Episode Transcript
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Music.
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Time now for The Real Estate Connection with Stephen Thayart,
a realtor and certified probate and real estate specialist.
Whether you're a first-time homebuyer or a seasoned investor looking to downsize,
move up, or refinance, this program is for you.
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From probate sales to landscape design to home repairs and maintenance,
this is your weekly look into all things real estate.
Now your host for The Real Estate Connection, Stephen Thayard.
Hey, everybody. Welcome to another episode of the Real Estate Connection and
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happy spring to everybody.
Oh my goodness, the weather has changed out of the clear blue sky.
Literally just seven or eight days ago, we were having rain in California.
It was hailing in some parts of the state.
We were still bundling up with jackets and sweaters and coats and keeping the doors closed.
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And now all of a sudden, look, we're in short sleeves, shorts and flip flops.
The Masters has arrived.
It's not Sunday yet, but before Tiger gets out there and plays on Sunday,
because he will be in contention this year, he will be in contention this year.
And where's that Sunday red? I'm wearing it ahead of time for him.
Welcome to another episode of the Real Estate Connection brought to you by Good
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Patriot Realty. A salute to home ownership.
Hey, thanks for joining us on
the podcast. Hey, if you don't want to miss another podcast, check us out.
At Apple Podcasts. Just look for Stephen Thayard with The Real Estate Connection.
You'll see the logo and go ahead and subscribe.
You'll also find us on Spotify and iHeart Radio.
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So again, welcome to another episode of The Real Estate Connection.
We're going to jump right into this hot topic, speaking of the weather outside.
And the hot topic is spring into action.
The market is in full swing. However, the optimism at the beginning of the year
has waned as the promise of lower interest rates did not materialize.
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So this has stopped the market from moving forward as buyers and sellers continue
to sell and purchase home.
So the market's still going. It isn't as hot as we thought it was going to be.
I remember in January when the news of the interest rates started hitting.
All of a sudden, phone calls were happening.
People were thinking about selling. People were thinking about buying.
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They wanted to take advantage of an election year.
The Fed had announced that they were going to drop rates because they had inflation under control.
And on the anticipation of this happening, people hit the market hard in the
first month or two of the first quarter of this year.
However, since we've had the announcements of the Fed saying that they were
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going to wait to lower interest rates.
And now we're getting news today that inflation is still high.
It looks as if the Fed probably is going to cool its jets on lowering the rates,
which could mean maybe that interest rates in the mortgage sector may go up.
However, hasn't happened yet. And we don't do anything on speculation.
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We do things on the facts. And right Right now, the facts are that interest
rates are still lower than what they were last year at their peak.
So how can you spring into action in this cooled spring real estate market?
My first bit of advice to you is make your move.
Go ahead and put your home on the market without fear.
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Buyers have adjusted to the higher interest rates and are out buying homes. homes.
Interest rates are lower than they were at their peak last year, as I already said.
So go ahead and put your house on the market. If you want to move and you've
got it in your mind to move, go ahead and get it done.
Don't be afraid that the house will not sell.
Point number two is pricing is everything when you list your home for sale right now.
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Pricing your home too low may not net you the dollars you are looking for.
And pricing your home too high will delay your sale.
What's happening is buyers are absolutely out there, but they are very price conscious.
Subconscious so if you're going
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to list your house and you need a certain amount of
money make sure that you list it
appropriately at the amount that you're going to net and
we talk about net there are always fees when it comes to selling your home you're
going to pay a professional a fee to get the job done and a lot less than what
that professional is actually worth in dollars per hour based on experience
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and time and effort put into selling your home.
So no matter what you're paying, you're always getting your money's worth,
if not more than what you would get if you were paying your realtor or your
real estate professional by the hour. So pricing is key.
You want to make sure that you are working with a pro in regards to setting the price for your home.
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If you price it too low, you're not guaranteed Guaranteed that the market is
going to drive your house value up due to the higher interest rates.
People are struggling to cover closing costs and oftentimes they're looking for credits.
So you need to be very strategic in what you list the house at for sale. All right.
