I don't Need a Buyers Agent I'll Call Listing Agent Fresno CA 93720I don't think everyone knows that the commission the buyers/selling agent makes comes directly from the sale proceeds of the sellers home.  That is the main reason why I don't understand why everyone does not take advantage of using a buyers agent.  In a nutshell, they work for you for free!  I recently ran into someone who didn't use a buyers agent and it caused me to reflect a little more on this topic.  Sellers markets can be frustrating but for heavens sake, don't give up the opportunity to work with a buyers agent who can represent YOU!  Yes the home you like has 5-10 offers already because it is nice.  Yes, the last house you wanted sold for $25,000 over list price because it was nice.  That doesn't mean you give u... 05/31/2017

What You Need to Know When Making Offers in  Sellers Markets Fresno CAThe absolute most important market in which one should meet with a mortgage professional BEFORE shopping for a home is in a seller's market.  Home shopping often brings up many emotions of excitement, euphorea, dreams, happy moments, etc. and all of these are great but lost in the mix is the loan approval.  So the happy go lucky newlywed couple is ecstatic to go real estate shopping, they let their friends know, social media is updated with a Selfy of them at the first home and they are off to the races.  Often times a buyer says that they are not ready to buy but they want to look.  That is great and I may entertain that notion with them for a while simply to build a rapport if they are new clients.  However, I need ... 05/30/2017

Selling By Design Staging received a call requesting staging for a large home in an upscale part of Fresno, CA.It was a remodle, almost 5,000 sq. feet, with tile floors, cement and plaster walls. Would buyers in Fresno warm up to it enough to buy this beautiful, but taste specific home? That was our assignment. Stage the home to make it warm and inviting to prospective buyers. In a fairly consertive market, this  house was a gamble for the investors. We dove in, held our breath and worked hard. Would our staging be enough?Our efforts paid off! Using a combination of texture, art  and color we achieved our goal. The home sold in a matter of weeks at close to list price.    A walkout basement, a rare find in this geographic area.This picture of a raised area adjacent to the main living ar... 02/22/2017

Lennar & Pinnacle Homes Buchanan Educational Complex Clovis, CA 93619 The Lennar and Pinnacle Lennar homes near the Buchanan Educational Complex in Clovis, CA 93619 are flying off of the shelf.  While I look at the sales data over the past six months for these neighborhoods north of Teague ave. I find that the average days on the market is only 49 days on the market.  This is substantially shorter than the average which is closer to 90 days on the market for the fresno/clovis area.  I find that most people like Lennar homes.  The Pinnacles are Lennar's high end version, sort of like what a Lexus is to Toyota.  When analyzing the sales data for this area I see that the Pinnacles have sold from between $465,000 to $633,000 or $159-$194 per square foot.  These five Pinnacle homes that hav... 03/16/2016

New Bonadelle Homes For Sale Trilogy at Emily Estates Fresno, CA 93737 If you are looking or a new home where you do not feel cramped and clostrophobic then you need to check out the new Bonadelle homes for sale called Trilogy at Emily Estates in Fresno, CA. 93737.  Most of the new home trends these days are putting smaller two story homes on lots so small that you can simultaneously touch your house and your neighbors house.  That is not the case for this Trilogy development.  Although one does have the option of purchasing a home as small as 1,515 sq. ft. at this location, there are homes as big as 3,537 sq. ft. as well.  The current price sheet dated February 4, 2016 has these homes selling between a base price of $249,950-$369,950.  These homes are built on what is advertised as po... 02/25/2016

Market Report for Sunnyside High HomesAugust 2015 (as of 9/15/15) SoldsMedian Price: $222000Average Sale Price: $202,166Least Expensive Sale: 4981 E Grove Ave, 3/2, 1109 SF, $105,525Most Expensive Sale: 2090 S Minnewawa Ave, 4/4, 3549 SF, $420,000Avg. Days on Market: 31Number of Solds: 16 Pendings:Median Price: $189,925Average Price: $188,761Least Expensive Pending: 4832 N Delbert Ave 3/2, 1181 SF, $98,600Most Expensive Pending:  1026 e Holland Ave   5/4, 4410 SF, $675,000Average Days on Market: 59Number of Pendings: 26 Actives:Median Price: $237,500Average Price: $250,871Least Expensive Listing: 4766 E Grant Ave 3/1, 1060 SF, $139,900Most Expensive Listing: 5878 E Rancho Dr 4/3, 3200 SF, $402,000Number of Actives: 14 Current Homes Available:Up to $100,000: 0$100k-$200k: 5$201k-$300k: 6... 09/16/2015

