Pleasant Hill Real Estate and Area

The Beat Goes On!

2011-08-23T10:40:00.000-07:00

Unlike negative news stories, our market is sizzling on the grill in a slow burn. No, prices are not going up. But buyer's are out there; they want to buy! An open house Sunday on Beverly Drive? 20 groups came through!

A lovely new listing on Briaridge Ct in Woodside Hills? We priced it "right" for the market. An estate appraiser advised the seller to price it at $559,000; we agreed, the seller did. We had two offers in two days; seller accepted one which was very strong. Over the next few days 5 more offers were written, some even over the asking price. Why? This house had a lot going for it: single story, make sense floor plan, vaulted ceilings, formal living/dining rooms, spacious family room, dining nook, very nice master suite, inside laundry and a 3-car garage. But what set it apart was the location. Yes, it is on a court, desirable. Yes, it offers filtered views out the back and full on Mt. Diablo view from the front yard, but even more, it has no neighbor to one side, it borders open space! The yard itself is really well done; two patios, one covered, one not; a lawn, and a side-yard with raised beds for vegetable gardening plus a shed. It has it all!

Single story ranchers offering pazazz or good floor plans are in high demand. Whether from aging baby boomers or move-down buyers from Lafayette and Orinda, they get alot of attention! This home was not updated at all; purely late '80's vintage, yet it was so clean buyers wanted it!

172 Beverly Dr, PH

Yes, prices slipped during the first 6 months of 2011, but now, not so much. There is a firmness to the bottom of the market that might signal the end of the drop off; time will tell.

What a Week!

2011-05-28T15:34:00.000-07:00

Record broken: the number of emails flying back and forth in one transaction was broken the past week when a purchase deal hit a snag that delayed closing by a week! Everyone was stressed, from buyers to sellers, to sellers of house sellers of house my buyers are buying, to lenders, to escrow officers! It was a snag with my buyer's loan that created the chaos. Boy am I glad that is behind me! Loan funded yesterday and sale is set to record/close escrow Tuesday; let it be! We all worked so hard to make it happen!
Got word today an offer I wrote, one of five written on a bank-owned starter home in Pleasant Hill, is in line to be accepted IF my buyer signs the bank's addendum. Truth is, banks re-write our carefully crafted contract to suit themselves and make the purchase conditional upon our buyer signing and agreeing to their terms. In other words, play by my rules or don't play at all. It is very frustrating and seems wrong but for now, it's the way it is. Each bank has its own set of rules and they play hardball with the buyer........a frustrating reality.
We have two clients in the final stages of staging their property for market entry this coming week. Can't wait to see the final product! With our stagers input and many tradesmen working to paint and spruce up each house, we expect both will look smashing! Watch for them on Odin and Horton.
Our new listing on Putnam came on the market looking fab! The sellers put in new bathrooms, carpet, paint, windows and it is a turn-key, move-in ready, stylish house for $449,000!
It is May 28th; Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and it is SO chilly out! Trip to Tahoe? No thanks; it is snowing up there! Poor golf courses and other tourist oriented events must be so dead!

Good Vibes!

2011-05-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

OK, those of my generation know the gig; aging parent, in my case my 90 year old dad, needs help. Today? Plumbing was backing up in his Lafayette house. Norma to the rescue!

Several phone calls later it was determined the "go to guy" was Advanced Trenchless Plumbers. Even called at 2 in the afternoon they made the trip to help us out by 3:45 pm. Ryan, the son of the father/son team, showed up, cleaned out the sewer line, then ran a video camera down it, showing me root blockages 100' from the house. Blockage of roots cleared, problem diagnosed and fixed and annual maintenance recommended. Much better than what we feared: a broken main line, digging up and replacing it and the driveway it runs under! Thank you Ryan for saving us, thank you Stefano Plumbing for recommending them, thanks you Dennis Wells at Tri-Valley Home Repair for telling me what we needed to do to figure out why water was percolating up not only in the shower but in the driveway! And thanks again to Ryan of Advanced Trenchless Plumbing! He saved us, doing so cheerfully and pleasantly!

End of an era

2011-04-14T16:46:00.000-07:00

It was the early '70's when Pleasant Hill proudly annoited it's new Community Center on Civic Drive. On April 17, 2011 they close its doors forever, soon to tear it down.

The architect designed it in such a way the wood beams are rotting to the extent repairs would cost many 100,000's of dollars, so a bond issue was approved which will allow a new building instead. The decay accelerated to the degree the building was condemned a year or so earlier than planned and it will be torn down shortly...........but wait! Birds are nesting! In respect for nesting birds, the tear down probably will not happen until September, 2011. In the meantime the building will be closed and fenced off. All activities thereon have been moved to other locations; a herculean task arranged by hard-working Pleasant Hill Park and Rec staffers.

Just today I attended our last Pleasant Hill Rotary luncheon meeting there. Starting next week we are excited to have a new meeting locale, though sad to leave our very comfortable McHale Room (named after our long time member Tom McHale for his years of service to the Pleasant Hill Recreation and Park District.) We will meet at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church on Mary Drive, located nearby. Pastor Shel White is a member of the Pleasant Hill Rotary Club so it syncs perfectly to move our meetings to his lovely church campus which sports a beautiful new fellowship hall where many events will be held while the community center replacement is underway.

Over the years so many events in our lives have occured at the Pleasant Hill Community Center: Don's Pleasant Hill Lion's Club Crab Feeds every January. We have gone for 30 years; not sure how many more years they had it before we joined in. My Pleasant Hill Rotary Club's St Patrick's Day Dinner fund raiser of many years. The Pleasant Hill Dolfins Swim Team Awards Banquet/Night in September which we first started attending 25 years ago..........school dances, weddings, Christmas holiday events, too many events to number and list here! That building holds within its walls so many memories, so many emotions for so many people........but from its ruins will rise an even better building, one for our future, for our children and their children to enjoy and build memories in! For now, we look back, for them, we look forward. And meanwhile, the nesting birds have a home.

Spring Market.....finally!

2011-04-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

It is April 9th as I write; we just had frost on the garden this morning. I don't need to remind you of our rainy March and hail two days ago! It certainly put a damper on the market. Now, the buyers are coming out in droves! We can feel the energy, feel the excitement. They want to get in on all the really good deals there are out there! Condos in my favorite complex, Country Village, Martinez, for just over $100,000? Wow!
Gregory Gardens homes, maybe dated, maybe a fixer, but under $300,000! My heart goes out to all the folks who lost so much money, so much equity in their homes. So many foreclosures. It used to be 40% of our market/sales, now is 60%.

Are we at the bottom yet? Might be; hard to say.......so don't sit on the sidelines too long. The buyers are out there; you two should be.

We can help; give us a call!

This, that and the other thing

2011-02-02T18:19:00.000-08:00

Do any of our readers have books from the 1950's school days? Dick and Jane? Music and song books? Just lookin'.

One client did not make a house payment for a year and was surprised to hear the lender adds the unpaid monthly payments to the loan balance, making her home mortgage more than her home value and her home sale now a short sale. Thought you should know.

Times are tough but houses are selling still. We previewed several in January we felt were over -priced; they all sold! What they had in common was "cute, cute, cute", stylish, snazzy......snazzy sells!

Distress sales are the anchor holding down our market. More and more folks are trying to preserve their credit. A short sale damages credit less than a foreclosure. Doing a short sale allows them to get out from under the mortgage, now higher than the homes value, while not destroying their credit. The banks are getting better at processing short sales in a timely fashion. Buyers are snapping them up as they generally sell slightly under market value. Why do they sell under market value? Because it is still a long process with uncertainty as it is subject to bank approval. The discounted price is necessary to get the buyer hooked, willing to wade through the longish short sale process.

Write us back! We'd like to hear your comments and questions!

Slower Than Molasses

2010-09-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

Buyers have no urgency! Houses are not selling quickly. The lovely, fast, firmed-up prices, spring market came and went, leaving us a sluggish market. The feds tax credit expired, and while it accelerated sales and stimulated the market, leading us to optimistically believe we had hit bottom and were on our way to recovery, that is yesterday's news. Today's news is not as optimistic.

Even 4.5% 30 year fixed interest rates are not enough to stimulate sales!

