Market is trending back to multiple offers

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Q: I have been told that the trend of multiple offers being placed on a home is happening again. Is this true, and how should I deal with it as a buyer or a seller?

A: Since the first of the year, buyer confidence has returned to the point that desirable properties are receiving multiple offers. The most important point is to have a knowledgeable and experienced local agent who knows the process representing you.

In several recent cases, there have been 10 or more offers placed on a home after just a few days on the market. As a buyer, it is imperative that you are ready to move quickly to purchase a new home when the right one appears. This means that you should have seen enough homes to really have confidence that you know the local values.

You should also have a relationship with a lender that has reviewed your financial capability and can quickly provide preapproval documentation to a seller, including verification of cash funds to close, so that they believe you can perform when the time comes.

Your agent can tell you whether there are going to be multiple offers and, if so, about how many are coming. In these cases, it is best to make your highest offer initially, as you may not get a chance to improve it.

From the seller’s viewpoint, there are usually a few offers that either don’t demonstrate enough strength or are not high enough for continued consideration. One offer may stand out as clearly superior, but in most cases there are only a small number of offers that warrant a counter. If the buyer’s offer wasn’t initially strong, you will not even get a second look.

Good listing agents will review the offers with their sellers and develop a counter that attempts to equalize terms and price so that one buyer emerges as the best choice. A strong second offer may be given the chance to take a backup purchase position. We have seen several of these backups become the ultimate buyer of the property.

Multiple offers are much like an orchestra where everyone needs to be prepared and then plays an important part.

- Elena Hood, Coldwell Banker/Elena Hood Real Estate Group, (925) 254-3030, www.Orinda.com

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/05/06/RE4R1OD1UM.DTL

This article appeared on page J - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Here is a great article regarding renters. If you are a renter it might be time to think of buying, the interest rates are still low. Get out there and find the area you like and give me a call!

Renters More Optimistic About Buying

A PulteGroup survey of renters says more expect to buy homes in the next two years.

The home builder’s survey results showed that 60% of renters who say they want to buy a home in the future have increased their intent to buy compared to a year ago. And 61% of that group says they plan to purchase a home within the next two years.

It also indicates that homeownership continues to be as much an emotional desire as a practical one. Nearly half said they wanted to own a home because they would like being able to call themselves homeowners.

At the same time, 44% still said they thought buying a home is a good investment. And then there were the practical respondents, 36%, who said they wanted to own a home for more space. The percentages were similar across the country.

The results mirrored PulteGroup’s on-the-ground anecdotal information. “We are seeing a renewed sense of optimism, especially from young professionals and young families visiting our communities nationwide,” Deborah Meyer, PulteGroup senior vice president, said in a news release of the results. “In fact, in the first quarter of this year, sales and traffic for our Centex homes, which cater to the value-conscious and first-time buyer, saw a significant improvement over last year—yet another sign of an improving housing market.”

But the survey, which PulteGroup conducted with Russell Research, also identified deterrents to buying that these want-to-be owners say they face. The first is an age-old problem that pre-dates the housing recession. Just over half, 54%, said they don’t have enough money for the down payment.

A few other perceived barriers to buying a home also showed up in the survey. Just over a fourth thinks that renting is cheaper than buying, and just under a fourth are still worrying about their jobs.

The research company conducted online surveys for two groups, one that focused on current renters only and another completely random sample of people that included both renters and homeowners.

The results were similar in the two groups. In the random survey group, 65% of the renters said they plan to buy a home in the future and, of that 65%, 61% plan to buy in the next two years.

Teresa Burney is a senior editor for Builder magazine.

Off on Tuesday Tour. Going to find my clients some great houses! Interested in selling? It’s a great time!

As part of Coldwell Banker, I receive a weekly email from Rick Turley, The President of SF Bay Area Coldwell. The last article I received was very promising for home buyers!

Here in the Bay Area we’ve seen a recovery in the housing market for some time now. Things began to turn around in earnest last year and really have gained traction in 2012. But now as spring is in full bloom, it seems that other parts of the state and nation are getting in on the act. “Green shoots” are evident in cities that previously were showing little signs of life, creating optimism among many industry observers.

In a recent news report on NPR, reporter Yuki Noguchi said the mild spring has brought buyers out earlier than usual, and real estate agents are busy around the country.

