Monday, April 19, 2010

Palo Alto Market Update, April 19th: Single Family Homes

As of today this is the snapshot of the Palo Alto single family home market:

79 Active listings
51 Pending sales

Breakdown of Price Points:
Under 1 million: 6 Active Listings / 14 Pending Sales
1 to 1.5 Mil: 31 Active Listings/ 19 Pending Sales
1.5-2 mil: 14 Active Listings/ 8 Pending Sales
2-3 Million 12 Active listings/ 10 Pending Sales
3+ mil: 13 Active Listings/ 3 Pending Sales
What does mean? The market overall is pretty healthy. There is virtually no change since my last update on 4/11/10. Under 1 million is very competitive, 1-2 million is trending seller’s market, but most surprisingly, 2-3 million is pretty healthy again this week which I will now declare a trend. Over 3 million is still anemic and probably the best chance for a bargain. So it seems there are still a lot of people who want to move to Palo Alto, and there is competition for homes. With the increased optimism over the potential for more jobs in the Silicon Valley there is a good chance that this may make the real estate market more active. There are people who are thinking that the upper part of the market will start to recover soon. I have not seen it in the stats yet, but it is possible it could happen. I believe that if the upper end is ready to recover will we see an increase in pending sales first.
If you are interested in finding the final selling price of any home, anywhere, you can do it on my web site. Go to www.marcymoyer.com and click on Cyberhome Home Valuation. You can then type in any address next to the search icon and get the county records.
If you need anything else please feel free to contact me. I am here to help you.
Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty
650-619-9285
DRE 01191194

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Palo Alto Market Update, April 11th: Single Family Homes

Here is today's snapshot of the Palo Alto market for single family homes:

77 Active listings
46 Pending sales

Breakdown of Price Points:

Under 1 million: 9 Active Listings / 10 Pending Sales
1 to 1.5 Mil: 28 Active Listings/ 15 Pending Sales
1.5-2 mil: 16 Active Listings/ 8 Pending Sales
2-3 Million 13 Active listings/ 8 Pending Sales
3+ mil: 12 Active Listings/ 3 Pending Sales
What does mean? The market overall is pretty healthy. There is virtually no change since my last update on 3/3/10. Under 1 million is very competitive, 1-2 million is trending seller’s market, but most surprisingly, 2-3 million is pretty healthy again this week which I will now declare a trend. Over 3 million is still anemic and probably the best chance for a bargain. So it seems there are still a lot of people who want to move to Palo Alto, and there is completion for homes.
· If you are interested in finding the final selling price of any home, anywhere, you can do it on my web site. Go to www.marcymoyer.com and click on Cyberhome Home Valuation. You can then type in any address next to the search icon and get the county records.
If you need anything else please feel free to contact me. I am here to help you.
Marcy Moyer Intero Real Estate
650-619-9285
DRE 01191194

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Why I Am Walking


The number 40 is big one for me this year. It is my 40th year high school reunion and our class has a website where we can plan the reunion and reconnect with old friends. It is fun and often touching. When I was in 6-8th grade Carol Smith and I were extremely good friends. By 9th grade we grew apart and had not spoken for 44 years. Thanks to Facebook and the CHS website we have become friends again. Carol is a 16 year breast cancer survivor. I cannot imagine how I would feel if she had not survived and we had not renewed our friendship. So I am walking to keep friendships alive.
Did you know that three million women are living with breast cancer -- and one third of them don’t even know it? Even more startling, breast cancer kills approximately one woman every 13 minutes, robbing us of our mothers and grandmothers, our sisters, and our best friends. No one knows what causes breast cancer or how it can be prevented and there is currently no known cure.
Knowing these statistics and since cancer has unfortunately touched my friends and family , I feel even more compelled to do something to bring us one step closer to finding a cure. This July I will join thousands of others in San Francisco to walk at least 26.2 miles in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. My goal is to walk 26.2 miles the first day and 13.1 the second. (almost 40 miles)
As part of this commitment, I have agreed to raise at least $1,800 for the Avon Foundation Breast Cancer Crusade. Since 1992, the Crusade has raised and awarded more than $525 million for the cause. That money is used for medical research, clinical care, support services, education and early detection programs .While researchers have made significant progress in the last few years, there’s still more that needs to be done.
If you would like to help this cause please consider donating $4.00, $40.00, or even $400.00 to keep the theme of 40 going, or any amount you wish. If there is someone you would like to honor please let me know and I will put their name on my shirt.
or let me know if you would prefer to send a check.
Thanks for your support!
Marcy

Why Do I Need My Own Realtor?

