Dumb things home flippers do...

Usually when a home inspectors taps me on the shoulder during a home inspection and says "Hey come here and check this out" it is not to show me something good. 

This week, at a home in Colonial Village that one of my buyers is in contract to purchase, the home inspector pulled us to the side of the house to show us this...that is the brand new mini-split heating and air unit that is not connected to power...because as it turns out the main panel is so old that it cannot be connected! I do not often see 60-amp fuse panels like this powering the entire house! And the seller/flipper's contractor just left it unconnected and did not let anyone know.

Fast forward a few days and after my go-to electrical contractor visited the house to assess things, a +/- $5,500 bid to replace the main panel and correct the shoddy work...the seller agreed to a massive request for repairs to correct this and lots of other stuff. 

DO. NOT. SKIP. INSPECTIONS. No matter how pretty the house looks.

No sellers, you cannot swap out your fancy Nest Thermostat before the close of escrow...

As one of my seller clients was finishing the final move-out from his home recently, he called to ask me how he should plan to get the extra keys to the buyer at closing. Once we determined he would leave extra keys in the house for the new owner, he then said he "was leaving as soon as he removed the Nest Thermostat and replaced it with a standard one." 

UMM, NO. Thankfully he and I had this conversation, and thankfully it was before he removed it. This off-hand comment saved him and saved me a lot of trouble. A thermostat is a fixture and generally stays with the property. 

Ironically, about a week later one of my other seller clients asked me about removing a Nest Thermostat at a different property. Thankfully this was long before closing and he did not have a screwdriver in his hands. I explained that it needed to stay with the property. 

Paragraph 8 in the current version of the Residential Purchase Agreement addresses items included and excluded from the sale. It specifically states that existing "mechanical" systems stay with the property. It also goes on to say that "home automation" devices and "control units" are included in the sale. This is the default unless you specifically exclude those items from the transaction.

So no, sellers, please do no remove the Nest and ride off into the sunset with something that belongs to the new owner of the house. You will have to replace it with another Nest at your expense.

Now, if you are really attached to your Nest, you can take it with you -- if, and only if -- you do one of the following:

(1) Remove it and replace it with a regular thermostat before you put the house on the market. At that rate, the buyer will never know there was a Nest in the first place. 

--OR--

(2) Make a note in MLS that the Nest is not included in the sale. Maybe even put a little note on the unit in the house in plain sight for potential buyers to see. You will want the buyer to be aware of this at the beginning of the transaction. Then be sure that paragraph 8 in the purchase agreement specifically excludes the Nest from the sale. Then you may remove it at closing. If you make the comment in MLS, but the contract itself does not reflect the exclusion, then the Nest must remain with the house. (this confuses a lot of buyers, sellers, and agents alike)

And really, you can substitute a the same general two formulas for other items in the home that the seller wants to exclude from the sale. Like grandma's antique chandelier. Or your custom fish-shaped mailbox. Or the rose bush in the front yard that your mom gave you.

My suggestion? Remove whatever it is you do not want to include BEFORE the property goes on the market and replace it with something else. That way, the buyer does not know anything different and everyone has the same expectations.

Ramifications of jointly purchasing a home with a non-spouse...

Home buyers come in all shapes and sizes. A home buyer could be a single person. Or a married couple...Or an unmarried couple. Maybe two friends. Two siblings. Parent and child. You get the idea. But let's be real. There is a lot to consider when purchasing a property, and potentially a lot more to discuss when you are purchasing a home with someone who is not your spouse.

When buying a home with a spouse, your finances are usually at least somewhat co-mingled. California is a community property state, so a home purchased likely belongs to both of you equally no matter who brings what to the table financially.

But hey, it's 2019, and not every deeply committed couple gets married. Or perhaps two BFF's decide to purchase a home to be able to afford a nicer or larger place than one could afford individually. Or parent and adult child decide to jointly buy a home so grandma can watch the kids while adult child is working. I have worked with buyers in all of these scenarios and more.

But let's talk about the ramifications of making a large joint purchase for a minute. A home is a large asset to own jointly. If you are planning to buy a home with someone, you should have a pretty candid discussion the other person about your intended mutual financial arrangements and obligations owning a home together. And, if you were to separate, you should talk about how you would divest yourselves from it.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Couples who are deeply committed do separate sometimes. BFFs maybe eventually get married and want to move somewhere else with their new spouse. Or grandma gets tired of constantly having the grandkids around and wants a place of her own.

It can be a tough conversation to have. Buying a home is exciting, and this conversation can be a real buzzkill. It's as exciting of a conversation to have as, for example, creating a prenuptial agreement. But it is a really necessary conversation to have so everyone has the same expectations.