Noguchi interviewed one agent whose clients recently signed a deal on a $1.5 million house in Cape Cod that was notable for several reasons. First, it closed very quickly – “the buyers didn’t hem or haw about the decision,” the agent said. Also, it crossed the million-dollar price threshold, something he hasn’t seen since 2007. The agent says many of his high-end Wall Street clients are back. Sales volume, average sale prices and buyer interest are all increasing.

Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, told NPR that he is much more encouraged than he was one or two years ago. “The recovery seems much more broad-based,” he said. “Whether one goes East Coast — Boston, [or] to the West Coast — Seattle, sales activity is solidly higher.” And smaller markets like Peoria, Ill., Greenville, S.C., and Chattanooga, Tenn., are also doing better, Yun said.

But the single most telling number on the health of the market, according to Yun, is housing inventory. Home listings are down 26 percent from last year at this time, which the economist said is close to healthy market levels.

While some market followers worry that we could see another wave of foreclosures, depressing home prices, Yun says that so-called shadow inventory of homes in serious delinquency or in the foreclosure process is also down. “So all three buckets of inventory … are falling, which is implying that this is a genuine reduction in inventory across the board,” he told NPR.

Here in the Bay Area we’re experiencing an even sharper decline in housing inventory. From Marin County, San Francisco and the Peninsula down to San Jose and out to parts of the East Bay, the number of homes for sale is down as much as 50 percent. This at a time when the number of well-qualified buyers eager to purchase appears to be higher than it has been in years.

While this rebalancing of supply and demand is good for the overall recovery of the housing market and firming up soft home prices, it is understandably frustrating buyers who are competing for the relatively few good, well-priced homes on the market today.  The strong demand is leading to multiple offers on many if not most homes in certain communities with prices going for much more than the asking price in many cases.

With our local economy continuing to bloom along with the spring flowers, especially in Silicon Valley, there is no end in sight to strong buyer demand. In fact, the latest UCLA Anderson economic forecast noted that growth in the San Francisco Bay Area region continues to outpace the nation, led by the technology sector.  Add to that the recent IPOs and upcoming Facebook offering and you can see where demand is heading.

I think word is gradually starting to get out to sellers that the financial crisis and corresponding housing downturn are finally over and it’s time to jump back into the market. We’re slowing seeing more listings starting to come into our local offices. My hope is that even more savvy homeowners will decide to sell as the spring housing market comes into full bloom. If so, it could turn out to be a beautiful season for the Bay Area market.

Below is a market-by-market report from our local offices:

San Francisco – Virtually every single new transaction discussed at our San Francisco Lakeside office meeting has had multiple offers.  Properties that have languished on the market for some time are selling – and with multiple offers. Similarly, our Lombard office manager said a buyer frenzy is happening on any reasonable listing. There are stories of 23, 31, and even 61 offers. Lots of cash deals are winning out. Heavy open housing and broker traffic is occurring. Our Sunset office manager said they’ve also seen very active open houses.  One Sunset home listed for $599,000 had over 120 groups on Easter Sunday. It received 23 offers three days later and went 10% above asking price.  Half of the office’s ratified offers were multiple offers.  Overall comments from agents:  “If only we have more inventory.”

SF Peninsula — All the agents are chasing too few properties with too many buyers, our Burlingame manager reports. All-cash is the word of the day, and contingent free offers. Recently, a buyer’s offer came in two hours after listing and sight unseen on the property! Easter Sunday opens were generally very busy.  There is a sense among sellers that with the coming IPO’s, their values are going to go way up and this may be the reason for the tight inventory in some areas. The inventory is getting a bit thin in Hillsborough and the buyers are out there. Over $3 million is still a bit slow but $1.5-2.5 million is competitive with Burlingame, San Mateo Park, and the upper end of Millbrae and San Carlos. That makes Hillsborough very attractive at the entry level. Over the hills, our Half Moon Bay manager says the coast is starting to experience multiple offers on all price ranges – inventory is low. The market is still frenetic, especially for $1 to 2.5 homes in good areas, according to our Menlo Park manager. The Palo Alto market remains strong with most sales multiple offers. There have been some “off market” sales in Portola Valley and Woodside. Our Redwood City manager laments the lack of inventory, especially in San Carlos. Agents are farming to try to get new listings as there still are a lot of buyers on the mid-Peninsula in all price ranges. Our San Mateo Downtown manager says almost every offer has been a multiple offer. No inventory, demand side outweighs the supply side.  Appraisers cannot keep up with the rising prices.  Home stagers are extremely busy and our San Mateo-El Camino manager anticipates some increased listing inventory.  In the local market the active listing inventory is down 38% from last year at this time.  March ratified sales are down nearly 8%.  March closed escrows up 38%.

