Latest / Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life / 790 Listings in Santa Clarita: How to Win in This Market

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790 Listings in Santa Clarita: How to Win in This Market · Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're at the 12th of August.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I cheated and looked of 2025.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: We are at Tuesday.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's that neuroplasticity that all of us really want to try to retain.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so we're going to talk about real estate.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm preparing for my fitting on the front line podcast, where we, me and Dr.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Levy, fantastic researcher, wonderful offering to help law enforcement, prison guards, EMT train for the fentanyl crisis out there.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Just incredible.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll be putting that show.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: I can drop a link into wherever you see this particular video if you'd like to see what all that's about.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Talking about real estate today, looking at all of the numbers, we are currently at 790 active listings all across the Santa Clarita Valley.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: I did a show yesterday on vetting a lender, what questions to ask, how you should approach that.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: And always with real estate, that continues to evolve.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: There was at one time that maybe certain lenders attached to certain entities like mainline banks might have been better than mortgage brokers or credit unions might have been better.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe even that still serves a purpose where credit unions might be superior with refinancing versus origination, where origination would apply to those buyers out there looking to purchase a house.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: So getting a new loan, maybe that would be the case that a particular type of lender would be best.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: And as it is today, it seems like the most nimble all across the board, the ones that are able to do the best deals out there when it comes to financing and home loans, seem to be the mortgage broker.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: Just because they have many different avenues to go down when it comes to borrowing money from other entities and then passing that on to the consumer.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: But again, the only way to know that is to be able to do your due diligence and research, ask the right questions, and get the right documents.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: So after you get approved and after you know what your all-in payment is, the next step is to then try to find a residence.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: So today we're going to talk about that and those best ways to do that.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: Let me give you the rundown on the inventory here.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: The seven last we hit 790, right?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Active listings, single family residence as condominiums townhome.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: So that's everything.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: Market watch, last seven days, that snapshot.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: What's happened in Santa Clarita Valley, all across the residential realm?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: We have nine coming soon.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: 68 listings have been placed on the market for sale.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Price changes 102.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: 21 properties have come back on the market, 35 active under contract, 44 pending, 44 closed, double 44.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's good luck because that's 88.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Expired 12, canceled 15, 10 have been put on hold, and nine have been withdrawn from the market.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you're searching for real estate, make sure your agents, including those properties that are no longer for sale, because usually people just don't change their mind unless they decide they can't sell their house for whatever reason.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: You might be that saving grace they've been looking for.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: So if your agent's going to operate outside the line, not just do that specific search, everything by your parameters, then you might actually get a better result.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: Looking at real estate, looking at the things for sale, people often want to know where's the best place to search.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: Local MLS-based systems are going to be your saving grace.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: They're not loaded with ads.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Usually they're owned and operated by a local real estate agent, wherever that is in any market.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, you can go to the major syndication sites, you can go to realtor.com, you can go to Zillow, you can go to Redfin, you can go to all of those different systems and more than likely see everything, but they're kind of gauged in a way to get you to give up who you are.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's the method, that's the madness.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: They want you to give up your personal information so you can then be added to their stream, their nurturing process to have agents reach out to you.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: And usually, folks, it's not just one person, and usually it's not the listing agent.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: It's an agent affiliated with one of those websites.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: They're paying for your information in the form of leads.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: They will follow up with you.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And like I said, it's not just one, it's usually a lot: three, five, seven, ten.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Depending on how many people is going to be getting your information, then those same number of people are going to be following up with you, and it's just a mess.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what I recommend.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: If you go to a local agent's website because I recommended it, and then they're forcing you to give up who you are.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's say they give you three to seven searches, carte blanche.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: No charge.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Is that carte blanche right?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: So anyway, no charge.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: So they're doing this, and um cool, right?