You should be thinking about this stuff and get mutual clarity on:
-Who is making what percentage of the downpayment?
-Who is paying what percentage of closing costs?
-Who will make what percentage of the monthly mortgage payment, utilities, HOA dues, property taxes, insurance, etc.
-Will this be a 50-50 ownership? Or some other percentage? Perhaps you may not want a 50-50 ownership if one of you will carry more of the financial load.
-How will you hold title to the property? (Married couples usually are "Joint Tenants" where essentially both owners collectively own 100% of the real property, and in the event of the death of one owner, the surviving owner retains 100% ownership. It might make sense to explore other forms of vesting, like for example "Tenancy in Common" where each owner owns an individual interest in the property. That interest could be sold on its own. There is also no right of survivorship, such that one interest does not automatically go to the other owner upon death and could be bequeathed to a beneficiary.) You should consult a CPA or an attorney on that one.
-Who will pay for repairs or improvements to the property?
-How will you decide who gets to deduct mortgage interest, property taxes, and other house-related deductible expenses on your state and federal income taxes (if applicable)? If you are unmarried, each owner will be filing a separate tax return.
-And most unexcitingly, if you were to separate and want to sell the property, would you split the net proceeds down the middle? Or would you want to first recoup your downpayment, closing costs, repair costs, and then split it? Or if you have individual ownership interests in the property, and one wants to sell his/her interest, should the remaining owner have any input as to who the new co-owner would be?

It's not exactly fun to discuss the termination of anything (especially a relationship or friendship), but it is also best to be on the same page now. It might be worth it to even draft an agreement relating to this sort of thing...

I know, buzzkill. But if you don't feel comfortable enough to have this conversation before making your purchase, perhaps you should rethink your purchase with your potentially joint co-owner.

As an agent, I see these scenarios play out all the time. Everyone is excited and happy to make the purchase. But then when things go south, it is a tense situation and nobody is on the same page when it is time to sell the property. Things are usually a little more straight-forward when a married couple separates (usually joint tenants, usually proceeds of a sale are split down the middle, if spouses do not agree usually divorce attorneys or judge help to steer the decision-making), however when people are unmarried it can get messy quickly.

Save yourself the trouble and think about these things in advance.

Measure twice, cut once...or in this case order the right size doors once...

I was showing a really nicely renovated Antelope home to a buyer client the other day, and wanted to take a look inside the fireplace. That's something I routinely do, looking for evidence of cracks inside the firebox area and other things...the doors of the fireplace were open and pushed to either side. When I was done looking inside the fireplace, I went to shut the doors. Ooops! They don't exactly fit this space. Sounds like a request for repairs in the making.

How to blow up your house...

Step one: hook a flexible gas line up to both your water heater and dryer.

Step two: 😖

Sometimes I wonder what goes through people's minds when they do really goofy do-it-yourself home repairs. Like this. I saw this showing property in Fair Oaks. Seriously?

What NOT to do to get your offer accepted...

One of my new listings that came on the market last week ended up with multiple offers over the weekend. Of the eight offers I received, 3 of them contained errors, or were just poorly written by the buyers' agent. Sadly, most buyers don't know how to tell if their agent has done a good job for them in this regard...and its lame for buyers to have the chances of their offers being accepted greatly reduced, especially in competitive situations, because they have an inexperienced or sloppy agent.

Without getting into the weeds of the California Residential Purchase Agreement contract, I will just point out a glaring example of what I mean. What's missing from this screenshot? Yep, the price. Just how much is this buyer offering for the home? My crystal ball tends to be hazy. Perhaps I should just take the liberty to fill in? Perhaps this buyer wants to pay ONE MILLION DOLLARS? (insert my best Dr. Evil voice with pinky finger pointed to the side of my pursed lips)

Probably not. Needless to say, this buyer's offer was not accepted for this house. Though I did reply to the agent and ask them to rewrite and submit the offer.

Broker license has been renewed for another 4 years...

Leave it to the California Bureau of Real Estate to figure out how to time travel. I finished my 45 hours of continuing education and just renewed my California real estate broker license this week, and the issue date on my new license certificate is nearly 3 months from now, September 12, 2016. I think that's kinda funny!

How many garage door opener remote controls sell with a house?

I figured I would point out something all Sacramento home sellers ought to be keenly aware of when filling out disclosure documents when selling a house...

The short answer to the question posed in the title of this blog post is: "as many as the sellers disclose they have."

An automatic garage door opener is a "fixture" in a real estate transaction. A fixture is basically an item that is attached to the house, and by its attachment becomes part of the house. Other examples of fixtures are things like the kitchen sink faucet, door knobs, built-in shelving, etc. Those items are generally included in the sale of a house. Sometimes those items can be specifically excluded from a sale, but that's another blog post for another time.

