Community • August 2, 2016

Kicks for Kids

by Tom Fine

I have a passion in supporting others, If you can help me with any of the programs that I support, i trully appreciate it. For every successful closing I donate $100 to the charity of your choice. If you have any questions, please reach out to me. Thank you for supporting local charities.

Can you help kids get a pair of shoes? Please help!

Real Estate • May 13, 2016

Don’t let Home-buying be a Challenge in Today’s Market

by Tom Fine

Choosing a Real Estate Broker

Pacific NW Homebuyers are challenged by the fast paced real estate market, this includes Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland and Eastside. Homebuyers are bidding on homes, many are bidding on 6 or more times and not being successful. It’s sad to say, without a great REALTOR, I’m not inflating anyone’s ego; there must be a plan to win in this market. Otherwise, many of them are wasting their time and energy, by bidding on these properties and spending money on inspections.

If a home looks good and is priced reasonably it will have multiple offers, it can go from list price to over $100k over list in a heartbeat. The key is to position yourself so you are patient and looking in the area that makes sense for your lifestyle and your budget. My clients have been fortunate to be successful in wining on the bidding process with the great attitude and plan. Don’t get me wrong we are not just walking in a property and winning, it takes a wining combination and if my clients are willing to participate then we have a great chance at getting them the home of their dreams in this market.

To discuss how Tom Fine can help get you into your home or sell your home to get you where you want to be, contact Tom Fine at tomfine@windermere.com , call or text, whichever is your preference at 206-434-6561.

Tom Fine works with Windermere Real Estate and is a real estate broker and a REALTOR and working in the Mercer Island office, a couple minutes from downtown Seattle, Washington. Serving Seattle and the Eastside market.

Real Estate • May 16, 2015

Don’t Make Mistakes Selling Your Home

by Tom Fine

1. Not preparing to show your home in the right light. It’s critical to make sure when you are getting your home ready to sell that you put items in the right place. Don’t have too much clutter; arrange furniture so the rooms flow. If you don’t have the right furniture the best bet is to place staging in place of your furniture. Remember you are looking to get top dollar.

2.Doing a minor home improvement before selling might make sense.

If you have a ½ bath and have room to make it a ¾ bath to increase your selling price or a kitchen renovation to get more money, doesn’t that make sense? Yes! But don’t get carried away by doing too big of a renovation.

3. Not hiring an agent. So many people think they can do what an Agent/Broker can do. Are you willing to go through all the steps t get top dollar and then you don’t deal with an action in the right order or miss a timeframe that jeopardizes the deal, it’s critical that you have someone that can represent you to explain all the details. Studies have shown that hiring an Agent/Broker, you’ll get your money worth and it will eliminate a lot of headaches. Hire a professional to do a professional job.

4. Putting too high of a sale price. Wanting to get top dollar is everyone’s dream, but setting too high of a sale price can hurt in more than one way. It will keep the house on the market longer, the first two weeks is when your house sees a lot of action and people. When a house is on the market longer than a couple of weeks, then buyers believe they can get a bargain or low ball an offer. It’s key to get a BPO, (Brokers Price Opinion) this will provide an price with comps so you can make the right decision on the pricing.

5. Not hiring the right agent. You may have a friend or you see a truck that says “Use this truck for free when Moving, hire me” you get a postcard that says discounted fees or free staging. Do you want to think about discount people when selling your home? You want the right person and the one that thinks outside the box, has great opinions and options to sell your home.

6. Not exposing your home to the masses. When interviewing the agents, what is the agent going to do for marketing? Is she/he going to market to thousands of local agents, what about a Brokers open and open houses for the masses? Email marketing, Video tours on the Internet. Neighborhood mailer about the home. If the neighbors love the neighborhood, they’ll tell their friend about the great neighborhood, SOLD!

7. Putting restriction on the buyers, not letting buyers access the home. Some sellers, believe they know better than the agent, so they restrict the agent from showing the home, not allow agents market the home strategically. The right agents know how to go to market and know how to sell your home, let the professionals do their job.

8. Sellers should not be in the home while showing are happening. Several of my clients wanted to show the potential buyers their home, they felt they knew what to show buyers and they wanted to be there for the showings. This is a big No-No. Buyers and sellers should not be together, buyers want to feel free to talk about the house what they like and don’t like. They may want to do a remodel and the sellers can’t imagine why someone would want to change their home. The best scenario is to have the sellers out of the home during any showing and any open or brokers open. If they forget something, oh well they can come in after the showings. Believe you want top dollar, this will shoot them in the foot if they are there while a showing is going on.

