While I believe that most who are involved in the San Carlos real estate market have been pleased with the turnaround of 2010, I think that most would also agree that the market is still susceptible on a variety of fronts, not the least of which is buyer and seller errors. From 1997-2007, it was difficult for buyers or sellers to do wrong in San Carlos.  If you paid a little over market as a buyer or listed a little high as a seller, the market was robust enough to minimize most errors over time.  That is not the case today.

How do buyers and sellers in San Carlos set themselves up for a successful venture in our real estate market?  Answer:  Educate themselves.  Buying a home in San Carlos should be more than running through some open houses on Sundays.  Selling a home is more than sticking a sign in the front yard.  There should be a well calculated plan in place.  Below are just some of the key points that buyers and sellers should be aware of when becoming involved in the San Carlos real estate market:

1.  You’re in San Carlos. First, understand that San Carlos plays by its own rules.  What is happening in neighboring or nearby towns could be completely different than what is happening in San Carlos. Second, drill down a little deeper. Know the difference between the six areas of San Carlos:  Alder Manor, Cordes, Clearfield Park, Beverly Terrace, White Oaks and Howard Park.  Educate yourself on the difference in buyer demand between these designated areas of San Carlos.  Right now, the difference is significant.  For a color coded map, please click here.

2.  Ignore the List Price. For the most part, list prices in San Carlos are irrelevant. Outside of giving a hint as to what the seller may be thinking in terms of valuation, they should not have any determination on what you ultimately offer on the property.  I have always told all of my buyers that they we need to come to our own, independent evaluation of the property.  List prices in San Carlos are all over the map.  Currently, 25% of our active inventory has been on the market over 100 days.  On the other side of the spectrum, 36% of our pending inventory was on the market for under two weeks (homes used for the percentages above were spread out evenly over all different price zones in San Carlos).  The point is that some of the list prices being set in San Carlos right now are not necessarily at market value . A buyer’s ability to understand the true valuation of a property is critical.

3.  Staging. For sellers, it’s the ability to put your home in the most favorable light possible to prospective buyers.  Many people do not believe in staging.  I will reluctantly admit that I did not either prior to starting my real estate career.  However, I can tell you that most people walking through an open house or a private tour make up their mind about a particular house within the first minute of being in the house.  Either it’s in contention, or they have dismissed it.  The old adage of first impressions are everything, is very true.  Need further proof?  There are a handful of realtors doing a substantial amount of business in San Carlos.  All of them either have a personal stager/designer, or one that works for the realtor almost exclusively. Presentation, spacing and design all make a difference.

4.  Solving Layout Issues. It’s the number one complaint among San Carlos buyers.  Unless they have been substantially remodeled, many San Carlos homes have layout issues.  The key is understanding which layout problems are more easily solved.  San Carlos homes suffer from layout issues for a variety of reasons.  Most homes in the flats were built as two or three bedroom homes in the 1940s.  Over time, many of these homes were the victims of weekend warrior projects. A high percentage of these homes also have unpermitted additions and remodeling flaws. Homes falling into this category will almost immediately be dismissed by most buyers.  However, if the house has a great lot and happens to be on an ideal street, it may be worth your time to bring a designer through the prospective house.  There are a few very knowledgeable designers in San Carlos that can walk through a house with you and your realtor and advise you almost instantly on two items: (1) how to fix the issue and a prospective cost; and (2) what the likely requirements will be from the building department in San Carlos.  Once buyers are armed with this information, they can better determine the true value of the house. Having the professional advice from the designer on the two points above will put the buyer in a better position to negotiate the price of the home. On a side note, if you are in need of a designer to accompany you on a tour of a home that you are considering, I am happy to refer you to the two that I have used with good success in San Carlos.

5.  Educate Yourself. Times in real estate have changed.  Realtors are no longer able to hoard the statistics on the real estate market.  Anyone can get comparable sales prices and market trends at the push of a button.  Many buyers and sellers looking in San Carlos do gather a lot of their own information.  However, few take it the extra step of really understanding the subtle nuances that exist in San Carlos.  The advice and guidance that you receive on these subtle nuances will make the biggest difference in the deal you ultimately strike.  What do I mean by subtle nuances?  Items that do not show up on most comparable market analysis reports in San Carlos, such as:  (1) current buyer preference/demand (it seems to change weekly), (2) layout disasters vs. those that are solvable, (3) when a street, or even a block, can make a difference in valuation, (4) prospective distance to downtown, (5) the differences found in the six areas of San Carlos, (6) finding the off-market properties, (7) determining an independent valuation, and much more.  All of these are crucial elements that should be taken into account when buying and selling in San Carlos.

