Our new listing at 435 Del Sol Avenue in Pleasanton represents a fantastic opportunity for any contractor, handyman, or anyone who’s been binge-watching HGTV® shows and wants to try their hand at the “house flipping” craze. It’s a three-bedroom, two-bath house, built in 1975 in a quiet Pleasanton neighborhood. According to public record, the house is 1,514 square feet sitting on a 6,507 square foot lot. The house itself seems pretty solid (our termite inspection shows approximately $7,700 in Section… read more →
From June 2nd until June 8th of 2019, a massive group of more than 2,300 cyclists will ride their way from San Francisco to Los Angeles, California. With the help of over 650 volunteers (also known as “roadies”) in 2018 these individuals raised a record $16.6 million for the AIDS/LifeCycle organization which provides critical HIV/AIDS services provided by both the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Los Angeles LGBT Center. Last year, Marquis Kish (our marketing manager) participated in his… read more →
There’s something that very few people know about me: I hate it when my hands are dirty. I think a lot of it comes from the way I was raised. My parents were very traditional, conservative, blue-collar people. “Salt of the earth”, some people might say. When they were just teenagers, they got married, uprooted from Kansas, and made the westward journey to California. My dad had joined the Navy and was stationed here in the Bay Area. He then… read more →
A little while ago, a homeowner reached out to us who has a house in the Hayward Hills. He was having trouble getting rent from his tenant, and that was a problem because he lives in Virginia. We assisted him through the long process of getting the tenant out, and then assessing the damage that had come from years of neglect in the owner’s absence. Initially, we had thought about helping this homeowner rehab the home, but he has decided… read more →
There’s been a lot of talk lately about fraud of all kinds. We now have chips in our credit cards, two-step authentication to make sure our accounts aren’t hacked, and lately my email has been blowing up with notices about a new kind of fraud that’s been happening in real estate transactions — wire fraud. Here’s what’s happening: criminals are hacking email accounts and finding out the individual is involved in a real estate transaction. They then send emails that… read more →
Every once in a while, I have a client who references the Zillow “Zestimate®” of a property as an accurate estimator of its value. Zillow.com has become a popular internet destination, because it gives consumers a place to go to estimate a property value without having to do a thorough analysis themselves and without having to talk to a salesperson. Sometimes, though, I get worried about the level of significance folks place in websites like Zillow. I thought I’d write… read more →
Every once in a while, I get caught off-guard by the aggressive words or actions of a client. Many times, when I “peel back the onion” to uncover what is making them respond the way they are, I hear a story they have heard (or even lived through) about a real estate agent who acted unethically. It’s sad, but it’s true — in real estate, there are a few bad apples out there. Here’s a little insight, and some next-steps… read more →
When you make an offer on a property and it’s accepted by the seller, two things normally happen right away. First, you have to put your deposit in escrow, and second you (or, hopefully, your agent) need to order the inspections. In a typical transaction, we recommend our clients order three kinds of inspections: property, termite and roof. Of all three, the termite inspection is the most important; let’s talk a little about the details so you know what to expect. Read More →
Just about every house in the San Francisco Bay Area is connected to a public sewer system. Of all the homes I’ve sold, only three have had a septic system. The first time I helped someone with a septic system, I’ll admit, I was a little intimidated. After three transactions I am by no means an expert, but I’ve found they aren’t as scary as I once thought they were. And, with the economy improving and clients looking at purchasing vacation property out in the country, it’s probably worthwhile to run through the logistics here on the blog so you know a little more about what to expect. Here it goes… Read More →
Every once in a while, a client will ask me about the timing of their home sale… “When is the best time to sell my home?” I know why they’re asking — they want a “leg up” on the market. They want that extra little advantage that a well-timed offering will make so the most people possible will be looking at the time they sell. But do these “special times” exist? And if they do, when are they? There are… read more →
As we hinted about in the previous installment of this series, our client at 440 Meadowlark owned a property that had a value of around $360,000 if it were sold in its present, as-is condition. As you saw from Part One of the “Shabby to Showplace” series, the house was suffering from deferred maintenance, it needed a new roof, and seemed to be the victim of shoddy workmanship from “upgrades” previous owners had made through the years. Our seller was… read more →
I’m a sucker for “pretty/shiny” things. The Nest Thermostat is both, and I’ve wanted one for a while. I know they’ve been out for a few years, but the first generation wouldn’t work in my home because I have a heat pump instead of a traditional furnace. Lo and behold, v2.0 supports heat pumps and since its introduction last year I’ve been really tempted to get one. Part of the reason I’ve held off is because of an experience I… read more →
Have you heard? Part of California’s Low-Flow Toilet Law took affect January 1, 2014. But does everyone have to swap their old toilet for a new one? The short answer is “not yet.” For now, the law (SB 407 Padilla) only affects those who are doing an addition that increases the square footage of a home by 10% or more, those who spend $150,000 or more on retrofits or improvements, or those who are building a new home. If you… read more →
It’s that time of the year when we all get introspective about our lives, the year that has passed, and the year that is to come. It’s the time most of us make new commitments to things we want, and make “resolutions” to get them. I’m always struck by how many cars are in the parking lot at the gym right after the New Year. I laugh about it, but I also get frustrated by the limited access to equipment… read more →
Welcome to the new website for Lifestyle Real Estate Services. Yes, we’re reinventing ourselves… again. We have a good reason for it, though: When people ask me, “What do you do?” I respond, “I run a real estate marketing company.” Their next reaction is always predictable — They furrow their brow and say “So, you’re a Realtor?” Now, the honest truth is that yes, I am a Realtor. I belong to the National Association of Realtors, I subscribe to the… read more →
It used to be that, if you were an underwater homeowner who had fallen on hard times, and who had to do a short sale, the forgiven debt would be counted as income on your tax return. Think about that — you have $400,000 in debt against your home and, after the downturn, it’s only worth $250,000 when you are forced to sell it or have your lender foreclose. Then, at the end of the year, you owe income taxes… read more →
When we think about marketing, most of us think about media (like commercials, print ads, social media, etc.) and branding. There’s another discipline of marketing, though, and that’s called Product Marketing. When it comes to marketing your home, enhancing your home’s appeal (taking it from, you guessed it, shabby to showplace) to its target audience can be a daunting task. In fact, most real estate sales agencies outsource that work to others because they don’t know how to do it.… read more →
Many of our friends and fans know Lifestyle Real Estate Services as a real estate marketing company, and think of the fantastic photography, brilliant brochures and precise online marketing we use to get our listings sold. But good marketing is just as much about the “product” as it is about the “media” used to represent it. Let’s face it – if your house is ugly, there’s only so much we’re going to be able to do to help you maximize… read more →
The Property Marketing People at Lifestyle Real Estate Services have done it again, successfully marketing and selling a home in the Dublin Ranch Terraces! We marketed the home on Lifestyle Real Estate Services, and our sellers accepted an offer only three days after putting it the home on the market. Our sellers enjoyed the highest sale price of that particular model so far this year. Condos in the Dublin Ranch Terraces that are similar to it have closed at an… read more →
Ask any homebuyer looking to purchase a Dublin Ranch home in the last few months and they will tell you – it’s been a tough time to buy. Every reasonably priced property gets multiple offers, and most sell above the asking price after only a few days being on the market. It’s difficult to avoid that sinking feeling of overpaying, and reports by out-of-touch appraisers often require homebuyers to come in with more cash than they had expected. But for… read more →
