Dana Graham

Real Estate General Info Category

How To Pick Your Agent

I remember about 1979 when I was interviewing agents, before I got into the business.  It was very difficult for me to figure out who was a good agent, as all had eyewitness testimony to their having walked on water.  Such criteria as the number of sales or "sales dollar volume" helped, but I wanted someone who was going to sell my house, and not just throw a bunch of listings against the wall and see how many stuck.  I also...Continue Reading!

November 2012 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor:  As you can see from the enclosures, things are jumpin’.  As I hinted the last time I wrote, it seems as if everyone who ever thought of buying is attempting to do so now – and who can blame them?  With interest rates at levels we won’t see again in our lifetimes (3.5% 30 year fixed -- well, not in my lifetime -- maybe in yours) and prices still unrecovered from the ridiculous levels of 2007 (don’t hold your breath...Continue Reading!

September 2012 Newsletter

This is the text of my newsletter sent to approximately 1500 people.  If you would like to get on my mailing list, either post a comment here or call me at 310 265-2141.   While the real estate market has slowed slightly in the past few weeks (too small a period to make any judgments), it’s still safe to say that if your house is priced correctly, you won’t have long to wait for a buyer.  The market picked up noticeably a...Continue Reading!

Zillow and the Like

If you haven’t kept up on fast-moving real estate technology, Zillow may be an unfamiliar name to you.  If so, in the last few years, internet websites have sprung up for everything you can imagine, among which are those which purport to give you the value of your house or, perhaps more tantilizing, that of your neighbor.  Zillow is the most prominent of these, with such as Truila and Redfin also in the game. While the subject matter may not be...Continue Reading!

July, 2012, Newsletter

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 July, 2012  Dear Neighbor: Staging has become a hot topic lately, I suppose because with a slower market, sellers are looking for any edge they can get.  Staging, in case you don’t know, can refer to anything from re-arranging the existing furniture in the house, to bringing in a complete house full of new furniture, towels, accessories, dishes, wall hangings, etc, all in an effort to make the place look more attractive to a buyer.  In this case, I’m talking about...Continue Reading!

Staging

Staging has become a hot topic lately, I suppose because with a slower market, sellers are looking for any edge they can get.  Staging, in case you don't know, can refer to anything from re-arranging the existing furniture in the house to bringing in a complete house full of new furniture, towels, accessories, dishes, wall hangings, etc, all in an effort to make the place look more attractive to a buyer.   For the purpose of this discussion, I'm defining staging...Continue Reading!

Do You Need An Agent?

It's a valid question.  In my 28 years of doing this, my general impression is that 20% of the escrows go smoothly enough that an agent may not have been necessary.  But, and you knew this was coming, it's the part before and after, that we need to look at. Before:  Getting a property into an escrow that will close is not something that just happens.  Apart from helping you select the proper asking price, agents have ways of marketing and publicizing...Continue Reading!

Global Warming (thru the ages)

I originally wrote this in early 2009 but, sad to say, it still applies: I hate to waste time on this, but since it's currently fashionable to believe that man is causing global warming, I just can't help putting it to the "historical perspective" test. I am no scientist, and I'm not even going to get into the vested interests of a whole bunch of people who are riding the government gravy train "studying" this.  All that aside, it fails the...Continue Reading!

These Are Perilous Times

Originally written in May, 2009: Please.  No, they are not.    Every generation thinks they live in unprecedentedly "perilous times". Remember the bucolic 1950's? Ozzie & Harriet, Mickey Mouse, Howdy Doody, Elvis, and all that innocence? That's not what people thought at the time! It was "head for the bomb shelter and duck and cover" 'cuz them Ruskies could be sending a nuclear bomb over any minute. Not to mention polio and a bunch of other disesases since eradicated. We now know that...Continue Reading!

May, 2012, Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: You will notice from the enclosures that all the listings I mentioned in my last newsletter have sold.  All sold inside 30 days.  More on that later. If you’ve been paying attention to the real estate market lately (as if you have nothing else to do), you have noticed that there just isn’t much for sale.  That is true throughout the South Bay and, if you’re a seller or thinking about becoming one, this is an excellent environment.  Buyers have...Continue Reading!