BanCorp Realty: Selling Orange County Real Estate More Effectively.

Selling Your Orange County Home in 5 Simple Steps: 

1)       Choose your BanCorp Realtor®

We make it easy to find and choose the BanCorp Realtor® that’s right for you. We are active in all of the local neighborhoods and communities in Orange County and make it easy for you to contact one of them. Work with a trustworthy real estate professional that you can be confident and comfortable with. 

2)       Ready | Set | Go 

We can provide you with inside Information for getting your home in tip-top shape and looking its best so potential home buyers can easily imagine themselves as the new home buyers.  Your BanCorp REALTOR® knows that potential buyers get an impression of your home, either positive or negative, within 30 seconds of walking through the door. Having them see your home in top-notch selling shape is an absolute must, and BanCorp Realty knows what works and what doesn’t.

3)       Setting the Correct Home Sale Price

BanCorp Real Estate Group employs sound pricing strategies helping you avoid the overpricing trap, a far smarter approach to effective real estate sales and consistent with our Truth in Real Estate Policy. Similar homes, via a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA): Your BanCorp Agent will provide a professional analysis that goes deep into marketplace stats about recent sales and current listings similar to your home in size, age, condition and features – relevant to your local neighborhood and community. Sales within the past three to five months are especially significant. 

4)       Spreading The Word

After we have accurately priced your home for sale we will make it stand out against your competition in an aggressive Orange County seller's market. BanCorp Realty accesses a vast referral network, enabling us to connect with potential buyers across town or around the world. When combined with an aggressive marketing campaign zeroing in on your high probability home buyers through targeted world-wide-web marketing, innovative and imaginative print media and surrounding ground traffic, you have a winning combination of viral, potent marketing exposure.

5)        Sold!

Once we have located the right buyer and you have accepted the offer, with a shirt-sleeve approach your BanCorp Realtor® will lead you through the remaining closing process insuring everything goes smoothly and you are informed of all the processes that are finalizing. In just a short time you are moving into the home you deserve and onto the next stage of your family’s life.

BanCorp Realty Growing At A Record Pace Across Orange County Real Estate

BanCorp Realty recently wrapped up February 2014 with more users visiting and using our website and corresponding web services than ever before. That’s a very long way from zero hits, zero users when we first launched our fully revamped leading-edge user friendly Orange County real estate website back in 2013. BanCorp Real Estate Group was never created to be a “flash-in-the-pan” Orange County real estate agency or a “one-hit-wonder” either, our management believes that there is no finish line to the race and BanCorp Realty has barely even left the starter’s block.

 

One of BanCorp’s goals through our interactive real estate website was to redefine how a homebuyer or home seller interacts with their real estate agency – and we believe that we are accomplishing this better and better each and every day. The current real estate transaction problem is obvious especially when you factor in the national corporate entities. BanCorp knows that if we continue to hire only the most excellent talent in the real estate industry and stand firm to a commonsense approach to real estate yet not be afraid to take the warranted risk, we will thrive in a very boring Orange County real estate marketplace that not only supports, but even condones a lack of audacity. 

BanCorp Realty is launching a very aggressive marketing campaign across South Orange County beginning March 6th, 2014 and our management is excited because the campaign is centered solely on BanCorp Realty brand awareness. A major press release is scheduled for this week  with strategic signage being placed in all sixteen major operating cities and eighty-four communities and neighborhoods that BanCorp Realty currently offers real estate services in. The focus of the Orange County marketing campaign will focus on two of BanCorp’s two strongest marketing components: homes | families | dreams and easier and faster™ Orange County real estate.

 

BanCorp Realty is expecting to increase its daily web traffic to www.bancorprealty.com by over 2,000% through this ambitious brand awareness marketing campaign. For more information about BanCorp Realty you can email: careers@bancorprealty.com or admin@bancorprealty.com  

Orange County, CA Real Estate Closing Costs

If you are an Orange County home buyer you are going to need to have saved up more than just the down payment – but the good news is that the seller pays all of the commission to the Realtor. Your BanCorp Real Estate professional will pull you through the buying process instead of pushing you through the process – a huge difference! If you have bought a Orange County home before you are aware that there are other additional fees involved in the process, if you haven’t, the list below will help you to prepare to become an Orange County first time homebuyer, congratulations!

What are closing costs? 

Not only does the Orange County home buyer need to bring cash to the closing table for the down payment, but also they need to have cash in reserves for other closing costs associated with securing the home. Those costs can include items like pre-paid taxes and fire insure (hazard insurance) and other things required to fund the borrower's impound account set up by the lender, along with title insurance and recording fees, among others. 

These fees are in addition to the homes agreed upon purchase price. If closings costs are not figured correctly, the sale may possibly be affected. It's not common, but real estate closings have fallen apart because the buyer did not correctly calculate that amount of money they needed to close with. 

