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Denise Laugesen REALTOR® (650) 465-5742 deniselaugesenteam@gmail.com

Cortney Laugesen REALTOR® 650-678-5084 cortneylaug@gmail.com

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January 7, 2015

Reveal to Your Clients the ‘Ugly Truths’ When Staging

By Audra Slinkey, Home Staging Resource

Sometimes you have to give clients a big dose of reality, and it isn’t always pretty – particularly when you’re talking about something personal like the condition of their home. But don’t be afraid to utter the “ugly truths” to maximize your sellers’ chances of selling a home and for top dollar.

Here are some of the ugly truths you may need to be prepared to talk about:

Ugly Truth #1: The ugly truth is that anyone who has watched the real estate market over the last few years knows there’s no such thing as a “set price” for a home. The price is determined by what the buyer is willing to pay AND the buyer likely is willing to pay a lot more for a “model home” look.

Ugly Truth #2: Another ugly truth is that when it comes to home staging, you get what you pay for. This means that the more a seller is willing to pay to transform their home (using an expert stager’s advice), the more they stand to get out of the sale.

BEFORE5_Designedtoappeal

AFTER5_Designedtoappeal

Ugly Truth #3: Finally, the last ugly truth is that buyers cannot see past a seller’s furnishings to the potential of the home. Look at the before photo …would you be able to imagine it as beautiful as the after photos?

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AFTER6_Designedtoappeal

You only need to look at the before-and-after photos of this home to know why they got so much more than they were even asking. This seller’s agent walked them through the “cost of not staging” and let them decide. Do you think they made the right decision?

 

Call us for all your real estate needs…..

The Laugesen Team

#1 Producing Team

Coldwell Banker

Denise: 650-465-5742  Cortney:650-678-5084

www.TheLaugesenTeam.com

www.the411on94010.com

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By Admin
January 6, 2015

Golden Gate Bridge Will Be Closed This Weekend

Golden Gate Bridge Will Be Closed This Weekend

by Rachel Balik

If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to go on more hikes in 2015, consider exploring trails in the East or South Bay the weekend of January 10th. The Golden Gate Bridge will be closed to vehicles for construction beginning  Friday night (12 a.m. on Saturday) until 4 a.m. on Monday, January 12th. The Bridge District is recommending that anyone who can avoid traveling by car between SF and the North Bay this upcoming weekend should do so.

The purpose of the closing is not to give Instagram a much-needed break from pictures of you and your friends on the top of Mount Tam, but to install the new Moveable Median Barrier (MMB) system on the bridge. If you’ve driven across the famous bridge before, you know that the number of lanes going in each direction changes depending on traffic and that oncoming traffic is separated by a line of plastic pylons.

These tubes are being replaced by the MMB, which is made of steel and concrete and will be put in place by “zipper trucks” to make new lane configurations. The new system will not only make it easier for the Bridge District to adjust the lanes, it will also prevent head on-collisions (and make it far less terrifying to drive in the left lane.) There were 16 fatalities from head-on collisions on the Golden Gate Bridge in between 1971 and 2007, and the bridge was made a Safety Awareness Zone in 2007. Head-on collisions still occur despite efforts on the part of the Bridge District, as the plastic lane markers do little to prevent them.

The project has been a long time coming; a study by the Bridge District in the 1980s concluded that a two-foot barrier, while valuable for preventing collisions, would result in too much congestion on the bridge. In 1996, the project was revived when smaller barriers became available. Although the current barriers, which will be 12 inches wide and 32 inches high, will result in “some operational tradeoffs,” the safety benefits outweigh the disadvantages. The trade-off you’ll mostly likely notice is that the inside lanes will be six inches narrower.

