Wow what a start! While usually January is a sleeper month, not this year!! Buyers were out there anxiously waiting more inventory to hit the market and ready to jump on the somewhat perfect house out of desperation. My business is booming and I hear that most agents are in the same boat, at least in the East Bay (Contra Costa and Alamdeda counties). We saw a little bit of a lull from buyers afterwards waiting to see what else would come up and frankly nothing is coming up! There are only 5 homes total for sale in Albany and barely anymore in Berkeley!! Those that come up do sell fairly fast unless they are way overpriced and the sellers are stubborn, not listening to the market speak. I see from my pipeline and hear from others that spring will be very busy with lots of inventory waiting to make their grand entrance. A lot of people are trying to time the tax credit deadline by getting their house ready in March for an April 1st market time. I would frankly be surprised if the tax credit disappeared and interest rates increased as that could be lethal for the real estate market. Any opinion? Maybe one or the other but not both at the same time would make more sense so we can ease into it...
Lately I have seen a flurry of homes coming onto the market and selling right away even in the deepest places in Contra Costa County where I usually never go. I have been showing houses in Rodeo and writing offers and even there it is a mad rush to get your offer accepted!! Yes prices are a lot lower than anywhere else in Contra Costa but wow within a couple of days competition gets stiff for a chance to sell a home and some with squatters included!! Prices have been climbing back up since February and on that note I received 2 emails from buyers who said that they had missed their chances at buying a home! No wait!! that means that prices have reached rock bottom and now is the best time to buy before prices reach an all-time high again! (if they ever do). We are at the bottom of the wave right now and even if a buyer pays $2000 more at most than his neighbors it will make no difference when the next neighbors pay $200,000 more than them!! Are buyers becoming really picky or having delusions of grandeur? I have definitely seen more champagne taste on beer budget than ever before. This is a buyer's market but it will never be the old days of buyers market where buyers could demand anything. If you are dealing with banks just getting the house at a good deal is good enough, bad as it is that is the way it works.
After scoring a major victory against the bank and getting "my way" I want to warn everyone not to give up when dealing with a bank. Yes you will get the addendum stating that offer is final, take it or leave it but I fought for my clients and renegotiated the price after our inspection despite their addendum stating otherwise. I did fight for my clients for some undisclosed repairs (mainly trees cut and driveway repaired) despite their as-is clause.... it was not pretty and it was stressful but my clients deserved it and in the end they won. So don't give up the fight against bank. They need to follow the rules and if they are going to sell in CA or wherever then darn it obey the realtors!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well it seems that buyers are back but reticent to buy! I had this beautiful home on the market and held it open with great success. Over 100 people came every single time and yet in the end I ended up receiving 2 offers and selling it for asking price???!!! weird market. I can't complain but truly with the activity I was getting and 8 disclosure packages plus 4 people on the fence as to whether they would take a package I was hoping for more offers! Clients are happy, that is what matters. They told me that they had the best agent one could ever dream of.. how sweet is that!
Well I guess $300K over the asking was the magical number. I heard that my offer was not accepted but I was not told who got it and if it was an all cash versus an offer over mine.... My clients and I are bummed. Everyone around me is shocked that prices in Berkeley are still crazy and that people are overbidding by that much.
I can't say that it is true for every single house but given our lack of inventory I have seen many houses go over the asking price. El Cerrito has slowed down and prices have gone down too but the house around the corner from my office in the St jerome/1000 Oaks area received 4 offers so that is a good sign. Interest rates are holding up well and my upcoming listings should do well in this market. I just hope I don't have to compete against similar homes on the market at the same time as mine.
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My succes in real estate: my professional and cultural experiences, personal relationships and expansive knowledge of the market. I combine personal attention, hard work, persistence and enthusiasm.
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