lifestyle to be financially able to purchase it. Non-homeowners are more willing to make sacrifices, and 80 percent indicated they are willing to make changes to their personal lifestyle in order to be financially able purchase their dream home, including:

  • 50 percent: would cut back on dining out,
  • 49 percent: would cut back on their shopping for non-essential items (e.g.,
    clothing, accessories, gadgets, etc.),
  • 47 percent: would give up luxuries (e.g., expensive cable packages, trips to the
    salon, etc.),
  • 39 percent: would cut back on vacations, and
  • 10 percent would contribute less to their 401(k) in order to be able to purchase
    their dream home.

Factors that Most Influence Prospective Homebuyers
29 percent of prospective home-buyers, who do not currently own their own home, list price as the number one factor that would most influence their decision to purchase a home. Non-homeowners are also highly influenced by:

  • 21 percent: Confidence in their employment
  • 11 percent: Securing a record low mortgage
  • 5 percent: Home availability

Location Still Plays a Key Role in the Decision to Purchase
Location remains the No. 1 quality homeowners or potential buyers consider when making a purchase decision (34 percent), ahead of:

  • 16 percent: Layout
  • 13 percent: Size of Home
  • 13 percent: Number of Bedrooms and Bathrooms
  • 10 percent: Outdoor Space

Visit www.century21.com/ to learn more.

Methodology
Harris Interactive® fielded the study on behalf of Mullen Communications from April 24-26, 2012, via its QuickQuerySM online omnibus service, interviewing 2,213 U.S. adults aged 18 years and older, of which 1,416 are homeowners and 734 are renters. This data was weighted to reflect the composition of the general adult population. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated; a full methodology is available.

About Century 21 Real Estate LLC
Century 21 Real Estate LLC (CENTURY21.com) is the franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, providing comprehensive training and marketing support for the CENTURY 21 System. The System is comprised of more than 7,250 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 73 countries and territories worldwide. Century 21 Real Estate LLC is a subsidiary of Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services.

© 2012 Century 21 Real Estate LLC. CENTURY 21® Is A Registered Trademark Owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Each CENTURY 21 Office is Independently Owned and Operated.

Making the Summer Move

moving company san luis obispo caWith the kids out of school, it’s no wonder that summer is the most popular time of year for families to move. Here are some tips to offer your clients as they prepare to move to a new home during the summer months. With some advance planning, they will be able to spend less time moving in and

This will help you remain calmer and complete the unpacking process more efficiently. If you are unable to make any childcare arrangements, set up a room designated for the kids so they have their own space out of the way of the movers.

7. Mail. Notify the U.S. Postal Service about your change of address so your mail gets forwarded in a timely manner.

8. Utilities. Always call ahead to make sure that the utilities to your new home have been activated. You don’t want to learn this lesson the hard way as you move in to a new house only to find yourself staring longingly at the A/C unit and ceiling fans, as you wait for your utilities to be turned on.

9. Kids activities and leagues. If you have have kids, its recommended to research the local sports leagues and activities schedules, so the kids can make friends and feel adjusted before the school year starts.

10. Meet your neighbors. Introduce yourself right when you move in. An advantage of moving in the summer is that your neighbors are more likely to be outside, and you have more opportunities to meet them. They will be great resources to learn about local restaurants, shopping, activities, leagues and school information.

Credit Scores for Home Loans

borrowing powerIf you are planning to finance or refinance your home, you need to understand a thing or two about what is happening in the mortgage universe. As you may already know, the mortgage industry had very low standards for consumer credit ratings and home loan downpayments a few years ago. The story on the street was that if you had a pulse, you could get a home loan with no money down. This was not totally true, but suffice it to say that lending standards were pretty low. Mortgage companies would write a loan with a consumer, then bundle that loan together with other loans and sell them to investors. Clearly, that policy did not work. Consumers began to default on their loans at an alarming rate and the financial mortgage industry collapsed around those defaults.

To help, the Bush Administration and the Obama Administration bailed out the banks. Many of the home loans in America are backed by the Federal Housing Administration, a division of the Department of . FHA insures the loans. Since the passing of the Frank-Dodd legislation, standards for home mortgages have increased as mandated by law. Among those standards are requirements for FHA backed loans and standards for Government Sponsored Entities like Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac.

The first new standard is that consumers should anticipate putting 20% down. You can put less down, but that puts you into a higher risk type of mortgage and you will likely pay a higher rate.

The second new standard is that consumers should Only

  • Base loan limits must be below $417,000
  • Max Seller Contribution 3%
  • No lates on housing payment in the last 12 months
  • No Property Flips

    • You may not understand all of these terms and conditions. Century 21 Hometown Agents can explain them to you, and/or set up a call or meeting with PrimeLending. PrimeLending representatives are in Century 21 Hometown office every day.

    Summer Vacation Tips

    StaycationPlan that summer vacation without breaking the bank with these travel tips that will help you stay on budget and have a great time.

    1. Research. Compare hotel and flight prices, call and ask about any unlisted discounts. Also check nearby airports. Sometimes an extra hour of drive time can save you hundreds in air travel fees.
    2. Be flexible. The most expensive days to fly are Mondays and Fridays. Plan your trip on the off days, and consider connecting flights instead of direct, or early flights.
    3. Brave the elements. Campgrounds are inexpensive and because you often cook your own food, it doubles your savings. And lets face it – the mountains of California or the Beaches of California are hardly “roughing it.”
    4. Breakfast included. Make sure breakfast is included in the hotel rate.
    5. Eat in. Cook dinner or have a picnic. When you do eat out, lunch is less expensive than dinner and drink water instead of soft drinks or liquor.
    6. Use plastic. Avoid ATM fees by selecting cash back when making debit purchases.
    7. Save at the pump. Utilize phone apps that list gas prices in the area.
    8. Matinees. Hit up the movies during the day for cheaper admission.
    9. Museums and parks. Often museums offer free admission.
    10. Coupons. Scan the Internet for discounts on attractions in and around your destination.
    As an alternative, consider having a Staycation this summer. We live in one of the greatest places on earth – why leave. When you stay at home you can save money and do many of the things that locals never do, but tourists always do. Day trips around the central coast and central valley to the wonderful rural towns and beach communities are a lot of fun.

     

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