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As of this August, I will have been bringing you informative videos about our market for four full years. With that in mind, I want to ask you a simple question: Do you hate me?

Of course I’m joking, but the reason I ask is, even after all of this time, some of you have still never reached out. Don’t get me wrong—I understand how busy things can get. In fact, that’s one of the major reasons I do what I do. I want to serve as a convenient resource for all your real estate needs, and today I’d like to offer you something else. 

How would you like to go on vacation?  Well, now is your chance. All you need to do is visit www.mcdanielcallahanvacation.com to book your stay. Up to two adults and two children can register, so I encourage you and your family to take advantage of this great opportunity. If you cover airfare and the tax for your hotel rooms, I’ll pay for the rest of any resort package you choose. 

 

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After following the instructions on our website and reading the terms and conditions, you and your family will be all set to let the worries of the world wash away.

If you do take advantage of this opportunity, be sure to tag our team in any photos you post. We would love to see how you and your loved ones spent your vacation.

As always, if you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

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Today we’re going to be talking about five closing day surprises that are unfortunately all too common:

1. The walkthrough. The walkthrough is a very important part of the process. This actually guarantees to the buyer that they’re receiving the property in the exact condition that it was when they wrote the contract. Maybe there is a hole in the wall, a scrape in the staircase from the movers, or the carpet got stained. Either way, it’s important to make sure that the home is in the same condition as when you wrote the contract.

2. Household items may be missing. In certain cases, household items might get up and walk away. Maybe it’s a chandelier, a fireplace, or something else that was written into the contract that the seller was going to convey to the buyer at the close of escrow. If those items are not there for some reason, approach the listing agent with the contract and ask them. If they don’t know or are unwilling to give them back, at least get a check to cover the cost. Ultimately, you should try to get the items back if they're not there.

3. The lender doesn’t want to make the loan anymore. This usually happens as a result of the buyer’s financial picture. For some reason, they have altered their spending habits. Maybe they lost a job or bought something expensive that messed up their debt-to-income ratio.

 

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4. What are the property lines? What chunk of earth are you buying, exactly? If there is any concern that your property lines aren’t lining up with the title, get a survey done. It will make sure that you aren’t encroaching on your neighbor or they aren’t encroaching onto you.

5. Title problems and troubles. Sometimes, there is human error and things recorded against the property that shouldn’t be, such as an erroneous loan or a lien. That’s why a good title company and escrow officer will find what’s record against the home from the beginning. If there is a “cloud” on the title, you can’t go through with the purchase.

If you have any questions about any of these closing day problems or anything else about real estate in general, don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

give you a good idea that it’s time for a change.

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There are four tell-tale signs that it’s time to sell your home:

1. You’ve simply outgrown your home. Perhaps you’ve had too many kids for the number of bedrooms you have, or you’ve acquired too many pets for the space you have. Either way, it’s uncomfortable, and you should consider moving up. We can help you there.

2. Your lifestyle has changed. Perhaps you’ve changed jobs and now have a longer commute, or you’ve retired and don’t need to work at all. Situations like these often signal it’s time for a change of scenery.

 

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Situations like these often signal

it’s time for a change of scenery.

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3. When remodeling won’t give you the return you’re looking for. I know for a fact that there are certain projects that will get you a higher return on your investment, but they’re not always what you think. Certain popular home improvement projects won’t actually bring you the amount that you’d like. If you need a list of the improvements that will bring you a decent return, reach out to me.

4. You have a flexible time frame. Remember back in 2008 when our equity took a nosedive into the ground? Well, now most of us have climbed back out of that, so if you have equity and are thinking about moving, it might be time to bail out and take that cash to move on to the next step of your life.

We’re not sure what the market will be doing farther down the road, so if you’re thinking about making a move soon, now’s the time to start that process. If you want more signs that it’s time to find a new home or if you have any questions, feel free to give me a call. I look forward to speaking with you.

When you have had your offer accepted and are on your way to the closing table, there are still a few things you need to take care of. Today I will highlight four ways to prepare for closing. 

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What happens at the closing table when you’re buying a house?

