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10 Real Estate Questions Agents Hate Answering: I Don’t. (Santa Clarita Edition) · Connor with Honor: AI, Real Estate and Real Life

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: You want the top 30 questions answered about real estate?
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'm going to give it to you right from my hip.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't scripted.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, except for the questions, of course.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't remember the top 30.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm going to give those to you right now.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, when is a good time to sell?
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's going to depend on your local market.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: A good time to sell in Southern California might not be the same good time to sell in New York.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: We have entirely different weather patterns.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Also, while most schools are in session kind of at the same time, most of the time here in Santa Clarita Valley, it's very much dependent on parents and their kids and their school and that kind of placement, especially when people are coming from Los Angeles because they don't like those schools.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: They would rather still attend to have their kids attend public schools, but with much better marks, much better reviews as far as how that teacher to student ratio is.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, there's many other factors involved in scoring a school, but that's a big drive out here.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a good question.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think that in most markets, that February, March, April-ish time as we get into summer typically is the hottest.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, after that, it's going to depend on buyer drive interest rates and other factors.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: So, really, a very loaded question.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to depend on that particular market, but I gave you some tips.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, what's my home worth?
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: How do I determine that?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Lots of different syndication sites will tell you what your value happens to be on your residence.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of them have uh interests, just like a real estate agent might.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: So the value might be a little skewed depending on what you look at, the system out there.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I would just say be very careful.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: I usually, for my clients, I'll usually pull five of the syndication different values for that particular residence when they're asking.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Then I'll do a hard comparable pull from the multiple listing service, which is going to be much better data.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: That information is going to be directly from the MLS.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: So there's rules in place as far as how it's recorded and when.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: For example, if there's a listing that really wasn't looked at or closed and it closed automatically, for example, maybe there were some concessions missing, or maybe something wasn't a factor.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: The syndication sites will probably still just pull that as a proper recording, but it could be skewed.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why it's the importance of going and looking at the real data after I get done, you know, sending the regular comparable data with regard to what the syndication sites are actually showing.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: There are discrepancies when I look at all this information.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, some of the syndication sites can be off$40,000,$50,000 in value.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of times it seems like they shoot low, depending on how I'm logged in.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: If I'm logged in under my name, looking at it as if I'm claiming my own property, it's going to give me a different value if I'm logged in there as a neutral buyer, not actually logged in, but just doing a general, like a guest type search, different number.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: Go figure.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: So number three, how do I get my house ready for sale?
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: There's always only one chance to make a first impression.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: No?
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Is that how that goes?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, so as far as your house, you definitely want to pay attention to the curb appeal.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: You want to actually prepare your house as if maybe it's a human being that you're preparing to go on a date.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: You want to trim everything.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: You want to clean it up.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: You want to make it q-tip clean.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And you also want to show as much counter space as possible.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: It's important that you also make sure that you depersonalize the residents.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now, hanging, having stuff hanging on the walls that says love and memories and these sorts of things, that shouldn't be an issue.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: If it's painted on, however, and not some kind of a word that's made out of wood or some other type of uh type of thing and it's on the wall, it's actually written on there.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's going to potentially be a concern to the buyer because they're going to look at that as something they're going to have to change.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: Also, you don't want the questions raised.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have repairs that have been done in the past, but you still have exterior damage, you're not covering anything up.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: And those will be revealed in disclosures that you did remedy the situation, but there really is no uh reason to leave those things as they are.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: You should repair those completely before you put the property on the market, because the last thing you want is the buyer coming in and seeing these as potential issues.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, they're going to be addressed in disclosure, so that's important that you're completely honest and forthright.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: But as you're preparing your house, if there's something you didn't do in the past, you want to make sure you get that done before you put your house on the market.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's very important.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: Then, of course, you want to keep records for everything.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: Buyers love that.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you're one of those people that throw away every particular warranty that comes with something and you just are new, a new owner of a residence, you want to change your habits and try to hold on to all the documentation from everything you ever do to your residence.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Also, from the outside, it's important to also clean up those spaces that somebody's approaching.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: That curb appeal is really not valued at the highest regard.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: On the inside, if you have appliances you really don't use that are taking up counter space, move them to the garage.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: All the overflow stuff, it's okay to put it in the garage and store it, unless your garage is something of a person cave that has been completely outfitted, that looks like every person's dream that loves to stay and hang out in their garage to be away from everybody else.