East Bay – Berkeley open houses continue to be jammed with eager visitors, from 80-200 on several properties.   Multiple offers are frequent with 5-10 per listing, and pre-emptive offers have returned. Previews listings are awakening and coming on the market.  There is an especially lively market for properties $1-1.5 million in Berkeley. Active inventory in Livermore is scarce as the city is down to 132 listings.  This time last year there were 240 listings.  This represents a 45% drop in available homes on the market.  New pending sales and closed sales to date in April 2012 are running at the same pace as we experienced in March 2012.  Listings below $650,000 in Livermore are selling quickly and many times with multiple offers.  Multiple offers and two days on the market and then sold is happening everywhere, our Oakland-Piedmont manager says. Several of the Oakland agents are writing three or more offers a week and are not getting into contract. Offer dates are set and being rescinded, new listings are going in the MLS first thing in the morning and by 10 a.m. four disclosure packets are out. Agents are trying to get listings to market but in many cases the owners are unable to find a new property to move in to. The Lamorinda market is full of activity, our Orinda manager reports. Buyers are ready to purchase and are making offers. Most sales are multiple offers. Listing inventory is picking up as sellers are aware the market is very active. Open homes are heavily attended. And in Walnut Creek, FHA and VA buyers are having a tough time competing with cash and conventional offers with such low inventory.  Strong conventional offers can still compete against cash but usually over asking price.  Buyers and sellers actively evaluating the market, making the decision to buy and sell based on reports they are reading and seeing.  Some lenders are asking for extra documentation, which increases approval times.

To read the full article, please go to:http://cbsfbaymarketwatch.wordpress.com/

I read this article and wanted to share with everyone.

It seems like every day I see national headlines decrying the “struggling” housing market and questioning when things will finally turn around. And then I get to work and read the reports from our Bay Area offices showing sales jumping and multiple offers for many if not most homes in a number of areas, and I wonder if we’re on the same planet.

The disconnect between the Bay Area housing market and what’s being reported on a national basis is getting stranger every day. In other parts of the country, agents and government officials are trying to figure out creative ways to rid their markets of a huge backlog of housing while buyers show little interest in jumping in to help. Then there’s the Bay Area, where the housing market is just the opposite.

Take, for example, a few of the reports this week from our managers and agents on the frontlines:

• From our Southern Marin manager: “Multiple offers continue to be the name of the game, but the difference from the past markets is we are now seeing multiple offers in all price ranges, not just REOs and Short Sales.”
•  One $1 million-plus Mill Valley home in Strawberry garnered 11 offers last week, and another priced at $1.35 million had six offers.  Both are rumored to be in contract for almost $300,000 over list price. 
• “Buyers are getting frustrated over not getting the property in multiple offer situations, even when going substantially over the list price.”
• From our Los Altos manager: “We are selling more than we are listing in most price ranges.  We had a healthy increase in the high end this past week with a $12 million and $7 million sale, several sales above $3 million and a dozen over $2 million.”
• “Inventories are at historic lows and the market continues to heat up!”
• From our Walnut Creek manager: “We’re seeing multiple offers on most every listing that comes on the market.   A condo in Walnut Creek received seven all cash offers!”

The same stories are being echoed in all parts of the Bay, from San Francisco and the Peninsula to San Jose to the East Bay, and not just the more expensive markets. Buyers are pounding the pavement, cash in hand and looking for good properties to buy – now, if not sooner. “It’s nuts out there,” said our Cupertino manager. “A third of our sales resulting in multiple offers.”

Given the surging demand for housing you’d think sellers would be rushing to their local brokerage office to list their home, right? Guess again. The inventory of homes for sale is the lowest it has been in years, maybe even a decade, according to long-time industry observers. The result is that buyers are fighting it out for the few homes on the market listed by savvy sellers.