Of course, there are micro-markets that move faster and in Pleasant Hill homes priced under $600,000 sell more quickly than those over $600,000, those under $500K faster than those over that price, etc., etc., etc.. The lower the price, the more buyers can afford it. Add in factors such as attractiveness of the property, location, staging, and pricing at or very near recent comparable sales, and a house could sell quickly. Luck also plays into this! There are buyers who need to buy because their house finally sold and if you come on the market just as that motivated buyer is "hot to trot", your house might just sell quickly! We see it time and time again!

The lesson we teach sellers today is:
1. Price your home at or near recent comparable sales. This is not the time to test the market at a higher price. If prices are going down, and you don't like the price we quote you today, you really won't like the price we quote you in a month.
2. Spruce up your house: paint and floor coverings go the farthest. Cleanliness is essential: woodwork, floors, all surfaces, windows. Remove clutter. Remove out-of-fashion, dated curtains.
3. Stage the house: move furniture around, move some out, pack up things you don't need; make it look like a model home! You need that edge in this market.
4. Make your curb appeal sparkle as well; cut down bushes hiding windows, plant flowers, add potted plants by the front door.

OR
1. Don't do the above and price it under market value for a quick sale!

We have a seller now who is emotionally tied to a family home and very resistant to our price recommendations. We have counseled her time and again to lower the price and sell now because the price could be lower later, but her emotions color her perception and we patiently market the house at each price point she wants to try. Soon we will be down to the price we suggested last spring and we hope that will be the magic pill that sells this particular house. But without emotions this house could have been priced correctly and sold months ago, as it should have been.

You might think we sell houses. No, we represent real people with real lives and each has their own story and experiece. We do our best to help them accomplish their goals. Selling and getting on with life, that is the goal. Patience plays into our daily work lives as well!

We are happy we just helped one young family move from their Concord starter home to a larger house with a wonderful lot and fenced pool; we wish them years of happiness in the new house! They are just getting settled in.

We also sold a house for a retired couple who moved to Hawaii a year ago. After renting their house for that year they found they love the Hawaiin lifestyle, wanted to buy a house there so we got their Pleasant Hill house sold so they can do so. That closed two weeks ago.

Furthermore a young man just got transferred and promoted to a new job with Chevron in Houston; we sold his house and the new buyer, a young couple, should close escrow on it tomorrow! He is psyched with the property he can buy in Houston with the proceeds from his Pleasant Hill starter home; it is a lovely home!

Sold!

Yet, there is more to this story! I have a motivated buyer now; she wants a condo or townhouse that feeds into her little girls current Martinez elementary school and only a few for sale do. Believe it or not we lost out on one; another buyer over-bid it. The next offer we wrote, a short-sale, got countered by the bank way higher than she was willing to pay (it bordered a creek prone to flooding). Then we made an offer on a condo she loved but the seller had a change of heart, took it off the market and decided to stay put! A third offer on a similar condo was countered higher than she is willing to pay; it has too much traffic noise and there was nothing emotionally appealing about the property. A fourth offer is on a townhouse owned by a bank. Yes it has fresh paint, new carpet, but it is missing baseboards, missing appliances, with very beat up and dated bathrooms, a mediocre kitchen and traffic passing by on a busy street out her front door. All this factored in, we offered, today, almost 20% less than the bank is asking. We shall see.....as of now, we are the only offer the bank has.

Another motivated buyer I am working with is a newlywed young couple. They finally decided
which house they wanted to buy, only to have his employer send him out of the country for awhile! Delayed, for now.

It's a great time to make a good deal on some very nice property! And not a bad time to sell, if you just follow the advice and wisdom we promise to share with you! Call 925-676-5859 anytime!

Summer Solstice and Pebble Beach's US Open plus Real Estate Update

2010-06-22T11:17:00.000-07:00

Last night we celebrated the longest day of the year, shortest night of the year. It was a warm, balmy night. We must be thankful to be alive on such a beautiful night, living in such a lovely community!

Real Estate: here in Pleasant Hill, CA home sales are slowing, inventory is creeping up. The federal tax credit ended April 30th and the urgency went away with its ending. But interest rates remain good and there are buyers in the market, thankfully, just not as many, and they are not moving as fast. Does this mean prices will start slipping again? Possibly.........some firmly believe so. One thing we can say for sure; time will tell.

Golf: a year ago when the US Open ended tickest for this year's US Open held at Pebble Beach went on sale so we jumped online and ordered them for Thursday and Friday. Observations: Thursday both Tiger and Phil Nickelson, the two top ranked golfers looked flat. Missed putt's and no birdies left them both walking the course without swagger, without smiles on their faces. Friday Tiger played again much the same. Many times it looked like his ball was headed straight for the hold only to swerve away, like one of his ex-lady friends put a hex on holes! Phil however was ON IT! The man was making birdie putts and had his smile back.

Watching it on TV Saturday and Sunday: Tiger was ON IT Saturday while Phil, not so much. Meanwhile younger, less known goflers like Dustin Johnson and Graehm Mcdowell were in the groove! Friday we were sitting in the bleachers at hole 4, watching 3-somes play through, when we saw the then unknown Graehm sink a birdie putt and do the celebratory fist pump. I commented on how fun it was to see as, following Tiger and Phil, those had been sadly missing thus far. That night and the next day, that putt and the fist pump by Graehm were played over and over on TV! Seeing it in person? Priceless. Over and over on TV? Cool!

Weather: cold/hot, windy, cold/hot, windy; and that was while walking from hole to hole! So Friday I wore shorter pants only to have it be cold/windy; brrr!!!

Crowds! Wow! Whose idea was it to sell 35,000 to 40,000 tickets PER day? How do they handle that many people wandering the paths of an 18 hole golf course? Greed, I believe, set in. A few times I personally ran into people gridlock and it was creepy! Not moving forward, not having a way out of the crowd....just stopped and stuck. Then the slow moving forward would begin again and with patience we moved forward and out of that logjam.

Want to watch top players? It meant getting to a hold about one hour before they were to play through to get a seat in the bleachers or a fairway side view. Any later then an hour in advance you would be on tippy toes hoping to catch a glimpse through the crowd. Would you see the golfer, the ball, the swing, the result? Not too often! And against the foggy while sky the ball was rarely visible so we simply watched where it was likely to land and hoped to see the final result.

Trophy Club: for $75/day extra we had access to it. Flat screen TV's lined the huge tent pavillion filled with tables, two bars, a food area with some good eats for sale (salmon sandwich, fried shrimp or calamari, breakfast buffet were standouts and a nod to the sea-side setting) plus Executive Latrines in trailers were a lovely convenience compared to using the ones on the golf course. Of course it was at least a five minute walk from hole 1 which was a long walk from hole 2 and to walk the course, to see them play out to hole 10 was a long hike, along with long waits to cross holes golfers were playing through. The Trophy Club offered a place to re-group, relax and have lunch before heading back out into the crowds.

Merchandise Pavillion: lovely assortment of US Open 2010 labeled clothes, hats and accessories in a 30,000 sq ft tent; they expected to sell $2million worth Thursday alone!

Traffic and Parking: half an hour to drive from the freeway 2-3 miles to park; gridlock. Not too swift! Then got on buses for 20 minute ride to the golf course. Leaving at the end of the day lines snaked around metal posts to get back on a bus to get back to our car, taking half an hour. Driving to Santa Cruz for the night, a 45 minute trip took two hours due to freeway gridlock! It was all a bit much.

But all in all it was gorgeous at the Pebble Beach Golf Course and I am glad we went!

Furlough Disaster!

2010-03-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

It is March 29th as I write this. For two years, TWO YEARS, Don and I have been working on selling a house on a short sale basis here in Pleasant Hill. Now, we finally are in the home stretch with it: it is scheduled to close Wednesday, March 31. The short sale IS approved and the drop dead date to close it per Indymac Bank's approval is the 31st. The buyer's loan is approved. The buyer and seller signed closing papers. The buyer brought in the necessary funds to close. But we won't close on the 31st! Why? The county is taking a furlough day and closing the recorders office for the day, the last working day of the month!

This is in Contra Costa County and the title company escrow officer that just called to tell me this. She said other counties are doing the same. She has at least 7 deals that will not close on time because of this.