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: You're very happy.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then on that eighth property, the one that might be the one, all of a sudden it's asking you to give up who you are, your personal information to let you proceed.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like it.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Not my thing.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: You go to Santa Clarita Openhouses.com.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, that's my system.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: But you're only going to get an irritating pop-up every once in a while that might ask you if you want to save your search or do anything else, but you don't need to do that in order to see everything active on the market for sale.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: Santa Clarita Open Houses isn't just open houses, it's everything for sale.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: It is attached directly to the multiple listing service and no registration is actually required.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: So you'll be able to go there, you'll be able to search for real estate, and you're not going to have to be concerned about having any private personal information stolen or traded or taken from you in order to have you continue the process of looking for residential real estate.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Now, let me tell you this: if you do decide to save your search because you like the way the platform works, you want to come back, you want to look later, or you want to have properties that match your criteria that you've entered into my system, get sent to you by email whenever they come on the market for sale.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: Anything in the future, great.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to worry about anybody else connecting with you, contacting you, or adding you to their list, but yours truly, me.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: I don't sell the information, don't go outside the bounds.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: I am very much like that.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: I don't like to uh just unwanted areas.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: When you're ready, you let me know.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so let's talk about searching.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: So that's one way to do it, but I want to talk more about the parameters, getting access to those listings, even listings that aren't offering any kind of uh representation agreement.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they're for sale by owner listings.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: They also have the ability to be negotiated on by you.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: New housing as well.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: New housing typically builds in a commission for a buyer's agent because they do know that agents in particular markets have a lot of buyers, have a massive database.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: And typically, when a new house is being constructed or a new housing community, and it's a good deal, and it's really putting the resale market to shame, depending on where it is, maybe even at a less price per square foot, depending.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: Usually they do an email blast to their clients, and the new housing center understands, yeah, they probably have a couple clients for our particular development.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: So they honor a commission.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: The commission doesn't cost you at a new buying a new house, doesn't cost you anything as the buyer.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: There is no advantage whether you send an agent with you or don't send an agent with you as far as money out of your pocket or some advantage that you can get with extra credits from the builder.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: It is what it is, they build it in, period, because they understand working with those local agents is necessary for their business.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a good thing for you because at no cost to you, you get a second set of eyes on the whole process.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: And let me tell you this: some agents are in the practice when they sign up their clients for new homes, they disappear.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: They're not there during the process.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: I believe it's very important to have your agent all the way through sitting, signing documents, looking at everything, talking with the builder in front of you and asking all the right questions.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Are there mellow ruse?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: How much are they?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: How long are they going to go?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: When does the HOA fees mature?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: What's it going to be at build-out?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: What about the solar?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_00: I have solar panels on my house and I get no credit for that.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: How's that work?
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: So on and so forth.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of things that need to be covered when purchasing an open house.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: And yes, the open house agents do a fantastic job.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't met a slacker in that industry yet because their price of admission, they're not just people that can't handle the resale world.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of the time they were able to handle the resale world.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: They just want something that has better benefits because in this game, when you're doing real estate resale, the benefits are what you pay for.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have them baked into any kind of real estate brokerage.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: At the new housing, they get all that fancy stuff.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: The 401ks, the profits potentially, and they get a regular salary plus maybe bonuses with what they sell.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of a deal.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: They like that.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: But also they have to maintain a very high uh performance level when it comes to review.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: So the way to get what you want, uh just scare them a little bit with a bad review anyway.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't that, but I'm just saying, you know, they're that new housing.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: When you go into the resale world, again, you need to look at everything.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: You need to look at who's representing the seller.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then you have to ask yourself a question because if you're searching on especially a lot of the syndication sites, you're going to probably be teamed up with a buyer's agent, probably not the agent representing the seller.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: And is that what you really want?
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you want to work with a seller's agent?
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: I will tell you this.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: I believe working with a seller's agent is not a complimentary place for a buyer to be.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: I believe is detrimental to the home buyer because the seller has their agent.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_00: Now you're sharing the seller's agent.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: There was a fiduciary contract responsibilities that were set into place before you even showed up on the scene.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: And now you show up and you try to tie yourself with that agent.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: That agent knows your most intimate secrets, i.e., your bottom line, what you can afford, what you will do.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: And they also own the seller's information in that same regard.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_00: What will the seller actually take?
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: What will the seller be willing to do?
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then to have the same agent that has been in a contract with the seller preceding your relationship with them, going to them later in the process and saying, listen, I think we should negotiate this as far as what we discovered on their inspection report.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: This is what we need to do.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is what I'm thinking about.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: And that agent to have them perform or to be able to even take that back to the seller is going to be a little bit harder because of that previous relationship or that current relationship that was established previously to yours.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's difficult.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's human nature, that's the way the process works.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: Some agents have no issue with that, but those agents typically don't last because those sellers get very irritated.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, a lot of sellers don't like their agent playing dual agent.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: I can't tell you how many times I've sat in appointments with clients.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: And when I talk about how I don't like the dual agency model, how there are several states that actually make it against the rules, you have to have your own buyer's agent that cannot be tied to the seller in any way, shape, or form.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And then Canada as well, make that against the law.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: You the relief that comes across their face is quite interesting.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Even though, in some cases, agents use that as a way to sell, them being able to capture both sides of the transaction and maybe give an additional discount where they might not get that if they're paying a buyer's agent.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: But then you don't have that same negotiation.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: See, you don't, it's like hiring the attorney that's representing the uh suing you.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna use the same attorney, they're gonna both sides ragged.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's best to stay in your own lane and to have your own professional representing you, as it is the seller has their own professional representing them.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Again, it's worth it in the end of the day because you have a shark on your side, and they're gonna be able to best argue, negotiate, and take care of what needs to get taken care of as long as they're worth their salt.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: And they're how you find out if they're worth their salt, besides asking them and hearing it from them, follow up online, see what kind of videos they're posting, what are they talking about, what are their social media channels look like?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Are they talking about the last vacation they took in Rome?
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Are they talking about real estate markets?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: They're talking about how buyers and sellers can stay safe, how they can weed through all the BS.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Can they are they giving tips and tricks on the best ways to sell and buy real estate in a specific market?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Are they talking about trends, interest rates, inventory, blah, blah, blah?
