995 Morning Star Dr

Dear Business Owner,

Do you need a fantastic office building for your medical practice, law practice, real estate brokerage, CPA firm, etc?

We have it. This is it.

WELCOME TO 995 MORNING STAR DR.

This Class A office (Suite D) is available now in a a great business park near downtown Sonora. As you can see it is updated with plenty of parking and shared amenities. There is a main entrance and the office for this particular lease is the first one on the right as you enter the building. The shared bathroom in the entryway hall are clean and all taken care of as part of the association.

Location...Location...Location.

This is located near the Sonora Elementary, Downtown Sonora, Sonora Regional Medical Center, and even the Tuolumne County Public Library.

You couldn't ask for a better spot!

The office is a total of 1,250 sqft. with a large reception area and 4 private offices.

Plenty of space for all of your hard working employees.

That rate works out to around $1.20/sqft which is such a bargain for this clean of a space. One of the office suites even has a sink area fo all your break room needs.

So call today and let us show you your new office at 995 Morning Star dr.

Nate or Ralph at (209)588-3778 or (209)743-2171.

AS ALWAYS, THANKS FOR LOOKING!

Nathan MilnikFebruary 5, 2018Listings, CommercialComment

Pricing is Everything

So, here’s the story. I have done some research on Realtors in the Tuolumne County area and *SPOILER ALERT* some are better than others. I basically researched a couple of the Realtors that I perceive as always overpricing their listings, and what I found was staggering. One of the Realtors that consistently overpriced their listings (IN MY OPINION) was only able to sell about 30-50% of their listings. This is a top agent in our county.

Read That Again.

So, this Realtor would literally take 50 listings and out of all that time spent marketing and trying to sell…they would actually sell 25-35. Can you imagine the person who lists with them knowing this information? If I was trying to sell my house, and the realtor wasn’t honest about what I could get for it, then how would I move forward to sell it in actuality?

Now, I know what you are thinking. You’re thinking…ya but the customer is being unreasonable about the price. The problem is that the realtor STILL TOOK THE LISTING. If a potential seller is being unreasonable, I think that I would consider rejecting the listing. Why? Because I am going to put time into it! I can’t justify my time and money spent to help a property if there is no plan for the seller to bring it into the reality of an accurate selling price.

If you wonder why a client would overprice their house, this article from realtor.com is a good primer for understanding the psychology of overpricing. In sonora real estate we run into this all the time.

The hard part is getting a seller to understand why not to overprice. As a result we lose listings sometimes- which might be a blessing as it saves us lots of time in the end.

Nathan MilnikFebruary 5, 2018sellers, Listings, Real Estate

When Listing Your House in Sonora...What are the Basic Expectations?

So, a friend texts me the other day and says the following:

“When you go see a house (for a potential seller), do you you figure out the value?”

I asked him to clarify, and he basically had an agent come over that was going to potentially list his house and they had no clue what the property was worth!

They even said this to him!

So, here’s a blog about the 3 basic expectations of a GOOD listing appointment. In general if you are selling a house, then you SHOULD expect the following. Truth be told, you should expect so much more, but I would need a book to convert that idea.

Preparation

A listing appointment is WHAT WE DO AS REALTORS. It is our most important job. So, the first thing that the agent should be is PREPARED. It is not hard to research the Tuolumne County Market. In fact, they should know the specs on your house, have done as much research as possible about the comps in your area, and also know anything else that they can find out about your house (other than what is obvious). This is the lifeblood of realtors, so forget about them as an agent if they didn’t prepare. They are giving up the golden goose of Real Estate and that is unacceptable!

2) Marketing Strategy

They should have lots of examples of past marketing materials as well as marketing strategies that they have done in the past for different price-levels of homes. Imagine if they are basically going to market your $600k house in the same way that they market your $200k house?!?!?! They need to clearly establish why they are getting paid 3x as much for the former as the latter. Make them provide you (the seller) with VALUE relative to what you are selling! This is the part where they should impress you with what has worked in the past and what hasn’t.