In the case of an automatic garage door opener, in addition to the device being a fixture itself, usually garage door openers have remote controls. And remote controls are also items that are conveyed with the property in the sale.

In the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement (TDS), there is a section where the seller checks off items that are part of the house. Under the "Automatic Garage Door Opener(s)" checkbox, there is also a line for "Number of Remote Controls" and a line to fill in with the number. Usually a seller will fill in that there are 2 remotes. Makes sense...garage door openers usually come with 2 remotes.

For some reason, home sellers seem to lose track of garage door remotes. Perhaps wife lost one of them a long time ago and husband is the person filling out the disclosure forms...or perhaps the remotes got packed away during the move. Whatever the case, if a seller notes there are 2 remotes on the TDS, then they must provide the new owner of the home with 2 remotes. Not 1. And definitely not 0.

I cannot tell you how many times in my real estate transactions, whichever side (buyer's agent or seller's agent) I have been on, the seller has noted more remotes on the TDS than they have in their possession. Numerous times, sellers have had to purchase new universal (programmable) garage door remotes to remedy this situation so that buyers are provided the number of remotes noted in the TDS. SO -- sellers, make sure that you note the actual number of remotes that you will be able to transfer to the buyer, even if that number is 0.

Or perhaps its a safe investment strategy to buy stock in the universal garage door opener remote control manufacturing companies.

How to remove that pungent Cigarette Smoke Smell from your home...

I showed a house in Orangevale a couple weeks ago...as soon as I got to the front steps I detected a very pungent odor. When I opened the front door, the air seemed thick with cigarette smoke. The walls were yellow. My client and I checked out the house in just a few minutes. I could smell the smoke on my clothes later. UGH.

I frequently encounter homes where there is a cigarette smell and am asked how to get rid of it. I spoke to one of my go-to contractors Jon Shepherd, President of JDS Construction (License # 962347), who does work like this all the time. "I once was hired to paint an apartment after tenant smoked for 40 years! Tar seeped out of walls like tree sap." He described a very long painstaking process to rid a home of cigarette smoke. "Wash tar off walls. Prime with denature shellac alcohol based solvent and re-paint. Remove and replace carpets and pad. Spray oil based Killz on the subfloor or slab." He has also had to replace central heating and air ductwork and attic insulation in extreme cases. 

There are other methods of smoke removal. A local Sacramento company "Smoke Busters" claims to eliminate smoke odor by pumping "Photonic Oxygen" into a home.

Whatever method you use -- the expense can be in the thousands of dollars. But I will say that the decline in value your home will suffer will likely far outweigh the cost to remove the smoke smell. This particular Orangevale home was probably priced $25,000 under a comparable property with no odor.

So I guess if you or a family member smokes -- you may want to strongly consider NOT smoking inside your home.

Real Estate #MarketingFail -- Uhh, why on earth would your agent do this?

I was driving through a remote area of Placer County this weekend, meeting up with my husband as he was on a training ride to deliver him some additional food and water...and I came across this. WHY? There are so many things wrong with this I don't know where to begin. I have no idea who this agent is, what the property is (raw land, zoning, if there is a home on it, etc), how it might compare to another property, how to contact the agent with questions, etc. This is just silly and a waste of a perfectly good sign post.

Fair Housing Laws: be careful how you describe and market a home for sale...

I have been asked a lot lately by my seller clients - how will you target specific market segments when you market my property? Ok, maybe they don't ask exactly like that, and I'm inserting my Realtor-ease into this post...I might hear from a seller, for example, "I think my property would be great for a family...Or this would be great for a single person...Or this would be great for a member of the church down the street...etc. How will you market my property to {fill in the blank}?"

The answer is - very carefully and deliberately as so not to violate federal law! Questions like this can set off alarm bells for me when I hear them, even from the most well-intentioned people. Certainly I can and do market my listings in ways that will reach different audiences, but using direct marketing language where these "groups" are concerned is a big no-no! Directing advertising toward a specific group, in theory, automatically excludes other groups, and therein lies the violation of Fair Housing laws. It surprises me how often I see direct marketing language used by other agents, or folks trying to FSBO. An example of this language might be "great family home" or "waking distance to the park" or "perfect for parishoners of the Catholic church," etc. Per US Department of Justice website, Civil Rights Division, Fair Housing Act:

Refer to Sec. 804. [42 U.S.C. 3604] "As made applicable by section 803 of this title and except as exempted by sections 803(b) and 807 of this title, it shall be unlawful--

(c) To make, print, or publish, or cause to be made, printed, or published any notice, statement, or advertisement, with respect to the sale or rental of a dwelling that indicates any preference, limitation, or discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin, or an intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination."