Today I will go over what to expect, as well as a few crucial do’s and don’ts to follow as you move through the process. Keeping all of this information in mind will be very important in making sure you get the keys to your new home with no problems. 

1. Schedule the closing. Most of the time, your agent will coordinate with all parties involved to schedule the closing for you. That said, it is still important to make sure this gets done. Also, make sure you take your time at the closing table. Don’t try to squeeze in the meeting over your lunch hour, because there will be a lot of critical documents to look over. I recommend taking a half-day to make sure you’ve got adequate time to review all papers carefully. 

2. Do a final walk-through. As a buyer, you have the right to go through the home within five days of closing and make sure that it’s still in an acceptable condition. You are entitled to take possession of the home in the exact state it was in when your offer on the property was accepted. 

Any changes to your debt-to-income ratio will pose a huge threat to the success of your home purchase.

3. Take all the documents with you to closing. If any issues arise, you will be able to provide any and all necessary paperwork needed to resolve those problems.

4. Keep in mind the things that could go wrong with your deal. There are a few pitfalls you may encounter. This includes things like the bank pulling out at the last minute or an unexpected lien showing up, but the greatest problem that could occur is actually within the buyer’s control. Any changes to your debt-to-income ratio will pose a huge threat to the success of your home purchase. This means that you need to make sure you put off any major purchases, especially those made on credit, until after closing.

There are many more things to keep in mind before proceeding to closing when buying or selling a home. If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

It is a buyer’s market in the Alamo/Danville area, but as a buyer, you still need to be patient and be smart when you buy.  

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Today I am joined by my father Terry McDaniel to share the latest news from our Alamo/Danville market. Right now, the numbers tell us it is a great time to buy.   

In Alamo, there are 38 homes available for sale, and the median asking price for these homes is $2.15 million. There are also 27 pending properties, which is almost ideal because you usually want to see a 1:1 ratio between available properties and pending properties. The median price of these pending homes is $1.7 million. 

These stats indicate that the lower part of the market is the most active, while the upper part is starting to see homes with price adjustments of $50,000, $75,000, and even $100,000. This kind of thing is typical when interest rates are rising, so be patient and be smart when you buy. 

Remember—you only make money when you buy; you don’t make money when you sell. There are a number of properties that have not hit the market yet, and prices are not rising at the crazy rate that they previously were. If you are a buyer, these facts should help you during your negotiations with sellers 

In Alamo, there are about 5,500 homes in total. In Danville, there are about twice as many. To find the home that is right for you, it is very important that you calibrate for each price range and move in $250,000 increments. 

Make sure you pick the very best property you can buy.

Also, make sure you plot out the houses. The west side of Alamo, for instance, is going to be more expensive as far as lots go. The lot values in that area are between $1.3 million and $1.5 million, which is an increase compared to when they were worth between $900,000 and $1.2 million four years ago. Can they continue to go up in value? Absolutely. Will they continue to go up in value? Absolutely.

Home values can rise and fall, but in 10 to 20 years, you will be glad you bought a property now. A leveraged asset in residential real estate is a great way to accommodate your family’s future. There are many ways to buy property, so don’t assume you can’t afford it. If you talk to us, we can make it happen for you.

If you are interested in discussing the market further with my father or you would like to know the value of your home, you can reach him by phone at (925) 838-4300.

As always, if you have any other questions for me or you have any real estate needs at all, please feel free to reach out to me. I would love to help you.

It’s time for our Fun in the Bay: Summer 2018 Edition. There are some great events happening in our area this year, and I can’t wait to share them with you. 

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Today I’m dressed for summer because it’s time to talk about Fun in the Bay: Summer Edition. Here are a few great events that you should check out: 

1. Danville Area Community Harvest. The harvest takes place on May 5 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Meet at the Danville Park and Ride right next to the 680 freeway. We will be harvesting backyard fruits for donations to local soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, and the food bank.

Harvests typically take about three hours, and you’ll travel no more than 25 miles from the starting location. We will have all of the necessary equipment, including buckets, picking poles, ladders, clippers, and crates with us.

