Navigating Real Estate: Russ Sadykhov's Guide to Smart Home Buying and Selling

Embark on a journey through the competitive landscape of Silicon Valley real estate with none other than Russ Sadykhov, the savvy CEO of Team Russ Homes, who joins us on Tile Trends to share a treasure trove of insights for prospective homebuyers and sellers alike. Discover the fusion of analytical acumen, construction knowledge, and market expertise that Russ and his team offer, lighting the way for first-time buyers to navigate the thrilling yet daunting pursuit of homeownership. We delve into the pillars of a smart purchase – from locking down the ideal location, to securing financial footings, and envisioning a home that evolves with your life’s chapters.

As we peel back the layers of what it takes to craft an irresistible offer in a seller's market, we also spotlight the subtle, yet powerful influence of tasteful finishings, such as tile work, in captivating a buyer's heart. Russ imparts wisdom on the art of presentation, revealing how neutral design choices can vastly widen a home's appeal. With our finger on the pulse of Silicon Valley's unique market, we contrast local real estate movements with national trends, examine the ripple effects of economic shifts, and ultimately affirm that investing in a home transcends dollars and cents—it's about anchoring your dreams in a space you can truly call your own.

LINKS:

Website: https://teamrusshomes.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/t.r.homes/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeamRussHomes/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rustamsadykhov/

Zillow: https://www.zillow.com/profile/South-Bay-Realtor/




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Transcript

Lindsay Fluckiger: 0:00

Welcome to season two of Tile Trends by Tile Club. We're back with a fresh new season and I'm your Lindsay Fluckiger, . Get ready for an exhilarating journey through all things tile, real estate and home design. We're ecstatic to bring you all new special guests and a fresh perspective on the latest trends. Today we're kicking off with none other than Russ Sadikhov, a renowned realtor and CEO celebrated for his unparalleled expertise in the Silicon Valley real estate market. Let's dive in, russ. It is so wonderful to have you with us today on the show. How are you?

Russ Sadykhov: 0:37

It is wonderful to be here, lindsay, I'm doing great.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 0:40

Fantastic. Can you tell us a little bit about your agency, where we can find you? We want to make sure that we're sending listeners your way, who may be local to California or even to Silicon Valley.

Russ Sadykhov: 0:51

Awesome. Yeah, thanks for asking that question. So Team Russ Homes is the name of our team. There are three active agents on the team myself, Ronnie Cope and Jessica Alves. We all have our unique talents and we are all of a very unique character.

Russ Sadykhov: 1:10

Myself, I am very analytical. I like to really dig deep into the numbers, so I tend to work with a lot of investors. I also tend to work with a lot of sellers. Ronnie is a very relatable person. He's the kind of person that you can really tell all of your needs and rest assured that he's going to execute on them. So when we're talking about buying a home or selling a home, ronnie is the person out there in the field showing your homes, telling you about the pros and cons of every property. Ronnie also comes with experience in the construction. So when we were talking about floor plans and we're talking about doing certain changes or maybe adding a backsplash or installing that beautiful tile, ronnie would be the person to talk to.

Russ Sadykhov: 1:59

And Jessica on our team. She's just full of energy. She is extremely, extremely willing to help and she's super knowledgeable in the Silicon Valley market and she works with. She's originally from the Central Valley and we're now seeing the Central Valley growing significantly because of its attractive price points. So Jessica would be a go-to for Central Valley needs as well as Silicon Valley needs that she is knowledgeable in both. So we're seeing her help a lot of investors and a lot of first time home buyers purchase in homes, purchase in areas in Central Valley like Tracy, modesto, turlock, merced and, like I said, those areas are growing tremendously right now.

Russ Sadykhov: 2:45

I'm super humbled to be the CEO and the team lead, with over a decade in real estate experience. We are operating under the umbrella of Coldwell Banker, so in addition to being a broker of a team, we also have that backing of a very well known and a very long standing and trustworthy corporation that has the legal team behind it and that has the transaction coordination team behind it and make sure all the eyes are dotted and teeth are crossed. So we welcome anyone who is looking to buy or sell and welcome answering any questions you may have about the real estate market.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 3:32

Fantastic. We will definitely include links to your social, to your website, any information that you think would be pertinent for our listeners that would like to get in touch. We would love to hear more about you and how real estate has become a passion for you.