It’s not the craziness that existed a few years ago, but it has felt like it at times over the past few weeks.  For those properties in San Carlos that are priced well and have a little something extra going for them, multiple offers will be in the near future for those particular sellers.  We started to see multiple offers again in late 2009 for homes between 750K-900K.  The difference now is that the price range for multiple offers extends to the highest point of the San Carlos market, including two million dollar homes. Given that this trend is gaining momentum, an updated post discussing the pitfalls of multiple offers is overdue.

Getting Started

You have just toured a fantastic new listing and you have immediate interest.  The problem is that the rest of San Carlos was also through that same open house and there will undoubtedly be other interest.  What are the first steps?

Get in touch with your agent immediately. Your agent may be the nicest and most knowledgeable person in the world, but if they are not “on it” any chance you had at obtaining the house just flew out the window.  Persistence, preparedness and diligence wins in a multiple offer situation. Have your agent immediately contact the listing agent and ask if a pre-emptive offer is a possibility (in order to have you avoid a multiple offer situation).  If a pre-emptive offer is not a possibility, ask about the availability of disclosures.  Obtaining the disclosures as soon as possible will give you more time to fully digest the issues that may exist with the house.  Finally, the listing agent should be told to keep your party in the loop regarding all offers, an offer date and any other relevant status updates.  The listing agent should have your agent’s mobile and email.  Some agents work better off of email, rather than calling.

* Key point: Remember to always examine the situation from the listing agent’s point of view.  In a multiple offer situation the listing agent is always looking for what we call “certainty of close”….in other words, which offer is most likely to close the deal.  From my experience, the buyers indicating the highest level of interest and diligence from day one, usually outperform the other offers and give the listing agent some additional comfort in terms of their desire to close the deal.

Forming a Strategy

Once you have decided to draft an offer and know that there will be competing bids, your strategy will need to be fine-tuned.  Your strategy will largely be affected by how many offers are expected to be in play.  There is obviously a big difference between three offers and ten offers.  Your agent should be in constant contact with the listing agent asking for updates on the amount of expected offers.  This can be very difficult for listing agents to determine because many buyers will not come forward with an offer until the last minute.  A better indication usually centers around how many disclosure packages are out to interested buyers.  If ten disclosure packets are out, you can probably expect five offers.

I tell my buyers that the first step in forming a strategy is for us to take a look at the property and conduct our own, independent evaluation of the property and come up with a value using all of the traditional tools used in a market analysis. In other words, temporarily let go of the fact that this is a multiple offer situation and come up with a price.  I like to call this a sanity check.  It’s your first real data point.   The second step is to understand that you can conduct a very thorough analysis, but in the end the property is worth what someone is wiling to pay for it. If you are in a multiple offer situation, the market is most likely telling you that the list price is either right on the money, or may need to be adjusted slightly upward to come into line with market demand. The difficult part here is deciding if the list price was simply set too low or if you are willing to pay a little extra because the property is a perfect match.

Key point: I’ve never believed that you can fully take the emotion out of buying a home, but your agent should be able to do just that. Marking that first data point with an independent evaluation of the price of the home is key. If you are considering going over and above the list price, constantly referring to that first value will help balance your emotion with what makes sense from an investment standpoint.

Looking Beyond the Numbers

Make no mistake about it, your total purchase price is by far the most important part of the offer for the seller.  That being said, there are other considerations as well:  close of escrow, contingencies, an as-is sale and many others that all need to be accounted for.  Remember that you are likely to have a similar purchase price to other prospective offers.  Doing anything and everything that you can to cut the seller’s risk with an offer will be an additional point in your favor.  There are many strategies and out-of-the-box ideas that can work here.  Your agent should be able to get creative and offer you some insight.

Presentation

Your offer is drafted and ready to go. If the listing agent is willing to allow your agent to present the offer in person, it is always best to do so.  This is your agent’s chance to convince the listing agent and the seller that your offer is the best, give them the confidence they need to choose your offer and allow the listing agent to ask any questions he or she may have regarding the offer to be answered right there on the spot.

