Homey Things to Do When You Aren't Shopping for a Home...

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I know, I know; it's been a while since I've posted but I resolve to be here more often, I promise.

Here's a short list of things to do on Saturdays, because I know you are busy at open houses on Sundays... Not busy with open houses on Sundays? Call me and I will show you some properties myself.

MAKE CHEESE
Yes, you don't need huge kitchen skills to make a quickie ricotta at home. Follow this link and let me know how it turns out! By the way, you can substitute white vinegar for the lemon juice in his recipe.

LEARN TO KNIT
Come on, everyone's doing it; learn what the cool kids are so excited about. Here's a good link to a basic video to get you started. I also find that www.knittinghelp.com is a great site for continuing education.

TEACH YOUR DOG (AND YOURSELF) A USEFUL SKILL
Your dog wants to hang out with you. Your dog wants to go places with you. Walking your dog on a loose leash is more fun for both of you, and this skill makes it possible to carry a grocery bag and hold the leash at the same time. Imagine that! Here's how.

Have any ideas for my next list of homey things to do when you aren't shopping for a home? Email me.

Maybeck Marvels

As a follow-up to my last post about the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association's events calendar, I want to mention that Mark Wilson's upcoming lecture on September 24th ought to be exciting. Mark visited my office yesterday and gave us realtors the low down on his gorgeous new book about the architect Bernard Maybeck, and shared some gossippy tidbits about our beloved local genius. GO!

Condo Coming Soon- Early July!

This is a lovely one bedroom unit in North Berkeley; close to campus, good food, downtown and public transit. Give us a moment to paint, refinish, stage and kiss it for good luck, then I'll post a nice photo and more info.

This Week in Coldwell Banker Real Estate

From our Coldwell Banker president:

Berkeley/East Bay offices report that we were inundated with multiple offers this week and large turnouts at open houses. 75% of our deals this week saw multiple offers, any number from 2-8 on seller owned and 12-18 on bank owned. Cash is still king on many deals because of increasing anxiety about appraisals.

Castro Valley: we are seeing cash offers everywhere and one agent reports that she has been outbid from the last five offers she has written by all cash deals. The number of multiples in the low range markets has been in the range of 10-60 offers, to give you an idea as to the inventory shortage we are facing here in our micromarket. Agents are waiting for banks to release more REOs. One thing is certain, we are definitely a recovering market.

The Danville office reported the activity level is good but we need more inventory. Lots of buyers are jumping off the fence.

In Fremont the listing inventory is reducing.

The Livermore office reports: Our pending sales are up in the office and the overall market in the Tri-Valley area remains strong. Multiple offers are still the rage below $500,000.

The Pleasanton office reports homes under $450K are moving very fast with multiple offers.

Berkeley Still Hot

From Forbes:

In these spots, those looking to unload their home are finding buyers.

Berkeley, Calif., known sometimes as a hippie haven, is becoming a hotbed for home sales.

Prices in the Bay Area suburb are up 9% this year, with homes selling for a median price of $790,986. Properties are sitting on the market for 73 days on average, the lowest of any area with positive price trends within the confines of the country's 75 largest Census-defined metro areas. Only 37% of sellers have been forced to reduce their prices, one of the lowest rates in the country.

It may not be a boom, but given regional problems it's a good market to be in. Berkeley joins Venice, Calif.; Bedford, Texas; Kennesaw, Ga.; and Montclair, N.J., on our list of suburbs with the best conditions for sellers.

In Depth: 10 Best Suburbs To Sell A Home

In fact, the only housing-market problem Berkeley seems to have involved four protesters who illegally occupied a tree from the beginning of the year through September. Authorities finally cut off the hippies' food and water supply, forcing them from their oak home.

"If you have to sell a house, sell in these places," says Michael Simonsen, chief executive of Altos Research. "But it's a measure of how rough is it out there for sellers. These are the best markets, and we're looking at three to four months of time to sell in the country's best markets."

