Madeline Schaider Real Estate Works for You

We provide personal service for Marin homeowners--from Sausalito to Novato

Madeline Schaider Real Estate is the perfect size to maintain maximum quality of service, flexibility, and availability. We have 27 years of success, and are in the top 10% of Marin real estate agents. 

What makes us different:

• We serve you personally and privately with highly-experienced, talented, and effective agents.
• We work as a unit to bring you the best service.
• Our in-house structural and design consultant provides valuable and free advice on repairs, upgrades, and expansion possibilities:
  • As buyers, you will know what you are buying and the potential of each property.
  • As sellers, you will know in advance and can resolve issues, bringing you the highest price.

• We stay ahead of the market, providing our clients with much more than the Internet can supply.
• We have the respect of the Marin real estate community, with a reputation for professionalism and the ability to make deals happen.

How to Sell Your Marin Home

Over the last 27 years of selling homes in Marin, we have developed six important steps that always pay off in helping sellers get maximum value.

These six steps apply in a seller's market and they also in a buyer's market. So, for the benefit of anyone selling their home, we wrote a free guide called, "Six Steps to Get Maximum Value When You Sell Your Home." This explains the important steps clearly and completely.

Click here to Download the Free PDF Now

These are the the Six Steps for Sellers, in Brief

1. Carefully Prepare Your Home for Sale

Most buyers first see your home on a website. To excite buyers, it is important to communicate the “WOW” factor immediately. Good looking pictures make a great first impression. Later, if they are interested, they visit in person. Cleaning up, fixing up, and staging more than pay for the time and expense.

2. Disclose All of the Improvements and the Condition of Your House

Full disclosure results in higher profit. It’s that simple. We will guide you through this process.

3. Leverage the experience of a well-connected real estate agent

Knowledge, experience, contacts, and skill make the difference. Recent surveys report that most Millennials who do extensive research on the internet before buying or selling, also rely on a realtor to guide them through the real estate selling process.

4. Use Smart Pricing strategies

Thoughtful and appropriate pricing, taking into consideration the seller’s needs, the property, and the market conditions, result in a higher sale price. We take you through some of the highlights of this process.

5. Advertise where your buyers are looking

Most buyers first find your house on the internet. It is most important to have wide and impactful internet presence for your home.

6. Bring home the best deal

Soliciting offers from interested buyers, networking with other realtors, careful vetting of buyers, and creative negating skills – all bring you the best return on your sale.

If you want a complete description of each step in this effective home selling process, please click here to download our free guide, "Six Steps to Get Maximum Value When You Sell Your Home."

Buying a Home in Marin 

 Buying a home is a major life decision and is important to the quality of  your life, so you'll want to find the right home, and then buy it at the right price.

Whether you are a first-time home buyer or changing homes, you will face a Marin housing market that is challenging and changing. Homes to buy are in short supply and prices are at a record high. The median home price in is now about $1.2 million.

To assist Marin County home buyers, Madeline Schaider Real Estate has prepared a PDF guide, "5 Steps in Buying a Home in Marin County," that can help you successfully navigate this process.

Click Here to Download the Free Guide Now

5 Steps to Buy a Marin Home, in Brief

The steps described in this document cover five key questions that you'll need to answer. For your convenience, we have summarized them here:

1. What kind of home do you want?

Your first step is to define your personal needs and desires. In our PDF document, we give you a list of questions that will help you to translate your needs into a specific list of requirements. Our simple questionnaire will assist you to narrow your focus so that you can find what you want.

2. When do you want to move?

Timing is important. Decide when you would like to move into your Marin home. Discover and prepare accordingly. Timing affects your home buying options.

3. How much you can spend?

Set a realistic price range. Marin home prices range from $250,000 to many millions of dollars. Our guide you walk you through the variables in the process, including pre-approval by an experienced, local mortgage broker.

4. How will you identify the right home?

This purchase is too important and expensive to leave anything to chance. Most people search for a house on the internet, using Zillow, GreatHomes, or another real estate web site. We explain how to use this information to your benefit and the important information that you cannot find on the internet.

Recent surveys show that even the most tech-savvy buyers start with thorough research on the internet, then they choose an experienced, local realtor to make it happen. 

5. How will you present your offer so that it's likely to succeed?

A winning offer combines the right price with many other strategies. We explain the key features of a winning offer in a competitive market, so that once you find your home, you will be successful. 

For a complete description of each step in this effective home buying process, please click here to download our free guide, “5 Steps in Buying a Home in Marin County.”

Challenges for Seniors Buying Marin Homes

Many seniors are looking for Marin homes that are easier for living: usually single level, smaller, and with less upkeep. They may be moving to be closer to family and convenient to shopping and services. It’s important to understand the challenges seniors may have in buying their next home.

Selling your current home

It’s important that seniors have qualified help in selling their homes, preferably from a Seniors Real Estate Specialist (SRES). Madeline Schaider Real Estate has two SRES-trained specialists, Beat and Alan, to serve you.

It’s also important that you fully understand the value of your home. If you are downsizing, you likely purchased your last home 30-40 years ago when prices and pricing considerations were much different.  

“Having lived in your home for many years, it is natural to be unsure of its current value. However, lack of knowledge about current prices could cause you to accept much less for your home than it is worth. You also might wait too long to accept a fair offer under the mistaken belief that a higher one may be around the corner,” Barbara Bean-Mellinger in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Madeline Schaider can give you many examples how we get the best price for Seniors, with the lowest effort for you.

Finding your next home

Most seniors have special needs in a home. These can include absence of stairs, convenience for shopping and medical services, and low maintenance. Marin County has a limited number of homes acceptable for our senior clients, but we have always succeeded in finding just the right one.

Finding proper financing for your new home

Some seniors owe very little or nothing on their current mortgage. When downsizing to a smaller home, they can often use the proceeds from their current home sale to finance their new home; possibly even pay it off completely. Buying a home outright with cash is probably the best bet.

Some Senior home buyers may have difficulty obtaining a traditional mortgage on a new home. Some may have poor credit. Others may not have enough steady income to qualify for a standard home loan. If you don’t have enough monthly income through retirement, social security, investments, and other sources, you can consider purchasing your new home with a reverse mortgage.

In 2009, the Federal Housing Administration introduced a new product called the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage for Purchase, or HECM, which allows older Americans to buy a new home by putting a reverse mortgage on it. This is option has become much easier and attractive. We can put you in touch with qualified, trustworthy experts to explain this option.

Making your move easier

Moving is challenging for people of all ages, but for seniors it may seem overwhelming. Packing up and reducing your possessions can be difficult. That’s why it’s very important to ask for and accept as much help as possible. Ask your family to help you pack and decide what goes with you in the move. They are the best people to help you make these tough determinations.

If your family is not available to help, we can provide excellent, honest, and reliable resources. They can help you decide what goes with you, to family, or to others that may enjoy your possessions—through sale or charity.

For the move to your next home, hire professional movers. Trying to do it yourself is nearly impossible, so a moving fee is well worth it. Again, we can help with reliable resources; some are on our web site at Livinginmarin.com and others we can recommend meeting your specific needs.

Alternatives to moving

Ultimately, moving or staying in your home is your choice. Knowing that you will face some challenges is no reason to put off a big move. For many seniors, moving is the best way to maintain your living independence as you age. Many of our clients have found that “downsizing” to a new home provides a refreshing, new life.

If you decide that the best option is staying in your home, we can help you. We have guided our clients to resources that allow them to stay where they are: reverse mortgages, stair lifts, home help for everyday tasks and organizing, gardeners, and more.

Contact Madeline (415-515-9357) for a phone or home consultation.