tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89702265740186671672012-02-16T18:31:05.659-08:00Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.comBlogger331100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-43688812894499006042011-11-07T13:18:00.000-08:002011-11-07T13:18:05.129-08:00

I made my sellers an extra 5.5% on their sales price! Several other agents had told my clients that they couldn’t sell their home for more than $500,000!  I thought we could!  My CMA (Competitive Market Analysis) indicated that we could sell for somewhere between $500,000 & $540,000, so we listed it at $539,000 and went to work. My team prepared our standard Big WoW Marketing Package (www

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-67530071487839711022011-11-03T11:42:00.000-07:002011-11-03T11:42:25.158-07:00

I made my sellers an extra 6.7% on their sales price! My client had been listed before at $1M with a different agent. He was shocked when I told him his property was worth $750,000. He really wanted to sell, and he loved my Big WoW Marketing package, with it's custom website, but he said he couldn’t go below $850,000. I told him I would market his property at $849,000, and we’d give it our best

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-56786869757219372582011-09-16T10:42:00.000-07:002011-09-16T10:44:00.398-07:00

My sellers had already moved to Arizona when they called me in response to an expired listing letter. They had their home listed with another agent, it didn’t sell, and they weren’t happy with the agent’s efforts to sell their home. I explained my Big WoW Marketing package to them (see a sample at http://www.2972oldarcataroad.com/) and they listed their house with me, albeit at more than I told

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0Big Lagoon, CA 95570, USA41.16092700000001 -124.132874000000028.715026000000009 176.10150099999998 73.60682800000001 -64.36724900000002tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-79590793320769729912011-08-05T15:56:00.000-07:002011-08-05T15:56:44.104-07:00

How is our local real estate market in Humboldt County, California performing, in the midst of all of the gloomy national and world economic news? Kinda yucky. Our housing inventory, the number of homes for sale on the market, has been creeping up all year. We're not high beyond normal, but we are high enough that we might start seeing some downward pressure on prices. The more homes we have

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-84782861037177906172011-08-04T16:03:00.000-07:002011-08-04T16:03:09.207-07:00

The marketplace is changing, and no place faster than real estate. One of the hot new developments in the marketing arena is the use of video. All of the guru’s are saying that we as Realtors must use video to show off our listings. Is this a good, necessary thing? If it’s done correctly, yes! Many agents are using smart phone technology to do a video “walk through” of their listings. Beware.

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-52611601887343797772011-06-15T11:08:00.000-07:002011-06-15T11:08:51.066-07:00

Lots of times potential buyers ask me about a rent-to-own home purchase.  In California, rent-to-own purchases are most commonly done as a "lease-option," where the buyer makes an offer to lease the property over a defined period, with the option to buy it in the future at a pre-agreed price and set of terms.  The first stage is to offer terms of a lease. Often a buyer might offer to lease a

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-24854654257569108532011-01-21T17:43:00.000-08:002011-01-21T17:46:16.819-08:00

I’m a little late getting these stats our, but the real estate market in Humboldt County, California is hanging in there during the month of December! At the beginning of 2011, there were 550 homes on the market, which is right in our “normal” 500- 550! Fewer homes on the market, of course, supports prices and keeps them from falling. That’s good. And we had an uncharacteristically high 75

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-45782499546321828232010-12-16T17:29:00.000-08:002010-12-16T17:29:44.133-08:00

I’m a little late getting these stats our, but the real estate market in Humboldt County, California is hanging in there during the month of November! There are currently 568 homes on the market, which is just a hair higher than our “normal” 500- 550, and close to our recent low of 550. Fewer homes on the market, of course, supports prices and keeps them from falling. That’s good. The

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-74734347877524545022010-11-10T11:34:00.000-08:002010-11-10T11:37:58.999-08:00

First time home buyers often ask about closing costs, and it can be very confusing, especially when they have limited funds to bring into escrow for closing, or when they are shopping multiple loan products with different costs structures. It’s important for all home buyers to remember that there are 3 different types of closing costs. Title and escrow fees, and county (or city) transfer taxes

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-86275167343129596452010-11-04T12:28:00.000-07:002010-11-04T12:47:52.574-07:00

What do our October 2010 Humboldt County, California real estate statistics look like?  We seem to have started a downward trend in prices again in Humboldt County, California. The number of active homes on the market, while not a huge number, is creeping up in relationship to previous years. We now have 677 homes active on the market; that’s much closer to 2008 levels than 2009 levels. And more

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-8123487236190100572010-10-20T23:30:00.000-07:002010-10-21T10:33:25.241-07:00

Many of you will recall that Eureka, California made national news on January 10, 2010 when a 6.5 earthquake rocked the city. We counted our own blessings, and were promptly forgotten by the rest of the world, when 2 days later when a 7.0 earthquake destroyed the country of Haiti. We in Eureka were truly fortunate, as there were no injuries, and relatively little property damage. My family lives

