When buying residential real estate, you often hear the words: “location, location, location”. This is never truer than today. In Mill Valley for example – a nice community just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, you can see a variety of neighborhoods and also see a variety of sales prices for what many consider “appealing”. The secret to success is in how quickly they sell and for what dollar amount.
A new listing just came on the market – it is located in the good part of...
People ask us all the time,“how’s the market”? The best way to answer that question is to look at the specific area where one lives. We can watch the news and see that our state is struggling and homeowners in various parts of the country are ‘underwater’ with respect to their home values. The news about real estate is not always as it appears. There are many, many different real estate markets in the state – even in our Bay Area … and in Marin County. So, to answer the...
Summer has arrived and the farmer’s market is in full swing: active and lively. Real estate seems to be buzzing along too. There have been the usual higher number of listings come onto the market in the Gerstle Park neighborhood--as you drive around you can see the signs indicating that number.
You may want to know what is happening to all those sales, so we have attached the current list of local listings: active, pending and of course, closed sales since mid January.
A quick glance of...
According to the San Francisco Business Times, Zip Realty has announced that they will no longer provide rebates to buyers. Thearticle states that this is one of several moves the company has made to reposition themselves as a full service brokerage with amazing technology v. a discount broker. The result? I think this will be better for consumers, especially buyers.
Ok, here's the disclaimer. What I am about to say is not about Zip Realty or its agents--it's about the difference of...
After many years of selling homes in Marin County, Zephyr Real Estate has (finally) openned their first office in Marin County, located at 201 Corte Madera Ave in Corte Madera, near Larkspur.
There have been a few Zephyr agents who have been actively selling in Marin for many years, including Stacey who has been helping clients buy and sell homes in Marin for 15 years. She lives in Mill Valley, with her family, and is familiar with all of the Southern Marin communities--their schools,...
Here is a guest authored article, by Ken Moll of GGB Capital. Ken specializes in Seller Financing. Is it right for you to consider when you are selling your home? Possibly. Read on.
In today’s tough, tough market for sellers and buyers alike, sometimes it takes going the extra mile to get a property sold (or purchased). Historically, when you’ve wanted to sell your home, you know the drill: contact your agent, develop a plan for preparing your home for market, prepare a complete and...
Here is a response to one of our posts about Foreclosures in our blog, from Ken Moll, President of GGB Capital LLC, here in San Francisco. A bit too long for our comment section, so we're publishing this as a guest post::
"Now three months have passed and this moratorium “panic” is largely subsided as banks have for the most part resumed their foreclosure actions at a pre-moratorium pace. Yet, the markets have still not fully recovered because of the attention this incredible error...
"My story starts in the spring of 2006 when I relocated to San Francisco. Stacey & Jane came to my rescue. I needed to find someone who not only "got me" but could work with my relo team to find a new home...they could do that & then some. I ended up with a beautiful home & a ..." [read more]
"Working with Stacey and Jane was such an amazing gift during such a hectic time in our lives! My wife and I were transferred to the East Coast just after we got married. We were incredibly stressed with all that we needed to do to move our lives and our careers to a new City. ..." [read more]
We're often asked by our clients, "How much should we offer?" This is an excellent question. The answer is not straight-forward, especially in a market like ours.
Pricing, in the late 1990s through the mid 2000s was a bit of a no-brainer. Most agents advised their sellers to price homes very low, suggesting that this would draw multiple offers to the property. In most cases this was true. Depending upon the time frame, houses priced low would draw multiple offers and would sell not...
During the last 6 months, six condos have sold in North Beach, for an average price of $805,000. The average days on market is 42 (a statistic that includes the marketing period, and the number of days this property was in contract before the buyer lifts their inspection and financing contingencies).
By comparison, there are four condos currently for sale, with an average days on market figure of 92 days for homes, which are on average, much smaller. What is going on here? Is the...
Two new condos are active in North Beach. The first, 444 Francisco, #201 is a 1 bedroom condo, weighing in at just over 600 sq feet (611 per tax records). Its marketing touts that it is a sunny, south facing unit—which in this building means that it faces the street. This block of Francisco Street is very quiet and lovely. This is also one of the nicest condos I have seen in this building. It’s a good value in a great neighborhood. The second new condo is 445 Francisco St,...
This morning, I was touring Zephyr's new listings. I was driving to see a great condo in a great location close to cafes, restaurants and shops. Easy access to the freeway, close to many different forms of public transportation. Hmm, nice block with a nice mix of architectural styles represented. As I spied the facade, I noticed peeling paint. A lot of it. I had a moment's hesitation. The same hesitation that I suspect that many buyers are likely to have.
Searching through my desk, I found a copy of an article entitled, Here are the Buyers, Where are the NICE Homes? Today's environment feels very similar to that of March 2007: "I have several buyers wondering why there is no inventory that fits their criteria. They aren't being picky. Many of them are able to afford what they are lookiing for in their desired neighborhoods in the city. In fact, they are quite realistic. The problem seems to be a real lack of inventory. Every...
Last year, Congress enacted legislation called the Home Valuation Code of Contact designed to create distance between appraisers and lenders. New companies emerged as intermediaries between lenders and appraisers, called Appraisal Management Companies. The result? Higher costs to consumers (the appraisal is paid for by the Buyer), and often a reduction in quality (many AMCs put the appraisal orders out to bid, awarding the work to the lowest priced bidder and keeping the rest of the...
