Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News

Q:  We hired a top real estate agent to sell our home. Yet, his assistant is the one helping us most of the time. Sometime another “assistant” will call us to convey information. Our adult daughter is furious that the agent she recommended to us has turned over the day-to-day activities, including Open Houses to others. We were told it’s common to have the top-producing agent reappear once we have an offer in hand. How prudent is this team approach?

A: The most successful teams communicate all day long about each one of their Buyers and/or Sellers. The problems arise when the “top” agent is kept in the dark about his clients. This business model is so he or she can focus on prospecting for new business, or, in your case, sales and negotiating for existing clients.

Were you were told about this team effort upfront? If not, it’s time, together with your daughter that you had a sit-down with the agent you hired. If the team approach is what you signed up for, ask that unlicensed assistant be restricted to non-sales and marketing activities, especially, conversations with you about your listing.

The other concern is that the most experienced agent might not promote your listing via conversations with the public or their representatives upon an inquiry. That duty is delegated to his or her staff. When that happens, the chances of a strong offer, let alone any offer are greatly diminished.

6-4-11

Do you have a question for the Market Wise column in the  San Jose Mercury News? If so, please email your question to: SiliconValleyBroker@gmail.com

Pat Kapowich. Broker/Owner
CERTIFIED RESIDENTIAL BROKER
ABR, CRS, GRI & SRES
Home Sales Expertise and Experience
(408) 245-7700

Later Life Living Options with Janet Meiselman, Geriatric Psychologist ~ Pat Kapowich’s De Anza College Class Series ~ Saturday 3-17-12 @ 9AM

Click here to Sign-up on the De Anza College Website

The Featured Guests on Program #180:

Janet Meiselman, PsyD, Geriatric Psychologist
jmeiselman@mac.com

View the rest of my videos at http://www.wellcomemat.com/siliconvalleybroker/

For more information, check out KAPOWICH REAL ESTATE, Silicon Valley Broker, Pat Kapowich
Shawn R. Parr has been self-employed since 1989 and has demonstrated success in the real estate, high technology, and legal fields. He has steadily grown Parr Law Group with a reputation for excellent yet affordable legal representation. He represents numerous individuals and corporations, both as plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state litigation. He has substantial experience in business law, corporations, contracts, personal injury,
civil and criminal defense.

Mr. Parr is well known for his expertise in the real estate industry. Having over 20 years of experience in real estate helped him garner the title of general counsel for several successful real estate related firms, including 8 large Century 21 offices that employ over 500 agents. He represents these and other businesses in many ways: plaintiff and defense work, contract negotiations, corporate law, growth and wealth preservation strategies.

Today's Guest List per our show's Segments: 

The Market

Bill Van Pelt, Lending Update
PACIFIC LYNX MORTGAGE CORPORATION
19200 Stevens Creek Boulevard Ste 220
Suite 220
Cupertino, CA 95014
Direct: 408 255-3600

Michael Simonsen, Market Trends
Altos Research
280 Hope Street
Suite 100
Mountain View, CA  94041
1 (888) 819-7775

Steve Bellumori, The Facebook Effect
Coldwell Banker
1377 El Camino Real
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650) 752-0826 Office

The Properties

Santa Clara County Assessor Larry Stone,  Prop 58 Update
County of Santa Clara
70 West Hedding Street
East Wing
San Jose, CA 95110
(408) 299-5500

HOA Specialist Jacquie Berry, HOA Update
Communty DataSource
HOA Document Reviews
331 Piercy Road
San Jose, CA 95138-1403
(408) 226-2437
(866) HOA-DOCS

Mark Rodriguez, Termite Inspections
Tyler Termite Control, Inc.
305 Vineyard Town center Suite 326
Morgan Hill, Ca 95037
(408) 927-6300

The Transactions

Real Estate Attorney Shawn Parr, Distressed Properties
Parr Law Group
1625 The Alameda, Suite 900
San Jose, CA 95126
Phone: (408) 267.4500

Elder Law Attorney Sheri Sudweeks, Reverse Mortgage Scams
Carney, Sugai & Sudweeks, LLP
750 University Avenue, Suite 140
Los Gatos CA 95032
408) 354-0200

Real Estate Attorney Sam Chuck
Rossi, Hamerslough,
Reischl and Chuck
1960 The Alameda
Suite 200
San Jose, California 95126-1451
(408) 261-4252

1590 KLIV is Silicon Valley’s only all-news radio station.

Unlike San Francisco stations KLIV’s focus is on the news, events and people of Silicon Valley. We are a rarity in today’s world of radio: a locally-owned station that serves the needs of its community. 