What difference does one day make, you might ask? When a bank approves a sale to close on or by a certain date they figure out the net to them based on that date. To go beyond it a day or two means their net will be less; it may require them to go back to the investor who originally bought the loan for approval; it is NO small thing to extend a short sale by a day. It requires emails and phone calls and communications with the bank. It changes the bottom line as the bank owns the house, incurring expenses, at least one more day. A buyer who gets their loan pushed in to a new month can incur a very large increase in their closing costs. Escrow closings are closely planned, calculated, and monitored.

Why a county closes in total is simply crazy! I feel badly they have budget cuts and furlough days but it would make sense to keep at least a skeleton staff on the last working day of the month to handle recordings of closings. I am sure this is affecting thousands of transactions throughout the Bay Area!

I am shocked and the escrow officer was as well!

I just had to share this with you!

The Short Sale 101

2010-01-21T17:06:00.000-08:00

What is a Short Sale?

If the value of a property – less the costs of selling the property – falls below what the homeowner owes the mortgage company, the property is said to be “short”. If the homeowner wishes to sell, but does not have the cash to cover this shortage at closing, then the property could still close providing the mortgage company, or companies, are willing to negotiate a “Short Sale”.

Short sale scenarios have become quite common today, but successful negotiations to close them have not. In fact, only 20% of the short sales submitted to lenders for approval (by Realtors) actually close yet we are having success in that arena.

Short sale transactions are very time-consuming and challenging. They require extensive up-front preparation with the seller, myriads of paperwork, detailed analysis, diligent follow-up and effective negotiation. When successful, the rewards can be huge – to the seller, the buyer and the lender!

The Process in a Short Sale

The goal in a short sale is to accomplish a successful closing, while creating a win-win for all parties involved. This begins with an accurate assessment of the seller’s circumstances to determine whether a short sale is probable; and if it is, the property can then be placed on the market for sale.

The property should be listed at fair market value and adjusted as needed in order to attract an offer. Once the buyer is found and an offer successfully negotiated with the seller, the purchase agreement is forwarded to the lender along with a substantial amount of financial documentation that supports the seller’s hardship, as well as market data that supports the sales price of the property.

It is the Realtor’s job to present the detailed documentation to the lender, point out the advantages to the lender of accepting the short sale and facilitate additional negotiations on price and terms among the various parties until an agreement is reached. Effectively and accurately completing this process is absolutely critical. If any of these requirements are not met, or are incomplete, the file is generally not processed or is denied.

Oftentimes a seller has more than one mortgage against the property. When this is the case, the negotiations, complexity and documentation increases almost exponentially.

Not only does the lender(s) need to be persuaded to accept the short sale, but so does the investor(s) that invested in the mortgage note(s). A great real estate agent familiar with only sales and marketing, but not the complexity of a short sale transaction, is not likely to close a short sale on behalf of a homeowner seeking mortgage relief and avoidance of foreclosure.

In addition to the negotiations with the lender(s) and investor(s), skill and effective communication is required by the Realtor to keep the transaction together during the time it takes to complete these negotiations, as buyers get frustrated waiting for the lender(s) and/or investor(s) to provide a response to their offer on the property.

With numerous negotiations taking place simultaneously, it is easy to understand why so few short sales actually close.

Learn more about whether you and your home qualify for a Short Sale: call us at 925-676-5859 or email us at DonandNorma@gmail.com

2009 Tax Savings Opportunities

2009-11-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

2009 Tax Savings Opportunities

________________________________________

Many tax incentives were enacted as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Some of these may directly benefit you:

Tax Credits. Individuals earning $75,000 or less will receive a tax credit of $400 on payroll taxes paid in 2009 and 2010. Married couples earning $150,000 or less are eligible for an $800 credit.

Healthcare. A subsidy covering 65% of COBRA premiums for up to nine months is available to workers who were laid off between September 1, 2008, and December 31, 2009.

Education. Parents of college students can claim a tax credit of up to $2,500. Available in 2009 and 2010, the credit covers tuition, fees and course supplies such as textbooks.

Housing. The first-time homebuyer $8,000 tax credit has been extended and now allows a $6,500 credit for repeat or move-up homebuyers who have lived in their primary residence for five years or more. The tax credits are available to buyers who sign purchase agreements on a new or existing primary residence between November 7, 2009 and April 30, 2010.

Green Homes. New tax credits are now available for green home improvements on a principal residence starting January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2010. The credit covers 30% of qualifying upgrade costs, or a maximum amount of $1,500.

Motor Vehicles. New car buyers can deduct the sales tax from their AGI on purchases of up to $49,500. The deduction is limited to car and truck purchases made from February 17, 2009, through December 31, 2009. There’s also a tax credit for plug-in hybrid cars and trucks purchased between January 1, 2009, and December 31, 2010. The credit starts at $2,500 and is capped at $7,500.

We are not CPA's nor tax advisors but hope these tips will be of help and lead you to ask your advisor how you might benefit from these.

The State of the Real Estate Market

2009-11-02T17:58:00.000-08:00

Somewhat like the President of the United State's State of the Union Address, this blog is a commentary on the state of our housing market locally.

If you are reading this we thank you for taking the time to do so and welcome your comments and feedback.

The market:
Shortage of inventory! Sure there are homes for sale but really less than 2 months of inventory! Houses are selling rather quickly. There are signs the $8000 credit for first time home buyers will be extended to June of '10, a good thing but still that is not a long time and the first time buyers are clambering to buy now and take advantage of this!

But they are still cautious and not willing to over-pay for a house. If the house is apparently over-priced, shortage of inventory or not, they will pass on it! In the boom times any house sold, location or condition issues or not. Now? Not so much; people are cautious to be sure!

Are prices rising? A tad bit....for sure we are bumping along the bottom.....with spikes and valleys to be navigated and now it seems like a spike is happening.

If that shadow inventory mentioned in our newsletter starts hitting the market we could see this rapidly change to a valley caused by softening prices caused by increasing inventory. But we just don't see that here in Pleasant Hill; not so much!

Short sales continue to be a thorn in our side. We have four we are working on right now. The biggest problem is the lack of response to phone calls and emails to the bank processor assigned to the sale! Just today a co-agent on a transaction wrote a very cute email to the processor saying things like "I know you are over-worked, under-paid, deserve a raise, a massage, a facial, but can we hear from you?" and by gosh she did! The processor told her ours is one of 300 files assigned to her and that cute email moved her to the top of the list! For now on, cute is IT! I am going to wow those processors with cute and appreciative e-mails to get their attention!

One processor told me I was one of 65 voice mails she had to plow through. Most have voice mails promising a return call within 72 hours. I feel for those folks; they are SO over-burdened and over-worked!

But that being said we have closed a few rather successfully and look forward to closing four more this year!

Call us with your real estate questions or write a comment to this post! Love to hear from you!

Short Sale Expertise

2009-06-10T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hope you are doing well.

We are super busy; the summer season is upon us.

Today we consulted with a Wachovia Bank Short Sale Manager and learned the following:

A short sale will decrease your credit by 80 to 120 points, a foreclosure by 250-350 points
It will save the bank $40,000-50,000 to sell a house with a short sale rather than taking it back in foreclosure so the bank does want to facilitate the deal
Wachovia does NOT require the seller be behind in payments to qualify for a short sale (other banks do) but they do need a Hardship letter stating the seller has lower income, has lost a job or is going through divorce (the most common hardship cause)
Wachovia will approve a short sale in 9-12 days and the deal can then move forward with a traditional closing of 30-45 days (this is extraordinary compared to other banks; fast!)
The bank will pay back, unpaid taxes. It will pay HOA dues and assessments. It will not pay child support or other personal liens
The bank will give the buyer a 3% credit for closing costs
The bank has $121 billion portfolio of loans, half in California. 10,000-12,000 loans in Northern California are delinquent. Higher price points are showing up as short sales now.
The seller will be given a 1099 for the amount their loan is forgiven and should speak to their CPA regarding repurcussions. A foreclosure also generates a 1099
Most likely the bank will NOT come back to you for reimbursement for the shortage on the loan

We are marketing several short sales currently. Each situation is unique. Call us to run your circumtances by us. Wachovia took over World Savings and is now owned by Wells Fargo but its short sale department is separate from Wells. Wells also has a very well run short sale department.

