All Forum Posts by: Jeff Keller

Parts of Palo Alto flooded in 1998. Immediately afterwards it hurt home sales in that area, but it didn't last very long. I don't think there is any detectable effect now.

News of it at

http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news_features/storm98/paw_print.html

Congratulations @MacKenzie Clinton !

Only the obvious advice - carefully watch what happens with your tenants and learn from the experience.

If they have been there a long time they may be on a month to month rent. If they have a lease you can probably get them out sooner by offering a months rent if they don't have a low lease rate.

When you purchase a rented home, you are obligated by existing leases.

@Alex Ewing, I would second @Thomas S. recommendation to replace the breaker. My experience was that even with a fairly new house it was that the GFI breaker failed.

Hi @Valerie King

If property inspections are posted online as they are most often done in Silicon Valley, a good place to get names of potential inspectors would be to look at who is doing the property inspections shown by the disclosures. 

You will probably have a slightly different value system than a listing agent because you will need to get an inspection done quickly.

Generally property inspectors are licensed and insured. What they look at is fairly comprehensive but does not include inspecting anything that is not visible (insides of walls or even the outside of a wall in a garage that is blocked by items stored in the garage)

How the inspectors findings are presented varies quite a bit. Some inspectors seem to make everything sound like a big risk item, others are very neutral letting the reader judge every risk.

Different brokers have very different ideas about training. In Silicon Valley it seems that newer brokerages tend to be better than long established ones. Keller Williams (I'm not related to Gary Keller, the founder of Keller Williams) seems to be one of the better ones. Try to talk to new agents at any office you are thinking of joining.

Locally most experienced agents want to hold their own listings open. There is quite a bit of competition to hold a listing open.

Probably the best mentor will be a team lead if you can get on a good real estate team. Alternatively, our office set up a mentor program where new agents would be mentored by an experienced agent in return for a cut of the agents first or first few sales. How much that is worth depends on the individual agent providing the mentoring.

Many brokerages seem eager to hire new licensees but do want to see results in order to keep them. Much/most of the client contact happens other than 9-5, but contact with service providers, escrow agents, lenders etc is most often 9-5.

Getting started is the hardest part. It is easier for an experienced agent to grow than for a new agent to start.

Different states have different requirements so Florida may be quite different from California. In Silicon Valley all listings on the MLS can be viewed online by anyone. The education and exams have more to do with proper disclosures, discrimination, red lining, etc. than with how to buy and sell.

It is easier for a licensed agent to view a vacant property.

As a licensed agent you will be required to make more disclosures when you are selling or buying your own home. To be safe you want to have any non-licensed person you work with sign a disclosure that you are not representing them.

In a competitive situation the experience of an agent can make the difference between you buying the home and a competitor getting it. Representing yourself can work against you.

So far what I've seen in Silicon Valley is neighbors complaining about the traffic and cars that comes with Airbnb. Locally most building code enforcement comes as a result of neighbors complaining. We sold a house for a client who had used it for Airbnb. One of the neighbors contacted us and said something to the effect that we had to disclose that it had been used as an Airbnb, which isn't true. She was trying to cost the owner additional expense. Turns out much of the traffic was due to a different neighbor.

Taxes on hotels are very high. Basically local residents don't see increases in those taxes affecting themselves, so they often approve increases. Sooner or later the city will see Airbnb rentals as a goldmine.

Generally stairways to an attic don't meet building codes for the attic to be livable space. Also, the ceiling joists of the room below may not be strong enough to function as a floor for the attic.

Your local city building department probably has some guidelines about stairway widths, emergency fire egress, required electrical outlets, lighting, etc. See what you can find out then talk to a contractor about bringing it up to code.

Generally buyers don't just look at square feet. They try to imagine how they will use the house. If the only use of the attic is for storage, trying to get it counted as livable space might not be worth the effort.

No first hand experience but I would guess an online search for "flat fee real estate saint louis" would turn up some names of people to talk to.

You might find the license offers little advantage to your own investment business. Generally you can find all MLS listings online without being an agent. You can sell and promote your property online without being an agent.

The only advantage that quickly comes to mind is being able to view properties that are vacant.

A possible disadvantage is that the if you are selling your own property, your broker will be legally responsible and will want to charge enough to more than cover the risk or may not want you to be under him.