June 20, 2014 • www.myvalleynews.com • The Valley News
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Real Estate / Home & Garden
State bill watch 2014 Paul Bandong Staff Writer The local real estate industry is affected by state legislation every year. The California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.) estimates that 130 of the 800 new laws enacted last year directly or indirectly affect real estate practice or are of interest to REALTORS®. This year there are over 1200 bills under consideration. It is important for agents and consumers to be aware of these legislative changes. This past April, 2200 REALTORS® from all over the state poured into Sacramento for Legislative Day and met face-to-face with state legislators to express support or opposition for the various real estate-related bills making their way through committees. Southwest Riverside County Association of REALTORS® (SRCAR) sent a local contingent led by Gene Wunderlich, Government Affairs Director for SRCAR. C.A.R. identified a number of bills as “hot issues” and prepared one-page briefs on these bills. Here some brief descriptions on a few key bills from those briefs and from a verbal report given by Wunderlich to SRCAR SB 391: Recording Tax -OPPOSE The California Homes and Jobs Act of 2013, introduced by Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord) is an attempt to provide an ongoing stream of revenue dedicated to affordable housing development in the wake of the 2011 dissolution of California’s 425 redevelopment agencies. The bill proposes a $75 recording fee “on every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded.” Documents recorded in the
course of a standard sale – already subject to a documentary transfer tax – are excepted. Potential impact is an additional $3500-5000 per transaction. CAR opposes the bill on the grounds that it places a tax unfairly on property owners who need to record a document and provides no guidelines on the prioritization of affordable housing needs or the distribution of funds. The bill was tied to SB 30 (providing short sale debt relief for tax purposes). SB 1439 / AB 2405: Ellis Act Restrictions – OPPOSE The Ellis Act – successfully sponsored by C.A.R. in 1985 – prevented local governments from passing laws restricting the ability of landlords to go out of business and provided protections (advance notice to tenants, relocation assistance, extended notice for seniors and disabled) when landlords choose to go out of business. SB 1439 introduced by Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) seeks to empower local government (City and County of San Francisco) to restrict landlords from taking rental units off the market unless every owner of that rental property has owned that property for at least five consecutive years. AB 2405 introduced by Tam Ammiano (D-San Francisco) would prevent landlords from ever going out of business and applies statewide. C.A.R. opposes both bills that prohibit the feree use of private property in rent control jurisdictions, provide no exceptions or relief for property owners with financial or personal hardships. The passage of these bills would force long-time owners to proactively evict tenants before putting properties on the market. Owners
forced to sell by economic hardship will find fewer parties interested in ownership, have fewer options. Rental property values are projected to decline in such situations. AB 2416: Age Liens on Property – OPPOSE Tradespersons – who contribute to property improvement work through labor, skill or services – have the right to record a mechanic’s lien against a property for payment of that work. This bill, introduced by Mark Stone (D-Scotts Valley) would expand that concept to include any property owned by the employer, even property with no connection to the dispute. C.A.R.’s opposition is based on the denial of due process to property owners and the possible endangerment of mortgage finance availability. An employee’s wage dispute could cloud the title on ALL property owned by an employer and with no hearing on the issue. AB 2039: Auction Company Liability – SUPPORT This bill is sponsored by C.A.R. and was introduced by Assembly Member Al Maratsuchi (D-Torrance) and seeks to prevent real estate auction companies from indemnifying themselves from costs, liabilities, damages resulting from their auction actions and shifting liability for their mistakes to sellers and listing agents when the lender sends short-sale properties to auction to validate their value. C.A.R.’s position is that the current practice forces homeowners to release the auction company from liability and unfairly holds homeowners and REALTORS® responsible for others’ mistakes. Auction companies should be held responsible for actions and mis-
takes made in the regular course of doing business. AB 1513 (Fox): Squatters -SUPPORT This bill is for a pilot project that would make squatting a felony (defining the unlawful entering and possession of real property) and providing local agencies authority to evict such unlawful occupants. Two cities are named (Palmdale and Lancaster), but other cities can apply to be included. AB 2018 (Bocanegra): CalBRE “Team Names” Provides clarification in the regulation of “team” names by CalBRE. AB 2136 (Daly): Electronic Transactions -- SUPPORT This bill states that electronic messages of an “ephemeral” nature are not sufficient to constitute a written contract or be part of the permanent record. Such short-lived communications must be reduced to a durable, retainable form to be considered a “document.” AB 2169 (Cooley): Agent status as Contractors -- SUPPORT This bill seeks to clarify the relationship of agents to brokers as independent contractors versus employees and that this status remains a legal option. AB 2430 (Malenschein): CID Document Bundling: SUPPORT This measure provides for more specific document delivery and disclosure standards and tightens the anti-bundling provisions (condominium sales and HOA documents). HOA’s and third parties cannot charge more than it costs to produce the documents.
Currently there are over 1200 bills under consideration at the California state legislator.