Besides local news coverage 1590 KLIV is known for our frequent and accurate traffic reports covering Silicon Valley roads and freeways. KLIV’s traffic coverage is unique in a number of ways. For example KLIV routinely tells listeners not only the location of a traffic problem but also the time it was reported to us.

1590 KLIV is an affiliate of CNN Radio, which provides up-to-the-minute national and international news. Overnights and weekends we air CNN Headline news with frequent local news and traffic updates.

1590 KLIV airs special programs such as our Tuesday night CEO Show hosted by Silicon Valley Leadership Group President and CEO Carl Guardino. We carry speakers from the San Jose Rotary Club, the Commonwealth Club and special news programs from CNN.

If you live in or around Silicon Valley we urge you to listen frequently to the only radio station that focuses on the news where you live, work and drive 1590 KLIV.

http://siliconvalleybroker.com/pats-real-estate-forum-series

Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News

Q:  Twice we have waited weeks for Lenders to approve our Short-Sale purchase offers only to learn through our inspectors that the homes were not in the good condition they were purported to be.  Each time we had to cancel our transaction since the distressed sellers and their banks made it clear no repairs were forthcoming.  We literally lost a total of over three months waiting, plus the cost of inspections.  All that our agent has to say is “third time’s a charm.”  Since most of the listings in our price range are Short-Sales, what can we as Buyers do to improve our chances and reduce the time and money wasted on this protracted process?

A: As a Buyer, you shouldn’t wait for formal lender approval of your Short-Sale purchase offer to inspect the property.  The following is yet another example of how inspections pay for themselves in more ways than one:  Once the Buyers and the Sellers have ratified a contract, the property is listed as a Pending Sale on the MLS and the offer is forwarded to the bank(s) for lender approval.  There can also be prolonged negotiations behind the scenes.  That’s the time you, as a buyer, should hire an accredited Home Inspector and accompany them while he or she inspects the property. Investing hundreds of dollars and a few hours with an inspection this early in the Short Sale process could save you valuable time over weeks and months. More importantly, you can submit the inspection(s) upfront in the negotiations with the Seller’s lender(s) via the agents involved in your sale. This is the optimum time to ask for and receive any concessions for deferred maintenance.  This gambit should issued while the negotiations are in the forming stages. Waiting until the protracted Short Sale negotiations have concluded to ask for repair concessions, as a last course of action, is usually a dead-end road.

10-1-01

Email your questions to SiliconValleyBroker@gmail.com

Pat Kapowich for the San Jose Mercury News

Q: We made an offer on a home and the seller had two days in which to respond. After the time elapsed with no response, we went home shopping. Now our buyer's agent just informed us that our offer has been accepted -- two full days after the expiration of our offer. We want the home but this is a little fishy. We do not feel too comfortable at this point. What do most buyers do in this situation?

A: Real estate attorneys will tell the agents involved to have all the parties re-sign the purchase contract. That is usually not done as a standard of practice. Normally the buyer simply submits their deposit to escrow and orders inspections and an appraisal. Conversely, if you and your family have a bad feeling about the seller, property, and/or listing agent and decide to keep home shopping, the same attorneys will agree that you may do so. A buyer's offer to purchase terminates when the offer acceptance deadline expires.

12-4-10

E-mail questions to Pat at
pat@siliconvalleybroker.com

Buyer Beware?! What About Seller Beware? How Sellers and/or their Licensees ask for Trouble These licensees have literally been trained to set up tripods with blown-up neighborhood maps, color coding the sales in the area, in order to gain new buyer and seller clients. Yet, they convince the seller that all this extra work is for them, the seller! Setting up multiple trip hazards in your seller's home and then deceiving them about its purpose, is flat-out immoral. Outrageous, when you think about it; they were hired to protect their sellers, not bamboozle 'em!

The Featured Guests on Program #180: Janet Meiselman, PsyD, Geriatric Psychologist jmeiselman@mac.com Mark Conroe, Presidio Development Partners LLC www.PresidioDP.com Versailles condominiums, a Presidio property www.versailleslife.com 650-348-0700

Produced by Pat Kapowich, ABR, CRS, GRI & SRES (Seniors Real Estate Specialist)