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Don’t become a victim! Who’s truly on your side?

Contrary to common belief, asking the listing agent to represent you as the buyer puts you at great risk.
Buyers are already in a vulnerable position when acquiring a property. It is the buyer agent’s fiduciary duty to protect his/her clients’ interests.
Buyer agents can negotiate a better deal than the listing agent who is obligated to protect the seller.

Legislation affecting dual agents.
Assembly Bills 1289 and 2884(2018), effective January 1, 2019, provide that a dual agent may not reveal to either
party facts relating to the financial position, motivations, bargaining position or other personal information that may
impact price, in addition to the restrictions already mentioned.

Read the full story: California Association of REALTORS®

Are You Making One of These Mistakes?

By: Lisa Kaplan Gordon

Before you rush into planting your dream yard, keep a few tips in mind.

You can just picture it: a pretty cottage garden overflowing your front yard, with tons of heavy, scented blooms.

Well, at least you can picture it with your eyes closed. With your eyes open all you see is a bit of patchy grass and a few scrubby shrubs. Yuck.

You need some color, stat.

That desire, though, is often what causes so many homeowners to waste money and time. Keep disappointment away by avoiding these seven mistakes:

#1 Planting Without a Plan

It's hard to envision your yard 10 — or even five years  — from now, but it's definitely worth the effort to try. It's way too easy to under- or over-estimate how everything will grow together.

In just a few short years you could have a mess that'll hurt, instead of add to, your home's value. 

“I’ve been with clients who won’t even go into a house because of the bad landscaping outside,” says Mack Strickland, a Chester, Va., REALTOR® and appraiser.

If the task seems too daunting, landscape architects are worth the investment ($300 to $2,500 depending on yard size). They will lay everything out for you. All you have to do is follow the plan. Kind of like paint-by-numbers. That's easy enough, right?

Related: How to Create a Landscaping Plan on a Budget

#2 Planting Too Close Together

Yes, planting in clusters looks way better than installing single plants, soldier-like, throughout your yard. But make sure your groups of perennials, shrubs, and trees have plenty of room to spread, or they’ll look choked and overgrown.

Also, over-crowded plants compete for food and water, putting the clusters at risk, especially during drought.

Google how high and wide the mature plant will be, and then combine that info with the spacing suggestions on planting labels.

They might look a bit sparse at first, but within three years, they'll be looking lush and healthy.

Old time gardeners have this saying: "First year it sleeps, second it creeps, third it leaps."

#3 Not Finding Our Your Hardiness Zone

Don’t be seduced by catalog plants that look gorgeous before you check your hardiness zone. If you don't know your zone, you can find it here, which will help you pick plants that thrive in your area.

Pick the wrong plant, and it could die prematurely (a waste of funds), need covering in winter, daily watering, or other tasks that'll consume your time, and just make you resentful in the end.

#4 Going Overboard With Your Favorite Plant

You love azaleas!! And what colorful blooms in spring! So why not plant a ton of them?

Because you could risk a yard that looks dull, dull, dull in all seasons but the one when your favorite plant blooms.

It's important to make room for four-season color.

For example, combine your gorgeous spring-blooming azaleas with summer-blooming roses and autumn-blazing shrubs, such as a burning bush (Euonymus alatus).

For winter color, try the red osier dogwood (Cornus stolonifera), a hardy shrub that sports bright-red branches in winter.

Related: 9 Winter Plants that Dazzle Even in Snow

#5 Letting Dead Plants Linger

Nothing wrecks curb appeal faster than rows of dead or dying shrubs and perennials.

Spent plants that lived their natural lives are good candidates for a compost pile -- if you grind them first, they’ll decompose faster. But if your landscaping succumbed to disease or infestation, it’s best to inter them in black plastic bags, then add to the trash.

#6 Weeds Gone Wild

Weeds not only wreck your landscaping's looks, they steal water and food from the plants you'd like to grow. Weeds also can shorten the life of brick, stone, and pavers by growing in mortar cracks.