Make sure that you wear closed-toe shoes and appropriate clothing for the weather. You may also want to consider bringing water, a snack, a hat or sunglasses, gardening gloves, and a brown bag to take some fruit home for yourself. 

You can learn more about The Urban Farmers at www.theurbanfarmers.org.

We hope you have a great summer and enjoy these events!

2. How Weird Street Faire. The theme this year is The Disco Ball Inferno! The festival season starts on May 6 at 2:22 p.m. (how weird!) in downtown San Francisco at Howard and 2nd street. Join thousands of people in colorful costumes from around the world who have come together to celebrate peace, creativity, and Weirdness. There will be dancing in the streets and 10 stages of great music, along with fantastic foods, unique vendors, and visionary art. This whole Faire is dedicated to inspiring creativity. You can learn more at HowWeird.org.

3. The San Francisco Beer and Music Festival. Starting at 6 p.m. on June 2 in Union Square, you’ll be able to enjoy the sunset and party into the night. You can try unlimited samples of over 10 craft beers, wine, and spirits. There will also be live bands and a deejay to get the crowd on their feet. There will also be plenty of food. You can learn more at SanFrancisco-BeerFestival.com.

4. Music in the Park—The Big Jangle. Go to Danville Oak Hill Park on June 23 from 6 to 8 p.m. There will be music by The Big Jangle and a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute band. Bring some chairs, blankets, and coolers and enjoy a harmonious evening.

I hope you have time to check out these awesome events. As always, if you have any real estate questions, just give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

The choice to be kind is in your hands. It isn’t always easy, but I’d like to challenge you to try. 

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We’ve all encountered toxic people, but what’s the best way to handle these individuals?

To start out, let me tell you a story. I was recently making a few follow-up calls when I encountered a gentleman who seemed to be generally angry with life. A lot of things were said in the conversation that I could have reacted negatively to, but I decided to do something against that impulse.

This gentleman was upset at me having called his elderly mother, who had expressed interest in selling her home with me. He insinuated I was harassing her, which obviously wasn’t my intention. But instead of reacting with a negative attitude, I defended my position and asked him to help me understand his.

I allowed the gentleman to explain his position, then de-escalated the situation by expressing empathy and solidarity. I offered to take him out of my database, apologized for the situation at hand, and ended the conversation.

You have the choice to remain positive.

Even though I still felt slightly shaken up by what had just happened, I was able to step away from the situation knowing I chose not to let it get out of hand. We have this same choice in every interaction we’re a part of. You can and should always choose kindness. People may push our buttons, but you always have the choice to remain positive.

Always remember that we have no way of knowing what another person is going through, so try to avoid falling into negative behavior.

I know this isn’t related to our usual topics, but I do think it’s important. So, take this message and apply it in your daily life.

If you have any other questions, would like more information, or need help with any of your real estate needs, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Check out this awesome property in Concord. The house is under contract, but it’s so great I wanted to share it with you anyway.  

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Today, I want to take you on a tour of one of our properties.

Just a heads up that the sale is pending on this property; we sold it in seven days for 100% of the listing price.

This is a 3-bed, 1-bath, 1,200 sq. ft. home with one of the best kitchens I’ve seen in a long time. The house is located right in downtown Concord. You can walk to Mount Diablo High School or walk to downtown Concord for food or events. This is a quiet, one-way street, and you’re right next to the John Muir Medical Center as well.

Check out the video above for a complete tour of the house.

We did take out a fence to open up the front yard and give the house a new look. The interior features hardwood floors, a nice, open floor plan, and a great fireplace. Make sure you watch the video to check out that kitchen, which even comes with a prep sink.

The seller made some great upgrades to the property, including converting the garage into a master suite.

The garage was converted into a great master bedroom suite with vaulted ceilings and a skylight. The backyard is big enough to play an NFL football game, and there is a side yard with a well, which is great for gardeners.

There is also an outdoor structure that could be used as an office, as well as two structures for storage. You could easily install a pool in the backyard next to the orange trees without losing a lot of space.

