Patty's "All Things Real Estate" Blog.

(ARA) Now that winter has arrived, it’s important to take these four steps to improve your home’s energy efficiency — they’ll save you money and keep you warm, all season long.

1. Insulate

Insulating areas such as attics, basements and crawlspaces can make your home more comfortable and lower your energy bills.

2. Seal your windows

Use silicone caulk to seal air leaks or place shrink wrap film over drafty windows to help reduce energy loss.

3. Have your furnace inspected and clean your HVAC system

“Having your HVAC system inspected and cleaned can extend the life of your furnace and can even make it run up to 20 percent more efficiently” says Aaron Marshbanks, board member at NADCA — The HVAC Inspection, Maintenance & Restoration Association. “Having your system cleaned can also save up to 30 percent in energy costs and the increase in air flow usually translates into increased comfort.”

4. Change filters regularly

Once you have a clean HVAC system, it’s crucial to change your furnace filters regularly. Change your furnace filter once a month to keep your system running at peak performance.

For more information on how to winterize your home, visit NADCA.com.

(ARA) Each year about 70 percent of Americans make a New Year’s resolution and most soon forget they ever made one. Time for a change? Why not resolve to give your old house a new look in the New Year? Start the new decade with a new attitude about your home’s makeover.

• Here’s one you can stick to. Many home improvement projects can pay dividends and save energy. For example, in 2010, U.S. tax credits abound for energy-efficient upgrades like windows, doors, insulation, water heaters, roofing and certain appliances.

• Paint a room to renew it. Apply new interior paint to brighten up your home and brush away the winter blues. Hot colors for 2010 include bright or warm yellows, lavender for bedrooms and slate or charcoal grays to replace tan and beige tones as popular neutrals.

• Front and center. While you’re painting, remember the front door. A fresh coat of paint or polyurethane on a fiberglass or wood entry door can refresh the new look and luster. Consider whether the door still closes properly or if you can feel air leaks around it. If so, it’s time to replace the weatherstripping or the door itself. Please visit aracontent.com for the full article. Cheers to you and your home!

I get asked this questions several times a week and the short answer is that there is no exact time-frame. Whether you are buying Pleasanton Real Estate or anywhere else in California, every short sale is unique, therefore, the time lines to complete the transactions are unique.

Some short sales can be completed within 90 days, some can take up to a year. Why the big difference in time?  To answer that question, you need a little education on the process of a short sale.

When a contract on a short sale property is negotiated between a buyer and seller, the contract is then forwarded to the bank (sellers  lender) for approval.  That approval process can take weeks or months.  Typically with large banks there is a specific protocol that must be followed.  There is a list of documents that must be submitted with the purchase contract.  Account numbers & sellers names must be printed on each page (some banks require the sellers signature on each page), then the whole package needs to be faxed to the bank.  It can take anywhere from 7 -21 business days for the fax to be ‘digitally imaged’ into their system.  Once that is completed, the file can be opened and viewed by the short sale department.  After the file is opened, it need to be reviewed and assigned to a ‘negotiator’ which takes an additional 7 – 21 business days.  Once the negotiator has the file, they have another 7-21 business days to contact the sellers agent to start the process of determining whether they will accept the buyers offer.  So in reality it could take 3 months or more just to get the offer in front of the negotiator before any actual negotiations take place.  And if there is more than one lender in the transaction, that will take even longer as the 1st lender has to negotiate with the 2nd lender (and maybe even a 3rd), before determining if they will approve the short sale.  During this time the listing agent will be on the phone daily or weekly getting updates on the process, and depending on hold times, these calls can take hours.

If you are considering a short sale (on either side) it would be wise to select an agent that you feel confident will take the initiative to follow up consistently with all parties to the transaction, and make weekly, or sometimes even daily phone calls to the lending institutions for updates.

So the long answer is that short-sales can take a very long time, and in some cases even after all the waiting, there is no guarantee the bank will accept the offer.  But in the end, it can be worth the wait – if you have the time & patience to wait.

Pleasanton Real Estate Update

As of today, November 20, 2009 there are 152 Active listings on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in Pleasanton.

There are 153 Pending sales (72 of which are Pending Subject to Lender Approval as they are a Short Sale/Potential Short Sale). 

From the period of November 1 – 20, 2009, there were 37 Sold transactions (escrow closed) ) with an average time of 38 Days on Market (DOM) and an average sales price of $802,524 (lowest sold = $225,000 / highest sold = $3,200,000)

The lowest priced home in Pleasanton is at 8003 Arroyo; it is a 2 Bedroom/1 Bathroom, approx. 903 sq.ft. Condo offered at $285,000 (DOM 39). 

The highest priced home in Pleasanton is at 3040 W. Ruby Hill Drive; it is a 7 Bedroom/9+ Bath, 6-car garage home, approx. 14,586 sq.ft., Single-Family residence offered at $9,800,000 (DOM 204).

If you are looking for Pleasanton Rental properties there are 31 rental properties on the MLS in Pleasanton. They range from a 400 sf, 1 bedroom, 1 bath near downtown for $845 month, to a 8,931 sq.ft, 7 bedroom, 9 ½  bath home in Castlewood for $9,000 month.

As a California licensed real estate Broker & Property Manager I am constantly researching the market and analyzing home prices so I can serve you with the latest and most accurate information. As always, I offer my services to you as your Home Research specialist.  For more information, contact me, or visit my website at:  www.PattyManzi.com.

I recently heard a horror story and though I would share it with you. 

A family made an offer on a property, it was a distressed property so they were dealing with the sellers bank.  After the offer was submitted to the bank, the bank came back with an addendum that said there was NO Inspection Contingency period, and the buyer would be accepting the house AS-IS.  So the family, with the knowledge of their agent, decided to accept the banks addendum.  The buyer, and apparently the agent as well, mistakenly thought this addendum meant the bank was not allowing them to have any property inspections - so they didn’t!.  After escrow was closed the buyer called the utility company to have the power turned on.  They moved into the house and guess what?  No Power!  The utility company said the service was connected to the home, so the lack of power meant they had other electrical issues inside the house.  As more details of this story unfolded, it was apparent that the house never did have power.  When they initially saw the house the utilities were turned off.  At no time did anyone (sellers agent, buyers agent, buyer, seller) suggest the power be turned on so they could make sure everything worked. As a result, this buyer is now having to do electrical repairs so they can live in the house  - and they are very very sad, dissappointed, and angry.  And they should be!

First of all, when any contract says that a sale is AS-IS, the buyer still has the right to know what the “AS-IS” is.  You HAVE to know what you are buying.  Banks cannot disclose the condition of a property because they have not lived there.  Their contracts are AS-IS because they have no knowledge of the property condition.  It is the responsibility of the buyer to INVESTIGATE the condition of the property.  And by investigate, I mean order ALL THE PROPERTY INSPECTIONS YOU WISH TO HAVE. 

When a banks addendum says there is NO Inspection Contingency, that ONLY means the buyer will not have the typical  ’grace period’ after the inspection in which they can cancel the contract based on the results of the inspection.  It DOES NOT mean that you relinquish your right to have inspections.  The bank won’t know, or even care if you have inspections that are not part of the contract, just like they won’t know what you had for breakfast today. 

Always, always, always get inspections when you are buying a home!