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 →
Those commuting from their homes in Dublin Ranch will soon have a new electric vehicle to consider as an option for their drive. Introduced today, and available for the United States market in the second quarter of 2014, is the new BMW i3. The i3 is fully electric; and is peppy enough to scoot from 0-60 mph in only 7.2 seconds. It’s a small car (this isn’t a family hauler, by any stretch…), but it’s good for getting to work,… read more →
Those who own a condo or townhome in Dublin Ranch have a reason to smile: the market is coming back strongly in their favor! Property in Dublin Ranch is in high demand! In the last 12 months, the number of homes available to sell has plummeted. That’s created a situation where Dublin Ranch condos and townhomes are in high demand and the prices buyers are willing to pay for them is on the rise. For those who don’t follow this… read more →
If you thought it would never happen again, you were (happily) mistaken… It’s a Strong Sellers’ Market in Dublin Ranch again as inventory plummets in the area! Putting a home on the market with a reasonable asking price is inevitably causing a bidding war, driving selling prices above the asking price as home buyers clamor for homes that are seemingly few and far between. If you’ve been thinking of putting your home on the market — it’s time to do… read more →
I remember growing up and hearing adults say, “Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.” As a kid, I didn’t get it — there’s no candy, there’s no presents, there’s no warm-weather barbecue out on the patio. It just seemed like a bunch of food and time spent sitting around with adults listening to boring conversation. I guess I’m getting older, though, because these days Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday as well. I was fortunate when I was a kid; my life… read more →
One of the reasons Dublin Ranch homeowners are thinking seriously about short-selling their homes is because a Federal Tax benefit for underwater homes is expiring at the end of this year. The reason this is important is because, according to the IRS, if you are forgiven debt (through a short sale, or suffering a foreclosure) that’s considered income — and it’s taxable. So, picture this: you’re a family who has fallen on hard times in a bad recession. You get… read more →
An “offers due” strategy is often used on non-distressed properties that are being sold during a sellers market. There are four reasons for this strategy; two have to do with professional courtesy, one has to do with getting you the most money possible, and the last has to do with finding you a committed buyer. Let me go through them below… As a professional courtesy, we like to give agents an opportunity to show your home. It’s never unreasonable to… read more →
If you’re in the market for a Dublin Ranch condo or townhome, you have a couple of options: be aggressive in trying to get your offer accepted, or wait it out for the market to return to more favorable terms for buyers. The Months’ Supply of Inventory in Dublin Ranch for condos and townhomes has, since the beginning of the year, been on a steep decline. That’s good for sellers, but bad for buyers. When the market tips this strongly… read more →
Readers of our blog will know -‐ one of the ways we measure the “velocity” of the market for Dublin Ranch homes is by looking at the “Months’ Supply of Inventory” or “MSI.” It’s because it makes something complicated it an easy thing to understand. Think of it this way: if no more homes come on the market after today, how long would it take to sell through the current inventory at the rate that homes are selling? If the… read more →
Before the downturn, I worked with a lot of real estate investors and helped them do 1031 Exchanges. A lot of my investor clients wanted to buy properties outside the State of California, but all of the loan agents I worked with couldn’t accommodate them. In 2005 I saw an ad in a real estate newspaper for a guy with Bank of America, realized how big they are and thought, “I bet they can do loans out of state…” Sure… read more →
The real estate market for Dublin Ranch condos and townhomes has changed significantly over the last year. Demand increases are on the rise, and there are quite a few reasons why — lenders have slowed down on foreclosing and have allowed a wider variety of work-out options for owners in distress. For owners who can’t afford a work-out option, short sales are taking much less time and that means properties don’t have to be marketed and re-marketed when homebuyers eventually… read more →
Dublin Ranch residents who are thinking about purchasing a car this year will have a a new, different option starting this summer when the Tesla Model S is introduced. An all-electric, seven seat sedan, the Model S uses no gasoline. Just like you would charge your cell phone at night, you can plug in your Model S and enjoy up to 300 miles of range between charges. Needless to say, as a real estate company who takes environmental issues seriously,… read more →
Now that we’ve drawn the curtain on 2011 and almost everyone (including us!) is back to work, it’s fair to say the Holiday Season is over and the New Year has begun. Here at Lifestyle Real Estate Services, we wanted to wish you and your family a fantastic year — it seems it’s already gearing up to be a great one! We know that in the spring, we’ll see the opening of a new BJ’s Restaurant in the new Fallon… read more →
Little by little, month by month, the market for Dublin Ranch condos and townhomes is inching toward a seller’s market. It’s still a good time to buy, but each month that goes by sees less supply and more demand. Looking at the “Supply and Demand” statistics published by Terradatum, the condo/townhome market here in the City of Dublin has seen a 36% drop in supply, and a 22% increase in demand, since this same time last year. Inventory has seen… read more →
According to statistics published by Terradatum, our local real estate market here in Dublin Ranch has made a sharp turn for the advantage of sellers of single family homes. Inventory has plummeted from 74 homes for sale in October to only 44 homes for sale in November, but that hasn’t stopped home buyers from wanting to buy! The result is a strong seller’s market; there are only 36 days’ inventory in the City of Dublin. For those of you who… read more →
As the Broker and President of a start-up real estate marketing company called Lifestyle Real Estate Services, “Green Initiatives” are something I think about a lot. It’s funny — real estate seems to have a reputation for cheesy sales people driving huge, gas-burning cars and working in offices that use a tree’s worth of paper each day. In the effort to do things differently, I’ve become quite interested in green initiatives. We drive cars that are smaller, “ULEV”s (that stands… read more →