A short sale is in many, many ways preferable to a foreclosure. We can help you preserve your credit; don't delay. Call us now!

April Showers Bring May Flowers

2009-04-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

In past years we had hot, hot, hot real estate sales in February and March, slowing down around tax day, April 15th. This year? Not so much. The new normal is different, all different.

We are glad April 15th came and went, as we are sure you are as well. Always a painful process.

We are also glad to report sales have picked up considerably! Our listing on Steven Cr had two offers: the first offer got into contract in a bit of a bidding war (not over asking but close to it....) but they went away (we often see buyer's remorse when they pay more than they wanted to originally,) and then buyer #2 got into contract and things seem to be going well, moving towards a successful closing soon. Our listing on Sunset received two offers all at once after almost a full month on the market. We are in contract and hopefully will reach a successful closing in a month. Our listing on Douglas Lane, once the price was dropped $40,000, to $699,000, has an offer which is currently in negotiations (we have our fingers crossed!) Marlee is still getting lots of showings. So, as you can see, activity has picked up a lot this spring!

Prices rising? No. Firming? Yes, as of now. Forecast? We hear foreclosures are in the pipeline so things might get worse again; we hope not but insiders in the mortgage industry tell us we are not out of the woods yet.

Please call us for an update on your property value. We would be happy to help you with any and all real estate needs!

Cool Web Site!

2009-03-21T16:46:00.001-07:00

Considering all the bad economic news I think it more than appropriate we recommend to you, the visitor to our real estate blog, a really cool JOKE site! Seriously, you have to do this! Go to http://eigentaste.berkeley.edu/user/index.php and enjoy a fun ride!

Super easy, first of all you will read 8 jokes and rate how funny they are to you.......after that Jester will begin suggesting new jokes tailored to YOUR tastes!

Check it out; let us know what you think. Hope you enjoy some good laughs along the way! We did!

March Spring Showers

2009-03-10T08:43:00.000-07:00

My happiest thing to write about is the strong increase in February and early March rains! Normal rainfall? Not yet! Pray for more! Water management is a huge concern in our state and mother nature's cooperation is key! Bring it on!

A visit to Lake Tahoe this past weekend revealed plenty of snow; not an abundance, but plenty more than a few weeks earlier! Skiing was awesome; perfect conditions the day I hit the slopes; a bit warm the next day. Snow was melting off roofs, icicles were breaking and falling, the sun was doing its own tapdance on the snow! More is needed! Bring it on!

Daffodils are blooming! My scentillicious Daphnes are blooming! Don't you just love March?

And who does not love St Patrick's Day? I look forward to decorating the Pleasant Hill Community Center with other helpful Rotarians this Friday, March 13, for our annual Irish Night of Merriment: a dinner/auction fund raiser! Top 'O the Mornin' To Ye!

Usually we sing praises about fast sales in real estate at this time of year. Usually there are not enough listings for the number of buyers ready, willing and able to buy. Not this year! Truth be told in Pleasant Hill we do not have a lot of property listed for sale; only about 65 single family homes are listed and that amounts to 3 months inventory at the rate of 20 sales/month, an even market normally but two issues come in to play: buyers, like you and I, hear ALL the negative news, assume prices will fall further so stand on the sidelines looking for that low priced bank foreclosed property (and not many Pleasant Hill homes in nice areas ARE being foreclosed upon) and buyers are having problems getting loans from banks exercising caution far exceeding any used in the loosey goosey days of yore when you only had to write a "liar loan application" to qualify for a loan! Talk about backlash!

So, we all hang in there. Seeking better news. Seeking an indication our real estate market has bottomed out so buyers will buy with confidence, not fearing the house they buy will soon drop in value. We all hang in there, hoping our stock investments will bottom out and start going up. The best news I read is that when the market DOES hit bottom it usually goes up 40% very quickly, in a matter of months! Won't it be fun when that happens? Those are the thoughts I hold near to sustain me in bleak times; thoughts of happier days ahead! Soon! We hope!

Happy 2009!

2009-01-29T18:48:00.000-08:00

It is not safe to say Happy Days Are Here Again but in our local real estate market we are seeing signs making us optimistic!

If a house is priced right and if it is priced under $600,000 there is a good chance it will sell sooner rather than later! The inventory of unsold homes in Pleasant Hill sits at 52 as January comes to an end. About 20 went pending in January; at that rate we have less than 3 months inventory. That is a sign of an even market. Of course it is early in the year and many sellers have yet to put their homes on the market. As a matter of fact we are taking lots of calls from folks getting ready to sell soon this year, even later in the year so we anticipate inventory will rise steadily. But the interest rates on the loan products offered to well qualified buyers are really low now and those folks are anxious to buy, to take advantage of the low rates, so they are taking a serioius look at every new listing. If they find it priced right, if it is in their price range, they will make an offer and some houses are selling in less than a week! So if you are a buyer, get your loan pre-approved so you too can go shopping for your dream home, and if you are a seller, get your house on the market while inventory remains low and you have the opportunity to sell it with less competition.

Over $600,000 the market for sellers is way more sluggish; we hope this too loosens up.

Call us at 925-676-5859 for a free market analysis of YOUR house! Or for referral to a really good mortgage broker or bank lender who will get you approved so you can take advantage of the really low interest rates!

the Luck O' The Irish

2008-12-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

Luck 'o the Irish

This year, a trip to Ireland to visit family was purposely scheduled during "down time", Thanksgiving week, a week when most folks are concentrating on family and dinner preparations. We had our assistant put a new listing on the market that Monday while we were gone, assuming it would take at least a few weeks to sell in the current market conditions. We admit our seller did everything right; he priced it where we recommended, $399,000, he put in new attractive frieze carpet and painted the interior a fashionable taupe with white trim, new neutral tone linoleum in the kitchen, and cleaned it to perfection. The 1949 vintage kitchen and '60's bathroom showed as well as dated interior could. The owners, now living in assisted living, had made improvements including removing the wall heater for central heat, replacing dated windows with newer style dual pane, a new driveway and garage door. The end of the court locale, newer roof, pleasant backyard all added to its attractiveness.
Traveling through Ireland we found hotels offered internet connections so nightly we checked email. That Tuesday, the day after Nancy Lane came on the market we found an email in our in box that a Realtor's client wanted to buy the house, that he knew we were abroad but they wanted the house and wanted us to figure out a way for their offer to be reviewed. I emailed him back we would be online early evening Ireland time (as it was midnight in US when I got that email, 8 am Irish time) and offered for him to e-fax the offer to us. I also sent our Irish cell phone number. That afternoon, driving along the rugged coastline of northwestern Ireland our cell rang; it was him calling at 5:30 am US time! What an early riser he was! We promised to be online to handle his offer by 11 am his time and continued on our tour of the NW coast of Ireland, enjoying windy, blustery, rainy conditions.
That evening we enjoyed a lovely hot dinner with my cousin Michael McMenamin and his wife Brenda, then turned on their computer only to realize they did not have the ability to open attachments so we left for the local internet cafe. Well, small town Ireland? 7 pm? Closed! Desperate, Don suggested we check into a local hotel offering internet service. Minutes later we were at Jackson's Hotel, a local landmark in business since 1946! The desk clerk cheerily told us they had wireless internet in the lobby and we were more than welcome to sit there on their comfy couches by their blazing fireplace (did I mention it was cold in Ireland, way up north in Donegal County?) and use their internet connector. Happily we turned on our laptop and discovered one offer and another agent eager to send over an offer on Nancy Lane after we emailed him our efax. Over the next hour we were able to review both offers by email and phone with our seller in California, and do a small counter offer to the more attractive of the two offers. With amazing ease we sent the counter offer to our seller to sign and a copy to the buyer's agent. Waiting for a return of same another email came in about an interested buyer and the request we wait an hour for their offer. A call to the agent revealed they were well qualified buyers who were offering an additional $15,000 over the current highest offer so our seller elected NOT to sign the counter offer we sent him and to wait for offer #3.
We were enjoying the beautifully decorated lobby of Jackson's Hotel, Christmas lights blinking. Mr. Jackson himself stopped by to chat, enjoying our first hand California real estate story unfolding right before his eyes. His beautiful red Irish Setter Murphy had the run of the hotel and stopped by for a pet now and then.
We let the eager Realtor at home know our counter to his client would NOT be signed after all as we awaited a third offer; his emails flew into my inbox! "Don't sell it without talking to me first! Our offer is so strong........I have already opened escrow.....We can close sooner." And then the clincher...."I just spoke to my buyer and he increased his offer, a lot!" Once we got that in writing and reviewed the third offer the seller decided to accept the very first offer, again.........as the buyer and his down payment and other terms were super strong and he had increased his offer so high as to compete with the third offer (even though we NEVER gave him a clue how much the third offer was for; we honor privacy in offers.)
It was a successful three hours we spent that night at Jackson's Hotel in Balleyboffey, County Donegal, Ireland! We will never forget that night of the twinkling lights and blazing fireplace, the friendly Irish Setter, the welcoming Irish, and the three families all bidding to buy our little 3 bedroom, 1 bath listed home in Pleasant Hill, CA. Working on vacation CAN be a good thing!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you!

