Mark Velasco's (mrmarkv) Blog

Hungry Buyers in Southern California Buyers seem even more eager to buy a home now than ever. It is true that the $8,000 tax credit is gone. However, in California there is now a $10,000 dollar tax credit (payable over 3 years). There are now 2,000 more reasons ($$) to buy now.   It is a very int...

Great Service at a Cemetary?  Yes, I said at a cemetary. My wife and I were going to a funeral of a really great nephew of mine when we were lost.   This cemetary is one of the biggest in Southern California called Rose Hills. There is no telling how long we could have been looking for a certain ...

Treat Your Customers Right or Someone Else Will   Tonight after our couple's group at church, Tania and I went for a late night massage. We ordered a basic massage. They assigned us our location and then offered an upgrade "at a special rate." Tania and I refused because the special #2 is just li...

Adversity Builds Character-My Wife Suffered a Miscarriage   What is Your Response? (Be Honest) Just in general, when things do not go our way...do we pout and quit, do we complain and blame others, do we lash out, do we hide so others do not see our pain?   CHOOSE Your Response: Some do and some ...

Another Way to AVOID a slump: Right Crowd, Right Thinking In our business, it truly helps to be the eternal optimist. I told a friend of mine one time "if I was not so naive in the beginning of my career, I would have never put in the time that it took to actually become successful."   If I had s...

This is a friendly reminder to my fellow California Realtors: When sending offers, do NOT forget to use the new RPA contract. I (personally) do not care if you use the old or the new. However, some brokers (like mine) want to use the new contracts now. It is what it is. I actually had to resend o...

LA RainCamp Gems I am currently at the Active Rain Camp here in Los Angeles. One comment that I heard about this camp is that it is like "drinking water out of a fire hydrant." Very True! Here are 5 quick tips that Ben Kinney (from Keller Williams in Bellingham, Washington) made 5 tips to make su...

10 Tips for Pricing Your Home to Create Buyer Urgency by Mark Velasco at SanGabrielValleyHomeSearch.com  101 Tips to Sell Your Home for Top Dollar (Part 3 of 11)   Initial selling price is the MOST important factor in getting your home sold quickly and for top dollar.   This will determine how ma...

10 Benefits of a Great Sale Price: Lots of Offers/Leverage by Mark Velasco at SanGabrielValleyHomeSearch.com  101 Tips to Sell Your Home for Top Dollar (Part 2 of 11)   Price is THE most critical factor in getting a home sold quickly and for the highest amount. 2. A home that is correctly priced ...

Intro-101 Tips to Sell Your Home for Top Dollar by Mark Velasco at SanGabrielValleyHomeSearch.com 101 Tips to Sell Your Home for Top Dollar (Part 1 of 11)   Imagine that we are auctioning off a $20 dollar bill -Would we ever start the bidding at $25, $30, or even $40? -Would anyone ever show up? ...