Los Altos & Palo Alto Real Estate Insight

Archive for the 'For Sellers' Category

Will Market Favor Buyers or Sellers in 2010?

2009 began as a great market for buyers in the Palo Alto / Los Altos area with values declining. It ended however strongly in favor of sellers with values rising once again.

We have found that the best leading indicator of which way the teeter totter leans is the Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Survey. Keep an eye on this index to successfully predict which way the real estate market will move in 2010.

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Market Heating Up In Palo Alto & Los Altos

Over the past several weeks,  multiple offers have been occurring with increasing frequency in the $1.5m and below housing market. For example, a home in the Green Gables area of Palo Alto was listed for $1.34m two weeks ago and sold with six offers for $200k over the asking price (all cash). A home in South Los Altos was listed last week for $1.2m sold significantly over asking price with 18 offers!

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Un-oh! Consumer confidence, stock market, and new home sales down

In contrast to this week’s optimistic Time magazine articleon what a great economic engine California is (and we certainly agree that it is!), there has also been a slew of negative U.S. economic news that serves to dampen our enthusiasm.

Consumer Confidence is down by 5.7 points in October; the Dow Jones average is down 250 points for the week; Case-Shiller predicted this past week that US home prices will decline by 11% next year.

Even more dire, in our opinion, is the increasing failure of banks because of  the extent of toxic mortgages on their Read the rest of this entry »

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The Age Old Dilema for Move-Up Homeowners

In the Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Palo Alto real estate markets many buyers, perhaps most, have a property to sell before they can buy. In the last ten years in was very easy to buy first and sell second – no longer. There are few options today with stricter lending guidelines. However, many people begin looking at homes to buy prior to deciding how they will handle the issue of selling their current home.

Here are a few of the pro’s and con’s of the two basic methods:

1. Buying “Contingent” Upon the Successful Sale of Your Current Home

Pros: You only have to move once. You can wait for the “right” home.

Cons: Sellers will require a higher price. You may lose the home of your dreams if your current home doesn’t sell. You can’t buy the best homes (they usually have other bidders who don’t have a home to sell). You’ll be pressured to sell quickly to keep your target home under contract.

2. Sell First – Then Buy

Pros: You know your home’s final selling price and therefore your budget for the new home. There’s no economic pressure to sell for a lower price. You can rent in your new destination location and become more familiar with it before buying. You can wait for the “right” home.

Cons: If the market improves in the interim, you’ll pay more for the next home. You might miss the “home of your dreams”, if it came onto the market before you had sold your current home. Interest rates could rise and price you out of your target price range.

Bottom Line:

Both methods carry risks. By being aware of the pros and cons of each, you can choose the risks that you’re most comfortable in taking. And, in spite of the inherent stress and difficulty of buying and selling a home, this is a terrific time in the cycle to to trade up. The following story that was featured on MSNBC, captures it well (just move the price point up a bit for our area).

Jeff and Steve

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Home Demand Heats Up While Supply Shrinks

Articles appeared October 15th in SF Chronicle and SJ Mercury about current real estate sales in the San Francisco Bay Area and Santa Clara County. They reported Sep sales increases of 8% in the region and 17% in S.C. County from Sep of ’08. The specifics naturally vary from city to city.

As Realtors and Brokers serving Los Altos, Palo Alto and surrounding communities, we have posted current trends comparing each September over a ten year period for the communities of Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills. Read the rest of this entry »

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