A few things are crossing my mind that I wanted to share with y’all. First, if you are currently a homeowner, or know one who you want to be useful to, please do have a Pest Inspection every 3 years. A Pest Inspection is performed by a licensed inspector who determines the extent of damage caused by termites, beetles or dry rot. They create a bid for those repairs. You are not obliged to use them for the work (although only a pest company can use the chemicals for termites and beetles). The cost is about $500 and I promise you there is so much money to be saved by catching these issues early. I work with GT Inspects but there are several respected companies. Do be careful to work with someone very local though!
I also want to remind you that you must get up on your roof and clean your rain gutters. I know every realtor likes to mention this one but seriously, this matters. Particularly if you have trees near your home that drop leaf litter onto your roof. If your gutters have a lot of granules in them that is the roofing material casting off and means your roof may be approaching the end of its service life.
Ok, enough tasking!
About the market, Ellie and I have had a lovely summer, took a couple of trips (together and separately) and managed to stay quite busy throughout. Currently, I have two amazing homes that just went pending - both are in exceptional condition which is something I really enjoy highlighting. I have linked the websites below. Some fun eye candy!
In general the market feels stable for the first time since the interest rates increased after the remarkably low rates of 2021. It feels as though sellers have begun to regulate expectations based on the current rates (since buying power decreased profoundly with the increased rates). We are still seeing losses, or lack of much profit, on homes that were purchased during the low rates who are trying to sell now. That said, selling under 5-7 years is always risky. Holding a home for 10 years offers significant protection from market bubbles.
Ellie and I both have also proudly helped quite a few buyers into the market over the last few months and almost every scenario was multiple offers with the final sale price well over 20% above the list price. As you all know, the unrealistically low list price strategy is pretty unique to the East Bay and although I know folks find it frustrating there are significant reasons to stick to a plan that generally works - that said, with a little insight my clients find themselves able to easily navigate the list to sale price dynamics.
I am always here to chat about the market in more detail and to provide referrals if you need them!
Warmly,
Sarah