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is very self-serving because I do this every single day, but I really think it's important for other agents to do it as well.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a secret.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Go out there and put out that information that buyers and sellers need to know.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: Should you get rid of an I love me room in a house when you're trying to sell it?
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Should you take down those that wall of photographs of you and your grandkids before you sell your house?
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a bedroom that shows on title as it being a bedroom, and you've made it into your sanctuary, your office, or your man cave or woman cave, or whatever some ancillary, ancillary room, well, you need to return it back to its intended purpose.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Very important.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: These are things that are real estate 101.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: But again, some agents assume their clients know these things.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's best as an agent to let them know this is what the market likes.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: This is what most buyers like.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now, the best way to do any real estate listing is to vanilla it up.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_00: You want to make it so most people like it.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, you're gonna find people that are really looking for a house that has those ugly teal, well, in my opinion, light green sinks everywhere, light green bathroom, light green tile, that teal color everywhere.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: Some people love that, but they're not the norm.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you're trying to cater just to those people, knock yourself out, but it's gonna be difficult to get the most out of the residence when it's not as vanilla as possible.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's super important.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: People say, should we stage it?
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you need to look at the market, look at competition, and see what's happening with property prices.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: If it's gonna cost more than you're gonna get out of staging, then I wouldn't do it.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: Should you remodel your kitchen or bathroom?
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Again, you need to look at where the market is, look at the last sold listings, look at their current condition, then also decide where the market is today.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a seller's market?
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: Is it a buyer's market?
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Do we have a lot of inventory, little inventory?
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: What are we looking for?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: What type of financing are they going in with?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's also a good question to ask.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Should I really build my house up and repair everything that's wrong with it?
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it depends on the prevalent loans out there in the world, but I'll tell you this: it's going to save you a lot of heartache if you have a home inspector.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be scared of it.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Have a pre-sale home inspection, come out, come out and walk through your house and Condor Town Home, crawl it, look at it, make good notes, and give you a report and have all those items attended to before you place on the market.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my God, it's so big.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: Because really, anything other than that, anything another home inspector is going to find, it's going to look uh it's gonna kind of look depending on less it was a massive thing that was missed, and then you also have recourse because you go back to the other home inspector and say, listen, Jack, you actually missed this when this other home inspector pointed out it's a really big deal.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then you don't see do a lot of times remedies are found in those kinds of situations.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: But if one home inspector is doing it, predicated on you selling your house prior to a buyer, that job that they're going to do is going to be pretty tight versus waiting until later, just having the buyer's home inspection put it together.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, there's ways to do it.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: For buyers out there, again, exploring that agent you're considering hiring, finding out where their value is, how strong of a negotiator are they?
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: They stand up to that agent on the other side and say, no, listen, we've been in escrow three weeks.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: My buyer is submitting this request for repairs based on fact, based on what the home wrote up.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, it's all health and safety items.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're not playing around.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: We're not asking for new paint.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: We understand the properties are sold as is, but the seller needs to attend this, whether with us or another buyer, but my buyers have their line in the sand, and this is what they're willing to accept.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's fair having somebody to stand up.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: And what are you gonna do, Mr.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: and Mrs.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: Seller?
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: You're actually gonna go back on the market.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: You've already been an escrow three weeks.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: We could get this done right now, get our contingencies removed, and close the transaction the next six, seven days.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: But no, you want to fight this, something that you're probably gonna have to do anyway, because your house is being basically torn up because of this, whatever this happens to be.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And these are the things you ask for on an ins uh on request.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: And you don't inflate the prices just trying to gouge the seller.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: You make your offer based on what you believe the property is worth and your your initial walkthrough.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: You do as much due diligence as possible as you walk through the property so you know what you might expect later in the way of repairs.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're walking through it and your agent is savvy enough to point out whether it's got some substandard panel or horrible electrical system based on the historical nature of a particular neighborhood or tract, and then you find out that it has some particular type of piping that was famous in these areas that totally failed but never was replaced in this particular house, you start adding up those numbers as you walk through it, and then you make your offer in accordance with that.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: If you miss it and that wasn't the one for you, and somebody else didn't have a diligent agent, they're gonna end up falling out of escrow anyway, because they're gonna get to that point, they're gonna get to that uh that repair, and your agent and you already knew what was potentially going to happen, and the seller's gonna say, no, I'm not gonna fix it, and you'll get a second chance at that property.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, if it's meant to be, you're gonna get another second chance at that.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have a good agent, they'll continue to follow up with that other agent to see where they are in the process.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: If in fact you wanted it so bad that you wrote an offer.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's a good real estate agent, they continue to follow up.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, all right.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm off my soapbox.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to have a great day.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_00: We're at Tuesday.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'll uh I'll fentanyl on the front line here when I get that done, that particular podcast.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be talking to a chief of uh excuse me, mayor of Sparta, New Jersey.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: So uh Dr.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Olivia will be doing that.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's very exciting, and I hope everybody has a fantastic day, and we will see you in the next one.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Connor with honor, over and out.