These are the main items that can help get you on the right rack for positioning your home with the right agent, maximizing your return and getting maximum exposure. If you are in the Seattle and surrounding areas and you would like to discuss how we Tom Fine could help you, contact Tom today. Todays market is hot for sellers, positioning your home can potentially get more than market value. Have fun selling your home.

Real Estate • January 9, 2015

I love working with my clients!

by Tom Fine

November 5, 2014

To Whom it May Concern:

Tom Fine was our buyer’s agent for our recent home purchase in Green Lake, Seattle. We have decided to pen an unsolicited testimonial to his services.

Our family recently relocated from Australia to Seattle and decided to purchase a home. Luckily for us, we found Tom. Tom was able to explain the real estate market and buying and selling process in Seattle (which differs greatly from what we were used to in Australia). He was tireless in identifying properties that met our criteria and spent countless hours on the road with us explaining the positives and negatives of different localities, housing and building styles while viewing ‘open homes’. He was very flexible and understanding in his approach and his availability.

Tom’s knowledge gained as a building contractor was invaluable. He was able to walk through houses with us explaining potential benefits or pitfalls of the construction, layout, style, materials used and potential areas for improvement or maintenance. Several times he drew our attention to problems with construction that we would not otherwise have noticed.

In the end we found a house we wanted to make an offer for and Tom was able to calmly handle negotiations, helping to secure the house below the asking price in a highly competitive real estate market. He kept us in the loop every step of the way.

Subsequent to closing on the house, Tom has been happy to provide advice and expertise in relation to our plans to improve the property.

We’ve been impressed with Tom and would wholeheartedly recommend his services to others looking to buy or sell a home in Seattle.

Mark and Caroline Gordon
Green Lake, Seattle.

Real Estate • January 8, 2015

What Does Your Realtor Know?

by Tom Fine

When I go to purchase items whether it is a small item or large, I look to the salesperson to be knowledgeable about what they are selling, don’t you? So I turn the tables and say here are some questions to ask your Realtor.

What should you expect out of a Realtor?

Let’s discuss the knowledge items.

Your Realtor should have knowledge of the following:
➢ Of the area you are showing with information of schools, parks, and the neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods
➢ About the structure, basic information, what kind of construction is the structure (Just because I know a lot about this subject I didn’t put this in here, but I expect a salesperson to know what they are selling at least the basic information)
➢ Thoroughly describe the features and benefits of the property
➢ Ability to inform the clients about the forms they are signing and the ability to get them any answer relating to the transaction
➢ Communicate consistently with all parties about updates, changes or modifications of the terms, contracts and schedules, not through text, but phone and email
➢ Ability to discuss the handling of earnest money
➢ What Escrow and Title is and why they are important
➢ Ability to negotiate for the best terms for their clients, know when to talk and when to walk
➢ Follow through, continuation of communicating about the status of the process
➢ Be able to provide their clients with CMA’s (Comparative Market Analysis) for price points of the house whether they are selling or buying, so the clients know what your house value is
➢ Knowing how to maximize your return on investment, preparing your property for sale
➢ Lowering his/her commission will not make the property sell faster, (A realtor should be able to respond to this question, why won’t my property sell faster with a lower commission, *larger dollar sales do have a lower commission structure)
➢ Realtor (Selling) provides you with preliminary costs to sell your home with several scenario’s for different selling prices
➢ Realtor (Buying) provides you closing cost scenario’s, (what it will cost you to purchase a home)
➢ Realtor provides you what the process is for selling or buying and what to expect from the beginning to the end

The items I have pointed out above are key reasons to use a Realtor; another key item is the Code of Ethics that Realtor’s commit to, to be a Realtor. Please note that if you have a license to sell real estate, this does not mean they are a Realtor.

To discuss how I can be of any assistance to you whether you are interested in buying or selling, please contact me, Tom Fine, Broker – Windermere Real Estate, tomfine@windermere.com or call me at 206-434-6561 and I will be glad to help you with your real estate needs. I work with individuals, couples or groups to buy and sell real estate in the state of Washington, from single-family homes, raw land, multifamily properties and investment properties.

Real Estate • January 29, 2014

Properties For Sale, what I look for, are you looking at them the same way?

by Tom Fine

Every day I am looking at properties, for my clients (Buyers & Investors) all over town from Capitol Hill heading South thru Mt. Baker, Seward Park and then West to West Seattle and then NW, to Magnolia and Ballard. Don't get me wrong; I hit a lot more neighborhoods besides these.