Personal Note: Diamond Jubilee

2008-10-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Drive Highway 80 from the Bay Bridge toward Sacramento, east bound? If so you might have noticed Hawkins Traffic Safety with its big warehouse building covered with an assortment of traffic signs. That is my family's business! My Great-grandfather John H. Hawkins and Grandfather Norman L. Hawkins Sr. began it in the 40's. My father, Norman L. Hawkins, Jr. joined in upon leaving the Navy at the end of WWII. From working the gas station to selling surplus war vehicles and surplus and scrap metal they began fashioning guides posts and rails and guardrails to sell to City, County and State highway departments, with Hawkins Traffic Safety and Hawkins-Hawkins Company, founded in 1948. Yesterday we celebrated the 60th Anniversary, with a catered luncheon for all customers at the plant in Berkeley on Eastshore Highway. We enjoyed visitors from many Citys and Countys including City of Brentwood, Union City, South San Francisco, Albany, San Francisco, El Cerrito, from local vendors and customers, and from Cal Berkeley Parking and Transportation Dept.. Congratulations on Hawkins Traffic Safety 60th Anniversary, or as our Brit friends say, Diamond Jubilee!

http://www.hawkinstraffic.com/

Market News

2008-10-29T17:04:00.001-07:00

October is fading away into what looks like will be a cooler month, November. After we get past all the yummy Halloween candy and temptations every where we look we will not only find it dark a whole hour earlier starting this Sunday, November 2, but if our weather man is right, find our air and streets washed cleaner by a long over due rain storm! Talk about a long dry spell! As far as I can remember it has only rained once since last spring!

With cleaner skies and washed road ways we hope our country will elect the best man for President. We thought we had the past two elections but apparently not; he has not provided the leadership needed to address issues like global warming, let alone the lack of regulation on finance which allowed the debacle now plaguing America!

New beginnings, fresh skies, a new President, all create a feeling of optimism in a time when bad news has dominated. With home prices in Pleasant Hill down 22%, we need something to be cheerful about! From the following statistics you will understand why prices fell:
Out of 49 pending sales this past month 20% were bank owned properties and 33% were short sales, sales where the bank has to approve a sales price lower than the mortgage owed. Over 50% are distress properties! Banks don't do well owning properties so they put them on the market and sell them, fast! To do so? Price 'em low, bring in multiple offers, and get it sold! How low? Lower than any recent sale. Even with multiple offers we see them selling for lower than recent comparable sales. This further creates declining prices. Bank appraisers have always been able to use sales up to six months old to appraise a house but now? No, no more than 3 months old! As I like to say, what sold six months ago is OLD news! Today's sale is for lower than those in the past, creating falling prices/values. We need to find our footing on this slippery slope; we need to firm up our market and stop the decline. Let's hope that reality is soon. With foreclosures decreasing we can see light at the end of the tunnel, but we won't be out of the tunnel until almost all the foreclosures are over with and economists tell us we face up to another 18 months of them, though the number will fall as the months go by.

Let us introduce you to our newest listing on Belva!
Please visit www.325Belva.com to see the wonderful second story addition with a luxurious master suite, den and three bedrooms and a family room plus formal living room downstairs all for the reasonable price of $575,000: over 2000 square feet! Check it out!

Nice chatting! Stay in touch!

The Flaskeruds

Summer's Over and So's the Precipitous Drop Off!

2008-09-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

We hope!

With the fed's taking over Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae, interest rates falling as confidence in the mortgage market goes up, more buyer's are able to buy and there is even an urgency to do so, to take advantage of this sudden drop in rates to around 6%, not knowing how long it will last! Plus in Pleasant Hill our inventory of unsold single family homes is around 80; that is very low! With 20-30 homes selling each month that is between 3-4 months inventory and in classic economics that is low favoring a seller's market. Is it? Nope, not at all..........but low inventory is what led to the hot market of the late '90's and early '00's.

Earlier in the year we had many people attempting to sell rather than go into foreclosure. Now the banks own those houses and are dumping them on the market for bargain basement prices when in fact they are in good locations, like Coleman Ct, off of Kahrs, or Roberta in Poet's Corner. The Roberta house got 15 offers, it was so low priced, $498,000, and got bid up. How high? We won't know until it closes escrow.

Our listings are all priced to sell at about 20%+/- off the top of the market, to attract an offer. We proudly present three new listings:
425 Coleman Ct, 413 Belva Lane, and 1011 Ridgeview Ln. You can see their photos and info. in the margin of this blog.

We are proud our local college football team, Cal Bears beat WSU so handily last weekend and look forward to tomorrow's game. Go Bears! We can only hope Don's favorite NFL team will have better luck than the Raiders did opening night against the Bronco's. How is your favorite team doing?

We want to support our local restaurants and stores. Sales are off, everywhere, due to the higher gas prices, poor stock market and decrease in home equity but still encourage you to shop local, when you do shop!

Write us back! Let us know your thoughts on any of the above, or even on what is going on in your world!

August Buzz

2008-08-05T19:23:00.000-07:00

I want to share what we think with you all. Long the number 1 selling Realtor in Pleasant Hill, CA we are in the unique situation of having our finger on the pulse of our local, and we mean Pleasant Hill local, real estate market. While appraisers say we are officially in a declining market and they appraise homes as if they will continue to decline at the rate of 1% a month it is our sense we are at the bottom of the decline. 20-22% drop in 2 years is plenty and both we and sellers today understand this and are pricing accordingly. Buyers are excited to buy homes for 20% less than they could two years ago and our inventory is declining as homes are priced realistically and sell.

What homes are selling, besides short sales and foreclosure properties? People who HAVE to. For instance we are in touch with folks selling for any of the following reasons: divorce, just built a new house and have to sell the old one, job transfer, estate sale, elder moving into rest home, retired folks moving to be near adult children/grand-children. Who is not selling? We don't see the move-up folks selling; the ones for whom a move is optional; they just aren't. You can imagine why; they are disappointed their home has gone down 20%, or they simply don't have enough equity because the value has gone down; whichever it is, they are not selling. They should if they can; take advantage of a move up home which is also lower in price but in our micro market so often the move up home is in a nearby town with really excellent, top scoring schools like Lafayette or Orinda, both of which have yet to drop in value, or nearby Alamo or Danville which have dropped but nearly as much as Pleasant Hill has. So the loss is not equal in the home they aspire to; the equation does not compute.

What we have is declining inventory. Good homes, well priced, are moving. If you are a buyer thinking of snapping up a good deal on a local home, jump on in! The good deals are few and far between but you need to be pre-approved for a loan so you can grab one if it does come along!

We hope you are enjoying your summer.
We spent the past weekend at beautiful Lake Tahoe. Don golfed the challenging and beautiful Championship course at Incline Village while I relaxed at the beach, enjoying Tahoe's amazing blue lake and sunny blue skies. There is nowhere else I would rather have been; the perfect setting.

Today we enjoyed a lovely lunch with our client May whose house we just sold; a celebration for a successful ending of a long process. She treated us to Shanghai Chinese food, a style of cooking different than the usual Cantonese or Mandarin we get, as her mother comes from that area of China. It was quite delicious and interesting, from Shanghai Gourmet in Walnut Creek. Thanks May for a lovely lunch!

We have five listings in the pipeline so if you or someone you know want a Pleasant Hill house or townhouse contact us right away and we will see if one is a perfect fit for you!

