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10 Questions Every Condo Owner Should Ask HOA Before Selling

June 8th, 2010 by Raymond Stoklosa
Filed under: Real Estate, San Mateo Condos, Seller Information

San Mateo condo questions sellers

10 Questions Every Seller Should Ask the HOA before Selling a San Mateo Condo is a guide for condominium owners to facilitate the sale of their condo. Selling a condominium is more complicated than selling a single family home. A single family home sale is simply the land and everything attached to it.

With a Condo, 3 Things are Sold

The UNIT itself, the place the owner lives
A set of EASEMENTS controlling the use of the common property
A PROPORTIONATE INTEREST in the common property governed by the business entity called the Homeowner’s Association (HOA)

Which of These 3 Can Be the Biggest Impediment?

It’s the Homeowner’s Association (HOA) that can present the greatest impediment to a successful sale. Today, Fannie Mae and FHA (HUD) require that all complexes or projects be listed on their approved condominium list to be eligible for financing. That means the owner cannot sell his or her unit unless the complex is approved by Fannie Mae or FHA (HUD) because almost every San Mateo condo is financed by one of these agencies. A buyer who cannot get loan approval cannot buy unless it’s an all cash purchase.

Identify Potential Problems Before You Try to Sell Your San Mateo Condo

Knowing what can prevent financing can help you identify the challenges more quickly. So, before listing a unit for sale, we recommend owners request from either the HOA or the complexes’ property management firm a completed Condominium Questionnaire – sometimes referred to as a “Cert” letter – to discover whether any obstacles may impede or prevent the sale.

What Questions Can a San Mateo Condo Seller Ask their HOA?

Some of the questions asked are:

Is the complex approved by Fannie Mae and/or FHA (HUD)? If not, why?
Is there any litigation pending or anticipated?
If a lawsuit has been settled, is sufficient money available to correct all the problems?
How many units are owner occupied?
How many of the total number of units are delinquent in the fees owed?
Are more than 10% of the units owned by one entity or investor?
Is more than 25% of the property’s total floor space used for commercial activity?
Is at least 60% of the reserve account funded?
Is at least 10% of the budgeted income designate for replacement reserves?
Are adequate funds budgeted for insurance deductible?

Get Answers to These Questions Before You List Your San Mateo Condo for Sale

Planning and preparation can mean the difference between a successful, timely sale or disappointment and failure. I strongly recommend that prospective condo sellers obtain this information before listing their unit for sale. It’s imperative that sellers recognize potential problems – if any – before putting their unit on the market so they have time to enlist professional help to resolve the negative issues that may kill a sale.

Not Comfortable with the Answers You Got? Consult a Specialist

If you don’t understand the full impact of the information obtained from the HOA, ask a professional condominium HOA review specialist to explain what’s going on.

How Much is Your San Mateo Condo Worth?

Check out our San Mateo Home Valuation tool, which pulls data directly from the MLS. All we need is your email and some basic information about your home. This report monitors what your neighbors’ condos have actually sold for, asking vs. selling price, homes currently for sale and time on market. View a sample market report.

Click on the Your Home’s Value button below to get your free report today.

Your Home’s Value

Need to Sell Your San Mateo Condo?

Check out our Seller Representation Page to learn how we can sell your home in the fastest time and for top dollar. Then, call us at (650) 655-2500 or email us at info@LivingWellinSanMateo.com to set up a no obligation consultation.

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Raymond Stoklosa, Chela Stoklosa and Rebecca Williamson are Realtors with The RayChel Realty Group specializing in Santa Clara and San Mateo Real Estate.

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First Time Home Buying 2.0 Class

June 5th, 2010 by Rebecca Williamson
Filed under: Buyer Information, Buyer and Seller Education, First Time Buyers

San Mateo first time home buyer class

San Mateo First Time Home Buyer Class Tue July 13, 2010 @ 7pm

Back by popular demand, we’ve added another San Mateo First Time Home Buyer Class Tuesday July 13th at 7pm.

What Will Attendees Learn?

As with our past First Time Home Buyer classes, San Mateo first time home buyers will learn:

What’s the San Mateo real estate market really like?
Is now the right time to buy a home in San Mateo or am I better off to wait?
What it takes to get a mortgage in San Mateo in today’s lending market
The costly mistakes even smart home buyers make and how you can avoid them.