Behind the Numbers
Our data come from Altos Research, a Mountain View, Calif., research firm. We looked at the suburbs in the country's 75 largest Census-defined metro areas based on the last 90 days of sales activity. Since a metro area can contain hundreds of suburbs, we narrowed it to those cities with an inventory of at least 75 homes on the market.

Since stagnation is the death of prices and sales, we further eliminated suburbs where it currently takes more than 125 days to sell the average home. Price also matters. Nationwide, cities like Sacramento, Calif., and Los Angeles are among the easiest to sell a home, based on sales data from Radar Logic, a New York real estate research firm, but homes are mainly selling at massive discounts. To eliminate these places from our list, we excised any suburb where year-over-year price declines were steeper than 10% and where more than 50% of sellers had to reduce their asking price to sell their home.

What was left wasn't a set of awe-inspiring hidden gems where sellers are awash in bidding wars. Nationwide, low-interest rates and low prices caused existing home sales to rise 5.5% in September, but in many areas of the country, sellers are finding relatively few buyers.

Read more of this article here

Don't Forget to Vote

Really, do it.

Sellers: Careful Pricing is Crucial!

I found this gem from the California Association of Realtors:

Before the torrid real estate market of recent years, a common pricing strategy was to list your home for between 2.5 to 5 percent more than the expected sale price. This way, you would have room to negotiate with the buyer.

If you used this approach today, you'd be lucky to receive any offers. Recently, listings that were priced at or under market value received offer--sometimes multiple offers. Over-priced listings sat on the market unsold.

One risk of pricing too high for the market is that you won't receive offers. Sellers often find this hard to believe. Why won't buyers just make an offer if they think a listing is priced too high?

The answer is two-fold. First of all, if a listing is priced too high in a market where well-priced listings are selling, this may indicate that the seller has unrealistic expectations. Making an offer involves a big emotional commitment and it takes a lot of time. Most buyers don't want to waste their time offering on a listing that's over-priced for the market, particularly when there are other listings to choose from.

Secondly, even though buyers might prefer to buy without competition, the fact that a listing is popular is a stamp of approval. A property that is in high-demand is one that is likely to have good resale value.

Another risk of over-pricing is that you could end up in downward price spiral. Here’s how this can happen: You bring your home on the market listed at a price that you're sure is right. After all, your home is better--in your estimation--than anything else on the market. Your agent cautions against this, but you're intent on getting your price. After a month or two, you aren't even getting a nibble from an interested buyer. Even so, other listings similar to yours are coming on the market and selling. In fact, buyer's agents are using your over-priced listing to help them sell the well-priced listings that come on the market.

The longer your home stays on the market unsold, the bigger the risk that it will develop a negative stigma. Your home becomes the white elephant on the market. Buyers wonder if there's something wrong with the property. In most cases, the only thing wrong is the price.

So, you reluctantly agree to lower the price. Your efforts could be fruitless if you reduce too little, too late. Meanwhile, more well-priced listings come on the market and sell.

If the market softens, as it has in many areas around the country, you might have to make further price reductions. Buyers tend to gravitate to the newer listings, not the ones that have been on the market for months. You'll have to offer a cut-rate price to be competitive.

HOME SELLER TIP: It's difficult for sellers to be objective about the value of their home. Although most sellers estimate high, some sellers, who can't believe how much their home has appreciated, underestimate the value. For best results, rely on a real estate professional for a realistic price assessment. The dynamic is changing in many real estate markets around the country. Sellers, in many cases, are no longer in the driver's seat. Keep this in mind when you select a list price for your home.

Comparable sales from a few months ago may be out of date for the current market. Even though your neighbor's home sold for an exceptional price, it may have been the only game in town at the time.

THE CLOSING: Today, you're much more likely to find competition from other sellers who want to cash in on the recent extraordinary home price appreciation.

Coldwell Banker Weekly Market Watch

August 19, 2007

Larry Klapow, Coldwell Banker Northern California President says:

This will be a brief report due to a holiday week and the fact that I was on vacation.

Media reports regarding the condition of the mortgage industry continue to have a confounding effect on buyers. Some potential buyers aren’t even attempting to qualify for loans for fear of rejection, or because they are simply confused by what the media is reporting and think that loans don’t exist any more.