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-52906355412318043482010-10-08T16:42:00.000-07:002010-10-08T16:42:08.288-07:00

What is the state of the real estate market in Humboldt County, Califorina? Our "Active" homes, while starting out the year lower than last year, crossed over 2009 in August, and have been tracking slightly higher than last year since. While this certainly isn't bad news, it does neutralize one of the good pieces of news we had through the first half of the year. If real estate inventory is down,

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-28834411366530271122010-08-06T14:32:00.000-07:002010-08-06T14:32:41.684-07:00

So you're going to sell your home and you need to get ready. What do you do? The first thing is to call me ((707) 499-7111) so we can sit down together, evaluate the value of your home and your goals in selling, and then plan a strategy to accomplish those goals. After that's done, you can start on this list. 1) Go through your home room by room, inside and out, with 2 pads of paper. On one pad

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-7019572569136746502010-08-03T11:30:00.000-07:002010-08-03T11:32:51.730-07:00

The statistics show that July was a good news/bad news month for the Humboldt County, CA real estate market. First the bad news: inventory is up and sales are down. As with the rest of the country, the expiration of the federal home buyers’ tax credits has created a lull in the market, with many people that would have bought in July deciding to buy in April and May to take advantage of the tax

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-61388606097185667422010-07-16T18:12:00.000-07:002010-07-16T18:12:28.931-07:00

Who should you use to represent you in a real estate transaction? An agent? A broker? A Realtor? Here's a brief explanation of real estate agency. An agent is someone who acts on behalf of another person. A real estate agent acts on behalf of his client to buy or sell real estate. In California, the "agent" is the agency for which the individual "agent" works. I am an agent, but I work for the

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-58098362211607159572010-07-14T13:45:00.000-07:002010-07-14T13:47:16.339-07:00

Clients always ask me, “How much is my home worth?” The first step is remembering that neither you as the seller, nor I as the real estate agent, have the power to make your home sell for a certain price. It is the market that determines the fair market value of your home. What is the market? It is the price at which 2 buyers are willing to argue over your home. How can you ascertain what that

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-51145601512279256802010-07-06T17:38:00.000-07:002010-07-06T17:39:26.014-07:00

The numbers are in, and our real estate market statistics for June 2010 here in Humboldt County, California are hanging in there. Our "Active Homes," while rising, are still staying below the levels of the last couple of years. “Normal” for this time of year is up to around 650; we’re above that at 709. Our level of "Sold Homes," 89, is as high as it's been in 2 years. The combination of

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-83674518967930634942010-06-25T17:32:00.000-07:002010-06-25T17:33:24.143-07:00

Can a home buyer save money by approaching a home seller directly, without a real estate agent? A first time home buyer looking for a starter home in Arcata, CA called the other day, and we had a great discussion about first time home-buying. “Why would I want to use a buyers’ agent,” he asked, “when I can go to the seller, offer to save him the commission for the buyer’s agent, and get a better

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-76235904268939908142010-06-16T10:07:00.000-07:002010-06-16T10:09:27.868-07:00

Our Humboldt County, California residential real estate market shows continuing signs of stabilizing and recovery! Our active homes continued our seasonal rise to 682, above our “normal” market of 650, but well below the 720-740 range of the past 2 years. The number of sold homes in May of 2010 also increased to 81, well above the figures from the last 2 years, 69 & 65 respectively. 81 is

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-70725495252434282152010-05-24T14:21:00.000-07:002010-05-24T14:23:06.257-07:00

I’m on the Planning Commission for the city of Eureka, CA, and on Tuesday, June 1 from 2:00 – 4:00 we are looking at a city planning ordinance to deal with medical marijuana. The ordinance has 2 parts. Part 1 is about individuals with a 215 card growing their own marijuana in their own homes; it’s pretty straight forward. State law and subsequent court cases say we have to allow them to grow

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-6326017798671082942010-03-15T22:20:00.000-07:002010-03-15T22:22:46.031-07:00

One of the hot questions in real estate is this: “Is print advertising dying?” While many think so, I don’t. What is dying is “traditional” advertising. What’s the difference? Traditional advertising is more of a mindset rather than a medium. Take the standard glossy real estate magazine. It will have 48 pages of ads from different Realtors, each page filled with a small photo of a home and 20

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-6786197094807607152010-03-10T20:52:00.000-08:002010-03-10T20:54:21.419-08:00

One of the first questions buyers often ask after seeing photos of a house is, “What’s the floor plan like?” A custom 3-D Floor Plan answers that question, and makes buyers say “Wow!” A 3-D Floor Plan enables a buyer to “move into” your home; they can assign rooms, move their furniture in, and envision a lifestyle – family dinners, birthday parties, barbeques with friends, etc. It lets them