The perfect storm of market conditions in San Carlos is leading to some questionable tactics and dilemmas in certain transactions.  Buyers that fully understand some of these pitfalls will be in a much better position to protect themselves against these unfortunate positions.  My feeling is that this storm has been brewing for some time, but here are the ingredients for our current market:

(1) Extremely low inventory

(2) Interest rates at record lows and loans guidelines which have been loosened since last year

(3) A flood of buyers into the San Carlos market, believing they have waited long enough for the bottom to hit and now want in

(4) Multiple offers are back….not quite the same way they used to be, but they are back nonetheless

(5) On the realtor side, the number of transactions for San Carlos is down 34% over the high in previous years. The result:  fewer realtors completing transactions, and those who are completing transactions are doing fewer of them.

(6) Frustration on all sides.  Buyers are frustrated with a lack of inventory, sellers are frustrated with lower values and realtors are frustrated with the lack of transactions.

All of the above factors, when mixed together, create the perfect storm for some situations that buyers should be aware of:

The Forced Offer

When a listing agent realizes that there will be interest from more than one prospective buyer, they will usually set a date to hear the offers on a property.  99% of the time your agent will show up with the offer in hand, at the time and date specified and be able to present the offer.  Now, let’s take the perfect storm above and say that there is one prospective buyer who has lost patience with the process and an overly aggressive agent that tells his clients the old line “all offers must be presented to the seller within a reasonable amount of time, as dictated on the offer.”  Translation:  put in an offer ahead of the date and time specified to hear the multiple offers and the listing agent has a duty to present that offer ahead of time. Some agents will refuse to show the offer to the client because their reputation in the real estate community will be on the line…..and they are correct, however, they still have a duty to show the offer to their clients.  The best way to handle this is to inform the sellers that in the event someone forces an offer on them prior to the multiple offer date, they can view the offer, but have an understanding that they should not respond until after all of the offers have been heard.  The problem is that sometimes the forced offer is so attractive that the seller is afraid that particular buyer will not wait around and ends up wanting to accept the offer.  The listing agent will ultimately need to abide by his client’s wishes and allow them to sign the offer.  Meanwhile, the other buyers waiting to present their offer on the specified date will be out of luck, as the property will have been sold.

>>> How to solve this issue:  If you have identified a property you would like to offer on, and it will be a multiple offer situation, have your agent stick like glue to the listing agent.  Have your agent call or email them twice a day asking for updates.  Be prepared for the example above.  That way if your agent gets word that there is a forced offer, you will be able to respond quickly.

The Sharp Offer

You don’t see these as often as you did a few years ago, but with the perfect storm of market conditions, don’t be surprised to see it once again.  First, just what exactly is a sharp offer?  A sharp offer is when you have a buyer who offers on a property in a multiple offer situation, but includes a clause through a self-made addendum that says something similar to “We believe the attached offer is a compelling offer for the property, however, if our offer is not the highest offer, we will agree to increase our purchase price to an amount equal $5,000 above the next highest offer, not to exceed X.”

The benefits to the sharp offer are obvious.  They allow the buyer to bid competitively on a property without the worry of overbidding to the point where they far surpassed the next closest offer.

The disadvantages to a sharp offer is that they are frowned upon by some sellers because they believe the buyer is somehow trying to cheat the process.  Additionally, some agents do not like to deal with them because they believe the clauses are often poorly written and can expose possible loopholes for the buyer to back out or form other liabilities for the seller.

>>>How to deal with the sharp offer?  First, ask your agent if they are comfortable using a sharp offer.  Second, your agent should call the listing agent and see if they are agreeable to hearing a sharp offer.  Finally, if the answer to both of those questions is “yes,” you should have a family attorney or at a minimum, the supervising broker of your agent, look over the clause drafted by your realtor. Sharp offers can be extremely effective and can end up saving you a significant amount of money.

The Non-Contingent Offer

I thought we had done away with these a while ago, but they seem to be popping back up again.  A non-contingent offer is where the buyer waives all contingencies in the contract. The buyer does so in order to make his or her offer more attractive to the seller.  Normally, there are at least two contingencies, those two being the Property Inspection Contingency and the Financing Contingency.  Both are critical.  Giving up your right to have a professional inspection of the property and having 100% confidence that your bank will close the deal on your prospective home is a real risk.  Many buyers make the mistake of relying on the home inspection reports given to them by the seller’s professional inspector. The problem is that if the particular inspector missed something in his report, the buyer is the one who will be left holding the bag.  The seller’s professional inspector does not owe any duty to the prospective buyers.  There is no line of privity between the two and the buyer has not paid the professional inspector any type of consideration.  Additionally, the sellers are not expected to give a professional accounting of their property in their disclosures because they are not experts in the area of home inspections.  Finally, with the appraisal issue being what it is in San Carlos right now, pre-approval or not, your prospective mortgage is anything but a guarantee.