Like I mentioned earlier, this house is currently under contract. Stay tuned for more great properties, or reach out to me if you would like us to sell your home as fast as we sold this one.

As always, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I would be happy to help you!

By joining The McDaniel Callahan Real Estate Team, powered by eXp Realty, you will have the chance to do more than earn a paycheck; you will build wealth for you and your family.  

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When you join our team and eXp Realty, you will have the opportunity to build wealth for you and your family.

What do you get when you join eXp Realty?

First of all, there are three different ways to make revenue just by selling real estate:

eXp Realty gives you 25 to 35 live hours of training every single week. You also have access to their digital campus, so you can get things done in a snap. I have been thoroughly impressed with how client-centric this company is.

If you’re a small brokerage, you can come on over and keep your culture, your brand, your people, and your brick-and-mortar office. All you have to do is add “powered by eXp” on the bottom right. Again, we can talk about that later.

These are just a few perks of joining eXp Realty. What exactly do you get when you join The McDaniel Callahan Team?

For one, you will get access to our 90-day jumpstart system. Here’s what that looks like:

After that, we’ll move you to the E.R.S. Livestream with Jeff Cohn. Jeff is a real estate powerhouse based out of Omaha, Nebraska, and he has opened his coaching sessions up for free to all of our team members on Wednesdays and Fridays at 8 a.m. Pacific Standard time. Jeff’s team did 750 deals last year and, as of this recording, he’s on track to do 1,000 deals in 2018. You can learn a lot from him.

Schedule a call with me today to see if this is the right fit for you.

Matt and I will also do monthly Q&A calls and potentially bring in guests to cover specific topics. You can also book time on my personal calendar if there is anything you want to talk to me about.

You also have access to any of our team’s products, such as the Rockstar Conversations, our high-tech, high-touch farming product (eight to 12 hours of farming content), and The Introvert’s Guide to Real Estate Success. If you don’t like being out in front of people, this is a guide we put together with Dr. Debra Dupree, a psychologist here in San Diego. She breaks down how you can be an introvert and succeed and thrive in real estate.

Our next upcoming product is called “How to Find Your Next Client Using Facebook Live.”

If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, go to BookMcDaniel.com to book a 30-minute talk with me to see if this is a good fit for you. If it is, great! If not, that’s fine, too.

I want to give you the opportunity to do more than earn a paycheck in real estate. I want to help you start building wealth for you and your family.

If you do decide to do this, I’ll run some numbers to show you how this compounds in a short amount of time. You can literally get mailbox money by adding five, 10, 15, or 25 people from anywhere in the country to your team.

Again, go to BookMcDaniel.com to schedule a 30-minute talk with me. I look forward to hearing from you!

We’re excited to announce the launch of a new partnership. Stay tuned for details. 

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I’ve got big news for you and for us today. We are ecstatic to announce the fact that we’ve made a shift over to a new brokerage called exp Realty.

This is the fastest-growing national brokerage in the country. They went from 3,000 agents to over 6,500 in just the last year. eXp Realty is a tech-based real estate brokerage that has so many different amazing tools that will allow us to help you get your home seen and sold faster and for higher prices. The technology and the personnel over at eXp have been simply amazing. They have been able to get us everything we want and need in a timely manner and it’s a great environment to be around.

I also wanted to make sure and let you guys know why we shifted. The future is digital, it’s remote, and a lot of the brick and mortar businesses won’t be around. The mindset of the average human will be digitally-based (if it isn’t already), so we took the leap ahead of time so that we can help grow our team nationally and locally here in Alamo.

Our team is extremely excited for our move to eXp Realty.

If you’re an agent and want to learn about what value we can bring to you, we have a laundry list of goodness to share with you to help you put more money in your pockets. There are three revenue streams with eXp Realty (and you get stock since they are a publicly traded company).

If you have any questions for us about joining our team or need any assistance in reaching your real estate goals, feel free to reach out and give me a call or send me an email. Also, if you are interested in joining our team or learning more about why we switched, visit www.bookmcdaniel.com. I would love to help you out.