ABOUT YOUR PROPERTY

APN stands for Assessors Parcel number. Parcel numbers are assigned to areas of land by the county assessor for the purpose of identification and tracking. Maps, showing the parcel numbers, are maintained in map books by the county assessor. A San Bernardino County Assessors Parcel Number is a string of 13 digits encoded as follows:

First four digits: Map Book Number.
Next three digits: Block Number (the first two digits are the page number).
Next two digits: Parcel Number
Last four digits: Normally zero, used to identify separate interests when a parcel is subdivided as in a condominium

The following diagram shows a portion of a parcel map. The block number is 201 and the parcel numbers are written inside circles.

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Whats The Difference??

Mobile home or manufactured home, the two terms may be used interchangeably. In the past they were typically called mobile homes but today it is usual to call them manufactured homes.

A mobile/manufactured home was constructed in a factory, on a steel frame, and transported to its destination where it is, more or less permanantly, attached. These homes are attractive because they are lower cost than regular site built homes.

In 1976 the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) passed quality assurance standards for mobile homes (it was at this time that the name change to manufactured homes started). For this reason lenders will not usually make loans on mobile homes older than 1977.

Mobile homes are limited to no more than 16 feet in width (single wide) so that they may be transported on public roads. Often two or three units are joined together at the destination site to make a single, large home known as a double wide or triple wide.

Modular homes are also built in a factory like manufactured homes, the real difference being that modular homes are built to conform to the local building regulations in force at the destination site whereas manufactured homes are built to conform to the nationwide HUD building code. Modular homes are often lower cost than conventional site built homes and the construction time is also shorter (30 - 90 days). Modular homes are constructed in many styles including multi-family as well as single family, it is even possible to custom design your own.

Panelized homes are built using Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) which are manufactured in a factory. They can form the basis of kit houses which a do-it-yourselfer can build in as little as 8 - 10 weeks. They are sometimes finished to look like log homes although the construction is a lot simpler than a log home.

When a mobile home is on a permanant foundation on its own land it is considered to be real property, otherwise it is classified as personal property. A real property mobile home may be financed much like a regular site built home although not all lenders will finance such homes. An FHA loan may be used for a real property mobile home.

Financing for a personal property mobile home is harder to come by. A personal loan from a bank is a possibility or there are some lenders that specialize in loans of this type. Expect the interest rate to be higher and the terms generally less favorable. A 433-A means it is on a permenant foundation

Modular Homes

The key is in the name: “module.” A modular home is a house that is built, section-by-section, at a factory setting. These are massive, climate-controlled facilities that assemble homes according to the International Residential Code , IRC requires compliance with all state and local building regulations. IRC is close to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD in that both put forth standards for quality and safety. When it comes to manufactured homes, HUD requires each home to have an attached steel chassis to help with transport, whereas homes constructed to IRC specifications are set on a permanent foundation — just like a Site- Built home. When a modular home has been fully fabricated, the sections are then transported to the building site (usually via semi truck) and, with the use of cranes, are assembled on a poured foundation.

Some Final Tips

Showings

The more people who see your home, the more likely you are to sell it quickly. Yes, it's an inconvenience to show your home at dinner time, but if the people end up buying, it's worth the effort.

Prepare for inevitable, unexpected showings with a family game plan. Work out an effective plan in writing with your family so that everyone knows what to do if you sound the alarm.

There shouldn't be any major housecleaning at this point. The kinds of tasks you ought to be concerned with now are simple ones; making the beds, stuffing last night's dirty pans in the dishwasher, picking up loose newspapers, etc. Even young children can participate by cleaning their rooms.

If the season is appropriate, open the windows in each room and let in some fresh air. Stale air isn't appealing, particularly in a home with smokers or pets.

Keep your thermostat at a comfortable temperature.

Turn on all of the lights for every showing before prospective buyers arrive. This also gives you an opportunity to select the lighting effects you want for each room. Be sure not to overlook areas like your attic and basement where light switches are often difficult to locate. No area of your home should be dark.

Turn off the television and turn on light, background music.