All in all, the barriers will be 13,340 long and cost $30.2 million dollars, with funding coming from Metropolitan Transportation Commission, federal funds, and toll revenue. They’ll extend on to route 1 in Marin, where there are additional changes coming on the southbound approach the bridge. Drivers will now merge onto the bridge from right to left instead of left to right and the speed limit on the Waldo Grade is being reduced from 55 miles per hour to 45 mph, which is the current speed limit on the bridge itself.

This work has been going on for a few weeks at night and will continue after the closing, but this coming weekend is the only major halt in service. If you must make the commute this weekend, the Golden Gate Ferry is adding additional service, the Golden Gate Transit bus will still be making trips over the bridge, and you can always take a roundabout route through the East Bay.  [The east lane will also be also open to bikers and pedestrians who want to take advantage of car-free bridge or enjoy a particularly athletic commute.] If none of those options sound appealing, there’s of course plenty of hiking to be done in San Francisco.

 

Call us for all your real estate needs…..

The Laugesen Team

#1 Producing Team

Coldwell Banker

Denise: 650-465-5742  Cortney:650-678-5084

www.TheLaugesenTeam.com

www.the411on94010.com

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By Admin
December 31, 2014

9 Ways to Live a Happier Life in 2015

These are a few resolutions that will be easy to make—and keep.

By Michelle Profis

tiny church
1. Relish the little things. Take a moment every day to pay closer attention to what’s around you, like the petals on a newly bloomed flower in your garden, or the dreamy way the light is hitting your bedroom wall. By carving out a little time every day to appreciate the small stuff, you’ll always have something to smile about.

 

2. Let go of perfectionism. Your house isn’t always going to be immaculately clean. A vacation might not turn out exactly how you pictured. Your junk drawer is never going to get organized. Rather than focusing on what’s going wrong, focus on what’s going right, like that you finally found the time to clean out that pesky cupboard, or that you managed to get all your family members in the same place at the same time!

 

3. Take a step back. You know those situations when you’re inexplicably happy, yet plagued by the impending dread that the moment will end all too soon? Instead of letting those negative thoughts cloud your mind, take a few seconds to really focus on the sights, sounds, and smells around you. You’ll create a more permanent picture to think back upon—and smile about—later.

 

tiny church4. Put your phone down.  Though some of us might be better at this than others, we’re all at least a little bit guilty of looking at our smartphones more than we should. At least once a day, resist the urge to check that latest email, text, or Facebook post, and grab a book or magazine instead (or, actually use your phone to call an old friend and catch up!).

 

5. Live in the moment. If you’re hosting a dinner party, don’t worry about the clean up you’ll need to do afterwards. If you’re enjoying a coffee date with friends, try not to think about what state your house might be in when you get back. Have fun with what you’re doing, while you’re doing it. Worry about the rest later.

 

6. Set a monthly goal. Fact: Time always goes so much faster than we want it to, and it’s all too easy to say, “February is so busy, I’ll tackle that project in March.” At the start of each month, pick one thing you want to accomplish before the next one. Do you want to start cleaning out a messy closet? Is it time to start planning what to add to your garden this year? Set one goal that you know you can achieve in the next few weeks, write it down on a piece of paper, and prominently display it somewhere where you’ll have to see it every day, like in the corner of your entryway mirror. By reminding yourself of your goal on a daily basis, you’ll be more likely to carve out time for it—and you’ll end your month with at least one important project crossed off your list.

 

tiny church7. Get rid of what you don’t need or use. Yes, we know you love that old sweater, but when was the last time you actually wore it? Gather up clothes or any other miscellaneous items around your house (kitchen gadgets, books) that you simply don’t need anymore and donate them. Not only will you be creating more space for items that you really do need, but you’ll be giving those items to people who can actually get some use from them. Plus, you’ll be surprised at how freeing downsizing can be.

 

8. Dare to DIY. As advocates of anything you can make yourself, we love the idea of getting our hands dirty. Whether you’re a seasoned DIYer or someone who has never dabbled in crafting before, try out a new project or two this year. Even if it’s something as small as hanging a frame, we guarantee you’ll feel a sense of pride when it comes to tackling—and finishing—a project with your own two hands.

