Categories: Podcast

94 – Tips for Selling Your Flip in a Slowing Market with Tommy Doan

Synopsis:

Tommy is a realtor that helps buyers purchase properties in the Bay Area. In this episode, we’ll be giving you insight into the consumer mind and talk about what a home buyer is looking for in a rehab house. We’ll go over tips to make your home more appealing to a wider range of buyers as well as some deal-breakers that might make your home seen in the market for several weeks.

Key Points:

Open floor plans are all the rage right now. Find ways to open up entertainment space so people feel like they have more room in there home. People will sacrifice a shorter commute if it means that their kids can go to a better school. Elementary and middle school ratings are more important than high school ratings because they want their kids to grow up in a great environment. And right now, the market has softened even more, and you’re able to get a loan for a really low rate. Honestly, I think it’s a great time to buy a home if you plan on staying in it for a long time. Feel free to call Tommy or send me an email if you have any questions about buying a home in the Bay Area.

Show Notes:

How Did Tommy Become An Agent?

Tommy was a Kinesiology major at SJSU, but his friends showed him the benefit of being an agent. Tommy had the mentality that “the sky’s the limit”. He didn’t want to get capped on or whatever he wanted to be working in, so he figured he’d try out real estate. With real estate, there’s no limit on how much you can make per year.

Tommy’s DEALFLOW

In the first couple of years, he only had a couple of deals but now is in progressively going at a steady rate. This year has gotten two deals down already and he’s expecting to have 4 or 5 more by the end of the year.

Type Of CLIENTS Tommy Typically Works With

Tommy’s clientele has been primarily first-time home buyers. He has around 1 or 2 clients that have owned a home before in Southern California, and they want to buy a property to live in Northern California.

Where Does Tommy Find His Clients

Tommy focuses mostly in San Francisco and along the Peninsula and South San Jose because he went to San Jose State for his college and he lived there for a few more years after that so he knows the area quite well. He actually closed a couple of deals down in San Jose and working with a few more clients now. He states that he works on the west side of the Bay.

Things That NEW HOME BUYERS Are Looking For

Each home buyer is pretty different especially the first-time home buyers. They’re really scared of looking into homes that might need renovation because they don’t want to go through that work. They want things ready to go and on your side. As an investor, you’re going to make sure these things are “ready to go, move-in ready”. One thing that really stood out to Tommy with his clients is the floor plan. A lot of things is that the buyers are looking for are open floor plans. They want to make sure the flow is good. They don’t feel constricted even though they’re buying into maybe a 1500 to 2000 square foot home.

Home Buying DEAL BREAKERS

Room sizes are a huge deal breaker just because buyers want to have that kind of room for themselves or for their kids. They don’t want them in a room where it’s very constricted. Another thing is NATURAL LIGHT. They want homes with lots of natural light.

The MARKET in San Francisco

The market in San Francisco is still pretty standard as per Tommy. It’s as hot as it was last year. An influx of people coming with all cash, no contingencies, and just spiking all the houses up last year. But this year, it’s kind of slowed down a little bit. Tommy thinks the buyers right now are being a little bit more particular with what they want. So Tommy is seeing some of the houses in San Francisco staying on the market for a little bit longer than two weeks. Two weeks is pretty standard in the past in San Francisco but now it’s kind of slowing down. Buyers want to choose instead of forcing their hand to buy a house just to buy a house now. The market is slowing down a little bit but not too much. And with the rates going, they’re slowly climbing back up now.

The Average Price that Tommy’s Clients Are Purchasing At

The average prices are going from $1.2 to $1.4 million.

Who Are The Typical Buyers?

Typical buyers are ages 30 to 35 and most of them are married or couples.

Preparing For A Potential Wave Of Big Business In The Future

Try to talk to as many tech people as Tommy can. One thing about real estate is you always got to go networking.

Helping Buyers Purchase A Home

Tommy sets a meeting with each buyer. He finds out what are their priorities. Tommy is not the kind of agent that is going to push them to buy something that they’re not truly in love with. He wants to make sure the buyers are happy. He makes sure that they’re buying something that they can call HOME instead of just buying something just to buy.

What Do Buyers Care About?

The main thing is an open floor plan. Tommy thinks that’s one of the biggest points of just when you’re kind of reinventing a home is make everything modern, nice and sleek, not too much complex colors, or complex patterns.