Our past attendees have told us this class is filled with real world information that will help you buy San Mateo real estate right. Check out a sneak peak of the program in this YouTube clip.

When? Tue July 13 at 7pm in San Mateo

Our San Mateo First Time Home Buyer Class will be presented Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at 7pm.

How Do I Register?

Registration is free, but space is limited, so please register on the form below or call us at (650) 655-2500.

cforms contact form by delicious:days

Check Out Our Class Schedule for Other Webinars and Classes

We specialize in home buyer and home seller education and present live classes and webinars to help inform, educate and empower San Mateo home buyers and sellers. For a complete list of our upcoming programs, visit our San Mateo Home Buyer and Seller Class Schedule.

Search San Mateo Homes

To search San Mateo homes, click on the map below.

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Raymond Stoklosa, Chela Stoklosa and Rebecca Williamson are Realtors with The RayChel Realty Group specializing in Santa Clara and San Mateo Real Estate.

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How Do I Start My Home Search?

May 14th, 2010 by Rebecca Williamson
Filed under: Buyer Information, First Time Buyers, Real Estate

Q: How Do I Start My San Mateo Home Search?

A: I’ve had this question asked many times by San Mateo first time home buyers as well as trade up buyers. The answer is use the Internet. Here is what I would do.

Step #1: Get a Rought Estimate of What You Can Afford

Use a basic mortgage calculator, like the one below, to get a rough estimate of what size loan you’d be comfortable paying.

Free Mortgage Calculator

Step #2: Begin to Look at What’s Available

Once you have this rough number of what you can afford, begin by scanning the real estate web sites like our San Mateo Home Search here on

Step #3: Set up an Email Search Program

When you have a better idea of what you want, set up an automated search program using your specific purchase criteria to identify those San Mateo homes that most closely match your acquisition parameters. These matches can be emailed to you with information, pictures and virtual tours about the homes listed for sale that match your wants daily or weekly as you prefer.

How Do I Set Up an Email Search Program?

You can set up this automated search program for you by creating an account and entering your search criteria in our online San Mateo Home Search program. We will email you at no charge or obligation, details and photographs of homes listed that match your search criteria. You’ll get maps, driving directions, demographic, school and community information about each property that will help you begin to narrow down your home search. We can also set this up for you if you’ll email us your search criteria at info@LivingWellinSanMateo.com.

The Internet is most efficient and effective search and information tool we have ever seen in the real estate business. Use it to your advantage to save time, effort and money.

Step #4: Get Pre-Approved for a Loan

Set up an appointment with a reputable lender who will take the time to go through your options and present different loan programs that may work with your financial situation. Here, you will also get a more accurate idea of what a lender will loan you to buy a home. We recommend contacting our Co-Author, Chris Williamson, who will take the time to go through your options and explain the process. Chris can be reached through email at Chris@SanMateoMortgageBlog.com or by phone at (650) 520-0915.

Step #5: Select a Buyer’s Agent

After you’ve visited a reputable lender and know what you can afford, it’s time to find a real estate agent who specializes in working with buyers. For more info, you can read our post How to Select a San Mateo Buyer’s Agent?

We’d also suggest you take a look at our Buyer Representation program. If you like what you see, call us at (650) 655-2500 or email us at info@LivingWellinSanMateo.com to schedule a no obligation consultation. We’ll help you come up with a game plan for a stress free and smoothe real estate transaction.

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Tags: first time home buyer, Online Home Buying, san mateo county property search, san mateo county real estate, san mateo home buyer
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Not Sure Which Belmont Neighborhood is Right for You?

May 10th, 2010 by Rebecca Williamson
Filed under: Buyer Information, Featured Posts, First Time Buyers, Living in San Mateo County, Real Estate

Belmont neighborhoods

Check out our Belmont Neighborhood Guide

We got such positive feedback from our San Mateo Neighborhood Guide, we decided to dive into Belmont. Belmont is one of the more desirable cities on the peninsula for families because of their top notch schools.