The best way to stop weeds is to spread a pre-emergent about three weeks before weed seeds typically germinate. If you can’t stop them from growing, at least get rid of weeds before they flower and send a zillion weed seeds throughout your yard.

Related: Can You Spot These Common Weeds?

 

#7 Forgetting to Defend Against Hungry Intruders

Deer, rabbits, and other backyard pests think your landscaping is an all-you-can eat buffet, leaving you with denuded branches and topless perennials.

If you’ve got a critter problem:

Plant deer- or rabbit-resistant varieties. Your local extension agent can provide a list of green things critters won’t eat in your area.

Install an electric fence around landscaping you want to protect.

Spray plants with critter repellent. After a hard rain, spray again.

Related: Does Landscaping Give a Good Return on Investment?

 

 

Here are a few things you should know about California Real Estate!

Investing in California Real Estate

If you’re a home builder or rehabber who will finish your project soon, if you’re a speculator who will flip an acquisition, if you plan to split a property into several rental units or condos, if – in other words – you have an investment horizon of only a couple of years, now is a great time to invest in California Real Estate .

On the other hand, if you’re a builder with a multi-year project, if you plan to buy and hold rental property, if you’re investing with the intention of selling out after five years or so, be very wary of getting into LA or San Diego or the Bay area right now.

And if you already hold property and are looking for a good time to sell, you should start the process.

It’s not so much that home prices are in danger of falling anytime soon – at Local Market Monitor we’re forecasting that prices in all California markets will rise over the next three years – but that the risk of prices peaking and then falling will increase sharply every year. You never know what will trigger the end of a boom – or exactly when – and that’s what many California markets are in right now.

California Real Estate Stats in selected in cities:

The table of stats shows that much of the LA and Bay areas are already above the 15 percent threshold for over-pricing when you compare the current average home price with the ‘income’ price. Over-pricing gets serious above 30 percent and into the danger zone above 40 percent. With prices rising at 7 to 10 percent a year, that danger zone is only a couple of years away for Anaheim, Riverside-San Bernardino, and San Francisco.

It seems only yesterday that California home prices were falling and foreclosures rising, but the tech boom and the continuing attraction of California as a migration and immigration destination quickly ran up against the reality that very little home building has been accomplished in the state for more than a decade.

With average home prices sky-high in many markets – in San Francisco now more than $1 million –  investments in rental property will continue to be needed but this is where investors must be very careful not to overpay. Rents are far less volatile than home prices but if you plan a five year investment you could easily be looking at a very poor market when it comes time to sell. Don’t include expected appreciation in calculating the purchase price you’re willing to live with, and walk away if the asking price isn’t right; bad investments never look bad in the first couple of years.
Reference: Article publishes in March 2018 in Forbes in regards to Investing In California Real Estate, Author: Ingo Winzer is the President of Local Market Monitor, Inc., a North Carolina based residential real estate forecast company that provides MSA, county and zip code analysis nationwide to investors.

Based on the above report and our research about California Real Estate Market, we recommend the followings:

 

  1. If you are an investor, look for a short term (2-3 years) or a long term result. Buy within your affordability power to avoid selling when market in not hot.
  2.  If you hold a property in California and considering to sell, it’s a good time to act on it, and maximize your profit when selling during hot summer market.
  3. If you are downsizing or upgrading, it is a good time to start looking and take advantage of the low mortgage rates. Since you are selling and buying right away, the market fluctuation will not effect you.
  4. If you are a first time home buyer, make sure to consult with a knowledgeable expert so you will buy your first property in the right neighborhood with the right price and avoid over paying.
  5. There are many cities in California that are still undervalue and have not reached their optimum pricing. Please contact us for more information.

link to the full report: https://www.forbes.com/sites/ingowinzer/2018/03/01/investing-in-california-real-estate-here-are-a-few-things-you-should-know/2/#6223f7651132