 

9. Get creative in the kitchen. Let 2015 be the year of innovative eating! Pick one new ingredient a week, and create a recipe around it. Or just test out a new recipe you’ve been meaning to try. You might find a new family favorite!

 

Here’s to a great 2015! Happy New Year everyone.

 

Call us for all your real estate needs…..

The Laugesen Team

#1 Producing Team

Coldwell Banker

Denise: 650-465-5742  Cortney:650-678-5084

www.TheLaugesenTeam.com

www.the411on94010.com

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By Admin
December 17, 2014

Even in cold-weather areas, winter is a good time to buy and sell a house

By Kenneth R. Harney

So you’ve begun thinking about selling your house, and you figure: Let’s wait until the spring or early summer before listing. The yard will look its best and potential buyers will be out in force. And everybody knows that winter is dead time for real estate.

Last week, Redfin studied home listing, sales price and time-on-market data from 2010 through this past October from around the country, updating a two-year analysis it completed last year. It concluded that if you want to sell for more than your asking price, listing in December, January, February and March gives you a better chance, on average, than if you list any time after June through November. During the past three years, listing during these four months has produced higher percentages of above-asking price sales than any months other than April and May. In 2012, at the inception of the housing rebound, December listings produced the highest percentage of above-asking sales for the entire year: 17 percent.

If your goal is to sell relatively quickly, February “is historically the best month to list, with an average of 66 percent of homes listed then selling within 90 days,” according to Redfin. In its two-year study completed last December, researchers found that in each of 19 major markets, including cold-weather cities such as Boston and Chicago, “home sellers were better off listing their homes in the winter than during any other season.”

Researchers are quick to note that the advantages of listing in winter compared with other seasons are not huge. But the fact that winter produces at least competitive or better results by some measures should encourage some potential sellers to get into the game sooner rather than later.

Nela Richardson, chief economist for Redfin, says houses “that are priced right and show well can sell any time” of the year. What many potential sellers may not know, however, Richardson said in an interview, is that shoppers who are active during the winter months “are serious buyers. Most people are not window-shopping” in December and January, as many do in the spring months. Winter buyers wouldn’t be trudging through the bad weather if they didn’t have a pressing need to purchase a house.

Some sellers also pull their unsold houses off the market during the winter, hoping for better results in the spring. By doing so, they leave a smaller inventory of active listings — lessening the competition for sellers who list in January and February, ahead of the pack.

Winter-season buyers may find some sellers more flexible about negotiations over prices and terms than they would during the middle of the spring. Mary Bayat, a broker active in the Washington market and chairman-elect of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors, says that in the past two weeks alone, she has participated in three deals involving sellers who were far more open to negotiations than they were months ago.

“People get more realistic at this time of the year,” Bayat told me, especially when their properties haven’t attracted serious offers during the summer and fall. So it’s a good time for smart shoppers as well.

Paul Stone, an agent in Redfin’s Denver office, says many large corporations in his area transfer employees and hire new ones early in the year. Despite what can be frigid weather and snow in January and February, Stone says “we get a lot of out-of-staters moving in [then] and needing to buy homes.” That, in turn, creates opportunities for wintertime listers who opt not to wait for better weather in the spring.

Bottom line: Real estate does not hibernate from December through March. More than 5 million homes typically are resold annually in the United States, and many of them are listed and sold during the winter months. In strong local housing markets such as Seattle, Austin, Boston, San Diego, Washington, Phoenix and Los Angeles, the likelihood of selling your home within 180 days is higher when you list during the winter months compared with any other season, according to Redfin’s 2013 study.

Winter is warmer for real estate than you might think.

Call us for all your real estate needs…..