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Also, in making your move, be aware of your timing.
You have some place to be at a certain date, right? Right. The reason you're
moving, you got to get somewhere and you probably have some sort of limited
time frame in order to get it done. Right.
Plan accordingly as homes are selling, but taking longer on average to get sold.
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Discuss your timing with your real estate professional.
All right. So when you're talking to your pro, they better be asking you questions
like what's the what's the reason you're moving?
How when do you need to get into the next home? Do you have a house that you need to sell?
Then we have to factor in the length of time that it takes to get your house sold. Are you in a lease?
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How long does that lease run? Is there a penalty for getting out of that lease early?
Is your lease about to expire in the next week or a month?
Have you been notified by your landlord that the house is going to be sold and
you need to get into another place by a certain amount of time?
All of these are pertinent questions that are asked by a real estate pro.
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Okay? So make sure that you are aware of your timing.
All right. So how else can you spring into action this spring?
Make it pretty. Make it pretty. Inventory is low, but you still have competition.
Make sure your home has the appeal that you need in order to get it sold.
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All right, so what does that mean? Spring is for cleaning, so make sure it's clean.
Clean up the exterior, mow the lawn weekly, trim back those overgrown trees
and hedges, declutter the interior, and make the interior of your home spotless, okay?
Clean it up externally and internally, just like you would do in your life, right?
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You wanna clean up the outside of your body and you wanna clean up the inside
of your soul to make everything more appealing, no matter what kind of business
or relationship you may be in.
Same goes with preparing your house for sale.
You want the exterior to have curb appeal because people buy with their eyes
And when they're driving up to your house for the very first time,
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they're already making a decision as to whether or not this is the type of property
they can see themselves in.
Because it's a lifestyle decision, right?
This is the lifestyle I want. This is the exterior of the home that I'm looking
for. And then it needs to carry on into the inside.
All right. Now, what's the third piece of make it pretty? Make sure you take
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care of the deferred maintenance of your property or expect to sell your house for less.
Okay. The market will reimburse you for your investment in taking care of those
deferred maintenance items.
They will. That's just how it goes right now.
Properties that are turnkey, ready to go, that don't have any deferred maintenance
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that the buyer needs to take care of on their way in, you will get either full
asking price or pretty close to it.
Good agents are making these deals happen so that the seller is netting what they need to get.
And that's why you also want to work with a pro on the buying side because communication
is key between the buying agent and the listing agent to know what the seller
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is looking for so so that you can gear your offer that not only meets your needs financially,
but matches the needs of the seller financially as well. In this market, that's very key.
But if you let that deferred maintenance hang out,
and put that house on the market, you will get less for your house.
That's just the market that we're in.
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A kind person tells their friends the truth. An unkind person lies.
And I do not want to be unkind. I'll tell you the truth. That's just the facts of the matter.
Buyers will pay market value for homes they do not need to repair after moving into the property.
So the three key points of make it pretty. Inventory is low. You have competition.
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Make the outside and the inside spotless, make it look good,
trim back everything, declutter, and take care of all your deferred maintenance.
All right. So what's the third and final piece of springing into action this
spring for the real estate market that may still be a little cool,
but there are buyers out there.
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They have adjusted to the higher interest rates. They're looking, they have goals.
They need to They'll accomplish these goals before school starts in August.
So now's the time. All right.
Your third piece of springing into action is hire a pro.
Now, there are real estate agents and there are real estate professionals.
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You may love your Uncle Larry and he may have his license, but is real estate his profession?
Confession the market conditions change on
a daily basis and you still need
a full-time experienced broker to
maximize the value you get out of
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your home it's invaluable people complain
about real estate commissions and the fees that they pay in order to get their
house sold but when the national association of realtors says that you can get
up to 40 percent less of what what you would actually sell your house for without
a real estate professional involved,
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that's money and that's value and that's time and that's worth it.
You're going to pay less than that for the services you're getting out of real estate professional.
It's invaluable. So hire a pro.