So what’s keeping the other sellers away when homes are going for great prices once again? Two things, both of which could come back to bite sellers who try to time the market:

1. A misunderstanding of the state of the housing market.

Perhaps they are reading the national headlines and still believe the market is in the doldrums, prices are still going down, and they don’t want to sell at bargain-basement prices. If so, they’re missing an incredible opportunity. We’re having a honest-to-goodness house party with lots of anxious buyers. But somehow, sellers never got their Evite.

1. They’re waiting for the Facebook IPO.

The thinking goes that once Facebook goes public, hundreds of employees will receive lucrative stock options which – eventually – they will be able to cash after the lockup period and then rush out to bid up prices for local homes.  Wow, talking about betting on the come.

I’m not questioning the “Facebook effect” on the Silicon Valley housing market. Far from it, I think it certainly will have some impact on pricing at some point in some communities in the heart of the valley. But this strikes me as something like trying to time the stock market. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been able to get that right. And I don’t think many others have as well.

The fact is that the real estate market has always come down to two simple factors: the law of supply and demand, and consumer confidence. Right now, both of those are telling me it’s a sellers’ market in the Bay Area. Consumers are feeling pretty darn confident as the economy picks up steam and the stock market presses higher. And the scales of supply and demand are tipping heavily in favor of sellers.

Smart, strategic sellers get that, and they’re making their moves now – not six months or a year from now. They’re the ones receiving multiple offers over their asking price because there just isn’t a lot of competition for buyers’ attention. They’re out there now, well before everyone else joins the party, tipping the scales back in favor of buyers once again.

Below is a market-by-market report from our local offices: To read about a certain market, go to: http://cbsfbaymarketwatch.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/lol-were-having-a-wild-house-party-but-too-many-sellers-missing-out-on-all-the-fun/

San Francisco – The inventory shortage continues and has created an atmosphere verging on panic, our Lakeside office manager says.  Faced with increasing competition in multiple offers, some buyers are retreating hoping for a quieter time to make their purchase.  Multiple offer competition has become increasingly intense and favoring cash, large down payments and even pre offer inspections.  Yet sellers have not yet responded by providing more product in spite of signs of price increases in certain neighborhoods.  Our agents are continuing to sell homes by scouring stale and expired listings and even finding homes to sell before they come on the market formally. Our Market Street manager says he continues to see pockets of the city that are getting huge amounts of traffic, resulting in multiple offers.   50% of the offices’ ratified contracts in the second half of February resulted in multiple offers.   Buyers are qualified, have strong down payments and are waiving many contingencies to make deals happen.   One recent transaction came down to three similar offers, but the winning offer was a buyer that had gone into the property with their agent and done all inspections prior to writing the offer, therefore waiving those contingencies, which sealed the deal.   A recent sales meeting discussion about the impact of Facebook and other tech money affecting our market led to some conclusive information- there are buyers out there looking to buy now, before the market is even more competitive. And conversely there are sellers who are holding their property back until the new pool of buyers get out there, which of course disconnects the supply and demand further. Our Sunset office manager says eight out 14 ratified offers were multiple offer situations.  Buyers are definitely out there pulling the trigger.  Couple of examples:  One Sunset commercial building listed at $1.5M received nine offers with at least half of them all cash; two-unit building by USF received 20 offers, many all cash and almost all were above asking.  A single-family fixer upper in Noe Valley had over 100 agents during an hour and half broker tour. If only we have more listings. Similar, sales activity is heating up according to our Van Ness office manager. One of his sales had 11 offers.

SF Peninsula — Our Burlingame manager says agents are “crazy busy” and honing their multiple offer skills as it seems that every home in every price point has multiple buyers making offers. We are back to the non-contingent 1-3% per offer over asking type of market, last seen in 2004-2006. One Burlingame listing had 7 offers. The winning offer was $200k over asking. One other listing had 9 offers, and $179k over asking only got a backup position.  The challenge now is taking the buyers who are rightfully afraid of overpaying for a property through the process enough times and suffering enough disappointment that they begin to understand what it will take to be successful in an offer. In Half Moon Bay, our local office is seeing a lot of buyers from the over the hill coming to the coast with serious interest due to the low inventory and multiple offers situations on the Peninsula. Our Menlo Park manager says she’s seeing some “pretty vicious competition” for prime housing there.  If buyers do not have 50% down, it is VERY difficult to buy a house.  The local market still needs a lot more inventory. Buyers want to buy now. Our Palo Alto manager says they’re still suffering from extremely low inventory – probably a seven year low.  There are approximately 20 listings for 425 agents in Palo Alto.  Quite a few off-market sales are occurring – adding to an inflamed market. There was some good action in the Woodside office, including a couple of big sales – $8 million and $13 million. In San Carlos almost all sales are multiple offers due to extremely low inventory.