3) Questions

They should have lot’s of questions. If they are a good agent, then they should attempt to get to know you. Forget (if possible) about the price they are talking about you getting for the sale of your home.

Do they know why you are selling?

What is the most important part of this sale to you?

What is the best way to communicate with you?

Hopefully, you hire them because they care about your circumstances, want to know the best way to communicate with you, or at least know what you are going through. Don’t hire them based on what they can get you for your home…because that’s called buying a listing. I could tell everyone that there house is worth a Million! Except, what happens when it sits on the market for a year with zero offers because it is overpriced? Don’t fall for it…ever. In fact, see their answers to the 2nd point above, and that will give you a better sense of whether they will be able to get you top dollar (regardless of the listing price).

These are the basics of a listing presentation. Hopefully, this helps you sell your Sonora home efficiently and for a great price. Thanks for reading.

Nathan MilnikJanuary 25, 2018

Do Buyers Need to Settle for Good and Not Great?

Do Buyers Need to Settle…?

How many homes should a buyer see before choosing one to offer on? This article seems to suggest no more than 8. I have found that I agree with this wisdom at some level. I observe in my own life that if I see about 10 homes that I am interested in, then I am usually at the point where I will make an offer. There’s no science to it, it’s just that with each home shown there is another check-off on the list of possibles and a realization of where the market is and what is priced appropriately.

The contradiction is that one of our principles is to never pressure-sell anything. Not to hard sell. Not to encourage people to do anything uncomfortable. So, I have shown buyers 60+ homes over periods of 9-12 months. This is the contradiction I must live in if I want to get people the "right " home. I digress...

Sonora Real Estate is a market that is extremely limited at any point in time. Sometimes we we’ll have a plethora of downtown Craftsman’s available…but that means only like 3-5…not 25. In the Tuolumne County market (where inventory is low), you are lucky to have 1 of any style on the market in a given area.

The second problem with Sonora (or more broadly Tuolumne County) is what I would call "Areas". Many buyers I have worked with are searching for a hyper-specific area. They usually want “Downtown” or “Curtis Creek”. The upshot of this, is that often times they are not stuck on the style of the house, rather as the maxim goes…location…location…location. These types of buyers are all about location. However, these hyper-specific "area" markets are limited. At any point in time downtown Sonora area will have about 3-7 listings and Curtis Creek will have 2-3- or maybe none! That is not a lot of homes to choose from.

Then comes the pricing issues. Sonora pricing sometimes get’s a little out of hand. $325 per sqft?…not in Sonora!!!!! It seems to my buddy Jim Hildreth that at any point in time there are about half the listings on the MLS that are overpriced. I am not sure it is that high, but it can be a significant portion of the listings. The famous line from a seller is that they are "testing the market". This means that out of the 2-3 homes you have in Curtis Creek, there might be 1-2 that are overpriced and will never sell...bummer for someone who wants that area.

So, the downside is that you write offers that seem reasonable and yet are not because the owner and the agent have listed so high. It truly can be frustrating work.

Anyways, there it is. Maybe as Mick Jagger says...You Can't always get what you want...

http://www.realtor.com/advice/buy/when-should-you-settle/

Nathan MilnikJanuary 12, 2018Buyers, Principles

17247 Nile River Dr

Welcome Home to a Fantastic Value in a Great Location!

It's no Secret that the real estate market in Tuolumne county is hot...hot...hot. Which is why this listing should be at the top of your list to see immediately. This house is move-in ready and is wonderfully sized for the perfect first-time homebuyer, or maybe even someone who is tired of DIY all weekend.

That propane fireplace couldn't look cozy-er with the weather we have been having lately. This house is a 2 bedroom/2 bath with features that dazzle. All of the carpets are like-new, the kitchen has wonderful white cabinets and granite-tile countertops, and there is a master bath ensuite.

This house is overly sized for a 2/2 and it shows especially in the common areas. The kitchen has a great dining area next to it that connects to the living room as a total great room package. The master also has its own french door that leads onto a second deck (perfect for the private spa).