What I saw and continue to see from some other Brokers is disappointing; these are listings that come on to the market and they are not prepared for the buyers. The sellers have one opportunity to make a first impression and when I walk up the house and grab onto a post to open a gate and the post is wobbly, I loose trust, then I say, well let’s see maybe that was overlooked. Then I see other items that make me nervous and concerned. These are minor items such as cover plates missing off electrical devices and poorly executed finishes. These are items that should have been addressed prior to putting this home on the market. Why? If these are not an issue then these items don’t turn off people.

As a professional I am coaching my clients on getting the best return for their investment and this means installing cover-plates on switches and receptacles, fixing a wiggly post for a fence and dealing with a heap fix to meet a code issue. Oh I forgot to mention, the house smelled! I work hard for my clients and my clients know that when I ask them to do something, they know it is in their best interest, not mine and for them to maximize their return, they do what makes sense.

I can see that several items feel thru the cracks for this listing, and I don't know where it was but I am glad to say I am thoroughly disappointed in what I saw. I saw another property that was on the market for a while and I can say the pictures online look great! The in person comments are, peeling paint and cracks in the walls. For a fixer upper, not a problem, but overpriced is what we see and this will attract the low ballers.

Look at the listing as what the buyer will see, the “Buyers Eyes”. Remember if a buyer sees items that don't look good, they start thinking what else is wrong with the house?

Don’t let the buyer drive the price down, get the price up.

Let me know if I can help you.

Tom Fine

Windermere RE, Capitol Hill, Inc.

Real Estate • August 29, 2013

How to Sell your Home, Several Simple Steps to Increase the Value of you Home

by Tom Fine

This is scary, challenging and exciting all at the same time. The thought of selling your biggest investment. Well being wise and realistic you'll do fine. I knw you're thinking you can do the FSBO, of course as a realtor I don't believe in FSBO (For Sale By Owner), here you have your biggest asset and you have a fulltime job and know you are thinking of taking on this huge endeavor, is this smart? Do you know how much time it will take? Do you have experience in selling a home? Marketing a home, Interacting with potential buyers? Do you know what to say and how to close the deal or negotiate? What are these values worth?

The right realtor will make the cost of their services pay off, they will make you as much money as possible and will engage with potential buyers and buyers agents. Well let's get down to why you are here.

Here are some steps to get your home prepared for selling for the maximum amount.

1. Curb Appeal, this is the first impressions a potential buyer will see your home, beside the pictures online. Clean the yard, make the yard attractive, simple plants and bark in the beds can make your yard stand out from other homes for sale.

2. The first thing to do is to declutter your home, this means getting rid if all the excess items, possibly too many chairs in the living room, too much furniture is a turn off. The rooms should feel larger and by minimizing them, making the rooms look clean, larger this will give the rooms more volume. Clean your home, this means dusting, washing windows, this means deep cleaning and keep it clean, you never know when a potential buyer will want to see your home.

3. Make necessary repairs, do a walk thru and look at everything and make a list, that is what a good inspector will do and you'll loose money on the house if there any issues. Once you have the list, prioritize the list and go over the list with your realtor, they can help make key judgments on what should be repaired or replaced.

4. Prepare a list of what you like about the house and what repairs and improvements you've made on the property.

5. How about another list of what shops, restaurants and other great places are around your home that buyers can associate with and can see the proximity of these places. Anything special like this: "Look thru Living room window to see the Space Needle", "Walk to the Waterfront", "Pike Place Market are within walking distance from the house".

6. Once you hire a realtor to represent your home, they will provide a CMA, (Comparative Market Analysis) which will have comparative properties to provide you with a good idea of what your home is worth and what price range the home can sell for. A realtor is here to provide you with details and information and it is your job top make the decision on price from t he information they have provided. It's important to try to leave the emotion out of this process and try to look at it as a business transaction. i know that's tough, but emotions get in the way of a realistic price. Emotions increase the price. Keep your emotions out, be realistic what your home is worth, otherwise it's a waste of time to try to sell an overpriced home

7. Tell your friends and neighbors that you are selling your home, word of mouth is an incredible power full source, utilize it. Spread the word.

With the right presentation and price and terms, it should sell fast in the right market.

Good luck on your home sale and I hope you do well.

Contact me to help you sell your home.

Tom Fine