Squeeze Play!

I feel like buyers are being squeezed out of the market!  12 offers per house are not uncommon now.  That leaves 11 buyers anxiously awaiting the next listing!  At my Tuesday open house at the $329,000 price point,on Lucille Ln, I had young buyers stopping by to fratrenize with me so I would know them when their agent submitted their offer.  I felt so bad!  I know they want a house, any house! 

One young woman said she and husband and children are living with her parents while they shop for a house in the under $400,000 range that will feed into the ever-popular Strandwood Elementary School. I could sense her motivation; even some desperation!  I hope she gets a home soon!

Monday we will review offers on Lucille; I will report back, then, how many we end up with!
And this is a Short Sale, subject to both lenders on the 1st and 2nd mortgage agreeing and approving the sale.  In other words, we have a long road ahead of us with no guaranteed out come.  To be continued.....1960 Lucille Lane photo:

Spring Sales Bloom

If only we had more homes for sale we could satisfy the pent up demand!  Seriously!

A Realtor just under-priced a home he listed in Poet's Corner. He had 5 offers in 24 hours with 5 more wanting to write and many more calling, showing interest.  Price point?  $370,000; way too low for that particular charming, move-in condition home!  This exemplifies the sheer number of buyers who want to buy now!  Below 4% mortgage interest rates, low house prices, pent up demand!  Mix them all up and sales bloom profusely!  Or they would, if we had homes to sell!

So, if you are thinking of selling give us a call!

Are prices going up?
Not so much. 
Have we reached the market bottom?  Some economists say no because there are too many homes in foreclosure, too many underwater that may still go into foreclosure......
But you may recall our past articles about micro-markets?
We in central Contra Costa County are one.  East county is another, SF another, the Penninsula is another.
But all have one thing in common right now; a shortage of homes for sale.
What that means is every new listings gets loads of attention!  Buyers are savvy; they won't overpay, but they want a house!  Or a condo! I have written 5 offers for one young couple and they are getting so discouraged!  Sometimes all cash wins out, sometimes not.  Some all cash buyers don't offer enough, thinking that cash talks more than a higher sales price, and sometimes that is true.  But most sellers want to take the highest offer; cash or not.

So, if you are thinking of selling now is a great time to do so!  As the sellers of  our listing at 1798 La Playa Drive, Lafayette know; they are getting alot of interest in their home right now: asking $699,000 and almost .6 acre on an idyllic creekside setting!

The Beat Goes On!

Unlike negative news stories, our market is sizzling on the grill in a slow burn.  No, prices are not going up.  But buyer's are out there; they want to buy!  An open house Sunday on Beverly Drive?  20 groups came through! 

A lovely new listing on Briaridge Ct in Woodside Hills?  We priced it "right" for the market.  An estate appraiser advised the seller to price it at $559,000; we agreed, the seller did.  We had two offers in two days; seller accepted one which was very strong.  Over the next few days 5 more offers were written, some even over the asking price.  Why?  This house had a lot going for it: single story, make sense floor plan, vaulted ceilings, formal living/dining rooms, spacious family room, dining nook, very nice master suite, inside laundry and a 3-car garage.  But what set it apart was the location.  Yes, it is on a court, desirable.  Yes, it offers filtered views out the back and full on Mt. Diablo view from the front yard, but even more, it has no neighbor to one side, it borders open space!  The yard itself is really well done; two patios, one covered, one not; a lawn, and a side-yard with raised beds for vegetable gardening plus a shed.  It has it all! 

Single story ranchers offering pazazz or good floor plans are in high demand.  Whether from aging  baby boomers or move-down buyers from Lafayette and Orinda, they get alot of attention!  This home was not updated at all; purely late '80's vintage, yet it was so clean buyers wanted it!

172 Beverly Dr, PH

Yes, prices slipped during the first 6 months of 2011, but now, not so much.  There is a firmness to the bottom of the market that might signal the end of the drop off; time will tell.

What a Week!

