Shout out to agent Milla Goldenberg

The pretty lady above is Milla Goldenberg and she is one of our agents here at Judy Graff Properties.  Although she's only be in business for three years, she is absolutely on fire!🔥🔥In the last ten days, Milla has listed two properties and sold two properties.  That's an amazing amount of transactions on top of the other listings and sales she's had since the first of the year.  Not to mention being wife to Warren and mom to four-year-old Nico (also pictured above).  And, she has covered not only L.A., but the San Bernardino mountains, Palmdale, Long Beach, etc. -- that's a lot of driving not to mention hard work! So, kudos, props, shout out to you, Milla, for your wonderful work. I am so proud!  Milla can be reached at millagoldenberg@gmail.com. #MillaGoldenberg #JudyGraffProperties

Is your personal info safe during a real estate transaction? Probably not.

As we all know, data collection and privacy issues are a real problem these days.  Data sales are a big, big business, and several national real estate brokerages now admit to being in the business of selling data.  The good news is there are lots of state and federal laws to protect your privacy.  See California's https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/privacy-laws. 

But some of your info can still be sold.  How can your real estate company, escrow company, bank or title company protect you from having your data sold? First, review the company's privacy policy and ask questions.  The company may be able to furnish you with an opt-out form.  Second, ask if data and files are stored in an online platform.  Some online platforms are theoretically safe (such as your lender's), but some are furnished to third party companies.  If the company does store the info, again ask for an opt-out form or ask if it can be stored in another manner.  Finally, make sure that you are on the do-not-call registry, although this is no guarantee that you won't get annoying calls soliciting your business.  A client of mine recently got about six calls from every five minutes from Realtors who wanted her business.  And her phone number was unpublished.  Her mother got calls too, even though her number is also unpublished and she doesn't even live with her daughter!  (By the way, the info was furnished to Realtors by a company called REXD.com -- steer clear!)

Four don'ts for home buyers

It’s a tough world out there, real-estate wise.  I know that you home buyers are beaten and bruised and just may not care about the other party’s emotions.  And I know there are a lot of nutty sellers (and buyers). However, it’s always a good idea to keep your transaction going as smoothly as possible – good will goes a very long way in Southern California real estate.  Here are some don’ts for buyers:

- Don’t make disparaging remarks about the house or neighborhood when the sellers are present.  All sellers, even flippers, want to start home sale transactions on a positive note.  Being a hater gets you nowhere.

-         -  Don’t make a purchase offer that is way lower than it should be for the comps or condition.  No matter how adorable the home sellers think you are, they don’t love you so much that they are willing to lose money. Yes, there are unrealistic sellers who have priced their home too high. And of course you don’t want to overpay for your property. But don’t get crazy low on the price if you want a response. Your Realtor can guide you to making an offer and counter offer with a realistic chance of being negotiated.

-          - Don’t miss contractual dates.  Performing the purchase contract’s tasks (yes, there are things you need to do after the agreement) by the agreed-on dates should not be a problem for a serious buyer.  Missing those dates makes you look flaky and can even get you kicked out of escrow.  If you truly need an extension of time (for an appraisal, for example), your Realtor can request one in writing.

-          - Don’t ask for silly stuff after your home inspection.  If the seller knows that you plan to do a $50k home remodel, don’t ask for $500 for “miscellaneous." That just looks greedy.  Also, please know that just because a property element or system is at the end of its useful life, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to immediately fail the minute you take possession.  Unless something is really broken, or is a safety hazard, keep in mind that you’ve agreed to take the property “as is” per the contract.  Also, your home warranty policy will help with repairs for your first year.

In great transactions, the seller gets almost everything they want, and the buyer gets almost everything they want.  Almost is the key word.  Smooth sailing, buyers and sellers.