Russ Sadykhov: 3:48

Yeah, absolutely Well. I entered the real estate industry during a really challenging time, right. It was the aftermath of the subprime mortgage crisis, and many realtors were leaving the market, which was flooded with bank owned and distressed properties. This was 2010. It was precisely during this period that my passion for real estate really ignited, due to a personal story that I may share later. I really saw beyond those challenges. I saw the opportunity to be part of people's lives during this significant moment of their real estate journey, and that's when I realized real estate is more than just a transaction. It's being there for people's weddings or helping families find their perfect home for their growing needs, and supporting my clients through job changes. And so I found a deep sense of purpose in guiding individuals and families through these transformative moments, and I feel truly humbled to be part of my client's lives during these critical transitions.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 4:50

Thank you so much for sharing that. It is, for sure, a very personal journey, and I love that. You've been able to develop a passion and love for your clients and helping them find their forever home. So, russ, you've built a remarkable career since 2010, helping countless clients navigate the real estate world. We would love to jump into some essential questions for our listeners, especially those looking to buy or sell homes. So, for first time home buyers, what are the top three factors they should consider when searching for their ideal home?

Russ Sadykhov: 5:24

Yeah, that's a great question. You know for first time home buyers, everything starts with location and you wanna find out where you wanna live first, because real estate journey starts with your lifestyle. And once you determine your location, you wanna determine your price range and connect with the real estate lender who can get you a pre-approval so that you're not looking for homes above or below your ideal price range. And finally, you wanna consider your growing needs. Real estate is not a one month or even a one year endeavor. Real estate for most people is a seven to 10 year endeavor. So you wanna look long-term. You wanna kind of envision what your family is gonna look like in seven to 10 years. Are you anticipating family growth? Are you anticipating any job changes, those kinds of things? So looking into the future and making sure that your home accommodates those future needs as well.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 6:16

Wonderful insight. In a competitive market like Silicon Valley, where you are located, what strategies do you recommend for buyers to make their offer stand out?

Russ Sadykhov: 6:26

Another great question. It's so competitive in Silicon Valley and buyers often struggle with the ups and downs of emotional roller coasters of submitting their offer and not knowing whether their offer gets accepted or not due to such a competitive market. So there's a few things that you can make your offer stand out. First of all, you gotta get your financing in order, just like we talked earlier. Get together with your lender. Make sure that your loan is fully underwritten. We also work with a few vendors that help our clients get a pre-approval with a cash-like offer. So the stronger your financing looks on the offer, the stronger your chances of getting your offer accepted.

Russ Sadykhov: 7:08

Secondly, you want to make other offers offer terms stand out. Check with the seller's agent and find out what are other things that are important to the seller. Maybe the seller needs a rent back. Make sure to incorporate a rent back into your offer. Maybe the seller wants to take the appliances with them. Sometimes it comes down to little things like that you won't believe it and making sure that you take those things into consideration and lay them all out very clearly into the offer. It goes a long way in making your offer stand out and we've seen a lot of times our offers get accepted even though they're not the highest offers in terms of price.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 7:46

Wow, russ, that's all great information. Thank you for that insight. Shifting to sellers what are some common mistakes homeowners make when putting their house on the market and how can they avoid them?

Russ Sadykhov: 7:58

So there are a couple of things that sellers can do. While simple things, a lot of times they do get overlooked, and the first thing is overpricing. No matter how great the market is, you never want to overpric your home, because everybody has access to the data nowadays and buyers can do the research and figure out whether your home is priced competitively or if it's overpriced. And even in a competitive market that we have like today in Silicon Valley, if your home is overpriced, it can actually sit on the market without getting an offer. So overpricing is definitely one of those pitfalls you want to avoid.

Russ Sadykhov: 8:37

Secondly, presenting your home. Once you've priced your home competitively, the presentation matters a lot. I used to say 99% of home buyers start their home search on the internet. Well, I think that percentage is 100% now. Everybody starts their home search online. So how your home is presented plays a crucial role, whether that buyer is going to show up at the open house or set a private showing. So, making sure that you declutter your home, remove your personal items and make your home as neutral as possible and, furthermore, work with an agent that provides services and works with a professional stager and gets your home fully staged, as staged homes sell a lot faster and for more.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 9:21

It's amazing how much technology has changed the market in ways, so it's fun to hear your perspective on that. You know that our podcast is Tile Trends by Tile Club, so how crucial is the choice of tiles and other building materials and influencing a buyer's decision?

Russ Sadykhov: 9:39

I actually have a very interesting story about that. We just recently had a buyer that was touring nuclear construction in nearby development and they were touring exact same model in different locations. So two different homes, exact same model. The differences were the finishes and you know, when you brought up the question of tile and wall coverings, it's such an important factor when selecting a home for buyers. We found in Silicon Valley and the first home that the buyer toured had that standard 4 inch countertop back splash extension which looked nice. And you know buyers definitely liked the location and they liked the development and they weren't really excited about the finishes but they liked all the other factors about the home.