Record broken: the number of emails flying back and forth in one transaction was broken the past week when a purchase deal hit a snag that delayed closing by a week!  Everyone was stressed, from buyers to sellers, to sellers of house sellers of house my buyers are buying, to lenders, to escrow officers!  It was a snag with my buyer's loan that created the chaos.  Boy am I glad that is behind me!  Loan funded yesterday and sale is set to record/close escrow Tuesday; let it be!  We all worked so hard to make it happen! 
Got word today an offer I wrote, one of five written on a bank-owned starter home in Pleasant Hill, is in line to be accepted IF my buyer signs the bank's addendum.  Truth is, banks re-write our carefully crafted contract to suit themselves and make the purchase conditional upon our buyer signing and agreeing to their terms.  In other words, play by my rules or don't play at all.  It is very frustrating and seems wrong but for now, it's the way it is.  Each bank has its own set of rules and they play hardball with the buyer........a frustrating reality.
We have two clients in the final stages of staging their property for market entry this coming week. Can't wait to see the final product!  With our stagers input and many tradesmen working to paint and spruce up each house, we expect both will look smashing! Watch for them on Odin and Horton.
Our new listing on Putnam came on the market looking fab!  The sellers put in new bathrooms, carpet, paint, windows and it is a turn-key, move-in ready, stylish house for $449,000!
It is May 28th; Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and it is SO chilly out!  Trip to Tahoe?  No thanks; it is snowing up there!  Poor golf courses and other tourist oriented events must be so dead!

Good Vibes!

OK, those of my generation know the gig; aging parent, in my case my 90 year old dad, needs help.  Today?  Plumbing was backing up in his Lafayette house.  Norma to the rescue!

Several phone calls later it was determined the "go to guy" was Advanced Trenchless Plumbers.  Even called at 2 in the afternoon they made the trip to help us out by 3:45 pm.  Ryan, the son of the father/son team, showed up, cleaned out the sewer line, then ran a video camera down it, showing me  root blockages 100' from the house.  Blockage of roots cleared, problem diagnosed and fixed and annual maintenance recommended.  Much better than what we feared: a broken main line, digging up and replacing it and the driveway it runs under!  Thank you Ryan for saving us, thank you Stefano Plumbing for recommending them, thanks you Dennis Wells at Tri-Valley Home Repair for telling me what we needed to do to figure out why water was percolating up not only in the shower but in the driveway!  And thanks again to Ryan of Advanced Trenchless Plumbing!  He saved us, doing so cheerfully and pleasantly!

End of an era

It was the early '70's when Pleasant Hill proudly annoited it's new Community Center on Civic Drive.  On April 17, 2011 they close its doors forever, soon to tear it down.

The architect designed it in such a way the wood beams are rotting to the extent repairs would cost many 100,000's of dollars, so a bond issue was approved which will allow a new building instead.  The decay accelerated to the degree the building was condemned a year or so earlier than planned and it will be torn down shortly...........but wait!  Birds are nesting!  In respect for nesting birds, the tear down probably will not happen until September, 2011. In the meantime the building will be closed and fenced off.  All activities thereon have been moved to other locations; a herculean task arranged by hard-working Pleasant Hill Park and Rec staffers.

Just today I attended our last Pleasant Hill Rotary luncheon meeting there.  Starting next week we are excited to have a new meeting locale, though sad to leave our very comfortable McHale Room (named after our long time member Tom McHale for his years of service to the Pleasant Hill Recreation and Park District.)  We will meet at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church on Mary Drive, located nearby.  Pastor Shel White is a member of the Pleasant Hill Rotary Club so it syncs perfectly to move our meetings to his lovely church campus which sports a beautiful new fellowship hall where many events will be held while the community center replacement is underway.

Over the years so many events in our lives have occured at the Pleasant Hill Community Center: Don's Pleasant Hill Lion's Club Crab Feeds every January.  We have gone for 30 years; not sure how many more years they had it before we joined in.  My Pleasant Hill Rotary Club's St Patrick's Day Dinner fund raiser of many years.  The Pleasant Hill Dolfins Swim Team Awards Banquet/Night in September which we first started attending 25 years ago..........school dances, weddings, Christmas holiday events, too many events to number and list here!  That building holds within its walls so many memories, so many emotions for so many people........but from its ruins will rise an even better building, one for our future, for our children and their children to enjoy and build memories in!  For now, we look back, for them, we look forward.  And meanwhile, the nesting birds have a home.

Spring Market.....finally!

It is April 9th as I write; we just had frost on the garden this morning.  I don't need to remind you of our rainy March and hail two days ago!  It certainly put a damper on the market.  Now, the buyers are coming out in droves!  We can feel the energy, feel the excitement.  They want to get in on all the really good deals there are out there!  Condos in my favorite complex, Country Village, Martinez, for just over $100,000?  Wow!
Gregory Gardens homes, maybe dated, maybe a fixer, but under $300,000!  My heart goes out to all the folks who lost so much money, so much equity in their homes.  So many foreclosures.  It used to be 40% of our market/sales, now is 60%.

Are we at the bottom yet?  Might be; hard to say.......so don't sit on the sidelines too long.  The buyers are out there; you two should be.

We can help; give  us a call!