In our current market, who you work with matters more than ever.

Are you using the right agent to sell your home? In this changing housing market, who you work with matters now more than ever. I specialize in helping sellers who had trouble selling their houses previously, and they often tell me about their experiences choosing their last Realtors. Here are some common mistakes I’ve learned from these conversations.

Probably the most common reason why people hire a less-than-stellar agent is that they know them in some way. They’re either a family friend, a referral, or someone their coworker said was great. This isn’t a guaranteed way to find a bad agent, but it also means you’re basing one of the most important decisions in your sale on an amateur's word.

"Just because someone has a lot of social media followers doesn’t mean they can sell homes."

Many people recently told me they picked their last Realtor because they had a ton of followers on social media. After all, if they have 10,000 followers on Instagram, they must know how to sell homes, right? Unfortunately, based on my experience, this isn’t the case.

The truth is that our current market is a little down, and every agent is feeling the squeeze. This means that if you ask your agent how many sales they’re doing right now, and they tell you things haven’t been better, there’s a good chance they aren’t telling you 100% of the truth.

Our market isn’t easy right now, but I’ve worked in others that were much more difficult than this one. I learned techniques and strategies during the housing market crash of 2008 that can help people sell for top dollar, even in a shifting environment. Call or email me if you would like to know more; I look forward to hearing from you!

Why it’s important to choose an agent carefully and do your research.

Are you careful and thoughtful when choosing a real estate agent? There are a lot of Realtors out there, and not all of them have your best interests in mind. This was proven to me during one of my recent transactions.

I was representing the seller, and the house got three good offers. The agent that submitted one of the offers told me their clients were willing to offer more, but this agent wasn’t willing to let them do that because they didn’t believe it would sell for as much as we were asking for. Well, guess what? We got it sold for more than we asked for.

"Make sure you do the research and choose your agent wisely."

Then about two weeks later, I got a call from someone who said they put an offer in for more than what we sold for, and they were wondering why we didn’t accept their offer. Oddly enough, we never actually received their offer. I can only assume that their agent didn’t believe the house would sell for that much and put in a lower offer on their behalf. However, we would’ve accepted their higher offer.

I feel bad because this poor buyer trusted this professional to represent them as they were trying to buy their first home. I want other people to be able to learn from these experiences. There are a plethora of Realtors out there, but not all of them have your best interests at heart. Unfortunately, some of them are working for their own interests, whether it be for money or pride.

One way you can combat this is by making sure your agent is giving you statistical data on the marketplace so you can make the best decision possible. If you're only going off on Zillow, Realtor.com, or Redfin, all three of these sites likely have different price points, and you don't know what algorithms are used to create that number. Therefore, make sure you do the research.

Also, make sure you see the documents you're signing. Too many buyers sign documents without a price, and then an agent changes the price for them. That’s malpractice in our industry, so be very mindful of that moving forward with whoever you're working with. Our job as professional Realtors is to provide you with the best information so you can make the most educated decision for you and your family.

I would love to have the opportunity to sit down with you and see how I can assist you with your buying or selling. Call anytime at (714) 335-0844. I look forward to hearing from you!

You can still get a fantastic deal in this changing housing market.

Recently, I’ve been doing a series on standout success stories. There have been some fantastic wins in the past, but today’s example might be the best one yet. 

4524 Peach Tree Ln was on the market back in January 2022, and I probably don’t have to remind you how good interest rates were back then. At a 3% rate, you would assume buyers were lining up to make offers on this property, right? 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. At $1.775 million, this house received some offers, but they were lower than the owners wanted. They decided to take their home off the market, reevaluate, and check back in a few months. 

I followed up with them in July, and the owners were ready to try selling their home again. However, things had changed. Interest rates had gone up to 6%, and inventory had nearly doubled. The conditions weren’t as good as they were before, but I remained confident that they could receive a fantastic price. The condition, location, and quality of their home made me feel in my gut that with proper marketing, the owners could receive a record-breaking price. 

We listed the property at $1.85 million and went to work with our comprehensive marketing plan. We took professional photos, created a 3D-tour experience, made a video series highlighting the lifestyle of the area, and created a comprehensive video tour. 

Due to our efforts, we got 10 showings and three high-quality offers. In the end, we were able to negotiate a neighborhood-record price of $1.9 million. 

If you are thinking of selling your home or know someone who is, give my team a text or shoot us an email. We’d love to help you get the best deal possible.  

How we know our real estate market is shifting and not about to crash.

Are we headed toward a market crash? People ask me that constantly. Our market is not heading for a crash, but what makes today's market different from the one we had back in 2008 (the last time it crashed)?

