Good Reasons to Affiliate with Our Brokerage

Locally known, nationally recognized, globally respected. With California home prices remaining strong, and our state the No. 1 market of interest for residents of China seeking a home overseas, this is a great time for experienced and aspiring agents to affiliate with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties.

By joining Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties, you not only have access to our world-class programs, support, and real estate services, but you also have the backing of the locally known, nationally recognized, and globally respected Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices name.

Our brokerage offers many reasons to join branches throughout Southern California. We’ve rounded up several of them here. If you’re interested, contact any of our office managers, or call 858.995.7575. We’re looking forward to meeting you.

A leading company

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties is one of the top five brokerages among all Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices brokerages nationwide.

Results-oriented

Nearly $12.5 billion in sales volume last year with more than 14,000 transactions.

Always growing

We proudly support nearly 3,000 sales associates in more than 60 offices spanning the Central Coast to San Diego.

We select smart, experienced people

We offer in-depth training and access to the latest technologies and information to help you succeed. We promote a highly trained, technologically sophisticated and diverse sales force.

Commitment to integrity

We recruit associates and management talent committed to performance with integrity.

Networking abroad

We maintain relationships with an elite collection of international real estate networks, including:

• Proxio–An association that empowers you to easily market your listings worldwide, in 19 languages and 30 currencies, while connecting you with over 500,000 agents in more than 100 countries at no cost.
• Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate–An exclusive network of brokers who list and sell in the top 10.
• Juwai.com–the No.1 Chinese international property portal, with over 2.6 million Chinese visits each month.

Mobile app

It’s easy for clients to search for properties and quickly connect with you through a personally branded mobile app.

Social presence

Find us on relevant social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter where we share real estate content, company news, and even your listings.

E-newsletter

You and your clients will receive industry news, hot new listings, and more when you sign up for our biweekly newsletter.

Free downloads

Our exclusive agent portal provides you with customizable farming fliers, property fliers, open-house materials, and more for on-demand printing.

Photography and video

Professional production services are offered to our agents at special rates.

Print marketing

Discounted programs that provide the ultimate print exposure for you and your listings.

Exquisite presentation

A variety of exquisite presentation materials, recently redesigned and polished, are available to help you impress the most discerning clients.

Click here to read more about Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.

10 Ways to Prep Your Home for Sale

Make your home stand out with a few easy improvements. With the high inventory of homes on the market today, homebuyers can afford to be choosy. Buyers are looking for the best, so a home for sale can easily slip through the cracks if it's not in pristine condition. Use these 10 tips to whip your home into shape and wow potential buyers.

Improve your landscaping. Curb appeal is crucial to a good first impression, so make sure your home's lawn is immaculate. Mow the lawn, prune the bushes, weed the garden and plant flowers.

Clean the outside. A sloppy exterior will make buyers think you've slacked off on interior maintenance as well. Be sure to clean the gutters and pressure wash your home's siding.

Make repairs. In a buyer's market, you want your home to be in the best condition possible. Take care of major defects like broken windows or a leaky roof that could discourage buyers.

Make the front door inviting. A fresh coat of paint, especially in a color that contrasts with the home, will make the front door stand out. Replace faded house numbers so buyers can see them from the curb.

Buy a new welcome mat. Let buyers know they're invited into your home.

Remove clutter and depersonalize. Buyers want to envision their belongings in your home. Clean up by renting a storage unit for knickknacks, photos, extra furniture and other personal items.

Organize closets and drawers. Messy closets give the appearance that your home doesn't have enough storage space.

Make every surface shine. From ceiling fans to floors and everything in between, clean your home until it sparkles.

Take color down a notch. You might like your lime-green bedroom, but it may sour buyers. Paint your walls a neutral color that will appeal to a wide range of buyers.

Eliminate bad odors. Hide the litter box and spray air neutralizer throughout your home. When showing the home, fill it with inviting smells by putting out fresh flowers and baking a batch of cookies.

Click here to read the article.

Building Your #FamilyWealth

As the economy continues to improve, more and more Americans are seeing their personal financial situations also improving. Instead of just getting by, many are now beginning to save and find other ways to build their net worth. One way to dramatically increase their family wealth is through the acquisition of real estate.

For example, let’s assume a young couple purchases and closes on a $250,000 home in January. What will that home be worth five years down the road?

Pulsenomics surveys a nationwide panel of over one hundred economists, real estate experts and investment & market strategists every quarter. They ask them to project how residential prices will appreciate over the next five years. According to their latest survey, here is how much value that $250,000 house will gain in the coming years.