Sales Fly High in July

2008-07-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

Right price? Sold!

Trouble for some sellers is the right price could be 20% less than the house could have sold for two years ago! I just sold a bank owned condominium in a good location, good condition, in Pleasant Hill, for about 22% less than it sold for two years ago! Bank owned, it was priced to attract offers, had 11 offers, and was bid up, but only a little bit! 11 offers! My clients only had to pay $10,000 over the $300,000 asking price and they are happy!

We have a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath home for sale here in Pleasant Hill for $350,000. Boy, does it get a lot of attention! We get 2-4 calls a day from Realtors and/or potential buyers about this property. 6 offers are in to the bank for consideration. Did I mention that bank just went belly up? Indymac closed its doors, re-opens Monday under FDIC management! Why? They made too many risky loans in past years and it has come back to haunt them with losses exceeding their ability to stay in business. We assume this means our short sale will take even longer to be reviewed, processed and approved.......Most take anywhere from 2 weeks to 4 months to be approved; we can only speculate how long ours will take. Meanwhile we feel badly buyers get so excited about the opportunity to own a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home on a nice lot for $350,000 in Pleasant Hill! Sure the house needs a bit of sprucing up and it suffers from constant highway 680 freeway noise, but it is a nice house on a street of mostly well maintained homes. It saddens me to see how many people want a house like this for that price! I wish we had many, many more to sell like this one!

Update: Beatrice house: Listed for $1,048,000 3 weeks: no offers (in our market if a house is priced right it will get offers in the first three weeks, and this house had an open house where we had 20-30 groups walk through almost drooling over this beautiful house!) Price dropped to $999,000: no offers, and almost no showings. If we were getting showings we would have kept this price. As we know buyers are watching homes on the internet; buyers today are very aware of the market, are educated and pro-active in the home search process. No showings? No offers? Price dropped again: $949,000: Bingo! Two showings, two interested party's, one offer! Not yet sold, negotiations continue, but what proved true, and has time and time again, when the right price point is "hit" we get action! Letting a home languish on the market hoping the right buyer will come along...for weeks, even months, is NOT the answer in our market. We have enough demand here in Central Contra Costa County, only 35 miles from San Francisco, that the right price will bring the buyers out!

Yesterday I showed a beautiful home in Concord. Built brand new three years ago it is priced for only $350,000, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, nice lot, nice yard. Unfortunately it was built in a neighborhood of 2 bedroom poorly maintained old homes right next to a BART station, near downtown, not an upper end neighborhood. In the ten minutes I was there to show the house two other Realtors brought their clients by. Again, high demand! High interest!

Let us know your thoughts on this market!

In conclusion: we believe we are bumping along the bottom of the market.....while the surface of the bottom is a bit uneven, with some dips and some high spots, it is still the bottom. Will prices go up again? Probably NOT for two simple reasons: our overall economy with higher gas prices, food prices, and the increasingly tough market to get a loan these days. But we will save those stories for another posting!

What a Taste of Pleasant Hill!

2008-06-01T14:21:00.001-07:00

Who wouldn't want to sip four different yummy martini's, judging whether the sour appletini, the cosmo, the peartini or the tequila laced red sugar rimmed tini was the best? Tastings, interspersed with lovely small servings from various local restaurants while soft live music played and visiting took place alongside City Hall's pond and dazzling waterfall, a happening in Pleasant Hill, created a magical evening, this first ever Toast to Summer, an Evening On The Lake.

Sponsored by the Pleasant Hill Chamber of Commerce, raising funds for the Chamber and Nutrition Education and Agricultural Sustainability, a non-profit promoting the growing and comsumption of local, fresh and organic produce. Fittingly we enjoyed beautiful fresh organic strawberry's as a snack on the way in. The contest for the best martini was between the Outback and the Back Forty bartenders with the Back Forty's pearatini winning the majority of the votes. The theme was to dress in black and white, not formal. It was fun to see the variety of black and white outfits put together; everyone looked casually elegant!

Food tastings were delicious! Imagine, sushi from Matsu Sushi, spice rubbed seared Ahi from the Outback, Thai chicken satay from All Occassion Catering, prosciutto wrapped figs from Nibblers, delicious crispy beef pancakes from Sichuan Fortune House, yummy beef sandwiches with magical fillings from the Left Bank, topped off with strawberry's dipped in lemon curd and Native Bear Baking mascarpone from Lesley Stiles our own CCC Farmer's Market Chef!

Craving a sweet treat between courses? A stop at Loyd Auerback's Haunted By Chocolate Tasting Booth allowed sampling of a variety of gourmet chocolates.

Between martini's Pleasant Hill Wine Merchant's, Victoria and Chris Bankerd, offered paired wine tastings, such as 2006 Rombauer Chardonnay with the spicy Ahi, and Jacob's Creek Reserve Shiraz 2005 with the Sichuan crispy beef pancakes.

It was a windy, chilly night but we were warmed inside by the martini's. The Spot Coffee and Beyond hot coffee drinks warmed chilled hands. But the easiset way to warm up was dancing to the fun band playing many of our favorite oldies. As the evening wore on everyone seemed to join in on the dance floor, grooving to the oldies, rocking to the beat. What a fun and special event, held by our own City Hall waterfall! Our Mayor John Hanacek told of Governer Schwarzenegger's visit recently, and his admiration of the lake at the Hall; said visit was the inspritation for a wonderul event, fun and delicious while raising funds for excellent causes!

We can only count the days until next years, 2nd Annual Toast to Summer!

Dream Home

2008-05-29T20:47:00.000-07:00

In the town of Pleasant Hill is a neighborhood with an ambience so many crave; it is known far and wide as Poet's Corner. Why? Because many of the streets are named for famous poets of yesteryear. Known for charming late '40's moderate homes that have been expanded into rambling ranchers on large, level lots and tree lined streets, homes in this enclave often sell for tops dollar. Reminscent of simpler times, of growing up when Father Knows Best was a hit show, when post war young families moved to the suburbs and began families, the mid-century neighborhood still evokes feelings of security and family and mom and apple pie. This home, our newest listing, is a combination of the charm of yesteryear with curb appeal in keeping with the charm of homes on Beatrice, yet offers the latest and greatest that the new century has, with almost the entire house being built or remodeled since 2005.

Over 2300 of single story square footage hardly puts a dent on the .3 acre level lot, offering not only a spacious lawn in front but one in back as well. Irrigation is from Poet's Corner's unique irrigation system allowing lush green lawns. You must visit http://www.413beatrice.com/ for a photo tour! After walking up the paver driveway and walkway, to the slate covered front porch you will enter a formal living room with a classis white mantled fireplace. Hardwood floors lead into the formal dining space, off the kitchen. Down the hallway, past the remodeled full bathroom, are four bedrooms. The three childrens rooms are cheerfully painted in pale blue, yellow and pink and offer hand painted wall murals, creating a childlike wonderland of beauty. Just down the hall is a grown-up master retreat: it offers a very spacious bedroom and a spa-like bath with jetted tub, separate tiled shower, dual sinks vanity set in handsome tiles, a private commode and his and her walk-in closets.

The gem in this and the heart of any house is the kitchen. Stunning cherrywood cabinetry, Kitchen Aid Architecture Series appliances include stainless steel gas cooktop, dual convection ovens, microwave, stainless tiled backsplash, solid surface granite counters, a wonderful island with dining stools and plenty of room to create lovely meals. The custom cabinets offer storage features galore. A walk in pantry and a built-in computer desk complete the setting. Yet, with a dining bar and formal dining this home also offers a spacious casual dining area in the great room, adjacent to both the kitchen and the spacious family/media room. With plenty of room to sit and relax or watch your favorite shows, the media center offers built-in cabinetry for the TV and audio. The home has three separate speaker set ups too. Convenient to the family room is a half guest bath. A full laundry room and a two car finished garage complete the interior offerings.

To describe this property as having a park-like backyard is not an exageration. Paver patio for barbeques, out door dining, accent lighting lined paths, an expansive lawn, play areas, veggie garden, and a pristine side yard including two storage sheds, are just words describing an amazingly beautiful setting. Come and explore this beautiful piece of Poet's Corner; make it yours. It can be. Call now for a private showing: 925-676-5859.