In Orange County, CA buyers are normally going to pay the following closing costs:

• Fees for obtaining their own mortgage
• Inspection fees on the home to see if there is anything wrong
• Homeowner's insurance which is prepaid one year in advance
• Property taxes which may or may not be impounded
• Transfer taxes
• Title insurance and settlement fees
• Escrow Fees

Orange County home sellers are expected to cover closing costs like:

• Real estate commission (in some cases, a portion of this may be paid by the buyer)
• Termite repairs and usually any other repairs needed to be done unless the home is sold “as is”
• Transfer taxes
• Title insurance and settlement fees
• Escrow fees

The good news for the buyer is that they don’t have to pay any Orange County real estate commissions to their BanCorp real estate professional, all of the commissions are paid by the seller. This is great reason to hire a BanCorp Realtor as an Orange County exclusive buyer’s agent. BanCorp Realty has been representing Orange County home buyers since 1995 and we are experts in all aspects of the home buying process. You can trust a BanCorp real estate professional to guide your family through the real estate transaction easier and faster than anyone else.

Greg Steinaker

Get More Market Value For Your Orange County Home at Sales Time

Some Simple Real Estate Tips To Get A Higher Asking Price For Your Orange County, CA Home

Many times family’s in Orange County overlook the little things when they are selling their Orange County Home and live thousands of dollars on the table for something that was very easy to have fixed or upgraded at very little expense. The bottom line is this; the home you are selling needs to be in the best possible condition – especially when you are in a competitive Orange County real estate market and you are competing against many other homes for sale. This means taking care of the major repairs that could deter a buyer from putting down an offer on your home (cracked pool or a leaky roof) if you can afford it and obviously the smaller repairs.

The smaller repairs are what I refer to as your homes curb appeal and intrinsic value. You have to make sure that the landscape looks good – your home has to make a good first impression. Mow your grass (lazy), clean up the debris along the side yard and get rid of the weeds in the garden (yes, you really are lazy). Go down to the local nursery, spend a few bucks and plant a few annual flowers near the entrance or in pots which you would want to place by the front door. Other quick fixes that don’t cost a lot of money but will help you get top dollar for your home and are should be obvious but are often overlooked.

 

• Clean the windows of the home (inside and outside). No one want to look through cloudy windows on a sunny day.
• Make sure your paint is not chipping or flaking.
• Be sure that your doorbell works (it takes a lot of energy to knock on a door)
• Make sure that your home appliances works – this is simply a matter of pride of ownership! Replace leaky faucets.
• Make sure that your bathrooms and kitchens are spotless every time that the home is shown. I know this is a pain but it is a turnoff to see a dirty kitchen and/or bathroom
• Organize your Closets. Nothing will turn off a prospective buyer more than sloppy closet.
• Get rid of any bad smells in your home – do you have a cat and a kitty box? If you are going to have an open house why don’t you bake some cookies or a cake before and have the pleasant smell in the home?
• Hey big spender… Invest in couple of vases of fresh flower and place them around the house to give the home some color.
• If you have family photos or portraits plastered all over the home – remove them. People who are looking to buy your home don’t want to be side tracked into looking into your family’s history.

If a professional was to ask you if you were to invest a couple of hundred dollars today and you would make a couple of thousand dollars in a month or two, would you invest the money? Of course you would! You are selling you likely largest investment – invest a few extra dollars to insure a bigger return on your investment.

Greg Steinaker CEO BanCorp Realty

Be a smart Orange County home buyer – easier and faster™ real estate applied: Be an expert Orange County Home Buyer

“Don’t purchase an Orange County home on credit (Finance) with money you don’t have to impress people you don’t know” Greg Steinaker, CEO BanCorp Real Estate Group. Recently it was reported that Americans put $1,300 on credit cards for every $1,000 they earned! This is just another way of saying that American are buying things that we can’t afford with money we don’t have to impress people we either don’t like or don’t know… We wonder why our government is in trouble? Our nation’s population is in trouble! One of my favorite quotes is: “If the grass is greener on the other side of the fence – so is the water bill.” Ever since I became the C.E.O. of BanCorp Realty I have never had to worry about my yacht having barnacles on it, you know why? I don’t own a yacht. At BanCorp Real Estate Group, when we are representing a client, if we believe they are stretching their finances and buying more of a home than they can afford (regardless of what their lender might say) we will say so. If we didn’t, would we really be a ‘real estate professional?’

Just because the bank says you are qualified does not mean that you and your family should jump up two or three levels in the housing hierarchy. It doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t either. BanCorp simply wants to bring to your attention that just because the bank says it is “good go” does not mean that you need to automatically accept their offer. The bank makes their decisions on historical information: How have you paid your bills in the past? How much have you earned in the past? How much have you been able to save (past tense)? The bank can’t foresee the future of your company or your business and neither can you. If you know that your company is experiencing layoffs on the East Coast and the rumor is that they might start on the West Coast in a year or two shouldn’t you factor this in to the equation of whether to upgrade two-steps into a home? The bank doesn’t know this, but you do! If you are self-employed and think this is going to last forever, might I just remind you of the end of 2007? 2008?