Belmont has more of a Village Feel

If you’re looking for urban living, Belmont may not be the city for you. Though there are shopping and restaurants conveniently located to all Belmont neighborhoods, one shopping complex on each side of the city and one in the middle, very few locations are walkable and none are considered “downtown.”

Looking for a Downtown Urban Lifestyle?

For those of you looking to live more in a neighborhood setting with great schools, Belmont may just be the ticket. Belmont does have a variety of terrain both steeply sloped and flat lots as well as neighborhoods with sidewalks and neighborhoods with dirt shoulders.

If a more urban lifestyle with a genuine downtown appeals to you, check out our San Mateo Neighborhood Guide. We think you’ll more likely find the neighborhood you’re looking for there.

What Are You Looking for in a Belmont Neighborhood?

Whether you prefer a flatter neighborhood, or a more rural neighborhood with no sidewalks, you can use our Belmont Neighborhood Guide to find out which neighborhood is right for you.

Head Over to Our Belmont Neighborhood Guide and Check it Out!

Search Belmont Homes for Sale

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Raymond Stoklosa, Chela Stoklosa and Rebecca Williamson are Realtors with The RayChel Realty Group specializing in Santa Clara and San Mateo Real Estate.

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How to Price Your Home for Maximum Exposure

April 21st, 2010 by Rebecca Williamson
Filed under: Featured Posts, Real Estate, Seller Information

Google is Changing the Way Buyers Look for San Mateo Homes

The internet in general and Google more particularly has brought about a new twist on searching for homes. It use to be that prospective home buyers would use simple phrases like “San Mateo homes for sale” or something more specific like “Baywood homes for sale.” They, of course, receive results showing all homes currently for sale and often homes recently sold as well, and they would have to cull through the data to find homes that conformed to their price constraints. And, to make matters more annoying, hitting the print button before discarding the unsuitable homes just wastes paper, ink and time…and you still have to weed out the undesirable homes.

pricing San Mateo homes

San Mateo Home Buyers are Getting More Specific

Recently, we’ve seen a very clear trend toward more focused searches based upon price range and location, such as, “San Mateo homes $500,000-$600,000” or “Sunnybrae homes $600,000-$729,000.” What a novel idea… let the search engine to the sorting. Range pricing searches allow us a better understanding of the value pyramid in a neighborhood and more efficiently organizes one’s choices in terms of affordability.

How Should a Seller Price their Home?

All this raises the question of how homes are priced. The old method of pricing homes, such as, $599,888 actually works against the seller now. The computer savvy home buyer generally searches in round numbers, such as; “San Mateo homes for sale $600,000-$700,000”. That buyer would not see the owner’s home priced at $599,888. And, consider the opposite effect when the home owner prices his or her home at $605,000. Buyers searching for homes priced from $500,000 – $600,000 never learn about the home priced at $605,000 because the search engine has already culled the property from the search results.

What Else Can You Do to Make Your San Mateo Home Stand Out?

Google has made the process of marketing a home and finding a home for sale much more efficient, and there are tricks of the trade that can work for you. For a home owner it’s extremely important to have at least 8 photographs (the maximum number allowed) on the MLS Listing. Studies have shown that homes with 8 photographs or more sell faster and for more money. Similar studies and focus groups of prospective home buyers indicate that listed homes with few, poor or no photographs are discarded and not previewed just because of the lack of photography.

We Go One Step Further with Custom Home Websites

We build our sellers a custom website (not your run of the mill templated website) with hundreds of professional and amateur photos of their home, a professionally designed virtual tour, interactive floor plan, neighborhood guide, mortgage information, detailed pages for each room in their house and disclosure information. These sites go much further than your typical template website and have proven to be an effective method of selling homes.

Find Out What Your Home is Worth

Get an idea of what your San Mateo home is worth in today’s market with our neighborhood market reports. Get a sample report here.

Your Home’s Value

Need to Sell Your San Mateo Home?

Contact us at (650) 655-2500 or email us at info@LivingWellinSanMateo.com to schedule a no obligation consultation. We’ll help you understand how thinking like a buyer will help sell your San Mateo home for the highest possible price in the fastest time.

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Raymond Stoklosa, Chela Stoklosa and Rebecca Williamson are Realtors with The RayChel Realty Group specializing in Santa Clara and San Mateo Real Estate.

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