Sellers: something to think about; getting more than you expected!

Attention Sellers! Here is a great article sent to me by Coldwell Banker, regarding what sellers should do to get the highest dollar for their property.

As the Bay Area’s housing market continues to bounce back from the recession, more and more buyers have decided they can’t wait any longer – now is the time to get back into the market to find their next home.

While the real estate market still has its challenges, things are very different today than they were in 2009, 2010 and even early last year. Buyers are generally more optimistic about the future, ready to purchase, much better qualified for a loan and, in many cases, are paying big down payments or even all cash for their next home.

Indeed, the scales of supply and demand are once again moving back in the direction of home sellers after being out of balance for several years. While countless buyers are out there pounding the pavement for a home, the problem now is that there just aren’t enough sellers to meet the demand in many communities.

As the economy continues to improve and with a shortage of attractive properties in good neighborhoods, buyers are once again paying good prices for properties rather than simply looking for distressed homes at bargain basement prices. And in some cases, properties are even getting multiple offers, driving up the sale price above the asking price, as a recent San Jose Mercury News story discussed.

So if you’ve been thinking about selling your home, now may be an ideal time to do so while buyers are eager, interest rates are still low and there isn’t as much competition from other sellers as there usually is this time of year. Here are several suggestions on how to get started and the best way to get top dollar for your home in today’s market.

• Pick the best agent for the job. Selling a home is never easy, but in today’s complex real estate market it’s particularly challenging. So it’s more important than ever to find an experienced professional Realtor to help you get the job done. This is no time for amateurs. Start by interviewing several agents to see who has a proven track record of successfully marketing properties in your area. Ask them about their marketing plan, including print media, social media and online marketing via major real estate websites. Find out how well networked they and their brokerage are to other agents with potential buyers. Do they have offices beyond your city limits and even outside the state? Today’s buyers are just as likely to be relocating from across the country as they are from across town.
• Go online and be visual. Remember the days of sticking a sign in the front lawn and taking out an ad in the local paper? Those days are long gone. Nearly 90 percent of buyers start their search for a home online, according to the National Association of Realtors. So you must be there in a big way to compete for the attention of buyers. Work with your agent to put up lots of high-resolution photos and as much information as possible. Make sure to show photos of all the major areas of your home and yard to give buyers as much of a sense of being there as possible. If not, buyers may wonder what you’re hiding. And strongly consider using video and virtual tours. Such marketing tools are no longer just for luxury homes.
• Price your home competitively for today’s market. Just because a house comparable to yours sold for a certain price before the recession doesn’t mean you will be able to get the same price today. A lot has changed since then. And while prices are firming up, it’s still important to realize the new realities of today’s market. Talk with your Realtor to determine the appropriate, competitive listing price for your home based on current market conditions. You may even choose to have an appraisal done in advance of setting the price. Remember that in this market, homes that are priced aggressively attract the most buyers and – in some cases – multiple offers that push your final sale price even higher.
• De-clutter and de-personalize. De-personalizing and de-cluttering a home before putting it on the market can help make it easier for buyers to imagine themselves living there – a crucial step in the selling process. Take down family portraits, personal collections and knickknacks. Homebuyers are looking for a home they can picture their family living in, not yours. Removing these items will also eliminate clutter and ensure that people are looking at the house itself, not at the photos from your last family vacation.
• Update, freshen up. Keeping in mind that some buyers take move-in condition to be important, put your home in its best light. Possibilities include replacing outdated kitchen and bathroom fixtures, applying a fresh coat of paint and/or refinishing the kitchen cabinets. Replace worn carpet or fix broken tiles. Many cosmetic touches are surprisingly affordable but may yield much higher sale prices. The less work buyers have to do when they move in, the faster they may be willing to make an offer.
• Conduct a full home inspection. If a professional home inspector determines that there are negative issues with the home, consider repairing the problems before buyers show up at your door. Potential buyers will cast an extremely critical eye over your home if it needs too many repairs – especially if they are trying to decide between your home and another one without problems. Be sure to have the home inspection report available for prospective buyers along with an itemizing all of the repairs that have been made and the associated cost for each to demonstrate the investment you’ve made in your home.
• Make your home and yard picture perfect. As the old saying goes, you only get one chance to make a good first impression. When a buyer sees your house for the first time, a positive impression can make or break the sale. You can maximize curb appeal by trimming trees, planting flowers and even rolling out a new lawn if needed. A fresh exterior coat of paint might also prove valuable. And consider having a professional “stage” your home to make it even more attractive for buyers by rearranging what you have and/or bringing in other furnishings and accessories.
• Be patient and flexible. You’ve done all the right things to put your home in the best position to sell. But there will undoubtedly be bumps along the way. A buyer may have difficultly securing financing. The appraisal may come in lower than expected. The escrow period could drag on longer than you thought before the deal closes. It’s not unusual to have occasional issues pop up. After all, buying a home is the single biggest financial transaction most of us will ever make in our lives. Through it all, remember that your Realtor is there by your side. He or she will be there with you every step along the way, managing the tough issues so you don’t have to and helping you achieve all of your home selling goals in today’s market.