The reality is that credit tightening has only affected a very, very small percentage of buyers. The fact is that they could be missing a good buying opportunity by waiting, or not trying to qualify.

Savvy buyers are recognizing that working with a solid, well-capitalized multi-source lender, such as our partner Princeton Capital, allows them to remain educated and helps them to enjoy a successful real estate transaction. This remains a great time to buy a home, and working under the guidance and expertise of a top-notch lender provides the buyer with the chance to leverage the many opportunities now available.

In areas of the East Bay and North Bay, sellers are beginning to lower their listing prices meaning that there are bargains to be had. In other areas, multiple offer situations and tighter inventory render it absolutely crucial for buyers to be working with a strong, solid lender.

Traditionally, this is vacation time. The kids are getting ready to go back to school, and things slow down a bit in the housing market. While our offices witnessed a slight dip in activity overall, many were surprised to see that our more than 500 open homes were well attended by potential buyers.

San Francisco and much of the Peninsula continue to enjoy multiple offer situations and homes that are selling for as much as 20 and 30 percent over asking. Inventory levels do continue to impact both areas, however an influx of fresh homes after the Labor Day weekend should help mitigate their tight inventory situation.

Buyers have more leverage right now than they have in years. Armed with good credit, a Coldwell Banker sales associate, and an expert multi-source lender like Princeton Capital, right now is the ideal time to consult with the experts, and buy that dream home.

Have a great week!

We Want Richmond View!

Just a quick note about what's happening in Richmond View this week: the home at 1826 Ralston Ave is receiving 7 offers today. Is the market cooling off? Not there. This property gained alot of attention in the past few weeks because it was a classic mid-century design in need of easy updating, and everyone loves a moderately priced easy fixer.

How to explain other moderatly priced properties in easy move-in condition lingering on the market? This is where the market feels unpredictable.

Anyway, Back to Real Estate Updates

Another bit of weekly wisdom from our Coldwell Banker President:

Perhaps the long Memorial Day weekend gave both buyers and sellers the opportunity to reconsider their standoff positions. Sellers are starting to price realistically, and buyers are starting to write more reasonable offers, as evidenced by the fact that sales activity increased significantly during the week in most areas.

We held almost 400 homes open during the week and, while the lower-than-normal attendance level was anticipated, the conference rooms of most offices were busily engaged in negotiation and the closing of deals.

Still, the Bay Area market continues to be predictably unpredictable. In most areas, it is neighborhoods, schools, locations and streets that are generating the interest and buyer activity more so than the actual homes themselves. Berkeley, Oakland and El Cerrito saw multiple offers on homes in all price points. The Mission San Jose area of Fremont saw 10 offers on a listing that sold for 10% over list price. In San Francisco, two properties in the Sunset district received 11 and 22 offers respectively. An open house held over the holiday weekend by our Livermore office had 80 people through and sold with multiple offers after being on the market for six days. In Kentwood, a $3.95 million listing closed for $5 million after nine offers. Condition, price and presentation are, of course, crucial to a timely sale, however they are less important in highly desirable areas, or if the buyer perceives value.

In most areas we are still dealing with a split market. The high end is performing quite well while the first time home price ranges prove to be more challenging. You have heard it many times before but it is up to price and condition. Your property needs to be the best price in it’s class and show well also. Buyers in the entry level price range are definitely bargain shopping. As the old saying goes, if you want the property to sell fast, make it easy to buy. Instead of just using price reductions, you may want to look at offering other terms like closing cost assistance to make the property more attractive to buyers. As we start to move toward summer and schools let out, it will be interesting to see if this brings more buyers to the market. The economy looks strong and a recent report shows unemployment at very low levels. It takes jobs and increasing wages to keep prices moving up over time. The California affordability index sits at 25%, up from a recent 14%. This is due to price decreases in outlying areas but good news none the less.

Of the offices reporting, listing inventory remained steady for 16, increased for five and decreased for eight. Sales activity remained steady for 9 offices. It increased for 13 offices, and decreased in only seven.

Larry Klapow
President
San Francisco Bay Area