Curb Appeal

If you have considered putting your home up for sale or your home is currently on the real estate market you may be wondering “What can I do to make my house sell fast and for a great price?” The answer can be a few things like proper staging and effective marketing, but neither can get you that ideal offer like “Curb Appeal” can in today’s market.

A large portion of potential buyers are now driving around without a qualified real estate agent looking at houses that they have found listed online. Since they don’t have the permission to enter the house or even walk onto the property, most of your home’s value is evaluated from the seat of their car. If your home’s exterior has been weathered, outdated or swarmed by nature why would the potential buyer want to remember your home and make an offer? Simply put, they wouldn’t.

With that said, here are some tips to improve the first impression of your home:

• Take photographs of your home to try and view it from a fresh perspective. Try to focus on the flaws other people will notice about the exterior of your home.
• Windows and doors are extremely crucial in your home’s appearance, so clean, polish, paint or replace the front door if necessary and clean all windows.
• Power washing or a new coat of paint will make the exterior walls of your house more appealing and cleaning mildew stains from gutters, paths and behind plants improves the look of your home.
• Fences and gates should be in proper working condition while being clean. If they look weathered don’t hesitate to repaint or replace your home’s fences and/or gates.
• Garden furniture are supposed to add decorative value, but they need to be in good condition, If not repair or freshly stain/paint the garden furniture. Also ensure all water features like ponds; birdbaths and fountains are clean and working properly.
• Make sure driveways are clean and free of cracks and weeds and as people buy house in all seasons, clear pathways of leaves or snow (even though it is kind of rare for us to have snow here in Southern California) .
• Prune trees and shrubs, cut back any limbs touching the house and rake up fallen leaves. If you can afford to stock the flowerbeds then this adds to the curb appeal of your home and lawns should be cut and even reseeded if necessary. A great lawn can be that perfect accent for your home.

Here is a prime example of how a little work can completely revolutionize your home’s curb appeal.

If you have any questions on how to improve your curb appeal feel free to contact us!

www.Team-Q.com
16787 Bernardo Center Drive A-6
San Diego, CA 92128
(858) 722-7362
Maria@Team-Q.com

Who would you refer in real estate?

If you were thinking about buying or selling a home, or you had a friend or family member who was thinking about buying or selling a home, do you have a real estate agent you would refer them to? How many times have you been thinking about going out to a restaurant for dinner or finding a hair stylist and the first thing you do is to ask someone you trust for a recommendation? Well, that’s exactly how the real estate industry works.Team Q wants to be the real estate company that comes to mind when you are asked about San Diego real estate. Team Q is ranked in the top 1% of all RE/MAX Agents and its because a majority of our business comes to us through repeat past clients or client referrals. We are proud of this fact and appreciate these referrals. How are you building your referral business in your field? Have you ever considered the value of each client you have and how many referrals you could recieve from each of them? What do you do to build those relationships and ask for referrals? Keeping in regular contact with your clients is key. Why not host a Client Appreciation Event and stay in regular contact with them so that when they are asked, you are the person that comes to mind. You can also create a memorable tag line for your business to make it easy. Ours is “Let Team Q Go to Work for You”! What would yours be?

Short Sales Outpace Foreclosure Sales

There is an important shift occurring in the real estate market: Short sales are outnumbering foreclosure sales in many markets including here in San Diego. In the 4th Quarter of 2011, short sales accounted for 10% of all sales; according to the latest RealtyTrac U.S. Foreclosure Sales Report. Now, Short sales increased 15% from a year ago. Meanwhile, bank-owned (REO) sales decreased 12% from a year ago. What does this mean to you? This means that if you are considering a short sale, the banks are cooperating much more and with the assistance of an experienced real estate agent who is a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) you could qualify for this alternative rather than going the foreclosure route. I know this may seem brief so if you have any more questions on how this may pertain to your particular situation call or email me and we here at Team Q will send you a free report to explain your options

Thanks for reading,
Maria Pena-Morales
(858) 722-7362
Maria@Team-Q.com
www.Team-Q.com

What to consider before deciding on a short sale or foreclosure…

Many clents come to me unclear about the various consequences of either pursuing a short sale or allowing their property to go into forclosure. The California Association of Realtors recently published a short article explaining the difference. Here is the link
http://www.car.org/marketdata/realestate411/re411feb242012/

If you have more questions or need to talk about your specific situation, please contact me for a free confidential consultation. I’m here to help. Call Maria Pena-Morales at Team Q of RE/MAX Ranch & Beach at  858-722-7362 or Maria@Team-Q.com

How will the Foreclosure settlement effect San Diego Real Estate?

After reading the attached article, many San Diegans will be asking the question about how this will effect our local real estate market. Of late, our inventory of home for sale has fallen significantly, which in the world of supply and demand, should be a good sign of things picking up. More buyers and fewer homes for sale usually marks the beginning of a seller’s market. But with these new rules now coming into play, and more short sales and foreclosures about to flood the market, we may not see this normal trend. According to this article written by CNN, perhaps a million foreclosures are about to hit the market that had been put on hold. If that’s the case, sellers will have more competition and the market will result back into a buyer’s market.  If you’ve been sitting on the fence about selling, I suggest that now is the time in order beat the rush!

For more information continue to check out my blog or email me at Maria@Team-Q.com

CNN Article – http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/13/real_estate/foreclosures/index.htm

Easter is a New Beginning

Isn’t it great that each spring we are reminded of the fact that we can have a “do over” in so may areas of our lives. Easter weekend was filled with reminders that everything can have a new beginning, a renewal, a fresh start. Why not take that fact into whatever area of your life you are working on right now and apply it to your life. What area would you like to have a “do over”?

2012 Readers Choice Award Winners

If you’re local to San Diego, you may have seen that our office was ranked Number 1 as the BEST Real Estate Agency in the Pomerado New Group reader poll. Team Q is so proud of this special honor and want to thank all of you who voted. If you need to know the other services that were rated Number 1 in their fields, just let us know and we will pass along their contact information.  A few of them are good friends of ours and we know first hand that they live up to their new 2012 Reader’s Choice rating.  We hope all of our followers are enjoying another amazing day here in San Diego.  Bye for now!

Have you tried “Hot” yoga?

We’re always looking for ways to keep balance in our lives between work, family, friends and health. In the health category, we’ve recently been trying the practice of “hot yoga” or Bikram yoga, which is the practice of 26 yoga poses in a heated studio. Having just been introduced to this program this week, I took advantage of a week of free classes to see if I liked it. Well, it turns out, I’m hooked!! I’ve experienced several benefits in areas that surprised me. I have had some of the best sleep I’ve ever had, I feel my core muscles getting a tough workout, my mind is clear and best of all…my sciatica pain is nearly gone! I wish I had known a year ago that hot yoga could help to heal my severe hip and lower back pain. Have you experienced similar benefits? Share your thoughts, pro and con.

 

What you need to know…before the end of the year

A recent article from RISMedia describes the urgency that homeowners need to consider with regard to the current law for mortgage debt forgiveness. The current law which states that a borrower can be excused from paying tax on forgiven mortgage debt is set to expire at the end of this year (Dec.31,2012), and is creating a sense of urgency for homeowners who have been thinking about avoiding foreclosure by pursuing a short sale. Be sure to contact your tax consultant for more details. Also, be sure to find a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE) to learn more about these details. This is a vital issue for current home owners so let me know if I can answer any of your questions that may clarify what your options are before the end of the year.

Have a great day and Thank you for reading,

Maria Pena-Morales