PRIVATE: For George & Alan Moore
Again, our deepest sympathies on Joetta’s passing. Your mom was always a joy for me to visit. No wonder she’d ask me about the market! Always sharp, above all, always a smile. Could never forget one time when she answered the door, oxygen tank in tow, with a smile. It will always be a privilege to have met & visited with her over the years. As we serve you, we serve her.
Always great to visit with you George, and nice speaking with you Alan. Thought I’d summarize the most important points & strategies so far discussed (with George). If there’s one thing we’re known for, John & I will always give you the truth. Where there’s a challenge, we will present a solution. We will never tell clients what they want to hear to “buy” a listing. It hurts the client, and our reputation which we have built one step, one client at a time over many years of diligent & consistent work.
Thank you for the privilege of serving you. John & I never take these opportunities for granted, as we’ve worked really hard over the years to have the reputation & track record we uniquely have. (In the last 5.5 years, in the most in-demand areas of Chino Hills, there were 517 homes that sold. The #3 agent sold 17, the #2 agent had 27, and John & I have 94. You’ll see THAT list – it’ll be the really long one at the very end.)
1. CURRENT MARKET CONDITIONS: Chino Hills has seen 6 years of strong upward price action from the previous bottom of 2012 through early 2018. Average home went up between 40 to 50 percent. It went practically flat most of 2018. 2019 has been a year of beginning declines, around 5%.
In view of that we ideally have our clients have paperwork signed about ONE MONTH in advance of actually going on the market, even if the house isn’t physically ready, as we provide PRE-MARKETING to give your home an extra boost when it hits the market.
For decades the “best” time to put a home on the market has been late spring through middle of summer, because of school calendars. The last 6 years has completely changes in our city because the majority of buyers have been Chinese (many overseas/Mainland). That meant instead of the majority of buyers concentrated in the late spring early summer months, it became more steady as they purchased pretty much every month.
The interesting side effect is that it is now ironically BETTER to list a home OUTSIDE of the traditional period, when there are FEWER homes on the market. As an example, we put not just one, but TWO homes in escrow for 2 of our clients on 12/24 – that’s Christmas Eve last year :)!
2. Marketing: No other agents market Chino Hills like we do – in the most aggressive 3-stage process: from local Chino Hills door-to-door exposure to recent buyers, especially Chinese, to Southern California Asian print distribution at all major Asian plazas, and internationally, directly into China, most importantly, through our Chino Hills specific branded mobile app in Chinese. We are the only agents doing all THREE marketing ways to the Chinese potential buyers in their OWN language.
Love to go over how we market in Chinese, and online when we get together again. In the meantime, have a look. First is our full color, full page ad in the widest circulated Chinese weekly newspaper, followed by the only Chino Hills-branded Chinese mobile app, because the internet doesn’t work in China, but cellular does. (Be happy to demonstrate this in person.)
3. Unique & Special Properties of Your Home: According to buyers, those who prefer the Galloping Hills neighborhood consider proximity to Ayala High School significant. Additional benefits include easy access to the Shoppes. As far as the Chinese buyer is concerned we note the good feng shui points your home has, and you don’t have the unfavorable feng shui issues most avoid.
4. Addressing Your Mom’s Passing in the Home: By law, any death in a home within the last 3 years is a specific mandatory disclosure. (As an aside, if it’s past the 3 years, it is often wise to still disclose it under another category, the MATERIAL FACT disclosure. That refers to ANYTHING about the property that may affect the perception of value in the eye of the BUYER. In California, buyers have significant & broad recourse to anything NOT disclosed, and are often given 7 years from DATE OF DISCOVERY, which may well happen years after a home has been sold).
Having sold the MOST homes in Chino Hills $600K & up to over $1 million in the last 5 years, John & I have a very good idea of how potential buyers perceive & react to something like this. In GENERAL, the younger the person who passes the bigger the consequence on the selling price. In Mom’s case, she lived to her 86th birthday, which for most Chinese buyers will be less negative. To put things in actual perspective, we had listed a custom home where their daughter sadly passed in her late 20s, and even with a six-figure price cut there were no buyers. By contrast, most homes where the homeowner passes peacefully in their mid to later 80s usually only see a $25k range off regular sales.
**** I feel very strongly about showcasing Joetta’s art work. I love art, and have 2 grown daughters who are in art careers. Mom’s work – those colors honestly speak life, joy & beauty. I will prepare a short story sharing how these works of art came to be in her last months, both in English & Chinese. When Alice shared how they came to be it really hit my heart about your Mom. Having met & visited with her over the years, I believe not only will it bring a special sentiment to anyone considering making this their home, but it will be a beautiful way to honor Joetta.
5. Pricing: Realistically, based on CLOSED COMPS, and factoring the condition of Mom’s home, it should be a solid $700K home. That means we either list right at $699,800 to maximize exposure and the number of potential buyers, and if it’s meant to go over $700K then the goal is to get the most people looking and aim to get at least 2 competing offers. The other way is to go for $725K, and see how the market responds. If we get NO offers in 30 days, then the market is sending the message that it needs to be priced closer to $700K. Again, we will always tell you the truth – we will NOT tell you an outrageous price just to get your listing, and cost you time & money by wasting your time and pushing you for a price reduction every week. One of the benefits of selling so many homes in our city is John & I balance what the comps (SOLD prices) determine, against how high we can push your listing price WITHOUT losing potential buyers, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY knowing what the competition is, marketing against them, to do our best where Joetta’s home is positioned as the most logical best buy.
6. Commission: As the only agents actually spending 6 figures a year marketing for our sellers, for years we had to be at 6%. Over the last 5 years, as we INCREASED what we do for our clients like you, we have been able to REDUCE our fees, from 6%, to 5.75%, to 5.5%, 5.25%, and now only 5%. We realize we are often told there are friends who are willing to do it for less, but the hard truth is, because many agents don’t offer the extensive services & marketing we have done, they simply reduce commissions. We never take for granted that our families realize that, and make the decision to hire us for just a little more, yet knowing no one will work harder, market more aggressively & relevantly especially into the Asian markets. To further save you money, should we represent the buyer, there is ANOTHER 1% savings to you.
Here’s the list of what we do for you that no other agents do.
7. House Prep/To Do List: The best strategy here is to have it MOVE-IN READY. No upgrades, but concentrate on retouch, repair & repaint.
a. Spot re-texture repaired ceiling leak in master bedroom above bed, then repaint the ENTIRE ceiling area.
b. Remove wallpaper trim in master bedroom, repaint those walls.
c. Remove wallpaper in downstairs bedroom, repaint all walls.
d. Repair wood rot on external trim.
e. Repaint outside of home for maximum curb appeal. I’ve attached some color suggestions. Lighter is almost always better. Here’s a referral of a great & very reasonable painter who has worked on a lot of our clients’ homes. JP MOSER: 909-240-5210 (I’ve already let him know you’ll be reaching out to him).
Be happy to answer any & all questions you might have so we can start working for you as soon as possible.
THANK YOU!
Jack
(909) 262-3132
PS: We look forward to having you join the really long list of happy Chino Hills families who are our clients.
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If your property is currently listed with another broker, not intended to be a solicitation. Numbers deemed to be accurate to best of available info. Results will vary but we ALWAYS give you our best effort! Joaquinito “JACK” Soliman Lic# 01916419 John Balsz Lic# 01331827