Saying something like "great family home" discriminates against single or unmarried people. "Walking distance to the park" discriminates against folks who are are physically handicapped and can't walk. "Perfect for parishoners of the Catholic church" discriminates against folks of other religions. Alternative language might be "great 4 bedroom home" or "close proximity to the park" or "you will love all of the nearby local amenities such as shopping, places of worship, schools, etc."

So be aware of these laws and careful when choosing the words to market a home. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has some Fair Housing Q&A's on their website, as does the US Department of Justice.

Staging tip of the day: Man-eating toilets don't appeal to the masses...

Yo sellers! Before you put your home on the market, it would probably be a good idea to rid your home of "Man-Eating Toilets." Have you ever seen "Little Shop of Horrors?" Does the phrase "Feed me Seymour" mean anything to you? I came across this gem in a South Land Park home for sale. A new toilet seat at Home Depot is less than $20. Well worth the investment. Candidly, I'd be a little scared to sit on this.

Truly a "groovey" Arden Park home....

Hmm...was wallpaper on the ceiling a 'groovey' thing back in the 1970's? I toured a home in Arden Park today that not only was cluttered beyond belief, but had wallpaper throughout and on the ceiling in this bedroom. What's sad is this seller is leaving money on the table. By not at the very least cleaning it out, they will turn-off potential buyers who can't see around the mess to the full potential of the home. They will not get the top value for the home because it will ultimately sell for less than what it could sell for cleaned up. Having a dumpster delivered is just a few hundred dollars...or often times many charities will come pick-up usable items.

What the F--- is wrong with this photo??

I took other agents in my Dunnigan Realtors Land Park office on a tour my new Tahoe Park listing today...we tour each other's listings as a group every week. I was taken aback by the sign out front! My name misspelled!!

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, or have been following my recent blog posts regarding my name change, you will know that I changed my name this summer after a several months-long process (from Erin Attardi, my former married name -- to Erin Stumpf, my maiden name that I reverted back to following my divorce a few years back).

Of course changing all of my marketing materials was part of the process, and my listing signs were changed out when the CA Department of Real Estate finally recognized the change and issued my Real Estate Broker license. This sign must have been made at 4:30pm on a Friday. Or perhaps they ran out of F's that day. Either way...it's been fixed.

How many smoke detectors does it take?

Paranoid much? This high level of residential disaster prep is a little bit over the top. When I toured this cute little 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom East Sacramento home today, I couldn't help but wonder...why? Three. Separate. Smoke. Detectors. Over just one of the bedroom doors. The other bedroom door had zero smoke detectors. Was the occupant of that bedroom not as "important" as the occupant of this bedroom? Does each smoke detector work? Perhaps the seller couldn't figure out how to change the batteries and just installed new ones? But why install new ones without removing the old ones? Well...my buyer client opted not to make an offer on this one, so I suppose that the mystery of the smoke detectors will go unsolved.

Do you love soap? This may be the house for you...

I like soap. And I like washing with soap. But if I had to guess, I would think that whoever owned this Tahoe Park home before it was sacrificed to the Sacramento foreclosure gods must have LOVED soap. My buyer client's iPhone sits in this tub/shower soap dish just to give it's length a little context. Really? I have never seen a soapdish like this at any Lowe's, tile store, or another house...? These folks must have really valued cleanliness. Or perhaps were hoping to score a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest soap dish?

Those bricks look thirsty and in need of a good watering...?

Between my work with both buyers and sellers, I see a lot of properties each week. Being a good Realtor involves previewing listings to stay on top of what is on the market so I know what is available to my buyers, and what sales will be relevant comps for my listings...plus I show lots of properties to buyer clients in all types of price ranges all over the Sacramento area. So in any given day, week or month, I tour numerous homes.

This weekend, I was showing a bank repo house listed in Orangevale to an investor client and came across this poorly rigged sprinkler concept. Why on earth would anyone want to run PVC pipe this way and have sprinklers set-up so close to the house, and so far from the vegetation it was probably intended to water? I think digging a trench in the ground in front of where the water spigot was located and running the PVC pipe there makes way more sense. But no...not to the previous homeowner apparently!

I come across all kinds of poor do-it-yourself type work in properties I show ALL THE TIME. I am quick to point these goofy things out to my clients... What were you thinking, previous homeowner? So I have decided that in addition to my recurring "Unique Stuff in Other People's Homes" posts that I do, I will also post photos like these under the clever lablel "What were you thinking?"