Why Some Houses Don’t Sell: A Buyer’s Perspective
It was the right neighborhood near one of Silicon Valley's up-and-coming downtown areas. I paced the angular stairwell looking carefully at the stained hardwood while my client measured out the living room. "It's good," he said, sizing up the empty canvas beside the fireplace. I smiled and made a left into the downstairs guest room.
Theoretically, he loved the place, from location to square-footage, to the deep auburn color of the hardwood floors. Then, out of nowhere he exclaimed, "What in the world [ed. he didn't use that word] am I supposed to do with the loft?!"
Ah, the loft. We had talked about it for ten minutes, bouncing ideas around, before deciding to take another look around. I'd been mulling it over but was distracted by the plus-shaped guest room, one where the only way a queen-sized bed could fit would be diagonally. This room would probably need to be a study.
There was another "study" though, a second plus-shaped bedroom, with inward folding corners and all. Any bed that would fit either of these rooms would mean a very uncomfortable night for two, like my client's parents!
For his purposes, he was right about the loft. The master bedroom had a tall, quixotic spiral staircase next to the bathroom, winding its way up to a loft that was larger than the master bedroom itself — larger than the other bedrooms put together too.
It would have been the perfect place for a pool table, but that would have made the master suite the corridor for any guests to get there.
Why do buyers walk away…?
Apr.04.2007 [ Filed under: Home Buyers, Home Owners, Real Estate Stories ] 1 Comment »
I figured it was worth a call. After all, they were out-of-town listing agents who might not have known what the usual conventions were in that part of Silicon Valley. 
When evaluating a loan, our lenders consider four major factors. What's interesting is that the priority of the factors has radically changed since 1983, when I started in the business. Here's a little game to illustrate what the differences are! 
There were network connections wired into every room, and this being Silicon Valley, we asked the owner if it was standard CAT-5 or CAT-5e. The gentleman, in his decidedly French accent, said with a bit of sheepishness, "You know, I'm not sure." (He was a little redfaced because we'd talked about his job at Cisco.) 
After all, it had everything he wanted: from an outdoor, ground-floor patio for his barbecue to the connected living and dining areas he could use as a large home theater (60" plasma), plus it was within walking distance of his favorite places in the Bay Area and was in his price range even with competitive bidding. 
How is your rate determined? The process is based on a myriad of criteria, with that criteria varying from lender to lender. For example, the pricing for a 30-year fixed-rate loan from just one lender can come in at some 80 different prices, depending on such factors as the lock period and cost of rebates! 
Now that the bloom is off the predatory lending rose for this real estate cycle, it seems impossible for people in the Bay Area without a six-figure income (and challenging even for those with) to purchase their own home. 
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