Over a five year period, that homeowner can build their home equity to over $40,000. And, in many cases, home equity is large portion of a family’s overall net worth.

Bottom Line

If you are looking to better your family’s long-term financial situation, buying your dream home might be a great option.

#HomeEquity Increasing As Home Prices Rise

Some Highlights:

• 91.9% of homes in the US have positive equity
• 256,000 homes regained equity in the third quarter of 2015
• 37.5 million homes have significant equity (defined as more than 20%)

How Long Does It Take To Save For A Down Payment

In a recent study conducted by Builder.com, researchers determined that nationwide it would take“nearly eight years” for a first-time buyer to save enough for a down payment on their dream home.

Depending on where you live, median rents, incomes and home prices all vary. By determining the percentage a renter spends on housing in each state and the amount needed for a 10% down payment, they were able to establish how long (in years) it would take for an average resident to save.

According to the study, residents in South Dakota are able to save for a down payment the quickest in just under 3.5 years. Below is a map created using the data for each state:

What if you only needed to save 3%?

What if you were able to take advantage of one of the Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae 3% down programs? Suddenly saving for a down payment no longer takes 5 or 10 years, but becomes attainable in under two years in many states as shown in the map below.

Bottom Line

Whether you have just started to save for a down payment, or have been for years, you may be closer to your dream home than you think! Meet with a local real estate professional who can help you evaluate your ability to buy today.

Make Anything A #KitchenBacksplash

From traditional tile to trendy glass — and shiny metal to rustic wood — there is seemingly no end of choices for kitchen backsplashes today. “Tile is still the most popular backsplash material, with natural stone a fast-growing second,” says John Morgan, 2013 National President of the National Kitchen and Bath Association. “But with the right installer, you can make just about any material work.”

Kitchen backsplashes no longer simply protect walls from spills and splatters, a wide array of eye-catching materials like glass, wood, metals and stone make the backsplash the focal point of today’s kitchens.

Expected #PriceGrowth Over 12 Months

In the monthly REALTORS^® Confidence Index Survey, NAR asks REALTORS^® “In the neighborhood or area where you make most of your sales, what are your expectations for residential property prices over the next year?” The map below shows the median expected price change in the next 12 months for each state, reported in the October 2015 REALTORS^® Confidence Index Survey Report. REALTOR^® respondents from Florida were the most upbeat, with a median expected price growth in the range of five to six percent. In Washington, Nevada, and Colorado, the median expected price growth among respondents was four to five percent.

Nationally, REALTORS^® who responded to the October 2015 survey expected prices to increase by 3.2 percent over the next 12 months (3.2 percent in September 2015; 3.0 percent in October 2014). REALTORS^® expect the recent strong price growth to moderate as rising prices have made homes “unaffordable” for many, with home prices almost at par with their levels prior to the housing downturn.

10 #BohoChic #InteriorDecorating Ideas

Colorful, luxurious and versatile, Boho chic style is perfect for spacious home interiors and small rooms. Boho chic ideas can help add luxury to small rooms, and create inviting and cozy home interiors in spacious living spaces. Here are some inspiring Boho chic ideas for modern interiors decorating and interior redesign in small spaces.

The Importance of #HomeEquity To Your Family

There has been much written about how dramatically home values have increased over the last several years. With the increase in values, comes an increase in the equity each home owning family now has. The Joint Center of Housing Studies at Harvard University recently reported that, after taking inflation into account, aggregate home equity has increased 60% since 2010. Home equity is the major component of most family’s overall wealth.

Why is this so important?

Throughout history, families have tapped into their homes for many important reasons. Perhaps it was to get seed capital to start a new business; perhaps to help finance their children’s college education; perhaps to get needed medical attention not covered by insurance.

Up to ten years ago, families were able to use the equity in their homes to better the living situation for themselves and their family. More small businesses were created. College students weren’t forced to take on massive student debt. People could get needed medical care.

This hasn’t been the case over the last ten years as families found themselves in a position of having zero equity or, even worse, negative equity post the housing collapse. However, that is about to change.

Using your home as an ATM is not a good idea.

We realize that there are inherent risks to tapping into the equity in your home especially if you do it for the wrong reasons. Back in 2005-2007, homeowners were using their homes as their own personal ATM machine to buy depreciating assets like cars, boats and jet skis. This reckless behavior should never be repeated.

However, using your equity (aka family wealth) to invest in yourself, your children or other family members that could use help still makes sense. And the good news is that more and more families can do this as home values continue to increase.

Bottom Line

Home equity gives families an additional financial option when money is needed. The proper use of this family wealth can be used to grow generational wealth.

