I use Zillow all the time. Given that they have 3-4 million visitors per month, putting my listings on Zillow is smart thing to do. I also mouse around from time to time to see anything new like the Q&A's, Make Me Move's, and other listings for sale. I have been saying for a while that Zillow's Zestimates can be very inaccurate when it comes to valuing properties in the Big Bear Lake area. This is certainly nothing new as there are many articles out there about this. This fact has never been more true than … [Read more...]
Why Relying On Zillow To Price Your Big Bear Home Could Cost You More Than $800,000!
December 23, 2007 by 8 Comments
Is Your Big Bear Home Getting Exposure This Winter?
December 18, 2007 by Leave a Comment
One of the many aspects to keep in mind when buying a home in Big Bear is the exposure that your property will be getting. By exposure, I am talking about the weather and sun exposure on your Big Bear home. It is typically more preferred to have southern exposure during the winter months. If you have southern exposure on the front side of your home, then there is a good chance that the snow will melt a lot quicker than across the street. These photos were taken yesterday in the newer Castle Glen subdivision … [Read more...]
I’ve been MeMe’d!
December 13, 2007 by 1 Comment
I came into my office this past Saturday morning to find an email from Chad Lariscy over at The Front Porch View that said I had been MeMe'd. "Gotta love blogging," I thought. I did not have the slightest idea of what being MeMe'd meant but was pointed to a good explanation right here. So, here are 5 things you might not know about me: I have been married to my beautiful wife Ashley Anna Wood since Aug. 6, 2005. We were set up on a blind date by our parents back in 2001 and have been together since then. She … [Read more...]
Things are “shaking” up for owners of Big Bear Lake properties with wood shake roofs.
July 10, 2007 by 1 Comment
In what I consider to be a knee jerk reaction to the South Lake Tahoe fires recently experienced in our State, the City Council of Big Bear Lake decided last night that wood shake roofs in the Big Bear Lake City limits create such a "dire" fire danger that they are going to try and eliminate them by 2012. Though the ordinance still needs some tweaking on specifics of enforcement, it passed. From a Realtor's perspective, my concern with this ordinance is the "point of sale" trigger that is a major part of the … [Read more...]
6 Things That Every Big Bear Lakefront Buyer Should Know
June 5, 2007 by 1 Comment
It is that time of year again when the some Big Bear lakefronts owners start to consider selling their property. The next 4-5 months are historically the best selling months for the Big Bear market and it is no coincidence that the weather in Big Bear this time of year makes it a beautiful time to be looking for a nice lakefront home. Having a property in time for our very popular annual July 4th fireworks show is the target date for many lakefront buyers to be in their new home. There are approximately 550 … [Read more...]
Let’s Be Earnest When Talking About A Good Faith Deposit
March 7, 2007 by 1 Comment
One of the most overlooked items on the purchase contract is the earnest money or good faith deposit. Sellers and agents are so anxious to see what the offer price is, they miss a key component of the offer. What is a earnest money deposit? There is a good definition & article on the same subject here by Elizabeth Weintraub. My definition would be anything of value, mainly money, put forward by the buyer to show good faith to the seller that they are genuinely interested in buying the property. The deposit, … [Read more...]
CRS Listing Course #201
March 1, 2007 by Leave a Comment
I just finished a two-day CRS class in Victorville, CA. CRS stands for Council of Residential Specialists, which is a special designation that Realtors can achieve by taking extra education courses as well as completing a certain amount of transaction. There are approximately 50,000 CRS members in the world, with the vast majority of them located in the U.S. This was my first class and my intention is to take a few more this year in order to achieve the CRS designation. The particular class I took was the … [Read more...]
Note to real estate sellers: rejection should not be in your current vocabulary
February 11, 2007 by 2 Comments
One of the items that was recently added to the California Association of Realtors purchase contract was a "rejection of offer" box at the end of the contract. The box states that, "no counter offer is being made to the buyer but it was reviewed and rejected by the seller." My guess is the intention behind this was to give assurance to the buyer that their "low" offer was at least presented. One of my fellow associates just received the aforementioned "rejection of offer" checked on one of his offers yesterday. … [Read more...]