>>>Considering a non-contingent offer? Rarely is this a good idea.  Of course, there are individual circumstances involved  and each situation should be evaluated on a case-be-case basis, but in general, they are a serious risk.  My advice would be to take a hard look at your offer and see if there are other ways you can incentivize the seller.

At first, you may not even notice it. But the examples below show why it is essential to scrutinize all disclosures and also check the county and city records when buying a house in San Carlos. Some sellers will really bend the rules when trying to maximize the purchase price of their house by slyly noting a difference between what is being advertised and what is actually being offered. Here are some examples:

(1) A realtor has a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house for sale in San Carlos.  The MLS and the flyer both indicate the the presence of 3 bedrooms.  Upon viewing the home the prospective buyer identifies the three bedrooms.  The buyer proceeds to write an offer for the house.  The offer is accepted and escrow closes shortly thereafter. At some point in the future, the buyer decides to refinance the house.  During the appraisal process it is discovered that the county records lists the house as only having 2 permitted bedrooms and 2 baths.  It turns out that the 3rd bedroom was not permitted as a bedroom. The buyers did not get the benefit of the bargain.

(2) A realtor lists a house as having 2,000 square feet.  A buyer purchases the home, noting that the MLS page identified the home as having 2,000 square feet so the buyer is confident that the representation is valid. Again, upon an appraisal for a refinance, it is discovered that the county records have the home with 1,700 permitted square feet.  The buyer did not get the benefit of the bargain in this scenario as well.

The above two examples are very common in San Carlos.  San Carlos is the king of the weekend warrior and homes having unpermitted work. So who is to blame for the buyer getting the short end of the stick on the above two examples? It depends on the the full story, but most likely everyone involved shares some of the blame.

In example number one, the seller may have always believed they had 3 permitted bedrooms, since this how they bought the house from the previous seller.  The buyer will say that they relied on the information provided for in the MLS and the literature provided by the realtor. Now, most good realtors would review the county records prior to listing the prospective property because they will want to make sure that they are advertising only what is permitted.  Unfortunately, some realtors will not conduct this search.  Some will not conduct it because they are not obligated to do so.  Others will not conduct it because the sellers are emphatic that the third bedroom is legal, stating that  this is they way they bought the house and it is the way they are going to sell the house.  The buyer is going to face an uphill climb even with the error on the side of the seller.  The disclosures that go along with selling a home in San Carlos are nothing short of extravagant.  I can assure you that listed in those disclosures many, many times, is a warning to the buyer to conduct their own research at the city and county offices prior to removing a property inspection contingency. In the end, the liability associated with this type of problem is not entirely clear.

In example number two, the seller may believe that his square footage is larger than what is being reported on the county records. Believe it or not, calculating square footage is not an exact science.  If you have ten different appraisers measure for square footage, you are going to get ten different answers, although, they should not be separated by more than 5%. When you have a scenario such as the one mentioned in example number 2, above, something is clearly way off.  Here’s a tip which may give you the heads up to do more research on the records of a home:  When looking on the MLS and examining the listed square footage, always look at the listed SOURCE of the square footage.  Most of the time the source will be the county.  However, once in a while the source will be the seller.  This should be a huge red flag that the seller is disagreeing with whatever the county records are saying about the permitted square footage. Anytime you see the seller listed as the source for the square footage, further investigation is needed. Some seller’s are insistent on going with their calculations, rather than the county records. Absent any type of evidence to prove fraud on behalf of the seller, the buyer will most likely left high and dry in this scenario.

You may have recognized that both of the problems above could have been easily solved if the buyers had simply checked the county records prior to initiating the purchase or while under their property inspection contingency period. INSIST that your realtor help you with this issue, especially when buying in San Carlos.  You will save yourself a major headache down the road.

Rarely do we go outside the city limits for the San Carlos Blog, however, Belmont is our neighbor and it is currently considering an idea that could bring their housing market to an absolute standstill.  I am hoping that our city leaders are occupied with other issues this week and pay no attention to what is going on next door.

Essentially, Belmont is considering an idea in which it would require any homeowner who would like to sell their home to forward a $300 fee to city hall.  The city would then send out an inspector who would meticulously canvass the property and note any and all code violations.  These violations would then need to be fixed prior to the close of escrow. Belmont is not a whole lot different than San Carlos in that many of the homes, actually the vast majority, are the victims of weekend warrior home depot projects which will fall well short of passing inspection. The gridlock that would ensue would be completely debilitating to the Belmont real estate market.