http://thenala.com/directory/nonnie-dinges-realtor-coldwell-banker

I recently had this article emailed to me and thought it was so interesting. Here is a section from the article.

When billionaire Warren Buffett talks, people listen. And lately the Oracle of Omaha has been talking a lot about real estate and why now is the right time to be investing in housing. In fact, Buffett went so far in an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” as to say that he’d “buy up a couple hundred thousand” single-family homes if it was practical for him to do so.

Buffett said he believes purchasing a home with today’s historically low mortgage interest rates and holding it for the long-term has actually become a better investment than stocks right now. This, from someone who has always put stocks above all other investments. In his annual letter to shareowners, Buffett wrote, “Housing will come back, you can be sure of that.”

In explaining his investment picks and pans, Buffett said he would shy away from gold and treasuries, the latter of which he said will not keep up with inflation, particularly after taxes. Instead he said he prefers to put his money into investments that he considered to be “productive assets.” Within this category are stocks and real estate.

According to the Buffett, real estate and stocks not only boast the greatest upside potential, but also are safer investments in the long run than treasuries and gold.

In a recent interview with the International Business Times, Buffett forecasted an increase in household formations as the economy continues to recover. He believes that more people who moved in with their parents or in-laws during the recession will soon look to move out and get their own home soon. 

According to the International Business Times, the annual pace of housing starts in the U.S. last year was just 609,000 – far less than the household formation of 1.14 million. Eventually, this imbalance will absorb the oversupply in the housing market, Buffett said, although how long this process takes could vary widely among various local U.S. housing markets. “Demographics and our market system will restore the needed balance – probably before long,” he said.  No one knows for sure what the future holds, but I agree wholeheartedly that if you’re looking to invest in a home for the long term you couldn’t find a better time.

On a related note, sales of existing single-family homes in the Bay Area increased by 10.7 percent in February compared with a year ago, according to a report released Friday by DataQuick, the La Jolla-based real estate information firm.

This marked the biggest increase for February in five years, according to DataQuick, and the eighth straight month of year-over-year sales increases for the Bay Area.

Below is a market-by-market report from the local Coldwell Banker offices:

San Francisco – The weekly broker’s tour volume is about 1/3 of what it was last year, our Lakeside manager reports.  Buyers are frustrated and agents are feeling desperate because for every multiple offer situation there is 1 winner and 6-10 missed sales.  Yet sellers are not responding with new listings; some of them are stuck with no equity and don’t have cash to move even though they want to.  Yet interest rates remain low and home affordability is terrific compared to past years.  Most important is that buyers do everything they can to get the house they want so they don’t have to continue the process. It’s the same story for our Lombard office: everything is dominated by a lack of inventory. Stale listings are selling, sales in one day, 17 offers on a fixer, most probates being overbid, heavy open traffic, frustrated buyers, off-market pre-emptive sales, cash deals winning the bidding. Great time to list! According to our Sunset office, the very few listings on the market are selling quickly and with the majority of them receiving multiple offers.  A condo listing in SOMA that was listed 12 months ago and did not sell came back on the market with a higher listed price (5%) and sold within a week at over asking.

