Your Corona CA Real Estate Agent Should Respect Your Privacy. Do They?
One of the issues that many people are concerned about when they buy or sell a home in Corona is their privacy. It’s the reason that many home sellers in Corona do not want a sign in the yard or a buyer may not want to use their friend because of the financial information that must be shared. All of 
these concerns are valid. Much of the information about real estate is public information, however, there is a certain professional decorum that I believe most people should be able to expect from their Corona Realtor. Part of most people’s selection process when choosing a real estate agent is to select someone that they feel they can trust.
This hit home for me recently as I stood talking with a group of co-workers recently. As we stood in the open public bantering, one of my co-workers came across a person that they knew. As they shouted out to them, the person drew near the group. Much to my surprise, the Real Estate Agent then asked the person, “How’s your house coming along with the bank? Did they give you a loan modification?” As the person stood there sort of like a deer in the headlights, the Real Estate Agent turns to the group and says, “Yeah, I had to do a BPO on their house.” After mumbling a few words but avoiding a direct answer, the person quickly moved away from the group. They were mortified and so was I. Once alone with the other agent, I did voice my concern about the interaction. It just made me thin about how careless people can become when they are so used to dealing with a certain issue. Yes, real estate agents are dealing with loan modification situations, BPO’s (Broker Price Opinion), short sales and foreclosures everyday. It has become part of the norm and really most have probably become somewhat desensitized to the whole phenomenon. However, it does not mean that the rest of the world is. This is why carefully selecting a real estate agent is crucial. Worrying about whether the next time you see your real estate agent in public, they are going to mention something highly personal or not. Proceed with caution.
What NOT To Do When Selling Your Home- Lesson #5
A back up offer is an offer that is taken and placed on file. In the event that the buyer currently under contract for some reason can not follow through with the purchase of the house then anyone with a back up offer on file may be contacted. A back up offer does not guarantee that your offer will automatically be accepted in the event that the current contract falls apart. It is more or less your formal stated offer and statement of interest in the home should it become available again in the future.
As disappointed as I was that all that waiting around seemed to flash before my very eyes once the real show began, I thought about how important the behind the scenes activities are even in Real Estate. Think about the preparations that must go into preparing a home for the market. The house may need some tidying up, there are market statistics and analysis that take place, marketing strategies, advertising, open houses, mountains of paperwork, and the list goes on. The “SHOW” can be thought of as a home showing. Think about just how fast a potential buyer moves in and out of a home as they tour it. What took the Real Estate agent or the homeowners months, weeks, or days to prepare for, potential buyers will see and be done with in sometimes mere minutes. But the “show”, however long, must capture the audience’s attention so that they will have a lasting impression. The kind of impression that will make the potential buyer crave more. The behind the scenes participants must keep this in mind at all times. This is an even wiser lesson for Real Estate agents who handle Bank Owned homes. While I realize that there are sometimes limitations on what a Real Estate agent can really fix, I am a firm believer in doing the little things that could make a difference. The things like ensuring the utilities are on so that potential buyers actually have lights to tour the property. Making sure newspapers are not crowding the front door, making sure the home smells fresh and clean. After all, you can’t bank on getting a second chance to put on your “show.” Oh sure, part of selling a home is to make sure that the Price Is Right but you’ve gotta remember that what you don’t see behind the scenes really does mean everything!
When a home seller elects to over price their home, unbeknownst to them or even most buyers a little thing called the “Principle of Substitution” rears its ugly head. We actually utilize this principle all the time and just don’t realize it. We call it comparison shopping. We do it with everything from the shoes to tires to houses. The Principle of Substitution basically states that a buyer will not pay more for a particular property if it costs less to buy a similar property of equal utility and desirability.
Because in reality we know that no two homes are exactly the same, your Real Estate agent must conduct an analysis and comparison between homes. Differences are then calculated. So differences between amenities, features, lot sizes, etc. are all taken into account. Such an analysis is crucial to ensuring that a home seller does not over price their home. There are many factors that go into pricing a home. The reality is that in the end, every home is only worth what the buying public is willing to pay. Make sure to price your home at a price that is truly commensurate with the buying public. Don’t let home over pricing cost you greatly!