Reading between the lines, this a a desperate attempt to raise city revenues in a time when Belmont really needs the money.  If it is money that the city is truly after, it should consider a city transfer tax, similar to the one that exists in San Mateo.  Attaching cement blocks to the feet of Belmont sellers with an idea similar to the one being floated to city council would make a very difficult real estate market an absolute disaster.

Daly City shot down a similar idea just over two weeks ago. Here’s hoping that Belmont does the same.  As for San Carlos officials….there is nothing to see here…just keep moving along.

For a full copy of the article from the Oakland Tribune, click here.

Aside from the seller’s personal narrative of their experience living in the property which comes through on the Transfer Disclosure Statement and Seller’s Supplemental Checklist, the professional inspections conducted on the property are the most important documents contained in any disclosure package.

Which inspections are necessary?  The answer depends on the age and condition of the house.  Most commonly, sellers will offer a full property inspection report and a termite report.  If the house has a pool, most sellers will also provide a report for the pool as well.  Other inspections that fall outside the scope of what is normally offered by the seller include a roof inspection, chimney inspection and foundation inspection.   My analysis on these three inspections is the following:  Buyers should get their own roof inspection if the property inspection conducted by their property inspector or the seller’s property inspector maintain that the roof should be evaluated by a roofing specialist.  Likewise, if either of those reports mention the need for a chimney or foundation expert, the buyer should conduct these inspections as well. As a general rule of thumb, foundations which are found to have even slight crumbling or cracks greater than 1/4 inch should be evaluated by a foundation expert so that a cost/repair analysis can be performed. With regard to chimneys, the most common issue in San Carlos centers around cracks which could emit dangerous fumes.  Many San Carlos chimneys were slightly damaged during the 1989 earthquake.  Many homeowners are surprised to learn that they have been having fires for the past 20 years, not knowing a dangerous crack(s) existed. A good inspector will be able to give you a straight answer on whether these three supplemental inspections are worth your time and money, given the condition of the property.

Finally, and most importantly, it is critical that buyers conduct their own, independent reports on the property.  Even if the seller provides you with very thorough reports, buyers should still conduct all of their own reports, and here’s why:  Many buyers and even some agents do not understand the phrase “privity of contract”.   When a seller engages a professional inspector to prepare a report on their home in preparation for sale, the seller will sign a contract with the inspector.  The inspector is in contract to provide competent services to the seller, only.  The inspector is not in contract with any future buyer regarding the reports that inspector has provided on the property. You can probably see where I am going with this…..if the inspector missed something in his report, and the buyer finds this issue out after the close of escrow, the buyer has no right to sue the inspector because the buyer does not have privity of contract with that inspector.  Additionally, the buyer most likely does not have the right to go back and sue the seller because a professional report is beyond the scope of knowledge for most sellers.  The buyer will be left without recourse unless that buyer hired his own inspectors, and creates the privity of contract.

I fully realize that a post with a title such as the one above is going to get some attention and some are going to take issue with my position.  Nonetheless, this issue has become so pervasive lately that I feel it is a relevant topic and should be of vital importance to all who are considering buying and selling in San Carlos.  First, let me say that this is not intended to be a post about my skills as a realtor compared to others.  As I have said many times, the only ones who can comment intelligently on my skills as a realtor are my past and current clients.  Additionally, I wanted to pass along that I hesitated on the notion of writing this article because I did not want it to sound condescending or arrogant.  If you read it as such, please know that it was not my intention at all to do so. I did feel that if I was able to put together an article that was clear and concise with my message, it would allow some buyers and sellers to see their transactions in a different light.

Allow me to start by saying that San Carlos has many realtors who I would consider to be truly outstanding.  I feel that we are lucky in that regard. In my opinion, the first problem with the real estate world is that the barrier to entry is quite minimal.  I will spare you all of the details, but obtaining your license essentially involves taking some classes and then passing a 150 point multiple choice test.  I cannot think of any other profession where the entrance requirements are so minimal and the new licensee can immediately handle million dollar purchases. For many people in San Carlos, their purchase or sale is going to represent a fairly significant portion of their net worth.  I will never understand why some hand over such an important transaction to someone who is so ill-equipped to competently handle the transaction and protect their interests.