In 2008, people were upside down with their loans. They couldn’t afford their homes, and many had creative financing that limited their options. Tons of people stopped making payments altogether, and they lost their homes. That influx of inventory is what created the housing bubble. There weren’t enough buyers to tackle the massive supply.

What about today’s market? We’re seeing a correction, and the reason I say that is because our inventory is still low. We just came out of an abnormal market with no inventory and record-low rates, which stirred up a huge frenzy. The natural thought is that we’re headed in the opposite direction, but that’s not the case. The market is stabilizing, not crashing.

"The market is stabilizing, not crashing."

Interest rates are higher than last year, but they’re still low from a historical perspective. Inventory also remains low. We simply no longer have an abnormal market where there aren’t enough homes to go around. However, markets all across the country are currently shifting, and each one is finding its place.

Don’t buy into the market crash hoopla. Some areas will do better than others, but that’s why it’s important to hire a professional real estate agent. They can show you these differences and help you make smart real estate choices.

If you have any questions about our market or real estate in general, feel free to call or email me. I’d love to help.

Here’s how I helped a client buy and sell simultaneously with marketing.

How can you sell a home while buying a new one? Today I want to share an example of how I helped a client sell and buy at the same time. 

"Out of 44 showings, we brought in 18 buyers for negotiations."

This client had already purchased their next property, but it was new construction and wouldn’t be completed for five months. What could they do in the meantime? 

I sat down with them and gave them three pricing options. They chose to price their home right at market value. From there, my team would use our marketing to create a buying frenzy. We highlighted not just the property but the lifestyle it provided. This way, my clients could dictate terms to their buyers. 

We pre-screened every buyer, so we knew each one was well-qualified. It was a very methodical process, which is the opposite of how people usually think of the selling process. Out of 44 showings, we brought in 18 buyers for negotiations. 

Because the marketing on their sale was so strong, my sellers could get the best terms possible. They negotiated with their buyer to stay in the home while they waited for their new house to finish being built. At the end of the day, it worked out for everyone, and it was all because of our strong marketing campaign. 

If you want to know what your options are or have any questions, please call at (714) 335-0844 or email fdelrio@live.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Here’s another excellent client success story for the books!

One of our home-selling clients had listed their home on the market last year, right at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. If you’ll recall, between March and June, the market was slow; if anything, we were experiencing a downturn in prices and showings. My sellers had to make a decision: Should they drop the price to sell the home, or should they weather the storm and come back to the market when things change?

Fortunately, my clients decided to take the home off the market for a while. During that time, we revamped the property and eventually put it back on the market this year. The current market is completely different from the one that existed when they first tried to sell. They could have put the home and the market and gotten slightly above fair market value, but instead, I suggested that we do something different and leverage the frenzy of the market.

"We got 40 offers on the home and ended up selling it for $147,000 over their asking price!"

The sellers allowed me to showcase the property in a unique way; we created some amazing videos that captured the story and essence of the home in a way that no one else could. Over three days, we had over 150 people come through for showings in five-minute increments. We made sure that every buyer who came through the property for a showing was financially qualified and excited about the property. We got 40 offers on the home and ended up selling it for $147,000 over their asking price!

I would love the opportunity to show you our marketing strategy and see if it’s a good fit for your situation. If you have any questions, give me a call or send me an email. Hope to hear from you soon!

Should you ask your Realtor for a discount or pay full commission?

Across the nation, the average Realtor only sells three homes per year. Here in California, the average Realtor sells only 1.5 homes. That shows you the average Realtor isn’t doing all that much to get your home sold. For example, they may take a few photos on their iPhone instead of hiring a professional photographer. Then they’ll put the listing on the MLS and wait for someone to submit an offer.

Because the market is so hot right now and homes are selling quickly for record prices, you might think that anyone could do that. So why shouldn’t you get discounted services?

"In real estate, you get what you pay for."

It’s important to understand that the average home only sells for between 3.5% and 4% over asking price. On the other hand, our team sells homes for an average of 10% to 15% over asking price. I’ve even had a few sell for 20% over! We also sell between 50 and 60 homes a year, so we’re well above the average.

That’s why, when you’re looking to hire a Realtor for your home sale, you should meet with more than one and ask them to show you their track records. A strong professional will be able to show you client testimonials that prove they’ll bring you value.

You get what you pay for in real estate. I once helped a client who had been told by other Realtors that their home would sell for $1.1 million. Those agents were offering discounts on commissions, but ultimately, the sellers were referred to our team. Instead of offering the sellers discounts, we talked about the highest possible price that we could get for them. When we listed the property, we ended up selling it for $1.375 million—$150,000 over asking price!