Okay. A real estate professional will know your local market,
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the local trends, the competition and
the local laws regarding the sale of your home it's more than just staking a
sign in the front yard taking some photos and sticking it on the internet for
people to see there's a lot more behind it your real estate professional is
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hired to protect you just like an attorney.
An attorney knows the laws. An attorney knows how paperwork needs to be filed
with the court so that things are not delayed.
The same goes for a real estate professional. They're tenured,
invested people who have paid lots of money for licensing, training,
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access to information, and experience.
You may sell maybe three or four houses in your lifetime,
but the hired real estate professional has sold multiple upon multiple upon
multiple properties and they understand the ins and outs and the dangers of
the process and they're there to protect you and that's invaluable.
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A real estate pro will guide you with years of experience through a maze of
disclosure laws which are the source of most major lawsuits.
I've seen it time and time again. The reason why real Real estate professionals
like to keep sellers and buyers separated because it's not so much the buyers, it's the sellers.
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Because in their good nature, their desire to help, they wind up shooting themselves in the foot.
Let your real estate professional speak for you, guide you, tell you exactly
what you need to disclose about the property and its issues and how to do it.
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There is a way that protects you and gives all the information that the buyer needs.
And so everyone's happy. You do not want
to be caught in a lawsuit where you just sold a house for $1.5 million in the
Bay Area and somebody's coming back after you because you did not disclose properly
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the information that they needed in order to make an informed decision.
Decision millions of dollars right the
lawsuit could be big and nobody wants their bank accounts hammered by an outside
agent coming in and pointing fingers we're here to protect you also a real estate
pro will negotiate the best deal for you so that you will not leave any money on the.
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This is what we do. We understand the market. We understand human nature.
We've been through the process multiple times. We understand the hot buttons,
what makes people upset and what people are okay with and how to explain it all to people.
This is what we do. This is what you pay us for.
You do not want to be on your own.
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Would you take your own self into surgery and take out your appendix?
No, because it's dangerous, right? Now, it's not life and death,
but it could be financial death if you make an error and you get sued and you lose everything.
You don't want to do that. You want to be protected. Hi there, pro.
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It's worth the money and the peace of mind because at the end of the transaction,
what you want is a clean break where you as a seller go your direction with
the money you just earned and the buyer walks into the property happy and without
any reservation so that they're not reaching out to you three or four years
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later down the line with complaints.
This is what we do. This is what we are professionals at and what we train for every day.
The value of this type of guidance is more than any negotiated fees you may
pay as part of the sale of your home.
Home remember that you get what
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you pay for and in real estate it's never
more true so hire a professional and
if you're looking for one give us a call at
good patriot realty steven thayard 408-472-0817 let's
talk about the next chapter of your life and if you're a buyer out there and
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you want to negotiate through the maze of knowing what's important and what's
not important and reading disclosures or knowing about location or the area
that you're moving into,
hire a professional as well because they also will work for you to negotiate
through the purchasing process to make sure that you're putting your best foot
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forward when putting putting an offer into place so that it gets accepted and
you get your American dream of home ownership. So I want to leave you with this.
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged.
Never from start to finish in success is it a straight line.
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There are going to be bumps in the road. Do not be discouraged.
For the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1.9.
Hey, thanks again for joining us on another episode of the Real Estate Connection podcast. podcast.
You can catch us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeartRadio.
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Just look for Stephen Thayard in those search engines and you'll find the Real
Estate Connection under business and advice.
And go ahead and subscribe. Or if you would like to sign up,
just send me an email at info at realestateconnectionradio.com.
And if you have any questions regarding your specific real real estate needs,
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whether they be buying or selling, give me a call at 408-472-0817.
God bless you. God bless the United States of America.
And we will see you next time on another episode of The Real Estate Connection.
This has been The Real Estate Connection with realtor and certified probate
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and real estate specialist, Stephen Thayard, License Cal BRE number 017-00019.
For more information on this program, visit realestateconnectionradio.com.
To contact Stephen directly, call 408-472-0817 or email info at realestateconnectionradio.com.
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And be sure to tune in next week at this time for The Real Estate Connection.
Music.