The Laugesen Team

#1 Producing Team

Coldwell Banker

Denise: 650-465-5742  Cortney:650-678-5084

www.TheLaugesenTeam.com

www.the411on94010.com

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By Admin
December 15, 2014

9 Things to Check For in a New House

 

These quick fixes will save you loads of future headaches. This article originally appeared on GoodHousekeeping.com.

A new house can be so exciting: The decorating possibilities! The organizational ideas! But before you start moving in your stuff and arranging your furniture, check off these must-do maintenance tasks to make sure everything is safe and in working order:

1. Change the locks.
“You just don’t know how many people have a copy of the keys,” says Agnes Bowman, a broker associate at Century 21 Peterson in Secaucus, NJ. When a house goes up for sale, a lot of people have access to it (think: listing agents, selling agents, and maintenance workers). Plus, you can’t be sure who the previous owners offered a spare set. If the house has an alarm system, remember to change the code. And don’t forget the garage door.

2. Check for moisture stains.
Your inspector should have noted any discolored yellow rings on your drywall, but give your home another once-over right before you move in. Any necessary repair work will be easier to tackle when the space isn’t crammed with your stuff.

3. Locate the shut-off valves.
Find the main water shut-off valve and check to see if you need special tools — like a wrench or a key — to operate it. “If you suddenly have a plumbing leak and there’s water pouring into your house, you need to be able to get to the valve and turn off the water quickly,” says Claude McGavic, executive director of The National Association of Home Inspectors.

And no, these valves aren’t in the same place in every home. “Sometimes the inspector can’t even find them,” laughs McGavic. Look in the home’s interior, in the attic, in the back of the house and around the fence. If you can’t find it, call a plumber to help you.

4. Locate the circuit breaker box.
“If an electrical fire starts, you should know where to go to turn off all the power in the house,” says McGavic. Now would also be a good time to label the switches if they’re not already marked. You’ll need two people: One to flip the switch and one to holler when the lights go out.

5. Replace the batteries in smoke detectors.
Smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors aren’t always checked during a home inspection. And even if they are, something could happen between the inspection and the time you move in. “I could push the button, it could work fine, and then the battery could die,” says McGavic. Working smoke alarms save lives, so swap out all the batteries with fresh ones.

6. Give carpets a deep clean.
Even if the previous owners didn’t have pets, it’s worth the couple hundred dollars to hire a professional to come in, says Bowman. “They have the heavy duty steam-powered machines that can kill germs and dust mites,” she says — and who knows when the carpets were last cleaned. We recommend calling in the pros once a year, so take advantage of the empty house and do it now.

7. Change the heating and cooling filters.
A new disposable filter costs about $4, according to McGavic. The damage that could be caused by an old filter? A whole new system could cost you up to $5000. “If you don’t replace the filter, it could cut down on efficiency, or worse, cause the system to overheat,” he says. McGavic also suggests having a professional come to service the equipment — and set up an ongoing maintenance schedule for every six months. “It’s the same reason you change your oil every 3,000 miles in your car. If you don’t take care of the equipment, it’s going to fail.”

8. Install closet systems.
Moving is one of the few times in life when you have a clear gauge of how much stuff you really have, so you can plot out a helpful closet system pretty well. “If you install drawers, shelves, and hanging rods before you move in, you can unpack and organize your stuff at once,” says Bowman. “Everything goes right into place and you’re done.”

9. Paint.
Okay, so you can do some decorating before you move in: Paint your heart out. The benefits are two-fold, according to Bowman. Painting in advance gives the house time to air out before you’re actually living there, and your furniture won’t be in the way while you’re working. Some people say to paint after you move in (so you know how the light changes throughout the day) but if you spend time in the new place completing this checklist, you should have a decent idea. Paint some test swatches on the walls and see how you like them over a few days.

Call us for all your real estate needs…..

The Laugesen Team

#1 Producing Team

Coldwell Banker

Denise: 650-465-5742  Cortney:650-678-5084

www.TheLaugesenTeam.com

www.the411on94010.com

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By Admin
December 11, 2014

How to Decorate for the Holidays When Your Home Is for Sale

Call us for all your real estate needs…..

