A new year, coupled with lower interest rate, buoyed by potential good news of possibly increase the limit on Conforming loans; spring does bring out buyers. Let's keep a close eye on what the new year will bring and keep you posted.
| 2/1/2008 | |||
| On Market | In Contract | % Pending | |
| Marin - Total | 844 | 166 | 20% |
| Belvedere | 16 | 0 | 0% |
| Corte Madera | 21 | 4 | 19% |
| Fairfax | 15 | 4 | 27% |
| Greenbrae | 23 | 7 | 30% |
| Kentfield | 13 | 0 | 0% |
| Larkspur | 20 | 5 | 25% |
| Mill Valley | 73 | 18 | 25% |
| Novato | 279 | 53 | 19% |
| Ross | 12 | 4 | 33% |
| San Anselmo | 27 | 9 | 33% |
| San Rafael | 206 | 41 | 20% |
| Sausalito | 44 | 3 | 7% |
| Tiburon | 49 | 8 | 16% |
| Marin 1-2 million | 180 | 39 | 22% |
| Marin > 2 million | 112 | 17 | 15% |
| Marin 0-999,999 | 553 | 110 | 20% |
| Buyer's Market | <25% | ||
| Neutral | 25% - 40% | ||
| Seller's Market | >40% |
It is official now - Marin county is one of the wealthies county in the country - Forbes Magazine ranks Marin the 15th wealthiest county in the U.S.
However, Marin still does not compare with the nation's capital (Washington D.C) where there are three wealthiest counties in the county - wonder where all that money comes from! The reankings are based on median household income.
A few others in the bay area - Santa Clara County, ranked no. 4, and San Jose, ranked 17 respectively.
Check out the Forbe's America's Most Lucrative Neighborhoods - places S.F.Grove and Webster street neighborhood with a 2006 median home price of $1.28M
Novato Market Overview, Week of January 23, 2008
At the end of January, 2008; Novato is still in a buyers market. The good news for the sellers is that the inventory is about 1/4 (90+ units) lestt than that four months ago, in September, 2007. The % in Pending also increased in almost all categories, even though some are very slightly.
My office reported a healty January, both in # of listings and # of getting into escrow. A very positive and encouraging sign for all!
category | Total Units/In Escrow | % Active | % Pending | ||
All SFD's and CID's | 286/34 | 86.4% | 13.6% | ||
SFD's | 206/2 | 87% | 13% | ||
CID's | 80/2 | 85% | 15% |
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$0 -$500K SFD | 14/3 | 79% | 21% |
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$500,001-$600K | 30/8 | 93.3% | 16.7% |
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$600,001 - $700K | 31/4 | 87% | 13% |
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$700,001 - $800K | 31/2 | 93.5% | 16.5% |
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$800,001 - $999,999 | 36/3 | 92% | 8% |
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$1M - $1.25M | 27/3 | 89% | 11% |
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$1.25M - $1.5M | 17/2 | 88% | 12% |
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$1.5M+ | 20/2 | 90% | 10% |
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My home town, Novato, the north most suburb in Marin county, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, has just earned the distinction of the "Best Affordable Suburbs in California in 2007" from Business Week. We have lived in Novato for the past 10 years, and I can attest to the Marin IJ Article "Novato a 'besaffordable' town"
When you drive towards Novato from 101, you will go through a section of 101 framed by breathtaking hills on both sides of the highway. Then the hills open up to unveil Novato.
Look around, there are open spaces all over with many hiking/biking trails, Rush creek is near by with dedicated marsh area for local birds and wildlife. Indian Valley, Green Point, Black Point are all famous for the surrounding view and horse properties; Marin Country club has a warm micro climate, again surrounded and protect by hills; Stafford Lake holds annual Rock and Blues By the Lake, Labor Day Fire Work and many other local events; renovated Old Town hosts farmers market, local festivals and plenty of specialty boutiques; Vintage Oak offers discounted shopping attracts buyers from around the county, There is even one of the best dog parks in Novato. These are just a few of the distinct areas in Novato.
The schools are outstanding, with many excellent, distinctive and diversify programs offered. There are several charter shools, GATE program, alternative teaching methods, etc. There are some of the best performing arts programs at different school levels as well as sports, Academy, visual arts and challenging Honors and AP programs for students with different needs and wants. Outdoor activities are plentiful - Hiking, Biking, several golf courses, tennis clubs (private and public), horseback riding, boating; Novato is also minutes away from west Marin and other bay area beaches.
The choice is unlimited. Give me a call when you are in town; come and check it out.
This is not Marin real estate related, but I thought it would be nice to post this since this is the time we are making purchases and/or paying for our indulgences during the holidays.