I cannot believe that I am writing this blog post, but I am. When I began my real estate career in the mid 90’s, the landscape was very different. We were still working with the big books that were printed every 2 weeks with the listing updates. There was a machine in the office that spit out the listings, and using the internet was in its infancy. This was the dawn of the age of technology for realtors and consumers. My company, Cornish & Carey (which was long ago gobbled up by Coldwell Banker) was at the forefront of innovation because they were opening up a storefront where consumers could go and look at virtual tours of homes since they could not see them on their computers. It was an exciting time to begin a new career.

But despite all of these major changes, there was a bigger change that was taking place, and one that I think was even more important than the introduction of computers into the daily fabric of real estate. This big change had to do with agency. Before I became a realtor there was one agent in a transaction, the seller’s agent. This agent could, and frequently did handle both sides of a transaction. If the buyer had his or her own agent the seller’s agent could agree to a sub-agency agreement, where the buyer’s agent was a sub agent of the seller’s agent but the seller’s agent was still basically in charge. Real estate laws had not been particularly consumer friendly and sub agencies were not helping.

 Consumers, who were for the most part, intelligent adults, realized that this was not in their favor, and a shift had taken place. By the mid 90’s it was standard procedure for the buyer and seller to have separate agents, agency disclosures became mandatory, and the sub agency relationship was going the way of the printed listing book. This was all in the name of PROTECTING THE BUYER, not to save money or to protect the seller.

Fast forward to 2010 and all of the sudden the buyer’s agent is the enemy in the eyes of many buyers. They think that we are at best superfluous, and at worst, trying to get our hands in your pockets without providing any service. All of the work that was done on behalf of the consumers in the 80’s and 90’s is now looked on with scorn. Many consumers think that because they can find their own home they do not need an agent. Well, I think you are wrong.

I think you need to be protected, because I am old enough to know what it was like when you were not protected, and how hard people had to fight to make sure the buyer got as much protection as the seller. I am not saying that real estate should not move forward, that change is bad. I am also an unwavering believer that I work for the consumer, and if they do not want a buyer’s agent it is their business, and their pocketbook. What I am saying is that just because the role of the buyer’s agent is changing from personal shopper to trusted advisor and protector that does not mean we are superfluous. Just because Redfin says a house is worth x amount that does not mean it is. Do you know who to call for inspections, or even what inspections you need? Just because you can download a disclosure package from the internet does that mean you understand everything in it? These are just a few of the things that are involved in a transaction, and some people are capable of doing those things themselves, but not everyone.

I have recently been a listing agent for two different properties where the potential buyer did not have his own agent. On the first one, the buyer went to a mortgage broker who gave him a pre-approval letter that was not worth the paper it was written on. This client was no more qualified to purchase a home than my labradoodle Demi. I called the broker (who by the way worked for a reputable company) and was assured that everything was fine. Since I was not the agent for the buyer I did not have access to this buyer’s financials or credit. Well, 6 weeks later the mortgage broker finally admitted she was hoping to get exceptions for the buyer and that she didn’t and the loan was denied. It was heart-breaking since this buyer wanted the home so badly, but totally preventable. If the buyer had been represented by a good realtor he would have known early on that he was not going to get a loan and could have looked for alternatives, partners, etc.

The second property with an unrepresented buyer so far has a different outcome. The buyer is paying all cash and actually wrote a better offer than many of the 12 other agents who presented. It was amazing how many incomplete offers I received. This buyer followed my directions exactly and offered the best price and terms to my seller. However, the house is in very bad condition and he wants to restore it. I have no idea if he knows what he is doing, and I cannot find out, because I cannot represent him. If I help him I would be acting as his agent and I am not his agent. I hope he knows what he is getting into, but I have no way of really knowing.

As I said, I believe in his right to do this, but I also believe that a home purchase is big deal and should be done with utmost care. I would hate to think that all the strides in consumer protection are ignored in the name of saving a few percentages. What do you think?
Marcy Moyer
Intero Real Estate Services
650-619-9285
marcy@marcymoyer.com