The Laugesen Team

#1 Producing Team

Coldwell Banker

Denise: 650-465-5742 Cortney:650-678-5084

www.TheLaugesenTeam.com

www.the411on94010.com

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By Admin
December 5, 2014

The Laugesen Team December Closed Sales!

1360 Tartan Trail, Hillsborough

$2,350,000

5 beds, 3.5 baths

3,490 sq ft

30,720 sq ft lot

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1245 Murchison, Millbrae

$1,875,000

4 beds, 2.5 baths

2,240 sq ft

18,936 sq ft lot

946885_500 kitchen_500

1492 Ascension, San Mateo

$1,425,000

3 beds, 2 baths

1,480 sq ft

8,700 sq ft lot

946884_500 livingroom_500

 

410 Ridge, San Carlos

$988,000

2 beds, 1 bath

GetMedia.ashx-5

 

Call us for all your real estate needs…..

The Laugesen Team

#1 Producing Team

Coldwell Banker

Denise: 650-465-5742 Cortney:650-678-5084

www.TheLaugesenTeam.com

www.the411on94010.com

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By Admin
November 19, 2014

1360 Tartain Trail in Hillsborough Sold!!

We’ve done it again!

We are happy to announce another great sale! We helped a family purchase the home of their dreams at 1360 Tartan Trail in Hillsborough. This gorgeous home is sure to provide a loving space for this wonderful local family to grow. We at The Laugesen Team are just so pleased that we could finally make this families dream come true! If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell don’t forget to come to us for all of your real estate needs!

Call us for all your real estate needs…..

The Laugesen Team

#1 Producing Team

Coldwell Banker

Denise: 650-465-5742 Cortney:650-678-5084

www.TheLaugesenTeam.com

www.the411on94010.com

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By Admin
November 12, 2014

What are the Bay Area’s 10 safest — and most dangerous — communities?

The FBI released its annual “Crime in the United States” report this week, and it showed that violent crime (murders, rapes, assaults and robberies) fell more than 4 percent nationally from 2012 to 2013, continuing a decades-long decline. In the Bay Area’s biggest 15 cities (those with populations above 100,000), homicides plunged 23 percent year-to-year. But the gains were mixed, with San Francisco seeing a 22 percent increase in violent crime.

As always, an underlying theme of the yearly report was the stark difference in crime rates between certain cities and towns. While Oakland is now in the midst of downward trend in violent crime, it continues to have the highest per-capita crime rate in the state — a rate five times the California average. But some Bay Area spots are almost untouched by violent crime. Hillsborough, a ritzy community of some 11,000 people, had exactly zero violent crimes in 2013. Clayton, also with a population of around 11,000, had two reported violent crimes last year, both robberies.

Here are the Bay Area’s 10 safest and most dangerous communities (among those with at least 10,000 population), according to the FBI’s violent crime data.

What are the Bay Area’s 10 safest — and most dangerous — communities?

 

Call us for all your real estate needs…..

The Laugesen Team

#1 Producing Team

Coldwell Banker

Denise: 650-465-5742 Cortney:650-678-5084

www.TheLaugesenTeam.com

www.the411on94010.com

 

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By Admin
November 12, 2014

Possible Change in 10/31 Exchanges

If you are considering a 1031 Exchange in the very near future, you should consult your exchange facilitator or qualified tax advisor.

The “Tax Reform” tab has something about the possibility of 1031 exchange being repealed?

http://www.ipx1031.com/tax-reform-proposals/

 

Call us for all your real estate needs…..

The Laugesen Team

#1 Producing Team

Coldwell Banker

Denise: 650-465-5742 Cortney:650-678-5084

www.TheLaugesenTeam.com

www.the411on94010.com

 

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By Admin
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