Many of you are probably thinking that you are smart enough to screen your prospective realtor and feel that you have chosen someone who is competent to handle the transaction and protect your interests.  The truth is that you are most likely correct.  However, that is not the message I am trying to convey.  The problem comes in when one of these less-than-professional realtors is on the other side of your deal. For the past few years many properties had multiple bids and the seller and listing agent could choose the offer that best matched with their goals on the transaction. During this time period the better agents would always ask the buyers’ agents to present their offers in person. This was done for two reasons, (1) so that listing agent could pin the buyers’ agent down on any questions regarding the offer, and (2) the listing agent always treated the multiple bid situation as an interview of the buyers’ agent.  As an agent, prior to entering into a transaction you should carefully screen the other agent to make sure they are competent, diligent and reliable.  Agents that came to the multiple bid table with the disclosures not signed, their contract was not filled out properly and were just generally disorganized were almost immediately dismissed from contention, regardless of their prospective purchase price.  More often than not, entering into a contract with one of these agents would result in the deal falling apart or more infrequently, a lawsuit.

Here is why bad agents are making a tough market even tougher….for everyone:  it comes down to this, with fewer buyers in the market the multiple bid situations are not nearly as frequent as they have been in the past.  Consequently, the only offer that you may get on your property may be from the bad agent. Let me give you a few examples.  In the past few weeks I have had two agents try and back their clients out of properties after all contingencies had been removed and both fully expected the return of their initial deposit. Their reasoning was that they really wished they had not removed the contingencies. Unfortunately, “really wishing you had not done something” is not a good excuse practically speaking, nor will it prove to be a valid defense in the courtroom. The problem in both of these cases is that the buyers’ representation was terrible. The agents could not fully explain the consequences of the contract and the required performance of each party under the contract. In both cases I felt bad for the buyers because I knew they had not been properly educated by their agent.  Additionally, a few weeks ago an out of area agent asked to use one of our conference rooms to write up an offer on one of my listings.  We gladly obliged and made it available to them. A few hours later the agent met me in the lobby and asked for help explaining an issue to her clients. Essentially, the agent could not articulate to her clients how a financing contingency worked. For those of you that may not be aware of how financing contingencies work, let me just say that there is really nothing more basic in residential purchases.  The fact that the agent could not explain how it worked to her clients was beyond mind-boggling.  I ended up walking them through how it worked, but I had an obligation to do it in the most favorable light for my sellers. I, again, felt bad for this set of buyers as they were now relying on the opposing agent’s knowledge. How can the buyers be expected to negotiate something that their agent cannot communicate to them effectively? They ended up negotiating a financing contingency with terms that were not most favorable to them.

The problem with many of these scenarios is that buyer will eventually figure out that their representation was less than stellar, they panic, and they want out of the deal.  In the mean time, the seller loses market time and momentum and is forced to put the property back on the market due solely to the incompetence of the opposing agent. The problem is that there really is not an easy solution for folks who have done everything right in these cases.  As an agent, the best that I can do is screen the opposing agent as carefully as possible when I believe that this issue may be in play and pose it as a risk-reward notion to my clients. Additionally, the better agents will tell you that they understand they will be working both sides of transaction.  In other words, be prepared to do the bad agent’s work as well, because they won’t. Be prepared to get creative and anticipate the pitfalls in the transaction…..have answers ready to go before those pitfalls are reached.  Each transaction is unique and requires a “totality of the circumstances” approach. Your agent will need to take total control of the transaction.  If he or she does not, it will fall apart.

Bottomline, recognize that you may have the bad agent involved in your transaction, be pro-active and anticipate the issues which are likely to surface. Choose to work with an agent that actively sells homes in San Carlos on a regular basis. Agents who regularly sell homes in San Carlos will be better prepared to deal with our more localized issues.  Ask them to give you examples of the bad agent and how they were able to save the deal from going south.  These days, having the ability to overcome the bad agent issue will put you in a far better position in this market.

July 2009 Programs for Children, Teens and Families at San Carlos Library

Greetings from the Children’s Room at San Carlos Library! Please join us for the following events in July:

Children’s Programs

Do-it-Yourself Arts and Craft Workshop: Grades K-2
Wednesday, July 1, 3:30-5:00pm
Get creative in the Children’s Room with a fun arts and crafts project! Adult supervision required; no registration required but supplies are limited. Grades K-2.

Break a Guinness Record!
Thursday, July 2 at 1:00pm
Try and break a Guinness World Record! Hold your breath the longest…jump the highest…you decide! Bring a stop watch if you have one. Ages 5 and up.

Ventriloquist Steve Chaney
Tuesday, July 7 at 7:00pm
Spectacular comedy and ventriloquism! All ages welcome.

Family Book Group
Wednesday, July 8 at 7:00pm
For families with children entering grades 4-8. Please have read The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander ahead of time.

