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Buying – Info For Canadian Buyers

What Do We All Have In Common?

What Do We All Have In Common?

Golf Home At PGA West, La Quinta

Some of you reading this may already be enjoying ownership of a home or luxury condo here in the desert. Some of you have been considering it, or even dreaming about for a number of years. Some of you may just be starting out considering a vacation home, or even a full time residence here in the desert.

But I know that there’s something you, me, and every other person reading this post likely has in common: We enjoy many of the resort lifestyle opportunities that the Palm Springs area offers us.

Year-Round Outdoor Activities

My husband Bill takes a brisk two-mile walk most mornings. During the warmer summer months Bill walks earlier in the day before jumping into our pool. During the winter months Bill sometimes chooses to walk later in the day. But the important thing is Bill can take advantage of walking year-round, and ninety percent of the time he’s in shorts. That’s part of the resort lifestyle here.

For me, tennis is my game once or twice a week. My group usually plays around 9AM in the winter months. During the summer we usually play at 8AM to take advantage of the cooler morning hours, then I’ll usually hit the gym later in the day.

Golf, Hiking, Biking & More...

Golfers, hikers, bikers and others can enjoy our resort lifestyle living year-round by simply making similar adjustments to their schedules. But the cool thing is we have options. The hardest part of desert living for some people is actually deciding what activity to enjoy next. And yes, just chilling by the pool is a popular option too.

As I show property to prospective buyers this week, there’s one thing we’ll all have in common. We will all be appreciating the opportunity to live, play and enjoy the Palm Springs area.

Not Exactly The Right Price

Not Exactly The Right Price

Trulia's® Estimate

People that know me know that I complete a lot of real estate transactions. Not bragging here, just the way it is. So I’m kind of like a doctor at a cocktail party. People usually have questions about real estate and I do my best to respond to them on a regular basis.

Recently a local homeowner mentioned that he had just looked up his Palm Springs area home value as posted on Zillow®. Oh-boy I thought, this should be interesting. Anyway, he asked for my opinion so let's take a look together shall we?

$515,000 Or $999,540 - What's The Correct Price?

Zillow's® Estimate For The Same Home

Trulia® estimated that his desert home is worth $515,000. But rival mega real estate site Zillow came in with their Zestamite® of $999,540! So which site is right? It turns out neither one.

Now I happen to have sold the majority of homes in his neighborhood over the last couple of years, so I have a pretty good handle on values. Regardless I ran the numbers and I would set the value of his home at $825,000. And if I were buying or selling this home for myself I’d be right around that number.

Too Many Variables For A Robot

So how did Trulia® and Zillow® go so wrong in their estimates? Many times a computer program can’t ‘see’ the difference between one neighborhood and another. In the case of Trulia, it looks like they compared values for a luxury-gated community to those in a nearby but entirely separate non-gated entry-level community where homes were selling at around $200,000. Zillow appears to have been looking at nearby new construction homes, which typically are valued by banks and mortgage companies at a ten to fifteen percent premium over resale homes.

Now for anyone who believed in Zillow’s $996,571 price for this home, the website conveniently displayed three “expert real estate agents” that you could contact to help you buy it. Keep this thought in mind when browsing national real estate sites; Their main purpose is to sell advertising, and mostly to agents who need clients.

I’ll keep a print out of these estimated values in my office should should you like to view them. And I have many more where these came from.

A Little Advice Before You Hire Any Agent (Including Me)

A Little Advice Before You Hire Any Agent (Including Me)

If you plan on buying or selling real estate in the future, not just here in the Palm Springs area but almost anywhere, this information could very well benefit you. First some background.

Last month I was interviewed during a one-hour segment on the local Bloomberg financial news radio outlet. The host, Ron Siegel and I talked about our local real estate market and the fact that my team and I are busy enough that we don’t have to depend on the next transaction in order to make ends meet.

Looking Out For Your Best Interests

“If a real estate agent, or any financial professional for that matter, is not busy and successful they just might need to convince a client to buy or sell with them when in fact they should really be telling you to wait.” Ron said.

Now let me say right now that I believe that most agents are looking out for the better good of their clients. But what Ron said on the show made sense; “What if an agent’s mortgage payment is coming due and they haven’t sold a property in a while? What if they really need your sale to make ends meet this month?” Ron said.

This got me to thinking about all the times that I’ve been able to advise clients not to buy or sell a property at a particular time because it really wasn’t in their best interest to act then. And I’m certainly blessed to be able to do that.

Here's How You Can Benefit

So here’s the information that I promised to share earlier that could benefit you in buying or selling your next home. It’s quite simple really. Be sure to check out each prospective agent’s references and their recent sales transactions. Ask them for a list of their sales transaction over the last twelve months.

Here in the desert, 24% of local agents did not complete a single sales transaction last year. And in the U.S., the average agent completes just seven sales transactions per year. In my opinion, it’s hard to stay on top of the Palm Springs area real estate market if you only work at it part-time. You wouldn’t be as familiar with as many communities and properties, and you certainly wouldn’t have much experience negotiating transactions on behalf of your clients.