Market Report for Central High HomesAugust 2015 (as of 9/15/15) SoldsMedian Price: $221,000Average Sale Price: $246,225Least Expensive Sale: 4753 W Hedges Ave, 2/1, 922 SF, $45,000Most Expensive Sale: 7471 N Riverside Home, 4/4.5, 3319 SF, $462,033Avg. Days on Market: 40Number of Solds: 68 Pendings:Median Price: $257,750Average Price: $270,742Least Expensive Pending: 4336 N Cornelia Ave 3/2, 1154 SF, $127,777Most Expensive Pending:  5839 N Maruyama Ave   3/3, 2607 SF, $475,000Average Days on Market: 66Number of Pendings: 64 Actives:Median Price: $234,950Average Price: $273,440Least Expensive Listing: 3591 W Harvard Ave 3/2.5, 1388 SF, $125,000Most Expensive Listing: 3639 N Blythe 4/2.5, 2037 SF, $699,980Number of Actives: 50Current Homes Available:Up to $100,000: 0$100k-$200k: 15$201k-$... 09/16/2015

Market Report for Bullard High HomesAugust 2015 (as of 9/15/15) SoldsMedian Price: $240,000Average Sale Price: $288,318Least Expensive Sale: 4006 E Alta Ave, 3/1, 1124 SF, $114,000Most Expensive Sale: 2555 W Lake Van Ness, 5/4, 4784 SF, $1,265,000Avg. Days on Market: 36Number of Solds: 78 Pendings:Median Price: $277,212Average Price: $307,238Least Expensive Pending: 4832 N Delbert Ave 3/2, 1181 SF, $98,600Most Expensive Pending:  1026e Holland Ave   5/4, 4410 SF, $675,000Average Days on Market: 72Number of Pendings: 52 Actives:Median Price: $239,925Average Price: $309,103Least Expensive Listing: 1811W Santa Ana Ave 3/2, 1599 SF, $149,000Most Expensive Listing: 6044 N Van Ness Blvd 5/6, 5863 SF, $1,195,000Number of Actives: 50 Current Homes Available:Up to $100,000: 0$100k-$200k: 13$201k... 09/16/2015

Buy This Home and Never Make a Mortgage Payment! This beautiful single story home offers plenty of decorative amenities that make it stand out among the other homes. This 4/bed 3 /bath home has beautiful tile flooring throughout. The formal living room/dining room are painted in natural colors with a double sided fireplace and beautiful archway that leads you into the family room and kitchen. The kitchen offers plenty of storage, a gas stove plus an eating area. all 4 beds are painted w/ decorative colors, plus 1 bed also is attached to an extra room, which makes for a perfect home gym or office. Master bed offers vaulted ceilings, a fireplace, an over-sized walk-in closet plus access to the backyard sitting area. Master bath has vaulted ceilings, double vanity, separate shower plus a J... 06/30/2015

 A few months ago Selling By Design Staging received a call from an out of town investor inquiring about staging his newest remodel. After talking to him and viewing the property I gave him a quote for staging that included furniture and accessories.He thanked me, sounded enthusiastic, and said he'd get back to me soon. However, since I didn't receive any further contact from him I assumed that his company had decided not to stage or that the property had sold super quickly as some do.Now here is where the story gets weird. My daughter, who is an agent for Keller Williams here in Fresno, ( not the listing agency of the afore mentioned property), got a call from the investor who said that he'd been "fired" by his listing agent. " Fired? How is that even possible?"  thought my daughter. T... 05/21/2015

Lennar Cambridge Windsor Model Home at the Laurels Fresno, CA. 93727 When you walk into the Windsor model of a Lennar Cambridge home you immediately feel that the floor plan is spacious.  With up to 5 bedrooms, 3 baths and a 3 car garage this two story home with 2,658 sq. ft. has enough elbow room for all of your family.  It is hard to come by quality built new homes that are large yet still affordable.  With a finished construction date scheduled for July, this Windsor plan at home site #231 will be ready in time for you to move in and enroll your kids in the Clovis East schools before the fall semester begins.  If a July move in date does not work for you, there may be some lots left to put a deposit on that will allow for the Windsor plan.  But the lots here have sold rapidly and th... 04/21/2015

New Lennar Cambridge Homes at the Laurels Fresno, CA. 93727 If you are shopping around for a new construction home to buy there are plenty of products to compare.  Several years ago new construction homes virtually didn't exist during the downturn of the mortgage crisis.  Now new homes are being built at a furious pace to make up for the lack of new home inventory.  The Cambridge collection at the Laurels near Dakota and Armstrong is selling at a pace three times of how fast they were projected to sell.  These homes range from roughly 1,877 - 2,658 sq. ft.  The lots at this location range from 6,500 - 10,000+ sq. ft. so they are not the typical tiny lots many new homes are currently being built upon.  The pricing of these homes constantly changes as the market changes and they had a $7... 04/08/2015