San Carlos Children’s Theater
Thursday, July 9 at 4:00pm
Hear songs from SCCT’s production of Fiddler on the Roof, and ask the director and actors questions! Ages 4 and up.

Penguins, Poems and Popsicles
Tuesday, July 14 at 4:00pm
Cool off with Antarctic stories and frozen treats. Ages 4 and up.

CLAP Arts Adventure Assembly
Tuesday, July 14 at 7:00pm
Everyone has a role in this fun evening of creative drama and storytelling! Ages 4 and up.

Do-it-Yourself Arts and Craft Workshop: Grades 3-5
Wednesday, July 15, 3:30-5:00pm
Get creative in the Children’s Room with a fun arts and crafts project! Adult supervision required; no registration required but supplies are limited. Grades 3-5.

Museum of Craft and Folk Art Workshop
Thursday, July 30 at 4:00pm
Turn a household paper bag into a fashion statement! Ages 5 and up. Registration is required.

Teens (entering grades 6-12)

Jewelry Making
Tuesday, July 21, 5:00-7:00pm
Make origami earrings, hemp necklaces, and fabulous beads!

Making Stuff Up: Improvisation on Stage
Monday, July 27, 7:00pm
Play fun improvisation games with professional actors for ComedySportz. Registration is required.

Hoopdance!
Tuesday, July 28, 7:00-8:00pm
Hoopdance is an exciting emerging fitness art-form that is taking the country by storm! Come learn some basic movies while having a lot of fun. Registration is required.

Required Summer Reading Book Discussions
Come and talk about books that you have to read anyway! Have fun talking about your required reading title while getting ideas for your paper (and possible earning some extra credit)! Registration is required.
Devil’s Teeth: Monday, July 6 at 6:00pm
The Joy-Luck Club: Monday, July 13 at 6:00pm
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Monday, July 20 at 6:00pm

San Carlos Library Summer Reading Program

Don’t forget to sign up for this year’s Summer Reading Program at San Carlos Library! Have fun earning prizes for reading great books and attending our exciting weekly summer programs. The program runs through August 15. Ages 0-entering grade 12.

New Summer Storytime Schedule

Special summer storytime calendars are available in the Children’s Room.

See you at the library!

Michelle Loomis
Youth Services Librarian
San Carlos Library
610 Elm Street
San Carlos, CA  94070
(650) 591-0341 ext. 224
loomis@smcl.org

There is no bigger supporter of San Carlos schools.  The San Carlos Educational Foundation holds its annual Spring Fling event each March.  Each Spring Fling has its own theme.  Last year was “Stars for Education.”  The event has hundreds of donated items, live music, dinner, dancing and much more!  For more information on this event please click here.

San Carlos Hometown Days

It is the main event for San Carlos.  Each year during the third weekend in May, San Carlos Hometown Days is the place to be each year at Burton Park.  Combining games, booths, food, live music, art, a parade and every kid in San Carlos…this event is the event each year in San Carlos.  Find out more information by clicking here.

Taking place every Thursday from 4-8 pm from May through September, the San Carlos Farmers Market has become another San Carlos tradition.  For more information please click here.

Summer Concerts in Burton Park have quickly become a San Carlos tradition.  Taking place in 2009, on Friday evenings from 6:00-8:00 at Burton Park, the Summer Concerts in the park feature live music where residents are encouraged to bring food and wine to enjoy the great music and weather. More information can be found by clicking here.

Taking place every other year, the Chicken’s Ball is the longest running San Carlos tradition.  Dating back to the 1930s, this event is a San Carlos favorite for comedy and entertainment.  More information can be found by clicking here.

The fourth installment of San Carlos Treasure Hunters will take place in February 2010.  SCTH is a faced paced treasure hunt around the City of San Carlos in which teams of three youths ages 10-15 and supervising move as quickly as possible to find the hidden treasure.  This event has is free and has filled up to capacity in each of the last two years.  For more information and registration materials please click here.

It’s hard to open any of the local newspapers without seeing advertisements from real estate agents.  In almost every ad you will see agents claiming to be “excellent” negotiators.  From what I have seen in San Carlos, some are truly excellent negotiators….others leave something to be desired.

This is not a post regarding my skills as a negotiator.  The only ones able to comment intelligently on that subject would be my past clients.  Rather, this is an article that may give buyers and sellers some insight into their current real estate positions.