I received two email alerts from PayPal thanking me for the purchase and asking me to go to the account to make sure the pruchases are fine. That's last week.
I just recemved another Urgent Message from Teacher's Credit Union asking me to check on my billing irregulatiries - No, I am not a teacher and I don't belong to teacher's credit union.
Just want you all to be more careful when receiving email such as this. Do not click on suspicious links, and don't give out any personal ligniform unless you know the source.
Happy New Year!
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Sylvia Barry & Associates provide winning real estate service in Marin, Sonoma through leading edge internet technology, experience, knowledge, competence, skills, CARE & old fashioned hard work!
EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE, PROVEN RESULTS
Marin County and South Sonoma Realtor
A Top Producing Agent and multi-year recipient of Frank Howard Allen (#1 Real.Estate. Company in Marin) Client Service Award, Sylvia provides exceptional real estate service through experience, knowledge, competence, skills and old fashioned hard work.
Sylvia brings with her 20+ years of professional experience to real estate; specializing in marketing, negotiation, tax, finance, management and internet technology. Sylvia's clients love her hands on' approach and benefit greatly from their close working relationship and full range of services provided by her team of experts.
Sylvia's clients appreciate her compassion, integrity, knowledge, experience, dedication, thoroughness, and technical background; affording them the best results both as sellers and buyers in this unprecedent economical times; and especially critical in the dynamic, global real estate market!
Frank Howard Allen Realtors One of the major advantages of working with a Realtor associated with Frank Howard Allen Realtors, the number one real estate company in Marin and Sonoma, is that you are guaranteed to receive all the care, knowledge and resource when working with the leading- edge real estate team.
#1 Marin and Sonoma Real Estate Resource
Sellling distressed homes? - Short Sale, Foreclosure, Bank Owned, REO, I handle them all. Buying a first time home, Investment property, 1031 Exchange, moving to great school districts, finding luxury property for your life style change, owning a home with distinct architecture details, located next to open space, million dollar views, plenty of acreage for prized horses; or to make wise investments in the best real estate corridor in the country - you are in god hands!
For a no obligation, free Market Analysis or complete marketing plan for your house, please email me or call me at (415) 717-0293.
Sylvia Barry provides professional Real Estate Consulting Serviice for Marin Real Estate, Novato Real Estate, San Rafael Real Estate, Corte Madera Real Estate, Kentfield Real Estate, Mill Valley Real Estate, Ross Real Estate, Belvedere Real Estate, Tiburon Real Estate, Greenbrae Real Estate, Larkspur Real Estate, Marinwood Real Estate, Nicasio Real Estate, San Anselmo Real Estate, Sonoma Real Estate, Petaluma Real Estate, Rohnert Park Real Estate, Cotati Real Estate, Marin County Real Estate, Marin County Homes, Marin County Home, Marin County Houses, Marin County House, REO, Bank Owned, Foreclosure, Short Sales.
Frank Howard Allen Client Service Award Recipient For Consistently Living Up to The Highest Standards of Service
We wanted to say congrats on all your recent listing activity. You are doing a great job in a difficult real estate year. We appreciate your team player attitude and feel fortunate to have your work ethic on our team. Fondly, Kathleen Hilken, (General Manager), Larry Brackett (CEO), Noreen Smith (CFO) - Frank Howard Allen
You have been working so hard and have a great attitude considering the challenges in the market. So proud of you that you fought and sold 6 Anthony Court. You will do well in the coming years and each challenging transaction will make you a better agent. Spiro is really in your court and very proud of your accomplishments. Keep up the good work. Fondly, Joe and I would like to thank you so much for your help this past year. We sincerely appreciate all that you did to complete the short sale of our Novato condo. As we look back on 2008, we are so thankful that we contacted you to help us. With everything that is happening in the real estate market these days, we felt extremely fortunate and lucky to have been able to sell our condo and avoid foreclosure. I know many other people have not been as fortunate. Your willingness to help us navigate the short sale process and take on this challenging situation is a tribute to you and your commitment to clients. You gave us great confidence (and relief) as you took control and worked directly with our lenders to get our petition for the short sale accepted. Then, through your diligent efforts, successfully put our condo on the market during a difficult time. You were always there to answer questions and we appreciated your sincere concern and advocacy for us with the lenders (and buyers). I know it took a lot of work and time on your part and we really appreciated it. We would gladly recommend you to any of our family or friends. We sincerely believe that without your efforts, we could have not been able to successfully complete the short sale. As in the purchase of our condo in two years earlier, your help was invaluable. Thank you again for your help and your commitment to us. We wish you a very successful 2009.