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: If that's yours, then you're gonna have to store your excess junk somewhere else and not clutter up that garage.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, number four, uh, should I get a home inspection before listing?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: It shows transparency.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't hurt.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think buyers like to see that documentation.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's not gonna prevent them or probably even stop them from hiring their own home inspector to look at the property.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: But having a pre-home inspection and a pre-termite inspection, that's usually good stuff because now you get your house outfitted and it shows due diligence and it definitely will cause you to look different than most of the other sellers out there that happen to have their properties on the market.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Very few of them do this.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Number five, how long will it take my home to sell?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: It'll take as long as the right buyer to come along for that particular residence.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I will tell you it's going to depend on time of year, supply and demand, different market factors.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's very much a loaded question.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: If somebody's telling you that it's going to sell within hours, that's a tough one.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe in that particular market, they'll be able to call a shot like that.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of the day, it's going to depend on that market drive, the different factors in the area and how many buyers happen to be out there looking for a residence just like yours.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: There should be able to be a gauge given to you based on historical information.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: If we're changing seasons for listings, then maybe the data is going to be a bit skewed, but they should be able to go back in the historical data and look at information pertaining to how long it's taking those residences to sell in that area, and then of course continue and offer you that.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so we're at number six of 30.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: Number six is for buyers.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: What is the first step in purchasing a home?
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Definitely you want to get approved for your mortgage.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: You want to talk to a real estate lender, whether that lender happens to be associated to your agent or a lender that comes from the bank that you happen to be associated with.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: There's also other options out there.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Credit unions aren't a bad selection as far as origination.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Origination means a new loan on an existing residence or a new house.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Origination is not a refinance, so that's the difference.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you're going and looking to borrow money to purchase a residence, the real estate agent is a good first step.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then maybe seeing who they recommend as a lender is a good second step.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you happen to have family referring you to a lender, that's not a bad idea either.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: After you secure your lender and after you talk with them, if your agent tries to extract you and pull you away, I would think that's a little rude.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: I would rather have myself, as I do in my business, contact that lender, make the introduction, and then push forward.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I know people in lending.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I know people that do a great job, but to try to take somebody from somebody else that's already been referred to you, I think that's bad form and maybe should bring some question into your mind.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: For buyers, what type of financing loan options exist and how much for a down payment?
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: Great question.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into this.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: So it depends on where your wherewithal is.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: You might go FHA because you don't have a lot of money down.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're military and you have access to a VA loan, so that's going to be almost nothing, if not nothing, down as far as the down payment goes, or you might have a good chunk of money to go in a conventional route, which would be anywhere upwards of 3% to 5% to 10% to 15% to 20%.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: A typical down payment for a conventional type loan, the one that doesn't have any property mortgage inserts attached to it, is going to be 20% down.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's going to be the way you're going to do this.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you go in FHA or any type of loan that doesn't have at least 20% down, more than likely you're going to be paying an extra fee per month with something regarding what's called property mortgage insurance.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if that's the case, then you need to factor that in within your payment.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: So there's different types of loan programs out there.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: Your lender should be able to explain a lot of them to you.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Most of them are 30-year fixed, and that's kind of the typical type of loan.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: That's where this thing doesn't change.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to be paying a lot of interest.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: There are ways to cut that down without any doing any kind of a refin by making extra payments to principal.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I did a video on that the other day.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't take a lot.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: You just have to make sure the extra payments you're making is going towards principal and not towards the interest.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: A biggest part of a loan, when you start paying on it with a 30-year mortgage, the biggest portion at the beginning is going to be applied to interest.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Principal doesn't start really getting tapped into it a high degree until you get closer to that 30-year point as you're moving through the lending process.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: If they're talking to you about adjustable rate mortgages, make sure you completely understand what that looks like.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: An adjustable rate mortgage could create a lot of issues.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: It could come in at a super low rate now, making your payment look very affordable.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: But then depending on what index it's associated to and when the maturity date is, then that interest is going to go up and it could go up a lot.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: It could go beyond where the market is at some point.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to be careful getting something other than a 30-year fixed.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: If it fits good for you and the rationale makes sense and it fits within your lifestyle and budget and where you happen to be currently, great.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: I find that a majority of my buyers don't like that product and it's pushed really hard.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: So be weary with that.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: So now we're going to move into where are we?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: What does a buyer's market versus a seller's market mean and how does it affect me?