So before you walk into that open house and buy a home from the nice agent sitting behind the desk, or list your home with an agent who is a friend of a friend, please consider doing your homework. Past results don’t guarantee future success, but what else do you have to go on?

Living On The Green In La Quinta

Living On The Green In La Quinta

On most days my client, Genni, stays busy from morning to night. From her morning round of golf or friendly game of tennis to dinner at the clubhouse with friends, Genni and her husband Jeff live the good life on the green. Living on the green in this case translates into their golf course home location, which happens to be on the seventh green of one of La Quinta’s luxury golf course communities.

95 Private Golf & Country Clubs In The Palm Springs Area

Genni and Jeff represent a growing segment of Palm Springs homebuyers who enjoy life at one of ninety-five private residential golf and country club communities–two decades ago there were less than half that number. Today there are also dozens of popular public golf communities to choose from, each offering numerous amenities to buyers.

Palm Springs area golf and country clubs have become a staple of desert life. Homeowners and their guests can choose to be active morning to night like Genni, or they can choose to enjoy a laidback resort lifestyle. Either way of life is encouraged and accepted in our golf and country club communities, as well as provided for.

What Golf & Country Club Amenities Are Important To You

If you're considering life on the green here in the Palm Springs area, you'll want to spend some time thinking about what is most important to you and what you really want in a community. Define the kind of lifestyle you desire and the important features you want in your new desert home and the amenities you like to enjoy in your community.

My team and I developed this Palm Springs area real estate website as your online guide to desert real estate because an informed buyer usually makes the best choices. Each of our community profiles offers an overview of the community, including recent home values, club membership, HOA information, photos, maps and more. Each profile also includes active listings of homes, luxury condos and even custom lots for sale within each community, making the viewing of available properties a lot simpler than trudging through the entire Palm Springs Area MLS.

Your Palm Springs Real Estate Newsletter

Consider, also, signing up for my monthly desert newsletter. Once a month you find valuable information in your inbox on the Palm Springs area real estate scene, including real estate market updates, new listings, dining around the desert, and much more.

Buying Palm Springs Real Estate: How To Gain A Slight Advantage

Buying Palm Springs Real Estate: How To Gain A Slight Advantage

Here’s a question for you: where will you be spending time next winter?

Time does fly, and before we know it summer will have turned into fall and then comes that faithful friend–old man winter! People that are here looking at properties in the Palm Springs area now are likely on a mission. We see this every summer; summer buyers can be the most determined, the most serious, and the most prepared buyers because they want to be enjoying their new home or luxury condo here in the Palm Springs area next winter. They’re on a mission, and being here at this time just might give them a slight advantage.

With Fewer Summer Buyers In Town, You Can Gain An Advantage

La Quinta Golf Home Master Suite

Let’s imagine that you’ve discovered a home that interests you. OK, it really interests you, and you can imagine your family and friends enjoying the resort lifestyle in that home throughout the coming winter. Here’s your advantage: there are fewer buyers in town today. So, instead of two or three other buyers interested in that same home you like, right now it’s just you and say one other buyer who’s phoning it in from out of state.

Even if buyer number two submits an offer for the home from out of state (which happens more often than most buyers think it does), all things being equal, the seller will likely give more attention to the offer from the buyer who is in town. That’s a clear advantage.

Summer Brings Our Most Serious Buyers To Palm Springs

I often tell my Palm Springs area home sellers this time of year that the buyers who are here now and during the summer are the most serious buyers we see all year. They are determined, and many say they won’t leave until they’ve found their new Palm Springs area home.

Since the inventory of Palm Springs homes for sale continues to tighten, every advantage you can give yourself as a buyer is worth considering. And it’s our job to give you as a buyer every potential advantage we can.

May looks to be another record-breaking month for our Sheri Dettman & Associates real estate team as buyers continue to take advantage of great Palm Springs area real estate opportunities. Can we help you find your place in the desert sun before next winter? We’re here to help when the time is right for you.

What’s Your Reason For Not Buying This Year?

What’s Your Reason For Not Buying This Year?

Palm Desert Golf Homes

My team and I have helped hundreds of buyer clients find their dream home in the Palm Springs area over the last few years, so believe me when I say I’ve heard countless reasons from people getting in their own way of buying and enjoying the desert home they’ve been thinking and dreaming about. Here are some top excuses:

  • “I’m waiting for Palm Springs real estate prices to go back down.”
  • “I’ll think about buying next winter.”
  • “The economy might decline again.”
  • “I have trouble making big decisions so I’ll rent for another year.”

What Recent Buyers Are Saying

We follow-up with our buyer clients on a regular basis to ensure they’re happy and that we’ve done the best job possible. We ask questions like: Are you enjoying your home? Are your family and friends happy with your purchase decision? Are you glad you invested in the Palm Springs real estate market?

These clients often tell me their stress levels have come down a few notches as they now have a desert home to escape to! Whether they’re getting away from winter or gloom, or just simply knowing they have a place to get away from it all with family or friends, all that stress just seems to dissolve as soon as they step into their new home.

