Palo Alto Area Homes: Buying and Selling a Home

What a Buyer's Agent Does

In the Palo Alto home market, the choice of the buying agent is crucial. Above all, the buyer's agent in Palo Alto real estate, and for homes in communities near Palo Alto, must be highly experienced and skillful in order to compete with other offers on Palo Alto homes, or homes in similar communities. Legally, when I represent a buyer, I have a fiduciary duty to provide the highest level of care to that buyer and am responsible for representing his or her interests throughout the home-buying process. Even though commissions are usually paid to the buyer's agent from the seller's proceeds, the California Civil Code spells out that an exclusive buyer's agent has a fiduciary duty to represent the buyer and not the seller.

Must you purchase a Palo Alto home? Or would you be happy in a home within 20 minutes of Palo Alto? In any case, the purchasing process begins with a thorough assessment of your real estate needs and resources. We need to determine if now is the time to buy, or if it might be in your interest to wait because of anticipated possible changes in financial, job, or other circumstances. It is important that I know you have thought through all such questions and are ready to enter the Palo Alto real estate market. At this point, I might recommend some lenders for you to talk with, unless you've already begun this process, to determine what price range is reasonable for you and what your "comfort zone" for monthly housing expenses is. In today's housing market, I usually recommend getting pre-approved rather than just pre-qualified for a loan. Pre-approval means that a lender has reviewed all your financial documentation and is offering you the loan, subject to a satisfactory appraisal of the property. Pre-approval is very often necessary in order to compete with other buyers looking for Palo Alto real estate, those who have pre-approved loans or are prepared to pay all cash.

You may have a specific idea of where you want to look and what types of homes you like. Or you may want to check out different areas and neighborhoods near Palo Alto. As your buyer's agent, I will give you a tour of what is available or has recently sold in the areas you've been considering, and I will suggest other areas you might not be aware of that might meet your needs. During this first and subsequent tours, we will begin to narrow down the areas, price range, and types of properties that fit your needs, taste, and priorities. You will also be learning about the relationship between list price and sales price for various types of homes and getting a sense of values in your preferred neighborhoods.

Once we have a pretty good idea of what you are looking for, we can zero in on possible candidates. With the type of market we've been seeing in the last year or so, it's quite possible that what you want might not be immediately available. If this is the case, I will track new inventory as it comes on the market and upcoming inventory that I learn about through my personal and company networking. I might canvass a particular area to see if an owner is interested in selling. By this time you will be pre-approved for a loan, and we will be ready to move quickly when we find the right property.

Once we have identified a target property, I will help you evaluate it with respect to listing price, likely sales price, recent comparable sales, and the condition of the property. Most of the time, there is a great deal of disclosure material available for us to review together. I will help you evaluate this. I will also do my own inspection for "red flag" issues to be further explored. I will recommend home inspectors or other experts if there are reasons to look into other potential problems prior to making an offer, or during an inspection period after an offer is accepted.

When presenting your offer, my goal is to get it accepted in what is often in the Palo Alto real estate market, and in the market for homes near Palo Alto, a very competitive negotiation process. Although price is usually very important, the highest offer isn't always the one that is accepted. There are ways of competing that increase your odds of being the winning candidate. In the highly competitive markets of the past few years, almost all my buyer clients have gotten the houses they first bid on, even when there were between one and ten competing offers, and not through price alone. And, in fact, there are times when I might suggest not competing for a property if I think the price might be bid up too high.

Once we have secured a solid purchase contract, I will track the escrow process carefully to make sure that all contingencies are dealt with promptly and that any issues that arise regarding property condition, negotiated repairs, financing, or property disclosures are resolved smoothly and efficiently. Sometimes additional inspections are necessary to resolve questions that are raised by the existing reports and disclosures and that cannot be resolved prior to presenting an offer. My goal is to make sure that there are no uncertainties when you enter the title company office to close on your sale.

I will accompany you to the title company to oversee the signing process, making sure that all items on your closing statement are an accurate reflection of the terms of the contract and customary closing costs. As part of my contribution as your buyer's agent, I will purchase a home protection plan for you. This is a type of insurance policy that covers, with a small deductible, many of the types of repairs that new owners may encounter during the first year of occupancy.

I keep in contact when possible with all my clients through the years and am often called for recommendations of contractors, designers, repair people, tax experts, or other assistance when issues come up regarding their property. I am pleased to say that much of my business is repeat and referral business. As your buyer's agent, it will be my goal to earn and deserve that same level of confidence.