BanCorp Realty is not trying to scare you away from moving up into your next home, quite the opposite. BanCorp is in the business of “Homes | Families | Dreams”. If you are not moving forward, you are either stagnant or moving backwards (there is no other way to move). The point of this blog is to make a wise, prudent decision when you decide to trade-up one or two homes in the Orange County property hierarchy. We have seen too many instances since 1995 when a family had a stellar couple of years income wise, thought it was going to last forever and went crazy with their next home only to have to sell the home shortly after buying it because their income adjusted back to closer to normal after moving into their new dream home. I will provide a quote from a person that knows a little bit about smart investing, Warren Buffet “Don’t lose what you already have”, this is his rule #1-A. If you have built up equity in your existing home and are ready to trade-up, don’t take the chance of burning up this newly acquired equity with Realtor fee’s by buying and then having to resell a new home quickly. Just because the bank says “Okay” does not mean that you need to follow suit. You and your family make the final decision, and remember you are the ones that are going to make the payments, the bank that said “Go For It!” will be the same ones making collection calls on the other side of the phone.

 

Greg Steinaker

Relocating to Orange County? Orange County Homes For Sale – Orange County Real Estate

Orange County Buyer’s Agent – How to Win Against Multiple Home Offers in Very Competitive Orange County Housing Market.

Part Two

Many times when a family is relocating to Orange County or if they are simply relocating within Orange County they will find themselves within a multiple offer situation, whether it is a very appealing listing price, very desirable Orange County home for sale or simply the time of the year. How does the aggressive Orange County home buyer increase their chances of winning against other competing home buyers in a very hyper-sensitive Orange County sellers market? In part one of this blog I talked about the obvious: Coming in with the highest bid and also having a clean offer (lack of contingencies – having the pre-approval letter from your lender). In part two of this blog I will cover the down payment and earnest money deposit.

Regardless of whether you are pre-approved with your lender or not, the seller will always be more impressed with your offer vs. a similar competing offer from another home buyer that is pre-approved with their lender as well if your down payment is greater than theirs. It is just plain commonsense that a seller is more impressed with a twenty percent down payment than they would be with a five percent down payment. In this scenario, if you competing against someone with the exact same purchase price, exact same closing time horizon, no contingencies but you are coming in with twenty percent down and your competition is coming in with ten percent down, you win 99% of the time!

The other important part of your down payment that you need to consider is how much you want to convert in to your earnest money deposit – this makes an very strong impression on the seller when they are considering your offer. The earnest money is the part of your down payment which you simply want to put down a month earlier than you would normally do than at the closing of the escrow. This lets the seller know that your intentions are to move through with the purchase of the home and you are putting your money where your mouth is. Technically if you put your earnest money down and then break the contract you would lose your earnest money deposit. However, in Orange County, CA, this is hardly if ever enforced, if something goes sideways the homeowner (and the Realtor) usually have too much at stake to try and pry this money out of the buyer in a court of law.

So the key factors to coming in with the winning offer when you are relocating to Orange County, CA or simply relocating within Orange County is to:

• Come in with the highest offer
• Come in with a clean offer
• Have a good down payment
• Don’t be afraid to put a chunk of that down payment in to the form of a earnest money deposit.

These ingredients will nearly always lead to your family coming away with the keys of your next dream home in Orange County.

Greg Steinaker

Competitive Orange County Real Estate Market - How To Come Out On Top

How to Win Against Multiple Home Offers?

Part 1

The most obvious way to win the dream home that you and your family have been diligently looking for is to come in with the highest offer – but even though you come in with the best offer, it could be 10% higher than the next best offer might not be enough if your offer is not a “clean offer”. A clean offer is highly attractive to a seller and this simply means that there are no or very few contingencies (conditions) that must be satisfied in order for the sale to go through or reach a satisfactory conclusion.

The Orange County housing market statistics show that most typical type of contingencies that appear in a purchase offer are financing, home inspections and the worst (in the eyes of the seller) the sale of another home. If you want to put yourself ahead of a very competitive Orange County buyers market you must come into the buying process with zero contingencies – save for the home inspection that would take place after the seller accepted your initial offer. If you still have a home to sell or if you have not secured financing for the new home, you have jumped into the process to early and are not a competitive bidder and should not expect to come in with the best offer as likely your competition has already taken care of these important items.

In part 2 of this blog posting I will talk about down payment and earnest deposit and how they can help stimulate the offer IF you are already pre-approved for financing AND do not have a home that you need to sell in a contingency offer. 

Greg Steinaker

C.E.O. BanCorp Realty