So What Are You Waiting For?

So what are you waiting for? Contact us today and we'll be happy to help you find the perfect home for you. We’ll match you with the right community, the right lifestyle, and the right home and hopefully have some fun doing it together.

Palm Springs Real Estate For Canadians: Is The Loonie Headed South? Should You Be?

Palm Springs Real Estate For Canadians: Is The Loonie Headed South? Should You Be?

The Globe And Mail reported today that Toronto-Dominion Bank is forecasting a big drop in the Canadian dollar. TD bank believes that the loonie, now at near par, will tumble to ninety cents by early in 2014 before recovering to ninety-three cents by the end of the year. We’ll see if these predictions prove out in the coming year. According to the article TD joins a growing number of analysts who are predicting that the Canadian dollar’s long run up, which began in 2003, is now about to come to an end.

Canadians Buyers Are Taking This News Seriously

Locally, Canadians who are interested in Palm Springs area real estate seem to be taking this news seriously, as we’ve seen another uptick in interest from our Canadian buyers.

If Palm Springs area home and condo prices continue to rise as they have over the last eighteen months, and if the Canadian dollar does hit around 90 cents in 2014, the combination could equal in realty a price adjustment of fifteen to twenty or more percent or more.

On the flip side, Canadians buying real estate this year, who can take advantage of the still strong loonie, coupled with ongoing price increases in the Palm Springs real estate market could reap a double digit gain on their investment as their property here is valued in US dollars, which significantly increases the value of your investment.

Time will tell if these Canadian bank predictions come true, but based on our Palm Springs real estate market trends over the past 18 months, now would be a great time to take action on today's opportunity if you are ready.

Disclaimer: Sheri Dettman & Associates is not offering any financial advice or advice on how to time the currency market. We just tell it like it is!

Sheri Dettman In The Vancouver Sun On Palm Springs Real Estate

Sheri Dettman In The Vancouver Sun On Palm Springs Real Estate

Reduced Palm Springs Real Estate Prices

I had the privilege of being featured in the Vancouver Sun, in a section entitled, “South of the Border, a Home in the Sun.” Little did they know how in sync they were with us—our newsletter was titled “Your Home in the Sun”! Sun must be a popular word for Canadian homebuyers in the Palm Springs real estate market.

Anyway, I’m quoted about Canadians buying in the Palm Springs real estate market in an article entitled “Cross-border Home Shopping.” The article covers how the strong Canadian dollar and reduced housing prices are among factors which have driven real estate sales south of the border, and, for Sheri Dettman & Associates, down to the Palm Springs real estate market.

Vancouver Sun Writer Steven Threndyle quotes me: “People tell us they just want to be warm. Year-round golf, tennis, swimming and our unique indoor-outdoor living is high on most Canadians’ lists.”

The Canadian Dollar And Palm Springs Real Estate

In a related article on my Palm Springs real estate blog this week, I talk about the recent news from Canadian banks predicting that the loonie is headed south, and how this could effect Canadian buyers of Palm Springs area real estate.

Palm Springs Home Buyers & Sellers: Don’t Take It Personally!

Palm Springs Home Buyers & Sellers: Don’t Take It Personally!

Golf Homes At Andalusia, La Quinta

Here's a little advice for Palm Springs area homebuyers and sellers. Never take purchase negotiations personally. No property is ever sold unless there's a willing buyer and a willing seller. And getting to that point can be a dance, and sometimes it can be a little tougher. But please don't take it personally.

I do this almost everyday, and every transaction can be a bit different. Every buyer and seller has a unique personality. Some people buy and sell homes as often as cars, while others might buy or sell just a few times in their lifetime. People's situations and their reasons for buying or selling here in the Palm Springs area can also be varied.

Your Palm Springs Realtor's Job: Part Guide, Part Negotiator

Part of an agent's job is to guide their buyers or sellers through the negotiations while keeping their sanity and their cool. It's counterproductive to take anything personally. Yes, there can be some stress involved, but an agent's job is to keep their clients stress level to a minimum and to do any heavy lifting for them.

A seller receiving a low-ball offer simply needs to submit a counter offer. We're here to help guide you with that. If a buyer gets no response to their submitted offer, their agent can find out why and go from there. But if there is no offer on the table because on side or the other took it personally, then negotiations cease and both sides can lose.

Don't Hit The Panic Button Unless I Tell You To! 

After completing hundreds of client transactions, the one thing in common that I share with our clients is 'don't panic until I tell you to!'  That little 'fire' during negotiations today, or during escrow tomorrow might seem like a big deal now, but it will likely be water in the swimming pool in just a day or two!

Most Palm Springs area real estate transactions actually flow pretty smoothly. The ones that don't are a bit more work but that's my job, and my team's job, to put forth what ever is needed on our client's behalf.

Know that I work with and therefore get to know a lot of the local real estate professionals, and as such I usually know in advance which transactions will be more work than others. That's when our team rolls up our sleeves up so you don't have to. You can get ready to move, and don't forget the sunscreen!

And during negotiations, like I said, please don't take anything personally, unless I tell you to!

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