Sylvia,
Sylvia,
Larry Brackett (CEO/Owner), Noreen Smith (CFO), Kathleen Hilkin (GM) - Frank Howard Allen Realtors
Dear Sylvia,
Sylvia - Much thanks for your expert real estate advice. You helped us close the escrow as well as moral support. Frank Howard Allen is lucky to have You!
Warm regards - Suzanne and Bruce
Langston Harris
My wife, Cindy, and I have recently contracted with Sylvia Barry as a representative for the sale of our home at 49 Dowitcher Way in San Rafael, California.
Sylvia worked diligently to market and to complete the sale. We have been extremely satisfied with the results of her efforts. She was instrumental in obtaining a great price (more than we expected) and very quickly, as well. Additionally, we found her to be very easy to work with and formed a close association during the time we spent together.
We highly recommend Sylvia as a realtor who truly cares about providing good service to her clients
Kim Stephen Braun
I first met Sylvia Barry when I interviewed her for a Project Manager position at the Insurance Company I worked for. We worked together for several years afterwards until we went separate ways. When I decided to sell my house and move to Arizona, Sylvia told me that she had become a Realtor and would love to represent me.
She brought the same skills I had admired when she was a project manager to the job of real estate sale person. Thoroughness, attention to detail and follow through, making sure everyone did their jobs correctly and on time. There is an incredible amount of contractual requirements and paper work involved in selling a house. She made sure all the forms were prepared correctly and signed by all the necessary people. She also added the here-to-fore unknown to me skills of a home decorator, making suggestions as to how we could make our home more attractive to prospective buyers.
All in all, the home selling process was made much less stressful by Sylvia's skill and competence. When we got eight offers, seven over asking price, she suggested we take the best two, and ask one of them to be a backup offer. This turned out to be very foresightful, when our first offer fell through. We had already made an offer on our dream house in Arizona, and would have lost it if Sylvia hadn't been prepared.
I would highly recommend Sylvia as your Real Estate Agent. She is honest, hardworking and very competent, the best I've worked with.
Tom and Pauline Tong
We met Sylvia Barry during our first open house when we tried to sell our property in Novato by ourselves. Many realtors came out to meet us, but Sylvia stood out in the crowd. She was pleasant, straightforward and unassuming.
After we realized that we needed professional help to sell our property, we hired Sylvia to represent us.
Sylvia sold our house within two weeks. Through her hard work and persistence, we received multiple offers for our house. Sylvia guided us through the paperwork with patience and she was thorough. While the loan application and house appraisal was processed, Sylvia made numerous contacts with the buyer's agent and loan officer on our behalf. She displayed honesty and integrity. She never pressured us into any deal with which we were not completely comfortable. In the end, we were completely satisfied with the process of selling our house.
We have no hesitation to recommend Sylvia to you and are looking forward to have her represent us again in the future.
* We had to get the house appraised again so I can re-finance. It is now $779K. Thank you for helping me find this house. By the way, my mother's neighbor is planning to sell their house; I told them that they should use you. I am going over this weekend and I will tell them about you again.
* Sylvia: I really appreciate your ownership, professionalism and customer-oriented approach towards this. Sorry that you have to deal with pressures from both sides. I am planning to not just reimburse your expenses, but as I mentioned, give you a very well deserved commission and more.
* I want to said thank you very much for providing so much information. I'm deeply appreciated. I'll keep you in mind for my friends who are interesting in buying or sale real estate in Marin. I think you are very knowledgeable and resourceful about the real estate business.
* I will say that I have had several experiences with real estate agents and you are our favorite. We appreciate the information, communication, and quick responses...... We need an agent as diligent as your are in this area. I hope you can help.
* I just wanted to thank you one last time for helping us get our wonderful house. We are loving it so much and it means so much to be there this holiday season....
* So I mentioned that I have a great agent if she ever needs one...... I also had two showers, one for baby and one for bridal. All these occasions are best to rave about you. I even gave two of your cards away.
* Sylvia did a great job finding a tenant in such a short time and in a slow season..... Special thanks to Sylvia. On Saturday, She drove one hour from her home to the property to clean up the dust left from floor finishing guy. She spent 4 hours here..... Thank you, Sylvia, you've done a great job.
* You, I trust completely. In any business dealings we have had, you have never done anything that you thought was not in my best interest.
* Photos look awesome. Love the 1st MLS one with the leaves framing the entry. Sylvia, thank you so much for putting as much of your time in on our rental as you would a multimillion dollar house sale.
* Sylvia, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your helping me out. I know you are going way beyond what you would normally do for your clients. And we've only met once. We don't even have a history. Thank you again. I feel relieved that I can put the house on the back burner and concentrate on the trip and know that I won't have to worry while we are gone.
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