As Julián Castro, U.S. Secretary of HUD, recently explained:

“Generation after generation, the primary vehicle to create wealth in our country has been through homeownership. In the U.S., homeownership has provided an opportunity for one generation to hand over to the next that opportunity and that wealth.”

#Homeownership #BuildWealth and Stability

The most recent Housing Pulse Survey released by the National Association of Realtors revealed that the two major reasons Americans prefer owning their own home instead of renting are:

1. They want the opportunity to build equity.
2. They want a stable and safe environment.

Building Equity

In a recent article, John Taylor, CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, explained that those who lack the opportunity to become homeowners have a weakened ability to reinvest their wealth:

“We traditionally have been huge supporters of homeownership. We see it as a way to provide stability for households but also as an asset-building strategy. If you continue to be a renter, locked out of the homeownership arena, increasingly those things are further and further out of reach. They’re joined at the hip. They perpetuate each other.”

Family Stability

Does owning your home really create a more stable environment for your family?

A survey of property managers conducted by rent.com last month disclosed two reasons tenants should feel less stable with their housing situation:

• 68% of property managers predict that rental rates will continue to rise in the next year by an average of 8%.
• 53% of property managers said that they were more likely to bring in a new tenant at a higher rate than negotiate and renew a lease with a current tenant they already know.

We can see from these survey results that renting will provide anything but a stable environment in the near future.

Bottom Line

Homeowners enjoy a more stable environment and at the same time are given the opportunity to build their family’s net worth.

5 Ways To #ConvertYourBathroom Into A #SpaOasis

Imagine coming home from a hard day at work, stepping into the bathroom, and feeling all of your worries fade away as you soak in the tub or stand under a warm stream from a waterfall showerhead. The right décor and design can make taking a bath or getting ready for your day in your bathroom feel like stepping into your very own, private day spa. Sounds pretty good, right?

Here are a few wonderful tricks for giving yourself a mini-vacation every time you step into your bathroom.

1. Choose a relaxing shade of paint. 

Think about the shades of paint you see when you go to a day spa. They’re almost always neutral, unsaturated colors that help you feel relaxed. I prefer grays and rich browns for bathrooms, but a cool, cucumber green is also a nice choice. Whatever shade you choose, go with a washed-out, subtle version instead of a really bright and stimulating tone.

2. Decorate with scents. 

Next, scent is a huge part of the relaxing experience when you go to the spa. A candle, some dried lavender in a sachet, or a few drops of your favorite essential oil mixed with Epsom salts in a warm bath can transport you to a completely different place in your mind every time you set foot in your bathroom.

3. Have soft lighting.

If you’re remodeling your bathroom, get rid of any harsh fluorescent lights and replace them with warmer, softer lights. You’ll still want to get enough light to do makeup and check your outfit when you get ready to go in the morning, so install brighter lights over the mirror. But make sure that they operate on a separate switch from your other lights so that you can maintain a soothing atmosphere when you shower or soak in the tub.

If you’re not remodeling or changing out light fixtures, you can get a similar effect by placing a few candles around your bathroom to give it a warm and calming atmosphere with all of the lights turned off. You can also experiment with different shades for your light fixtures to help cut the harshness of the light.

4. Upgrade your fixtures.

If your fixtures are a little bit out-of-date, you have a choice. You can upgrade them, which can mean going with a better showerhead (which I definitely recommend). Or, if you’re happy with how your fixtures work but they don’t quite look right, you can improve their looks with a little bit of spray paint. Choose a complementary textured paint to give your bathroom fixtures a whole new look and feel.

5. Coordinate your linens and toiletries.

If you really want to give yourself a home-spa experience, you’ll want to wrap yourself in luxury whenever you step out of the tub, and you’ll want to have a coherent and cohesive look to the room, too. Go ahead and invest in towels, washcloths, and a bath mat that are soft and fluffy and that match the color you’ve chosen for your walls. Upgrade your shower curtain to complement these and add a few matching or complementary toiletries.

You’ll have a room that looks, feels, and smells absolutely amazing every time you enter it.

Not in MLS! Beachfront Condo w/ Panoramic Ocean Views

A “Perfect 10” in every way! Panoramic Ocean Views, beach front location and very close to Main Street shops & restaurants in downtown Ventura! 2 units have been seamlessly combined to create one large, impeccably remodeled light & bright residence. Features include 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 ocean view balconies, formal living & dining room with 2 fireplaces, generous kitchen with high end appliances, custom cabinetry, large center island, crown molding, wainscoting and in-unit laundry. Secure building with  4 reserved spaces in the underground gated parking and abundant storage. Address & Price Available Upon Request

Co-Listed with Kay Fields, BHHS