Russ Sadykhov: 10:31

Now fast forward 10 minutes. They walk into the second model and the second model has a full wall back splash, hexagon white backsplash and nicely tiled all the way up to the stainless steel vent hood and it was like looking at a completely different home. The buyer got so giddy and so excited that you could see the spark in their eyes and the smile was ear to ear and they were. You could see how they were envisioning themselves living in the home and opening up their laptop on the big island and enjoying that vibe that the kitchen provided.

Russ Sadykhov: 11:10

So I would say that definitely the finishes do matter and tile is a big part of that because, you know, tile is such a big part of so many finishes. You put tile on the floors, you put tiles on walls on and your shower enclosures in your kitchens and your backsplashes, and you could do so many different designs with tile. So the more well designed home is, the more chances that the home will sell and it'll sell quicker and for more. So in the case for our buyer, they actually ended up pulling the trigger on the second property and they ended up paying tens of thousands of more for the second home because of those finishes, and they were happy to do it.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 12:00

That's incredible. How crucial is it to keep tile choices while coverings or paints neutral.

Russ Sadykhov: 12:09

It's very important to keep things neutral. Neutrality is what we usually go for when we present a home, because neutrality is kind of like a blank canvas and that's ultimately what a home should present to a buyer, because every buyer has a certain picture in their mind of what their home is going to look like, because they have their own furniture, they have their own colors that they like to be surrounded by. So having neutrality is something that we work really hard on with our designer and our stager. That helps us prepare all of our homes for sale. But that doesn't mean that neutrality is simple. Neutrality actually takes a lot of thought and work behind it. There are certain colors that work well together and there are certain colors that don't. So creating neutrality is really crafting that special blend of colors that the buyer can then take and bring their own design on top of that and layer it to really create their own space.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 13:23

Fantastic. Growing up, my mother kept all of our walls white. We could not paint the walls. She would not let us customize our room or things like that. And she's like no, when we sell this house, it's got to be white so that a buyer will walk in and just be excited. So for 10 years we lived in this home and she was right. The week it was put on the market that was one of the first things that everyone that put in an offer. They're like we just love it. It's this blank canvas. So, to our dismay, she was right. On that note, I would love to move on to talking about staging. You mentioned that homes that are staged tend to sell faster and better than homes that are not. Do you have any quick, effective staging tips for our listeners today?

Russ Sadykhov: 14:07

You know, I wish I could call myself a staging pro, and I'm not. I really focus on what I do best, which is helping our clients get the best of every service possible, and that's why we work with the best in the industry when it comes to design and staging, and we've worked with Melanie at iDesign Staging for over a decade now and she's absolutely fantastic. We have her involved in every single one of our projects and I do believe that, you know, leaving things to professionals is really the best service you can do for your client, and therefore we have a partnership with our staging company and have them look at every single project before we begin, get a detailed list of improvements, and those improvements a lot of times include, like you said, like paint. If a client has a green wall with an electric yellow substance to it, you know you definitely want to correct that. Simple yet very effective upgrades go a long way in helping our clients get top dollar and also sell the property in a faster time.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 15:20

So, as far as layout and interior design, are there any potential red flags before putting their home on a market?

Russ Sadykhov: 15:29

Yeah, great question. You know, certainly things need to flow and the buyers are going to pay attention to that. And if your home has flow, it's also going to be easier for our designer to design a home and make all the furniture really just fit in perfectly. But you know, there are times when the home doesn't flow. Maybe there was a wall partition at some point that was useful for that particular seller's lifestyle, but it's not necessarily going to be useful for the sale of the property. So making things as open as possible, I think, is the trend Nowadays. Big open spaces. Buyers love that. Creating that flow is what the sellers should focus on. Looking at maybe non-weight-bearing wall that could be removed and creating that open flow, such as maybe opening up a wall between a kitchen and a living room it's such a simple upgrade, it wouldn't cost much, but it would create that openness, it would create that flow between the kitchen and the living room and create one big working living space is going to go a long, long way in helping sellers fetch the best buyer for the property.

Russ Sadykhov: 16:54

Sometimes there are some walls that cannot be removed. You want to keep an eye out for that. You want to educate yourself. Maybe just a little bit read about weight-bearing walls and see where the weight-bearing walls are typically located in the home, because sometimes buyers come in and they ask me hey, can I remove this wall? Sometimes you can't because that wall is actually bearing the weight of the ceiling and the roof above it. You want to be cognizant of that, maybe before pulling the trigger on the property and making an offer, maybe bringing a contractor or an architect to do an open house it's always handy to have a friend who is a contractor or have a realtor that can help you bring a contractor and take a look at the property before you make an offer.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 17:44

For both buyers and sellers. How critical is it to understand the local real estate market and how would you recommend they stay informed?