Next on my blog: my first experience with Dim Dim, a free web based conference call system. Watch for it!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-10T21:26:00.000-07:00

If you are a mom, please enjoy this wonderful sunny Sunday honoring you and all you have done over the years as a mom. We remember and honor our own mothers while enjoying attention from our own children. In my case, honoring my own mother will involve putting fresh flowers on her grave. It is a frustrating act for it cannot bring her back and she is missed every single day. When the urge comes to pick up the phone and call her to chat the pain of her loss is fresh again. Because I miss my mother I make a concious effort to be here for all four of my children. I know there is nothing like a mother/child bond. It is one to be enjoyed, shared and appreciated for all the days we have on this earth, together. I wish the same for you too.

When not chatting with and problem solving for my kids (now all young adults) we still are in the real estate business. And boy is that an ever interesting business to be in! March and April saw sales picking up, with pending sales in Pleasant Hill averaging one a day, giving us a flavor of a normal market rate of homes selling. But the news....negative, negative, and more negative! it is hard for us Realtors... and let me tell you why.

We see homes priced at what are bargain prices compared to the height of the market two years ago: 10-20% less! For instance today I dealt with two properties on the market as short sales, meaning the asking price is lower than the existing loan on the property and for that home to sell the bank has to agree to settle for a payoff short of what is owed. One property sold for $510,000 two years ago and is now priced at $350,000. That sounds like a big discount and is in fact 30% off its height but the buyers who looked at it said, well, it needs a new roof and some paint and carpet, which should be deducted off the $350,000 asking price so we want to buy it for $275,000. That is SO common, to think like they do! To ignore the fact the asking price is 30% off the height of the market and to discount it further for work needed.

The other property I showed is listed for $499,000 in a $600,000+ neighborhood, where houses are now selling for mid-$500K's. But this house? Trashed by current tenants it is being devalued by the day, lower and lower, as the weeds get higher, the kitchen and bathrooms get beat up more and time goes by. Offer? My client wants to get it for $340,000! Forget the fact $499,000 is already a bargain for a four bedroom home on that street in that neighborhood; she wants $150,000 off the price because she will need to remodel/repaint/re-landscape AND expects prices will drop another 20%! Can't say I blame her!

That is the crux of the problem! Some economists say we are a year away from this market bottoming out; further depreciation is inevitable! But a month ago many had predicted the market was bottoming out this year, this summer in fact, so buyer's were comfortable jumping in, snapping up bargains on the market. Now the buyers we meet are stepping back, they read the articles, they hear the news, and know the negative predictions, they don't want to buy and then lose 20% of their equity; who would?

This is the toughest market. Luckily there are realistic motivated sellers who will do what it takes to sell in this market. Luckily there are motivated buyers who will work hard to find a well priced property, knowing they are buying for the long haul and if prices dip a bit more they are confident they will come back in the coming years. Sales are being made and will continue to be. But it is not easy; not easy to be a seller now, not easy to be a buyer and not easy to be a Realtor....but it is doable. Diligence, hard work, honesty, integrity, working smart, all play into surviving this economy and this market.

I think some great deals are out there and in two or three, five years those of us who did not buy in '08 will look back and say "why didn't I??!!"

Love to hear your comments!

Hot New Pleasant Hill Listing!

2008-04-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

Dear One and All,
One pleasure in our current market is meeting with sellers who are realistic and able to properly price the house for sale; not a short sale, not in foreclosure but a seller who has enough equity, built up over lots of years, to price the home properly to sell in todays market. With that introduction, we proudly present 724 Twinview Place, Pleasant Hill, a 2083 sq ft tri-level Woodside Hills house. It has been immaculately maintained and is an excellent value at $749,950. See photos at www.724Twinview.com.

April has been a banner month for pending sales in Pleasant Hill this year. After months of declining number of home sales each month we have averaged 1 sale per day which is a "normal" market for us. Prices are still down and homes are selling for remarkably lower prices than we can remember in recent years. Buyers are snatching up good houses in great locations properly priced, or poor houses in bad locations properly priced. The good houses might sell for 15% less than the height of the market, two years ago, while the distressed property might be discounted 20%. We see both types of properties selling.

Outside the Real Estate arena I want to comment on a few other arenas I have recently enjoyed. Brief restaurant comments:

Dined with my two lady friends who, like me, like trying new restaurants and rating them. Kane Sushi in Lafayette? We panned it; gave it a 5 out of 10 for poor service, loud atmosphere and just OK food. Dined at La Cheval in Walnut Creek with three Cal college friends; loved it! Great hot/spicy soup one friend ordered the name I did not get but wow; it was good! We all enjoyed our lunch! Last but not least, dinner at Katy's Kreek on Locust in Walnut Creek, with a group of friends, before seeing Cinderella at the Regional Center for the Arts. The meal was delicious, prices moderate, except!!! The big except was $9.50 for a cocktail! That skewed the price for our meals way too high for the value perceived. I mean, this is Walnut Creek, not the Redwood Room at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco (though I suspect the same drink there is now $12!) And a glass of wine, the lowest price, was $7.50, a bit rich for the friends I was with, mostly retired folks on fixed incomes. Cinderella was a delightful show; lots of color and very pleasant indeed.

Had a bit of adventure too, a weekend to Yosemite Valley and a ride out to Hetch Hetchy Dam/Reservoir. The falls at Yosemite are stunning; the setting gorgeous, the wildlife adundant. My cousins and I enjoyed viewings of a coyote along the road, many deer feeding along the road and a large Black Bear and her baby running through a meadow, into the woods, where we watched from afar while she turned over an old log and chowed down on what we presumed to be insects. We kept our distance but watched through binoculars, enjoying the intimate look of a bear foraging in the wild though only a short way off the main Valley road. Hetch-Hetchy is about a 45 minute drive off the road to Yosemite and well worth it, very scenic during the drive and a pleasant walk when we arrived. There are excellent hiking opportunities once you get to the dam, something we look forward to enjoying at a future visit.

Our last bit of travel was last Saturday to Muir Woods. Luckily we arrived fairly early at 10:30 am and were able to park in the main lot. Three hours later? All the lots were full, the main one, the over-flow lot and cars parked along the road. Folks were lined up to get into Muir Woods. I think it is best experienced with less people so if you go on a weekend, go early. We did, took a beautiful two mile walk among the Redwoods, then enjoyed a light lunch in their very nice little cafe.

Welcome!

2008-04-06T12:06:00.000-07:00

If this is your first visit to our local real estate blog, welcome! Please read our postings. We welcome your feedback and comments!
It is a cool April day today but the weather man says warmer days are coming. Good weather and beautiful spring gardens bring out real estate buyers in force! If you want help finding a good bargain, give us a call; there are many buying opportunities out there. This little "fixer" is only $132,000 in Martinez, value in the tiny lot only but still, it is fun to see such low prices, isn't it?

Call us or e-mail us: 925-676-5859, or DonandNorma@DonandNorma.com.

Hot Sale!

2008-03-30T21:21:00.001-07:00

Wow! How long has it been?
We put a new listing on the market last Monday and sold it Wednesday here in Pleasant Hill, CA, 35 miles inland from San Francisco, CA. Pleasant Hill is a nice suburban town of about 30,000 primarily built up from farms to residential homes after World War II, with many neighborhoods built in the late 40's, mid 50's on into the 60's, 70's and 80's. There are a few newer, upscale neighborhoods but the town is primarily older home stock, very well maintained, and an affordable closer in, Bay Area town.

At the height of the market our listing might have sold for $725,000. Depreciation reared its ugly head and our clients sold for near their $632,000 asking price. To get this price and to sell so quickly they worked tirelessly to fix up the house: paint and new interior doors, decluttering, staging to perfection, a new stove, even so far as renting a refrigerator that fit better in their kitchen than the one they owned! www.8Upson.com

The fact is we do not have a lot of "nice" homes for sale! We have short sales, bank owned, distress situations, but normal, improved, well situated homes are few and far between. When one comes for sale it gets a lot of attention!

Buyers are out in droves looking for bargains, wanting to take advantage of lower interest rates, ready to buy, whether they think the market has bottomed out or is near to doing so. One of our buyers recently made an offer on a home JUST on the market and lost out as they did not think it quite worth the asking price though someone else did and offered full price. The market is getting quite competitive among buyers as inventory remains low. Just thought you would want to know!