Arrange for pets and children to be at a neighbor's. Perhaps it's unfair to lump children with pets, but young children can distract buyers from their purpose. Keep pets away from buyers.

Don't try to "sell" the house with words! By this time you have prepared the house for sale so let it sell itself. Buyers' buy on emotion-theirs, not yours. Keep your emotions under control Never misrepresent! Today's consumer protection laws are very specific. Prepare property information

Prepare a book of complete information about the property. Include data about the neighborhood, distance to shopping, drive time from the airport, names and ages of the neighborhood children, places of local interest, etc.

Assemble utility expense records, such as total yearly heating costs or monthly budgets, for the buyers' inspection.

If you are including any appliances in the sale price of your home, you should keep warranties and instruction booklets in this same file.

Have information about the major systems of the house available.

Miscellaneous

Consider hiring a surveyor to mark the boundaries of your property. This will not only show consideration, it will be an effective sales tool. Caution! If you are not exactly sure of the boundary lines, do not attempt to represent their location to the buyer!

Items not included in the sale Remove (and replace if applicable) any items that will not be included in the sale of the property (such as light fixtures, etc.).

How To Price A Home

A home will sell for two reasons: price and exposure. In the real estate market for the 21st century, exposure has taken a new turn with the advancement of many Internet technologies for real estate. Be it as it may, the real estate industry's new exposure tools will not help a home sell if the home is not priced correctly. When considering putting your home up for sale, first analyze your real estate market on a subdivision level, not a metro-area level, to derive the features and amenities that are driving the value in your neighborhood. You must then establish a pricing strategy in accordance with your financial and timing needs.

Identifying Selling Needs

No two real estate transactions in today's world are identical. As a homeowner, only you can derive your needs with selling your home. We will call this your "win" in your real estate transaction.

the years of owning your home can cause a strong emotional attachment and can cloud logical thinking. This is absolutely normal, and fortunately, there are professionals available across the nation to help bring a logical, non-emotional approach to selling your home.We are REALTORS and we want to make sure you get the most amount of money for your home in the least amount of time, and with a minimum level of stress.

focus on your timing needs first. Do you want to sell your home in 30, 60, or 90 days? Are you looking to have a contract by that date, or to be closed and moving into your next home?

in typical real estate transactions, buyers will take approximately 30 days to close on a home. This time period involves getting inspections, negotiating repairs, and securing financing with their mortgage professional.

Are you going to need a certain amount of equity after closing on your home?

Understanding Your Local Market

The next step to selling your home is to make sure that you have leverage. Leverage is the key ingredient to winning in a real estate transaction. When selling a home, leverage is achieved by pricing your home at a market price that will attract the most amount of buyers for your area. Homes can be priced one of two ways: negotiation and market. Pricing for negotiation will result in exactly what a seller expects: negotiation on the asking price. Pricing at market will allow your home to be exposed to the widest range of buyers and enable the seller to have a leveraged position in the real estate transaction.

There are three types of market research that one must analyze when pricing a home:

sold, expired, and active properties. First, the sold history for 3-6 months will give great detail on the selling trends in the neighborhood. By analyzing the sold price per square foot of homes with similar features, amenities, and condition, you can easily identify your selling range in relation to price per square foot. Price per square foot allows you to level the playing field and compare apples to apples.

A homes square footage is a basic unit of real estate, and all homes will be priced according to the size of the home. Once this step is complete, we can have a higher level of understanding as to which homes are desirable and getting the most money, and which are the exact opposite.

After you have made conclusions as to why homes are selling in the range that they do, you can then test these conclusions on homes that did not sell, or expired properties. This is done to make sure that the conclusions derived during the analysis of sold properties are accurate and applicable to your real estate transaction.

Not all real estate transactions are typical and your conclusions may not be able to explain exactly why a home did not sell. You can usually assume that if your conclusions can logically explain why 3-5 homes have not sold in the past 6 months, then your conclusions are accurate enough to be considered factual.

Find Your Homes Selling Range

Price According To Needs while Analyzing Competition