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-37424675916590629712010-03-03T14:31:00.000-08:002010-03-03T14:45:26.533-08:00

I just shared statistics for sold residential real estate in Humboldt County, California, and it seems that prices, both average and median, are plummeting. Is this really the case, or are there some anomalies or structural changes affecting purchase price? A while back I explained the different layers of homes available in the Humboldt County market, and how each is responding to the

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-8795220387004113562010-03-01T17:48:00.000-08:002010-07-21T21:07:34.202-07:00

When I visit with people about selling real estate, they often tell me that the number one factor in working with their Realtor is trust; they’ve had a relationship with their Realtor for many years, and they trust him. I always want to ask, “What are you trusting him to do?” Most people mean that they trust their Realtor to deal with them honestly and to look out for their best interests. And

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-81053171086274730302010-02-24T21:11:00.000-08:002010-02-24T21:19:25.407-08:00

“Wow!” I regularly hear clients say that when I show them a virtual tour of one of my listings, yet I’m surprised that so few Realtors use them. They’re relatively cheap, easy to produce, provide tons of info to potential buyers, and wow potential sellers. And the bottom line – they help sell a house. Through advanced computer software, I can take a series of photos and stitch them together to

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-68014968100962900562010-02-18T23:14:00.001-08:002010-02-18T23:15:55.397-08:00

One of the things I love about working with buyers from outside of Humboldt County is introducing them to this spectacular place. There is so much to see and do and experience…for example, tonight Janine and I had dinner at our favorite Chinese food restaurant, Hunan Plaza in Arcata. There are a plethora of fabulous restaurants in Humboldt County, lots of locally owned, personally managed places,

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-24754553391081364752010-02-11T15:47:00.001-08:002010-02-11T15:48:40.153-08:00

but are they a major component of the real estate market here in Humboldt County, CA? Currently (2/11/10) in Humboldt County there are … • 517 total homes on the market • 16 active REO (or bank-owned) homes on the market (3.1%) • 47 active short sale listings on the market (9.1%) In the past month (1/11/10 – 2/11/10) there have been… • 54 total homes sold • 9 REO properties sold (or 16.7%

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-81133941556054276522010-02-05T17:24:00.000-08:002010-02-20T00:15:51.044-08:00

While I am a full service Realtor here in Humboldt County, California, I specialize in listing luxury homes. I sell mobiles, starter homes, fixer homes, apartments, businesses, commercial space, raw land – you name it. But my passion is marketing executive and luxury homes on the internet. And while all of this stuff is easy to say, what exactly does it mean? What is the difference between a

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-721650928445331412010-01-21T12:27:00.000-08:002010-01-21T12:44:24.155-08:00

With upwards of 90% of homebuyers using the internet to search for homes, marketing your home on a property specific website is a great way to gain a competitive advantage over other listings. http://www.2972OldArcataRoad.com/ While property search sites and MLS services must put limits on the data about specific features, a website dedicated to your home provides unlimited – and I mean

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-70709843040371125312010-01-19T21:43:00.001-08:002010-01-19T21:43:57.468-08:00

Lots of people have been asking me about short sales, foreclosures & bank owned, or REO, properties. Here's the process and how it relates to you. When a seller needs to sell a house, but owes more on it (say $300,000) than he can sell it for (say, $250,000), he can sell it as a short sale, or sell it “short” of what he owes on it. That means that the seller is in charge of the sale, but the

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-19883044885255798942010-01-18T17:05:00.001-08:002010-01-18T17:05:25.755-08:00

Upwards of 90% of homebuyers today use the internet as a primary tool in their real estate search, but a clear understanding of how real estate on the internet works can maximize the effectiveness of your homes internet advertising. The two primary portals for buyers onto the real estate internet are the local Realtor MLS’s (multiple listing services) and real estate property search websites

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-90729055530253059302010-01-17T23:18:00.001-08:002010-01-17T23:18:08.570-08:00

If you have a $300,000 house, you're going to pay your Realtor $18,000 to sell it for you. That's a lot of money! What are you getting for all that cash? I met with a couple of clients yesterday and had that discussion, and was reminded how much clients love to see my Custom Marketing Plan, which lays out everything I'm going to do for them in exchange for the commission I receive. Here it is;

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8970226574018667167.post-91392059947420912942010-01-16T20:20:00.000-08:002010-01-17T20:39:40.987-08:00

I got a great question from a client today.  She has her current house in Eureka in escrow, and is looking for a new house in Visalia.  "When do I start packing?" she asked.       A typical, 30 day escrow can be divided into 4 big chunks.  During week 1, the sellers deliver all of their disclosures to the buyers, and the buyers arrange to have all of their inspections done.  During the second

Jeff Raganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15459217690475365198noreply@blogger.com0