On my first day as an attorney, a senior partner brought me to his office and gave me a memo on ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) regarding one of the firm’s clients. My job was to prepare a brief outlining our possible negotiation strategy for an upcoming mediation. Prior to leaving the office the partner gave me a little piece of advice, “Remember the key to any successful negotiation is your ability to gather information.  Know what is important and unimportant to the other side. No amount of information is too small or unimportant.”

Harvard Law School runs a program called the “Program On Negotiation” or “PON.”  The program stresses the same criteria as my former supervising partner:  The more knowledge you have, the better your chance at a successful negotiation.

So, how do these guidelines translate to San Carlos real estate?  First, start with the understanding that whether you are a buyer or seller, you want as much information as possible regarding the other side in the proposed transaction. You want to know what items are important and unimportant to the other side. Just a few of the traditional possibilities are as follows: (1) best and final price, (2) proposed close of escrow date, (3) as-is sale, (4) contingencies such as the buyer selling their home prior to purchasing their next home.  It is common for most agents to ask the opposing agent for their client’s stance on these issues prior to drafting an offer.  Unfortunately, sometimes these basic questions are never asked.  In today’s market I would suggest that the questions need to be more probing.  For instance, (1) is seller-financing available, (2) is the buyer pre-approved with two banks, (3) can the buyer document the source of the down payment, (4) is the seller interested in a lease-option, (5) is the seller willing to cover some of the closing costs, etc.

I have always found it good practice to tell the opposing agent a little bit about my clients.  If the agent is on their game they will ask the appropriate questions.  The more information the two sides have about each other, the more comfortable they will be moving forward.  Asking the right questions during these conversations can give you a better picture of the true wants and needs of the other side.  It’s a bit like putting a puzzle together.  The more information you can extract from the other side, the more filled in the puzzle becomes.

Once the information has been gathered, a strategy can be put in place.  Don’t be afraid to walk away if the final offer is not where you and your agent believe it should be.  I have advised my clients to walk on several occassions.  I would say that about 50% of the time the other side does come back and ask to re-negotiate.  My other piece of advice is that if you feel rushed or that the other side is controlling 100% of the negotiation, call for a 48 hour timeout.  Very few good decisions are made under high stress.

In today’s market, information gathering, common sense and the ability to think outside the box are all crucial elements to a successful negotiation.  Understanding and implementing a strateg focused on all three of these elements will help you become an “excellent” negotiator.

When I was still practicing as an attorney, disclosure issues were far and away the number one contested issue in residential real estate transactions. Here are a few not-so-obvious ones that are likely to pop up with your San Carlos home:

(1)  Water Under the House.  For most of the homes built in the flatlands, the base of Devonshire Canyon and other various locations, signs of water accumulation under the house is very common.  Prolonged and continuous standing water can cause issues with structural integrity.  If you have had the pleasure of wedging yourself through your crawl space and notice dirt which is wet, muddy or see standing water you must note these items on your disclosure documentation.

(2) Barking Dogs.  San Carlos is very dog-friendly.  However, there is a difference between being dog-friendly and listening to your neighbor’s dog bark through all hours of the night.  In fact, even minimal barking should be reported on your disclosure forms.  Some people can’t stand the thought of a barking dog.  Make no mistake, something as simple as a neighborhood dog barking a few times a day for limited duration is actionable if it is not disclosed.

(3) Parking.  If parking on the street of your home is limited or congested at times, it must be disclosed.  San Carlos has many homes which are close to schools, parks and downtown….all of which can hamper parking and escalate congestion.  Additionally, if you have a curb that is painted red, white, yellow or blue, outside or in close proximity to your driveway, that must be disclosed as well.

(4)  Neighbors.  While I would like to think that all neighbors get along in San Carlos, they don’t.  If you have had any type of dispute with your neighbor over the property or actions on the property, it must be disclosed.  If your neighbor thinks he is the next Van Halen and loves rocking out with his buddies, it must be disclosed.  If your neighbor works on and revs up his motorcycle in the driveway, it must be disclosed.

(5) Schools, Parks & Churches.  While many find living close to schools, parks and churches convenient, there are many special disclosure items that should come along with living near any of them. The first is obvious, noise.  The noise from kids playing at recess travels.  So do booming voices of enthusiastic parent-coaches from nearby soccer and baseball fields. Annual special events also happen at all three venues which can create excess noise and traffic congestion.  All of these items must be disclosed.

Disclosures are where most sellers stumble. Rely on your agent’s advice, but do not be afraid to contact legal counsel when dealing with a particularly tricky disclosure item…otherwise, the Golden Rule of Disclosures works well.