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Number eight.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: A buyer's market means the buyer has the advantage.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of residents for residences for sale.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: They're not moving very fast.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: They're taking longer time frames to actually get into escrow.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: So the buyers have more choices out there, and there's much less competition.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: A seller's market would mean there's not a lot of inventory out there.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: There's a high buyer drive, properties are moving rather quickly, and there is a supply and demand where there's not much supply, but a lot of demand that puts it in a seller's type of market zone.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: Advantages for a real estate buyer.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: If you are in a buyer's market, you might be able to undercut those listing prices by various amounts.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: More than likely, when it comes to a request for repairs, you'll probably be able to extend yourself and get a lot of things done.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they'll help with closing costs, maybe they'll do other things in a buyer's market because you're very rare in that type of market or you're as much very much a commodity because there's not many of you out there and there's an oversupply of inventory.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: In a seller's market, what that means is you're probably going to be competing with other buyers.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's probably going to be multiple offers.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: You'll have to go back and forth and play the countering game.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: They might ask you to go to a highest and best type of standard, which means give us the maximum amount of money you'll pay us for this property, and also make it the best you possibly can in accordance with your ability to finance.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're going to shave off inspection days.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're going to try to get all your inspections done in 10 days versus 17, which is the basic, at least now, as we're finishing out October 2025 in the California contract.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're going to shut that down to 10.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that is advantageous to the particular sellers out there.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: So that's something else to consider.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: But just to throw this in a little extra, don't get too happy with changing your time frames because a real estate contract is all based on needing to get things done by a certain amount of time.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you start violating these, it starts to put you as a buyer, even on the seller side, to a disadvantage.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: So you have to make sure whatever you agree to, those days need to be able to be fulfilled.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: Your agent's going to be able to best guide you.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: Can they get the inspections done in X amount of time versus what the contract allows?
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: So that's something good to know.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: So number nine, why do I need a real estate agent?
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Can I do it myself?
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, sure.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: You can do it yourself.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: You're going to have to go into it and understand that in most states, uh, there are legal issues that could arise.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: And when you're working with an agent, you have a lot more responsibility tacked onto them because they're licensed, they're bonded, they're insured, and they also fall back on being a realtor, typically, which has additional uh discipline invoked if there is some kind of a mistake.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And there's also a particular pecking order, like with the police department.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: We had internal affairs that kept the police in line.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And if the police messed up, they were typically the overseeing entity that would provide discipline.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, even removal from being a police officer in real estate, we have RESPA, and they are that type of entity within real estate, so there is more accountability there.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna have to do your research, see if it does make sense to do it alone or hire an agent.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: When you're hiring an agent, their fee is negotiable.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget that.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: Number 10, what costs can I expect?
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Agent commission, closing cost repairs.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's really going to depend on that type of property that you're purchasing and again, what type of market it is.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: If it happens to be a seller's market, then more than likely sellers are going to hold most of the cards and probably you'll get to play a couple games of hardball when it comes to trying to find the right one that gets your offer accepted.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: On the other side of it, if you happen it happens to be a buyer's market, then more than likely you might be able to call better shots with that.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that's number 10.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: We have an additional 20 that I can send you very happily.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: All you have to do is send me a DM or hit me up at Santa ClaritaOpenhouses.com.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'll be able to send you that information and you can see the next 20 tips for buyers and sellers and questions that mostly they have.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Connor with Honor, Santa Clarita Openhouses.com.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you watching, and we'll see you in the next one.