SF Peninsula — Sales activity is on the rise, according to our Burlingame office. There is a definite positive attitude in the buyer’s market. Five to seven offers on Burlingame, San Mateo, Belmont and San Carlos properties are becoming the norm. Buyers are waiving contingencies and appraisals after going through four or five tries to buy a property and losing out. There are also a lot of cash buyers, which adds to the frustration of those trying to buy with conventional financing. The luxury end of the market is also picking up.  We are seeing the early Facebook/tech company etc. buyers coming to Hillsborough and in most cases making cash purchases. Our Half Moon Bay office says agents are enjoying the overflow from the Peninsula with all their multiple offers. This overheated market continues to be short on inventory and long on buyers, our Menlo Park manager reports.  All the buyers who have been ‘sitting on the fence’ for the past 18 months have now all jumped off at the same time.  Our manager compares it to stock market anticipation. “In 3 months, great corporate earnings are coming out, Apple is going to launch their new IPad and great employment numbers are coming out – all anticipation.”  Like the old saying – Buy on rumor and sell on news. In Palo Alto, extraordinarily low inventory is resulting in numerous multiple offers.  It’s a very frustrating market for buyers and agents alike.    Woodside and Portola Valley are not experiencing the frenzied activity that we are seeing in Palo Alto and Menlo Park.  Price points are higher and sales are slower. The higher the price, the more cautious the buyer.  Many younger buyers want more unban, close to town and transportation locales. Our Redwood City manager says the few open houses in the area had had an amazing amount of people through. San Carlos properties are selling very quickly usually with multiple offers. Redwood City seems to take a little longer but if priced correctly in a good location homes are also getting multiple offers but usually not as many. Belmont inventory is also low but again if priced right in a good location they are also selling. The main drive seems to be affordable money and lack of inventory. Our San Mateo manager says inventory levels are dropping lower and lower.  Buyers are out there as multiple offers indicate. The high-end market is also improving.

Silicon Valley – It is remarkably busy out there, our Cupertino manager reports. Buyers appear to be desperate to get houses. Buyers are snapping up the new listings of single-family homes in good school districts, our Los Altos manager says. And the $2 million-plus market is getting stronger. The Los Gatos area market continues to heat up with multiple offers increasing.  Our office had a $2.1 million dollar property listed on the MLS last year for 90 days that did not sell.  The seller re-listed the property with our office this year and received multiple offers and it will close escrow over list price.  What a difference a year makes! The Saratoga market is red hot. Most properties have anywhere from 5 to 15 offers presented. Many properties with multiple offers are selling well over 10% over the listing price. The winning offers tend to be all cash offers, with no contingencies and with very quick closings.

To read the full article go to: http://cbsfbaymarketwatch.wordpress.com/

I’ve been in Real Estate for almost 30 years in the area I grew up in. That means I know market and most of the agents. Here  is three reasons to use a local agent.

1. Local agents may have insider marketing knowledge. In certain neighborhoods in my town, for example, the standard practice is to:

• List a home midweek.
• Hold it open for brokers only on Thursday — and advertise those on agent-only fliers.
• Not allow it to be shown otherwise until the Sunday open house.
• Hold it open for two Sundays.
• Take offers the Tuesday or Wednesday following the second open house.

Agents from surrounding areas could probably guess at some but not all of these things, but often they don’t. And that lack of insider knowledge might actually prevent out-of-the-area agents from getting the fullest exposure for their listings.

For example, if you just took the first offer that came in, you might forgo the offer of a local buyer who was expecting to have two weekends to get to the place.

2. Local agents may have relationships outsiders don’t. They may know the other agents in town, and be able to market the property to them casually, as they run into them in the grocery store or at local meetings, in a way that (a) works and (b) an agent from outside the area cannot. They also will have the built-in marketing channel of being able to market to agents inside their own office — not to mention the buyers they represent.

Finally, local agents might know the inspectors, appraisers, even lenders (i.e., all the pros who have to work together to close a deal) and have a relationship of trust with them that a stranger does not.

And that includes being able to find contractors or other vendors who will do repair work at better prices or on better terms than they would offer to a stranger.

3. Local agents might have a leg up on pricing. Possibly the strongest argument for working with a local listing agent is that they know what local buyers want, care about and de-prioritize. That means they understand local pricing nuances better, having worked with local buyers, and having viewed and/or sold recent homes nearby.

To read the full article go to Tara-Nicholle Nelson website: http://www.rethinkrealestate.com/#

When I saw this article I knew I had to share with all my clients.