AB 2540 (Dababneh): Email Collection by CalBRE Requires licensees to maintain and provide a valid e-mail address as part of licensing requirements. Authorizes the Bureau of Real Estate to collect e-mail addresses as part of contact information. SB 1091 (Gagliani): Central Rulemaking Registry -SUSPENDED This bill would require state agencies to submit pre-rule making publications to the California Regulatory Register and for the register to serve as central repository for all regulatory and rule-making documents. The website would be searchable and subscribable. Suspended for further research into cost impact.
Is your butterfly garden really worth $20,000? Determine what your home is worth
Do the closets have organizers? Then showcase them with sparsely stocked shelves – never cram your closets or other storage areas when selling your home…remember, potential home buyers want to visualize their own personal items in your space and if it’s crowded now they will not see the opportunity your space provides.
John Occhi, Mike Mason Special to the Valley News It’s true, nearly every home I have ever listed, sold, purchased, or previewed has had some unique feature that the seller is proud of and is convinced that it adds additional value, above what current market conditions will allow. Recently, a homeowner was convinced that her butterfly garden added $20,000 in value to her home, regardless that market data contradicted her. Sure, no one wants to leave money on the table when it comes to selling their home, and no one wants to price themselves out of the market either, so how do you know what’s a fair price to ask for your home when it’s time to sell? Trust your real estate agent The first step is to find an agent that you trust. Your real estate agent should have local market expertise and experience. Your REALTOR’S® job is to help you find the happy medium between getting the highest price with the biggest payoff and being competitive in the market place without you regretting putting your home on the market. Follow these four simple steps and at the end of the day you should feel confident and comfortable with the decisions you’ve made. Data tells the story The internet is both a blessing and a curse to the sales process. Understandably, consumers are self-educating themselves on the process and values. As a result, many times there will be conflicts in what the consumer has figured out and believes they know and what their agent is telling them. The key is to remember that all real estate is local and their REALTOR® should be too. I preach this over and over again and I can’t emphasize how important it is to work with someone who not only has local connections and is respected in their community but someone who knows what is going on locally. Local conditions and nuances have a huge impact on pricing that just cannot be interpreted correctly by automated valuations found everywhere online these days. A local real estate expert will not only arrive at a suggested list price but will be able to share the data and reasoning behind their thought
Avoid emotional attachments The longer you’ve been in your home the more love you’ve poured into it – but the truth is, no one cares. That’s right, you may have crafted a beautiful built-in cabinet that has 40 different levels of stain and finish to give it that satin finish but what they care about is if it meets their needs and sense of style. You need to think of your home in the concept of “bricks and sticks” and not the sanctuary you’ve loved in for years. The goal of pricing your home
to sell is to help motivated buyers visualize themselves living their own lives in your home. The goal is to bring as many of these potential home buyers into your home and making as many healthy offers as possible. Avoid any of these steps and you just may be sabotaging your own dreams and ambitions, when it comes to selling your home. Call us today and get the information you need to make the right decision. The information is free, call now! (951) 296-8887 Questions regarding available inventory and/or other real estate matters please contact me, Mike@ GoTakeAction.com. Mike Mason, Broker/Owner of MASON Real Estate Cal. BRE: 01483044, Board of Director of your Southwest Riverside County Association of Realtors® (SRCAR), Traveling State Director, California Association of Realtors® (C.A.R.).
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process. As a local area expert, your seasoned real estate agent should be able to address any questions you’ll raise and walk you through the math and the process of arriving at the suggest list price. Confidence in your agent is as critical to a successful sale as your REALTORS’® confidence in you, your home and a fair market price. Preview the comps If there is any doubt after analyzing the data on paper, then take the time to have your agent preview the homes with you that yours will be competing with for attention in the MLS, across the internet and for other agents bringing their clients to preview. While looking at the on-market competition for the price point the seller believes their home is worth, take the time to take into consideration the special features and nuances that push each home to the higher price point. Then walk through your home with your agent and compare your features and nuances to those priced at the higher price point. Discuss the upgrades and renovations found in the higher priced homes comparing them to your own. What about the nuances like which school the kids will go to, how close are parks, shopping, and freeway access – all issues that
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make each home unique. Do you want a bidding war? Every home seller dreams of multiple offers on their home, increasing the final sale price up well over the asking fair market value. The question is what are you willing to do to accomplish this lofty goal? There are a couple of things you can do, besides pricing the home below fair market value. The first is to have your home professionally staged. Remember, you are moving and you’re going to be packing everything you own, so start early. A professional stager will use what they can of your furnishing and accessories and will also have their own to bring in to showcase your home in the most desirable fashion. The key is to de-clutter and increase both curb appeal and walkthrough appeal. The truth is that when a home is staged properly, anyone who wants to buy real estate will see it in its best showcase and will perceive it being worth more than a home that has not been given a visual boost. The other step to achieving the most offers on your home and the highest possible price is to really focus on key points that may otherwise go unnoticed. Are there energy saving features? Showcase them with before and after utility bills.
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