These are the benefits that you pay us for. We negotiate aggressively on behalf of our clients and bring them results they didn’t even think were possible. If your Realtor can’t show you these kinds of results, maybe you should ask them for a discount. However, you can get high prices by working with above-average professionals, and the buyers ultimately end up paying for the commission anyway!

If you’re looking to sell this year and want to see what kind of value I could potentially get for your home, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I’d love the opportunity to meet with you for a conversation.

A quick market update and a few ways to find out what your home is worth.

Many of you have reached out and asked, “What’s my home worth?” So I figured I’d give you a quick update on our market to help answer that question.

The short of it is that home prices are up everywhere. Until inventory increases, home prices will continue to rise steadily. Plenty of people have taken advantage of this by refinancing. However, that might not be an option for long.

We’ve already experienced true interest rate hikes this year; they climbed from 2% to 4%. Historically, 4% is still a fantastic rate, but we expect more increases. The Federal Reserve said they want to do two or three more rate hikes this year, so our interest rates might hit 5% by the end of 2022. 

If you want to know what your home is worth, I have a free tool that can tell you! You can find it on my website or follow this link. I pay money for this tool, but it is free for you. I know that there are a lot of other online estimates you could use, but keep in mind that they’ll give you a much broader view. The estimates we use are based on neighborhood sales, while those free tools use the whole city.

"Until the inventory increases, home prices will continue to rise steadily."

If you want a more detailed price, send me pictures of the most recent upgrades or remodeling you’ve done so that I can factor in what the algorithms can’t. If you’ve knocked down a wall, remodeled the bathrooms, or maybe even put in a pool, that could increase your home’s value.

If you’re thinking about selling in 2022, I’m here for you. I’m still selling houses at record-breaking prices, and I’d love to do the same for you. If you have any questions, feel free to call or email me. I hope to hear from you soon.

Here’s our 2021 market recap and what you should know for 2022.

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Today I’m sharing our 2021 year-end review and predictions for the 2022 real estate market. Will things continue to increase the way they have been, come crashing down, or level off nicely? I’ll also be providing some valuable information about how to navigate our market this year. The market itself was crazy in 2021; it was one of the most frenzied markets we’ve ever seen.

Feel free to watch the full message above, or use these timestamps that will direct you to various points in the video:

0:00 — Introduction to today’s topic

0:55 — The 2021 market in a nutshell

2:15 — The difficulty I personally went through last year

3:00 — We’re still in a strong seller’s market

3:55 — Be on the lookout for information that it’s fully factual, not misleading

4:55 — Make sure the real estate agent you work with is a true professional

5:50 — The five questions to ask when interviewing agents

7:00 — Our 2022 market predictions

7:15 — Wrapping up

I would love the opportunity to sit down, meet with you, and go over your real estate goals. Call or text me if you’d like to have a conversation or have any questions. I’m here for you.

Here’s a story that shows just how important it is to hire the right agent.

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In the real estate business, the people you work with are the keys to your success. We’re here at another closing for an amazing client who hired us to list and sell their property after not being happy with the initial offer that another agent had received for them. We sold it for a record-breaking price. Here’s the story:

The homeowner’s first agent was telling them that the offer they had was the best they would ever get. This was a trap, and unfortunately, there are a lot of people out there who would fall for that kind of conversation. We’re living in the greatest real estate economy of all time for home sellers. We have low inventory, low rates, and extremely high demand.

The reason I’m bringing this up is that these clients could have easily taken the $1.9 million offer that the previous Realtor got them. They didn’t, and it made all the difference. We took over the listing and ended up selling it for $2.25 million. We got this homeowner $350,000 more that they would have just left on the table if they accepted the first offer. Not only did we get them an incredible price, but we also negotiated a four-month rent-back agreement to give them more time to find their next home.

My point is this: There are countless stories of homeowners who decide to sell at prices that are too low because they got a discount in commission from their agent. Unbeknownst to them, they end up leaving hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table trying to save $10,000 on commission.

Be mindful of this if you’re a homeowner who is thinking about listing. Speak with multiple Realtors, interview them, and see what they’re doing differently. Don’t just hire a friend or family member because you feel obligated. You could be costing yourself thousands in hard-earned equity.

I have 23 years of professional real estate experience, and my team is always innovating and looking for new and better ways of marketing properties to receive that higher price. If you have questions about selling, buying, or anything else related to real estate, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.