San Jose Mercury News | January 5, 2009
First-time home buyers Andrew and Kaori Nielson made a deal on a two-bedroom San Jose townhouse last month, even though they knew that property values are falling.
”We probably would have waited longer, but our lease was up, and we have our son,” Andrew said, referring to the couple’s 6-month-old baby. “We thought now was the time.”
Would-be home buyers in weakening markets worry about “catching a falling knife” — not wanting to ink a deal before home prices hit bottom. Yet home sales in Santa Clara County were up 14 percent in November from the same month a year before, despite a 39.5 percent plunge in the median price of a single-family home.
That raises the question: Who’s out there buying homes?
Read the full article here.
Contact Sue McAllister at smcallister@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5833.
Want to hear my opinion on technology and how it needs to be applied to real estate listings? Watch this video in which I discuss the importance of technology in the promotion of real estate listings. I discuss IPWs (individual property websites), mobile-enabled sites, uploading listings to social networking sites and blogging on listings. What is your opinion? If having trouble viewing, this video can also be viewed here .
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Importance of Technology in the Promotion of Listings
RIS Media’s recent post – click here brings up some great points when looking for a relocation agent to help you sell your home in Chicago - For each agent working the Chicago real estate market 2009 will be a year of self fulfilling prophecy. It will be what they make of it. As Mike Parker says “Your 2009 will be what YOU make it. The sky is not falling and you can be sure that many people will succeed in 2009, just as many continue to succeed, even now.” So when choosing an agent, ask them what they think of the 2009 market and how, within the parameters of the market, they can sell your house. It’s ok if they’re “bearish” on the market, as long as they have a plan – aggressive pricing, online promotion, etc. – to counter it. You can ask them some questions on how they will market your Chicago property – Do they have a personal website? Does their company aggressively invest the dollars (and more importantly – the time) in search engine optimization? Will your listing have its own personal landing page on the website? Is their site mobile-enabled? An optimistic (or at least focused and realistic) agent is a valuable asset. I try to draw this parallel: I’ve been skydiving a few times in my life – each time I’ve jumped “tandem” where you’re strapped to the instructor. I’ve always asked – “Are you optimistic about this jump? Are you and your girlfriend in a fight today?” If either answer is “no” I would suggest finding another instructor! You’re both in this together. So make sure your agent is optimistic about selling your home, or seek out a new one!
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Your 2009 will be what YOU make it!
The original name of the prestigious community of Bal Harbour, Florida was "Bay Harbour." The village planners, however, thought the name didn’t adequately describe their oceanfront gem. A new word was created, taking the "B" from ‘Bay’ and "a" and "l" from ‘Atlantic’ to construct the Bal Harbour moniker, describing its desirable location between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. In the small community full of luxury homes and upscale shops and restaurants, vast expanses of luxury real estate are extremely difficult to find. So difficult, in fact, that there is only one stretch of oceanfront land to be had. The final Bal Harbor oceanfront property currently available for development is over 5 acres and has a price to match is ultra-premium locale…$225,000,000.
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A Lot of Luxury
James M. Kinney, president of Rubloff Residential Properties, has been elected president of the Council of Residential Brokerage Managers, an esteemed branch of the National Association of Realtors.
The Council, which has nearly 7,000 members worldwide, confers the Certified Real Estate Brokerage Manager (CRB) designation and is the governing body of the most prestigious real estate network for brokers, owners and managers in the nation.
Read the full article here.
When it comes time to relocate to Chicago more often than not that means downsizing. Unless you’re coming from a New York, Boston or San Francisco market, your money may go a bit farther in the place you’re leaving than the place you’re coming to. Not that downsizing is all that bad. As someone who pays for the guy to mow the lawn I seldom walk, and rake the leaves I see out my window, there’s an appeal in a smaller (or non-existent) lawn. According to Runzheimer International a family of four who downsizes in Chicago from 2800 SF to 1800 SF will yield approximately $1281 in utilities savings and $4,545 in property tax savings annually (that’s a total of over $5,800 ). Well, there’s your IRA contribution! In addition, as www.zillow.com reports, smaller homes have shown a great annual appreciation (5.2%) than smaller homes (3.5%). There are always two sides to every story. Presumable you’re moving from a big suburban home to a city condo. The flip side of that “quality of life” and minimal commute may be hundreds of dollars each month to park that seldom used car (and a jump in insurance costs to boot); or the addition of condo association fees. But at as we read the reports from “black Friday” – consumers will buy enough to fill up any space they’re in….so isn’t it smart to see the advantages of a slightly smaller space?
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Pros and Cons of Down Sizing
Kate Santo, relocation coordinator at Rubloff and frequent contributor to Rublogg, was recently interview by Multi-Housing News. Kate tells MHN Online News Editor Anuradha Kher about what it is to be a relocation coordinator and the challenges she faces in relocation within multi-housing.
Read the interview here.
This time of year two of my obsessions come together in synergistic perfection: sweets and home design. Introducing this years most fabulous gingerbread houses!
- (Golden Pagoda and Dragon by KMD Architects, San Francisco)
Jennifer Chait of OffBeatHomes complies an annual list. Check out the site for more photos and for a not-your-grandmother’s template and recipe — perfect for you to modify and personalize.
If a golden pagoda complete with gummy dragon is too ambitious for you, start with a basic Mod Ranch design and work your way to an architectural masterpiece.
Need more inspiration? Here is Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water rendered in gingerbread.
(Photo courtesy of www.seriouseats.com)
As reported in realtor magazine moderately priced upgrades STILL result in significant paybacks. So whether relocating to of from Chicago a little investment before selling your home can pay big dividends. And we ALL need dividends in today’s marketplace! It was noted that these improvements take away many of the tactics that buyers use in this market – nitpicking about small things. If you’ve already redone the kitchen cabinets or powder room, their reason for asking for a $10,000 bathroom redo credit mysteriously disappears. The top ten project paybacks are: 1. Upscale fiber cement siding (86.7%) 2. Midrange wood deck (81.8%) 3. Midrange vinyl siding (80.7%) 4. Upscale foam-backed vinyl (80.4%) 5. Midrange minor kitchen remodel (79.5%) 6. Upscale vinyl window replacement (79.2%) 7. Midrange wood window replacement (77.7%) 8. Midrange vinyl window replacement (77.2%) 9. Upscale wood window replacement (76.5% 10. Midrange major kitchen remodel (76.0%) The entire article goes into many specific examples that are worth a closer look! So get out that hammer!
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Get Out the Hammer!