The only thing constant in life is change and like everything else the Reverse Mortgage program has been changing and evolving over the past several years. The principal limits have changed, the amount you can draw during the first twelve months has changed and coming March of 2015, the documentation requirements will be changing.  Will these changes affect your ability to qualify for a reverse mortgage in Fresno, CA?  A licensed loan officer will be able to determine if you qualify by putting a few pieces of information into a Reverse Mortgage Calculator for Fresno California and checking to see if you have enough equity to accomplish your goals. To find out if the new reverse mortgage is right for you it's important that you sit down with someone and go over all the details to see whi... 01/27/2015

3/2 Home for Sale Office or Den Clovis North Schools Fresno, CA. 93720 Here is a home that is 15 years young, stucco exterior with a durable flat tiled roof.  This is a smaller three bedroom two bath home in north Fresno that feeds into Clovis North High School.  It is located on the SE corner of Maple and Behymer.  The size lends it to be appealing to various age groups from first time buyers, investors to empty nest or retirees.  Since there is no homeowners association in this neighborhood and there is no pool to maintain, the costs are very manageable for anyone in the above mentioned categories. The third bedroom was set up in such a way that it is open to the living room.  There is a closet in this bedroom but if it were to be used as an actual enclosed bedroom you would need to ... 01/15/2015

Is Housing or Stocks a Better Investment for 2015 in Fresno, CA. 93720 Where do people turn who are looking to build up their nest egg and have long term investments built up?  If you live in the greater Fresno area should you buy a home for the first time, buy another investment property or turn to the stock market?  A couple articles that I read recently have fueled my thoughts for this post.  One of them is from CNBC which is primarily a "stock friendly" website.  The other article was found on Trulia's site.  Trulia is a national real estate site. To sum up the CNBC article, the main point was that the stock market has outperformed the real estate market for over 100 years.  I am not going to dispute that but what the author doesn't mention is that you can leverage real estate in w... 12/10/2014

Parkwood Estates & Woodward Park Estates Homes in Fresno, CA. 93720 If you desire running and cycling paths near your place of residence you may be interested in the Parkwood Estates & Woodward Park Estates home which are located directly east of Woodward Park in North Fresno off of Friant and Audubon.  Perhaps you are interested in just places to walk near home that are peaceful and green all year.  With these homes being built in the late 70s to the early 90s, there is a bit of variety in this well established neighborhood with mature landscaping.  One thing that was evident as I drove through the neighborhood today was the number of large trees as there were several gardening crews out blowing and raking leaves after our latest rainfall. Taking a quick look at what the market in this... 12/04/2014

How to Calculate Unrelated Business Income Tax on My Real Estate IRA Unrelated Business Income Tax or UBIT was introduced by congress in 1950.  The intent of UBIT was to give tax exempt entities less of an advantage over other types of corporations or individuals when it comes to taxes owed.  There are certain qualifications that determines whether or not UBIT is owed but the only qualification that will be examined in this blog post is in regards to debt financing with an IRA non-recourse loan.  When my client wanted to have his taxes done his CPA didn't know how to calculate UBIT.  I asked my CPA and he was just as dumbfounded when it came to UBIT calculations.  This just goes to show that only a small portion of the population are taking advantage of IRA non-recourse real estate loa... 11/24/2014

Will Investment Property Cash Flow Enough for a Non-Recourse IRA loan? Due to the simple fact that IRA loans cannot be tied to an individual directly, the bank granting the loan will scrutinize the property to make sure that they won't lose money by giving a loan on the property.  This is basically the way that commercial lending works.  The individual isn't scrutinized but the property is scrutinized to see if it makes sense.  Will the rents more than pay for the debt obligation against the property?  For single family homes, the bank will want to see a positive cash flow of 20-25%.  For properties consisting of 2+ units, the bank will want to see at least a 25% cash flow. To determine what the positive cash flow on a potential property would be, there are several factors to take into... 11/20/2014

Using the IRA Non-Recourse Loan to Buy Your Next Investment Property What are the advantages of using the IRA non-recourse loan to buy your next investment Property?  Well I am very glad that you asked this question!  Non-recourse simply means that the lender cannot pursue any of your assets if the property were to go into foreclosure and they couldn't recover the full amount of the loan.  Most banks do not provide non-recourse loans because they are too risky.  That is one of the reasons why 40% down is the minimum in California with a 20% reserve requirement on the loan balance.  It used to be that banks and lenders didn't want to lend on an investment within an IRA because an individual couldn't guarantee the loan according to IRS regulations.  Therefore, people paid all cash when t... 11/19/2014

What Should I Look for in a Flipped House in Fresno, California 93711                                                 If you are like most people then you like to see houses that shine, ones that pop out at you.  When you are looking for a home to buy and you wonder "what should I look for in a flipped property in Fresno, California 93711" here are a few things to consider.  Investor's who flip homes normally don't flip homes because it is easy or it is the only employment opportunity they could manage to keep.  They flip homes for the profit that they "could" get from acquiring a property at the right price, fixing some things and selling it at a considerably higher amount.  It is all about the bottom line.                                                In order to secure a nice profi... 10/21/2014