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Can Facebook Help You Sell Your Home?


If used correctly, Facebook can be an amazing marketing tool for today’s home sellers.

In the age of the internet, there are many online resources that can help people sell their homes—but what about Facebook? Can Facebook help you sell? Actually, yes. Using a targeted approach, Facebook can allow sellers to double their exposure online. Here’s how it works: First, ask yourself who the ideal buyer for your property is. Defining the profile of your ideal buyer will help you determine what your “avatar” is and how you can market to them. In this case, the term “avatar” means your target buyer.

 Once you have this avatar in mind, it’s time to film and post video footage of your home. Videos get the highest level of engagement on Facebook, and are also the most highly prioritized in terms of where they appear on the site.

Using a targeted approach, Facebook can allow sellers to double their exposure online.

 The third step in leveraging this platform to gain exposure for your listing is to pay for Facebook ads. Using Facebook advertising to reach your specific, ideal buyer can vastly increase the amount of attention your listing receives.
Facebook is such an effective real estate marketing tool that our team was recently interviewed by The Wall Street Journal regarding this tactic. You can see the full article here, but to summarize what we revealed during the interview, our team was once able to sell a client’s home for $125,000 more than the next-highest offer by using Facebook in our marketing. The bottom line is this: Using Facebook as a tool to help sell your home can be massively effective. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
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Location: Silicon Valley, CA, USA

Has The Silicon Valley Market Hit Its Peak?


A lot of people have been wondering if the Silicon Valley real estate market has peaked. Today we’re taking a closer look to determine whether that’s the case or not.

With Silicon Valley home prices up by 25% this year already, many area property owners are wondering whether prices can go higher or the market has hit its peak. I’ve got a fall market update for you today that will answer that question. To understand where this market is headed, we have to understand what’s been driving it up in the first place. Real estate is a supply-and-demand driven market, but there is an affordability ceiling. For most real estate markets around the country, a balanced inventory means we have about six months of supply. This means that if no other homes came on the market, all the available homes would be bought in six months. Right now in Silicon Valley, we have only six weeks of inventory available, which is actually up 50% year over year. What’s keeping our inventory constrained? A few different things. First, retirees aren’t moving. In fact, 87% of retirees are staying in their current homes as opposed to relocating or downsizing. Another factor is move-up buyers. Buyers who purchased their home five to 10 years ago and want to purchase a larger home now are facing the prospect of a property tax bill that is double or triple what they’re currently paying. For that reason, these would-be sellers are deciding to remodel or expand instead. Lastly, anyone who has bought a house in the last five years likely has a very low interest rate. If they decide to buy, they will see their interest rate increase almost by 50%. Many are choosing to remodel or expand their current properties, instead.

Home prices are rising faster than wages are.


What drives demand in real estate? Jobs. In Silicon Valley, there are plenty of them. Last year, 47,000 new jobs were created and 22,000 people moved here. The real issue is that only 12,000 new housing permits were issued, mostly for condos and apartments. As you can see, we have a low supply and high demand, which has driven the market higher. You would think there would be no end in sight, but buyers can only stretch so far, which goes back to the affordability ceiling I discussed earlier. As higher and higher paid workers chase higher and higher priced homes, we get to a point where house prices are going up faster than wages. No matter where you work, you probably didn’t get a 25% raise this year to keep pace with home prices. 59% of tech workers surveyed said they couldn’t afford the house they live in with today’s prices and interest rates. Only 34% of first-time buyers entering this market can afford to buy a home right now. This means that our market hit its peak this summer. We’ve seen prices come off the top by about 6% since this June. If you’re a home seller, it’s a great time to list. Prices are still near all-time highs. If you're a buyer, inventory is opening up and prices are down a bit. There’s a great window for you to come in and buy your dream home. Either way, the time to buy or sell is now. If you have any questions about the market or want to discuss your buying or selling plans further, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
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Location: Silicon Valley, CA, USA

4 Qualities of an Exceptional Buying Agent


If you need a real estate representative for your next home purchase, there are four qualities to look for if you want to hire the best possible agent.

When it comes time to buy a new home, how can you be sure that the agent you’ve hired is well-suited for the job? There are four key qualities to look for when evaluating an agent’s fitness for your transaction: 1. How much experience does the agent have? About 90% of the homes in our market are sold by about 10% of the active agents within it. What’s more is that the average agent only sells between three and five homes every year. A truly experienced agent will be much more active than this. Find someone who is not only very active, but is also providing quality service to their clients. Zillow is a great resource for finding active agents—they have profiles set up on the website, and clients can leave reviews for you to look at. You can even check out our Zillow profile by clicking here. On average, agents on our team typically sell between 18 and 30 homes a year—five times the number of the average agent. 2. What negotiation skills does the agent have? Most brokerages provide contract training, but training on negotiation isn’t as typical. However, negotiation skills are extremely important, since it’s through negotiation that you can determine how much equity you’ll end up with at the end of your transaction. Everyone on our team is a certified negotiation expert, all taught with the same curriculum used at Harvard Law. We’re very effective in getting our clients homes for the lowest possible price.

Everyone on our team is a certified negotiation expert, all taught with the same curriculum used at Harvard Law.


3. What resources does the agent have? A good buyer’s representative will offer you some off-market properties in addition to what can be found on the MLS. Almost 25% of the transactions that take place today involve homes that never made it the MLS. Those transactions are brokered between the top 10% of agents mentioned earlier. In addition to getting you access to more listings, a top agent can provide other resources like vendor referrals for movers, painters, contractors, and more. 4. Can you click with their personality? Over the course of the transaction, agents and clients tend to form an intimate relationship. We’re helping you build your dream of moving into your new home, so of course you’d want to work with someone you actually enjoyed working with. If you’re in need of an agent to represent you during your next home purchase, we’d be delighted to interview for the opportunity to help you find your dream home, so feel free to reach out us. We’ll be right here, ready to help you create a better life through real estate.
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Location: Silicon Valley, CA, USA
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