Russ Sadykhov: 17:53

Local real estate market is extremely important to understand. When I say local, I don't just mean county or city that you live in. Sometimes it comes down to literally the street that you live on. It can vary from on that much granularity. Understanding the dynamics of that particular neighborhood is extremely important when you're making an offer because, like we talked earlier, when you're buying a home you're not buying a one month or a one month experience. You're buying a seven to 10 year experience.

Russ Sadykhov: 18:33

Statistically, you want to find out who your neighbors are. You want to find out what are the certain traditions of that particular neighborhood. A lot of times when I talk to the neighbors, they'll tell me everything. They'll tell me oh yeah, oh my God. During Halloween we block out the street and we do this little mini festival and we have this tradition of doing marshmallows in November. It's great to know these little tidbits about the neighborhood and understand them before you move in and know who your neighbors are because ultimately, you will be sharing your experience with them.

Russ Sadykhov: 19:22

Sometimes that can work the opposite way too. Sometimes you have some negative things that you want to find out. Maybe there's a neighbor that constantly leaves their big truck on the parking spot. That makes it difficult for you to get in a driveway. Maybe there's a neighbor that doesn't like to cut their brush back when it needs to and you end up doing it on their behalf. Those are the kind of things you want to find out and talk to the neighbors. I always encourage my clients to go talk to the neighbors and find out what is the neighborhood like On a very micro level. I know we want really micro on this question, but I do believe that ultimately it is those things. Even though they're micro, they're going to make macro impact on the lifestyle.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 20:14

I love that you zoomed in on that. That was a really great insight. Thank you for sharing that. Can you share some current insights into the trends in Silicon Valley's real estate market and how they compare to the national trends that we're seeing right now?

Russ Sadykhov: 20:29

There's different kinds of trends that we can talk about. There's financial trends, there's style trends. I can cover a little bit of both. For style trends, I think we talked at length already about how Silicon Valley buyers prefer homes that are ready to move in. Things are just such fast pace here in Silicon Valley that buyers are willing to pay tens of thousands, sometimes even hundreds of thousands of more just to buy a home that's turnkey and they don't have to worry about any improvements in the future. That's definitely a trend that we've been seeing for a long time in Silicon Valley. I think it's here to stay, as things are not getting any slower here in our area. In terms of financial trends we're seeing right now we're talking in January of 2024,.

Russ Sadykhov: 21:22

We've had a big run up in interest rates since last year and things have just completely changed the landscape. They really cramped down on the inventory. A lot of homes are off market and sellers are reluctant to selling their homes because they're locked into low interest rates. They have a mortgage with a 3% rate and for them to sell a home means giving up that sweet 3% rate and moving on to a 6% to 7% rate, and sellers are simply reluctant to do that. That, I think, compares and fits really perfectly into a national trend which is experiencing the same thing, and it's causing a nationwide squeeze in the inventory. It's ultimately, of course, as all things is, going to go away.

Russ Sadykhov: 22:20

How long that takes is really a big question that I think a lot of people are struggling with finding out. If you're a buyer in today's market, I think it shouldn't prevent you from buying a home. Buying a home, it shouldn't be solely a financial decision. Buying a home should be a decision of lifestyle and it should be a decision of where you see yourself for the next. I keep on reminding about the 7 to 10 year period. It should be a question of where do I see myself for the next 7 to 10 years? And rates are just one part of the equation. There are so many other factors and Silicon Valley real estate is not getting any less expensive. So the sooner you get in, I think that the better it is going to be for a buyer in today's market over the next 7 to 10 years.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 23:16

What's your one piece of advice for anyone looking to navigate the real estate market successfully?

Russ Sadykhov: 23:22

The biggest piece of advice is talk to a real estate agent first. It costs absolutely nothing. We provide free consultations to all of our prospective clients and repeat clients as well, because we love educating our clients about real estate. I'm having such a great time answering your questions today. It's really a subject that's very passionate to myself and everyone on our team. So the biggest piece of advice is talk to a real estate agent. Understand the ins and outs of real estate before you go to the next step.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 24:02

Thank you so much for joining us and for sharing your wealth of knowledge.

Russ Sadykhov: 24:06

This was a lot of fun. Yeah, thank you for all the great questions and it was my pleasure.

Lindsay Fluckiger: 24:10

To our listeners. Thank you for tuning in and be sure to follow Russ for more expert real estate advice. And join us next time on the Tile Trends by Tile Club podcast.