The Grubb Company Realtors, a premier real estate company that offers homes for sale and specializes in luxury real estate in Berkeley, CA, Piedmont, CA, and Oakland, CA recently hosted The Grubb Company Spring Kick-Off and Awards Breakfast on Feb. 5 at the Claremont Country Club. The event was held as a formal recognition of the hard work everyone in the company gave last year.

“Awards were given to top-producing Grubb Company agents and top loan agents at LaSalle Financial,” DJ Grubb, president of The Grubb Company Realtors, said. “As part of their achievement, The Grubb Company will donate $1,000 in each of the top agent’s names to their favorite charity.”

The Grubb Company Realtors named Bebe McRae, Anian Pettit Tunney, Dana Cohen, Judy Cain and Ben Kahn as the top Grubb agents, also known as Shining Stars. The top LaSalle agents were Sue and Brady Thomas, and Roger Smith. Agents who exceeded $15 million in sales volume for 2012 were also honored with the designation of Platinum Circle.

Hannah Hoffman, the owner of Donut Dolly, joined the event to share information about her business, as well as her delectable creations. Noted Bay Area real estate economist Carol Rodini of Bamboo Consulting was also present and conducted a highly energetic presentation for everyone.

Distinctive and elegant Berkeley Hills home.

	2 PARK GATE BERKELEY, CA 94708 $3,195,000.00
	Bedrooms: 4 Bathrooms: 5 full | 1 partial Est. SqFt.: 6149 Listing Number:40604553 Exceptional privacy and quality! Custom built villa on over 1/2 acre with swimming pool & sunny lawns! 4 bedroom suites PLUS 2 offices, media rm., formal dining, library, lrg. kit/fam rm & 3 car garage! Terms of use Courtesy of: BEBE MCRAE, THE GRUBB CO. INC.

If you’re interested in learning more or seeing this property, please contact me at bmcrae@grubbco.com or call  510.652.2133 ext 415.

Beautiful Piedmont home.  Click the “View Details” button to see the complete listing information.

If you’re interested in learning more or seeing this property, please contact me at tunney@gmail.com or call 510-339-0400 ext 217

Distinctive and elegant Berkeley hills home.

If you’re interested in learning more or seeing this property, please contact bmcrae@grubbco.comor call  510.652.2133 ext 415.

Now that you have purchased your new home, the new challenge is maintaining or increasing its value! With the current rebound of the housing market, property value on luxury real estate is as good as gold, and more. The following are our 5 best tips for maintaining and raising property value after your purchase, or things to keep in mind while you are preparing to sell your home.

Maintenance
Regular maintenance on your home including fixing small dilemmas in plumbing, woodwork, windows, and edging as they happen is essential rather than letting them grow into much larger issues. Bigger problems are much more costly to fix, and often are more noticeable when it comes time to show the property. When you are preparing a home for sale, paint and remodel using neutral colors which provides an environment where buyers are better able to envision themselves in your home.

Over-Improvement
Be wary of installing additions or amenities that will be over-improvements in terms of a return on investment. While you may certainly enjoy these chances, your home’s location has more bearing on its value. Consult your realtor before any addition, and remember that kitchen and bathroom remodels often do the most in terms of easily raising value.

Neighborhood
Make an honest effort to improve your home for sale’s value by improving your neighborhood. Get involved in the community and organize a neighborhood watch to keep it safe. Recycling programs will also do wonders for keeping a neighborhood clean. This will improve your quality of life as well as the overall value of your neighborhood.

Go Green
If you’re looking for that one aspect to set your luxury real estate apart, have it audited for energy conservation and go green. The less harmful materials and energy efficient appliances will save money in utility bills as well as long term savings. Green housing increases value and is a selling point that will make buyers more inclined to say “Yes.”

Patience
The housing collapse seems to be behind us and the markets are beginning to return to their previous vitality (especially in Berkeley and Oakland). While mortgage interest rates continue at all-time lows, supply and demand will always influence selling price. A little patience goes a long way. Accrue value and keep improving and maintaining your investment until the timing is right for a sale.

Welcome to the 2013 Edition of The Grubb Company Red Book – dedicated to the memory of our founder,  Donald Grubb Sr.

Santa arrives at The GRUBB Company on Saturday, December 15th at 10:00 a.m.

and will be sitting for photos and listening to Christmas wishes until 1pm.

Santa has set aside special time for children of Grubb Company friends from 10-11 a.m.

Santa is bringing along one of his elves to make balloon animals.

Cookies and Juice will be provided for all.

Each child will receive a photo with Santa courtesy of  The GRUBB Company
Bring along a toy for our Toys for Tots barrel.

Now that we have seen a definite shift to a Seller’s market once again, it is time for all potential Buyers to prepare themselves to compete for homes for sale in current conditions.

Prepare yourself Financially:  This means getting pre-approved by a local lender.  A letter of pre-approval should be a definitive statement of your qualifications as a borrower.  It should only be subject to or conditioned upon a ratified purchase contract, successful appraisal of the property and underwriting approval.  To achieve such a definitive statement, you will need to give your Lender as much information as possible up front.

This will include:

2 years of Tax Returns

Up to six months of payroll check stubs

Bank statements showing all liquid assets

Brokerage account statements

Credit Report

Current schedule of all debt

Find the Right Lender:  In a competitive market, Sellers are trying to determine not just the best offer, but which offer is likely to close on time.  Even if your offer on a home for sale is accompanied by an unequivocal Pre-Approval Letter, if it comes from your best friend who works in San Diego or from an On-Line mortgage company that no one has ever heard of.  All things being equal, a Seller is more likely to choose the Buyer with a Local Lender whose reputation is known by the Listing Agent.

To find the right Lender:

Search locally.

Be sure that they have experience as this is not a lending environment for the novice.

Be sure that they can perform in a reasonable amount of time.  If the lender cannot close the loan in less than 90 days, they may not be the lender for this market.

What Not To Do once you have your Letter of Pre-Approval and an Accepted Offer on a property: 

Do not quit your job.  The lenders will require written Verification of Employment (VOE).  In addition, they will likely call your employer on the day before Close of Escrow to verbally verify your employment.

Do not Purchase an expensive new car or other large ticket item that will increase your monthly debt payments.  Lenders qualify you based upon 1. Your gross monthly income, 2. Your total monthly debt obligations, 3. Your Debt to Income Ratios, allowing approximately 25% of your gross monthly income to be spent on your monthly Mortgage, Insurance and Property Taxes, while 35-40% of your gross monthly income can be used towards paying your monthly debt including housing costs.

Do not start shopping around for a loan with better rates.  You can do this, but you are contractually obligated to close escrow on time and with the loan that you have disclosed in the purchase contract.  Remember, if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.  Shopping around invariably leads to delays in the close of escrow, added costs for the Buyer and 90% of the time, you end up back with your original lender.

You have found a Lender that you trust and have a strongly worded Letter of Pre-Approval in hand.  It is now time to write an offer on your dream house, be it luxury real estate or a comfortable and modest home.