For Sellers

Dec
09

Forbes.com: 10 Best Suburbs to Sell A Home. Berkeley is #1!

Posted In: Berkeley, Economy, For Sellers, General Real Estate News, Local Market Statistics
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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 [...]
Nov
13

Hello Berkeley: Are sellers giving up?

Posted In: For Sellers, Local Market Statistics
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  Today is Thursday. Each Thursday, fellow agents and I shuffle into our cars and drive around Berkeley, Kensington, Albany, El Cerrito, Emeryville and Oakland to check out all of the new listings. Today we saw 9 houses. That is down by 50%. To entice agents to view a house, most will provide food and tasty treats; one house offered [...]
Feb
13

Foreclosure, any options?

Posted In: For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, Local Market Statistics
The big “F” word, foreclosure. This word is becoming a part of many consumer’s realities. But for many homeowners, they just don’t understand what it really means. And most are generally unaware that they have options. Check this out: Foreclosure and Default Data, Alameda County: January 2007-August 2007 Alameda: 16 foreclosures, 57 defaults Albany: 6 foreclosures, 17 defaults Berkeley: 33 [...]
Feb
03

Catch me on Forum- NPR Radio

Posted In: Economy, For Buyers, For Sellers, General Real Estate News
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On January 25th I was part of a panel on KQED’s Forum. “In light of ongoing housing woes and with real estate sites popping up daily on the internet, we look at the evolving role of the realtor.” Host: Dave Iverson Guests: Enrico Moretti, associate professor of economics at UC Berkeley and co-author of “Can Free Entry Be Inefficient? Fixed [...]
Jan
24

Welcome back

Posted In: Economy, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, General Real Estate News
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After returning to work from a nice, long holiday vacation, what do I see in the headlines? 1. “Feeling Misled on Home Price, Buyers Sue Agent.” 2. “Foreclosures are up by 67.8% nationwide.” 3. “World Braces for Subprime Fallout.” 4. “Hold on for a Recession.” Wow, this is depressing. No wonder the housing market is in trouble. Look at what [...]
Apr
17

To arm or alarm?

Posted In: First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Home Maintenance
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One of the worst things about showing a house is when there is an alarm on it. Sure, the listing agent does their best to explain to you how to deactivate it, but that doesn’t always help when your heart rate is shooting through the roof and all you can hear is the “beep…beep…beep.” At one house, neither the client [...]
Jan
30

An offer I can’t refuse

Posted In: For Buyers, For Sellers, Good ol' Fashion Humor
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Why are garage sales called “garage sales” yet they rarely take place in the garage? I recently came across an advertisement for a garage sale that said “What would you pay for this?” No item came with a price tag attached to it; buyer’s were the one who decided how much to pay for it. There was no haggling or [...]