Spring Market: Is It Happening THIS Year?

2008-03-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

March is well upon us. Daffodils are blooming, fields of mustard provide color in the country, and the question is will the real estate market bloom as well?Reporting from the trenches I have observed sales have picked up. Buyers are bargain hunting and finding some really, really good deals out there! One man's loss is another man's gain; a truism today. One person loses the house to foreclosure and the bank DUMPS the price to get it sold! No emotions; it is all about getting that home out of their inventory. And good deals abound in those situations. The side result? Normal home owners who would sell to get a bigger home or a different neighborhood are mostly not. With prices down 20% they hate to take the hit on their home sale. Of course the answer to that is they make it up on the one they buy!

Timing the market? Whether it be the real estate market or the stock market, it is tough to do. Some experts say our market will have bottomed out when prices firm up and stay even for six months. But will that happen in the San Francisco East Bay? Always more affordable than the City, the Peninsula, Marin, the Oakland Hills, central Contra Costa has enjoyed huge demand, thus pushing prices into the stratosphere. We predict the minute the market shows signs of recovery, or of hitting bottom, buyers will come out in droves and start snatching up all the homes for sale; surely causing another supply/demand issue. Prices might start moving up faster than experts predict.

But the bottom? How can we time it? Listen carefully to news reports about the number of outstanding adjustable rate loans yet to adjust; that is a gauge of how many homeowners might still be at risk of losing their home to foreclosure after trying a short sale. From what we hear we have months and months yet to come of anniversary dates when loans originated at the top of the market will adjust to a higher payment, forcing the buyers (who thought they could refinance when that happened) to make some tough decisions about selling or walking away from their dream home. It is sad, very, very sad, as so many Americans are finding the American dream of home ownership turning into a nightmare.

Pleasant Hill is not as at risk as towns further east; the lower end is showing some true bargains as those were the homes that sold at price points marginal buyers and investors bought when prices were going up. Those are the buyers who are walking away; the marginal buyer who cannot afford the loan payments when they adjust to a higher rate, and the investor who planned to rent it out and pay out of pocket for negative cash flow, justified when prices were going up but no longer, or who planned to fix up the house and sell for a profit, only to see their equity disappear as prices fall.

Contact us for a rundown on currently listed bargain properties! 925-676-5859.
www.PleasantHillRealEstate.com
We look forward to hearing from you.

Walnut Creek Restaurant Review

2008-02-27T07:06:00.000-08:00

My two friends and I are on the search for the BEST restaurant. Planning to create our own Top 100 Restaurants here in our San Francisco East Bay with a focus on the East Bay, more specifically central Contra Costa County, we have visited yet another well thought of Walnut Creek dining establishment, San Franciscan, on North Main Street across from Prima and Stadium Pub.

Impressed by the busyness of the restaurant on a Tuesday night, we surely did not enjoy the large group enjoying cocktails, standing about in half the dining room adjoining our table, chatting heartily while we tried to chat over our cocktails. Flooded with relief when they sat down quietly to dine, we settled in perusing the abundant, varied menu. Impressed with the tasty sounding choices, with an emphasis on sea food, though offering many steak, chicken, pasta and other dishes, the array was tempting and sounded wonderful. One friend, craving cracked crab, was served a wonderful large dish of steamed crab (out of Washington? Why?) which she cited as delicious. The overall dinner however was graded down due to a poor side dish of overcooked, flavorless corn on the cob. My other friend said her dinner of Ahi was perfectly cooked but the overall experience was marred by it being over-peppered, leaving her with a burning mouth scattered with crushed peppercorns. My nut crusted sole with crab stuffed artichoke hearts, two creamy side accoutrements, baked potato and fresh steamed green beans was a great attempt at a yummy meal. The servings were generous; I could NOT finish it and did not leave hungry! The sauces were thin rather than thick and creamy, the crab filled artichoke hearts were a bit dry, maybe over cooked, while the baked potato was very overdone. How a fine dining establishment can ruin a wonderful baked potato is beyond me. I wondered if they had their B Team cooking since it was a Tuesday night.

We were surprised at the vibrant crowd enjoying the elegant white table cloth dining room. The tiny bar was full, and crowded against dining tables. The menu offered so many moderately priced enticing dishes I am tempted to go back again, to see if the execution would be better on another night. Dinners were priced in the $20 range while seafood salads were in the high teens. Our Mojito cocktails were delicious for $7.

Grade? All three of us gave it 7 out of 10, with one friend adding in a half point, to 7.5, for the excellent cocktail!

Our prior choices and grades?

Bo's Barbeque of Lafayette offers well cooked, barbequed meats which a cave man might appreciate. Our finer tuned palettes found it a bit much and side dishes wanting. None of us are eager to return to this highly rated barbeque restaurant.

Nibbler's in Pleasant Hill was a delight with all dishes delicious, enjoyed equally by all three of us. Side note: one of us went back since and had a disappointing experience. I look forward to taking Don there some time soon.

We continue our search for a wonderful restaurant; please send in your recommendations!
Visit us at Pleasant Hill Real Estate.com for the latest home listing for sale.

Hot New Lisitng!

2008-02-18T16:10:00.000-08:00

Where can I get a good deal, you ask? Wherever you can find a realistic home seller; someone who is not emotional about their price, someone who is objective about the market and what it takes to sell. Here is one of those homes.

www.321Strand.com

The owner, may he rest in peace, was an immaculate person who took such care with his home. The kitchen is original 1948 and looks as good as a new kitchen! If vintage mid-century is your thing, if art deco attracts you, if beautifully colored tile work grabs you, this home is a must see! On top of that it offers a large workshop with a tiny utility room that used to be a dark room. Plus a two car garage. Two bedrooms, two full baths, hardwood floors. Last, but not least? Mature Oak trees and a creekside setting complete the pastoral setting for this charming Strandwood Estates Pleasant Hill home listed just today for $499,000! Call now for a viewing!

Before The Fall

2008-02-18T15:55:00.000-08:00

Before the fall of '08? Or before the fall of real estate prices further? What does Before the Fall refer to? You can answer "either one" as both will come and if you are a home seller my advice is you need to see before the fall of '08, and before the further decrease of prices.

An appraisal done last week on a property we sold stated prices drop 1% a month and will continue to do so, giving credence to the advice, sell sooner for more, or later for less. That being said, what if you are a buyer? What if you need to buy now, to get on with your life, to enjoy living in the home you need for getting on with life? You will want to buy for several percent less than today's value to avoid buying and losing value right away, which means today's home seller has to be flexible and understand what it takes to sell in today's market. It means home seller's have to compete with banks selling bank owned property which is deeply discounted to sell today. It means your house has to be seen as a really good deal for the buyer to want to jump on it! So there you have it! Price it today as a really good deal, and it will sell. Buyers? Look for those really good deals, make a good offer, get into a property you like and enjoy, and get on with your life! Within a few years you will be so thankful you did!

Pleasant Hill Real Estate Winter 2008

2008-02-11T16:12:00.000-08:00

Wow; we are in a market never before seen! With short sales, foreclosures and just plain ol' sales we are seeing a variety of property for sale.

I will say most short sales (where the owners owe more than the house is worth) and foreclosed/REO (real estate owned/bank owned) houses fall in the lower price range, especially under $500,000. Why?

Probably because in the past 2-3 years first time buyers bought them to jump on the gravy train of appreciation. They qualified for a loan with liberal underwriting guidelines. They were assured the house value would go up and they could refinance into a better loan before their payment adjusted higher. Well, that did not happen. In fact home values began falling and the payment increased and they, and many others today, found themselves stretching to make payments on a mortgage for a house worth less than the mortgage. In an attempt to preserve their credit worthiness, they contacted a local Realtor and put the house on the market, planning to sell for less than they owe, a process called a "short sale". Some might say, just stop making payments; live there rent free until the bank forecloses, but the damage to their credit is way more severe and probably longer lasting. Thus short sales are seen all over the state at this time and those in the know predict there will be many more forthcoming, that we have seen only 1/3 of the ones that will flush out.

Bargains? Yep; short sales, REO/bank owned sales are a bargain compared to two years ago! Get yourself pre-approve for a loan and start shopping! Visit www.PleasantHillRealEstate.com to search all active listings in the area!