Do I sell before I buy or buy before I sell? This is such a chicken and egg question, I hear very often "I want to move to another home, another area or even out of state but I have to sell my house first." There is always a fear of being without a place to live it sells too quickly which is touted in the media as quite of phenomenon of homes flying off the shelves. It can be a scary proposition not to mention the idea of moving twice. 

Let me first say trying to sell your home and buy at the same time is now extremely difficult, the market is so competitive, the buyers you will be competing against will mostly likely not have a home to sell and that is your first strike. Your second strike maybe your funds are tied up in your home and you cannot…

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Buying near the beach the good, the bad and the smelly!

We all know living near the beach/ocean is amazing? The health benefits are endless the ocean air is said to accelerate your ability to absorb oxygen and balance serotonin levels. The lull of the tide is a rhythmic siren call to relax and soak up the air and gentle ocean breeze.

The sight of the vast ocean reminds us to take things more slowly as there is a great big world and we are just a small wisp of human wondering around in it. There are also seafoods which tout great health advantages, there are the activities on and around the ocean. Paddleboarding, surfing, swimming, kayaking and more. Bike riding near the ocean my personal favorite.

But what is it really like to live here in…

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Moving, it really is not a pleasant experience it is one of the main reasons people don't move. The nightmare of missing items, boxes full of mystery items, the constant nagging of something not done, box not unpacked, forgotten bill not paid, it is just too much. The logistics is a nightmare. I get it. But if you think there is a better place waiting for you, I think you should give moving a shot. I understand selling your house, buying your house, moving out of your rental may just a lot to consider. Here is a start.

First and foremost understand YOU HAVE MORE STUFF THAN YOU THINK YOU DO! Okay let's start there. Easy, no decisions on where you are moving. If you are buying or selling, just start with the stuff. Do you have a large house full of…

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What is the "market" what is this indeterminate thing. I have likened it to a blob that oozes over everything, a cloud, maybe a Tsunami that slowly receded belying the danger it is really going to do. For Realtors we often say "it's the market" a saying to help explain the unexplainable. Why are houses not selling as fast as a month ago, why did that cute house never sell, why, why, why. Honestly being in real estate is being left babysitting a three year old who's only demand is "why". I am sure a toddler would accept the answer "it's the market." But we have to.

Every day, every realtor, buyer and seller wake up to a new market, especially our area of Santa Cruz, California which has found it's self in a tug of war with buyers from Los Angeles, San…

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In the ever changing world the internet has allowed us to hire people to work with us and work for us in fashions we would have never dreamed of in the past. With the quick swipe of a device or a few key strokes we can contact someone who can help us sell possibly the largest asset we will ever own or the largest debt we will ever know. That is a big task. 

In our area we have people move in and out quite frequently it is an amazing area, Santa Cruz and casts quite a spell. But things change and people find that their families won't or cannot relocate here, a better job is located elsewhere and they have to move. Yet the allure of our area brings them in at an increasing rate and buyer demand is at an all time high. With people moving in often…

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Is it a coincidence that real estate and regret and remorse all start the same, are they related? Regret is a big part of the business of real estate.

For me as an agent it is every day. Did I say the right thing, did I do the right thing, should I have gone to that appointment?

This business is so fraught with minefields, two weeks ago I was texting back and forth with a seller about listing her home and how great the market is, all was going well until we got to price. I went over the listing process, all by text then told her a number which is a number she had mentioned in past conversations and boom she stopped communicating, three years of discussions done. My regret I should not have texted the listing price should have insisted on a…

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For months I have been faithfully posting blogs. There has been much to comment on, I post on inspiration. I did lose my mojo this last month I became busy and all was well. It was not well, I did not see the Tsunami that had hit real estate here in Santa Cruz county and the whole nation. The pull back of a pandemic did not prepare, buyers, sellers, real estate professionals and all the supporting players for the wave that was going to overwhelm us.

I thought I understood what was happening the market was picking up as it does in January. It starts very fast and then February gently moves along and another surge comes in March. The market did follow that pattern. What was different was the buyers were not playing around. The buyers that have come…

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Have you been asked this question before? I have a new listing and I got a very excited call from a buyer. She wanted to see the home as soon as possible almost out of breath! I said "okay we can get you in, do you have an agent?" She said "yes, I am waiting for him to call me back" I said very nicely "okay, have him call me." She sounded a bit defeated I think she wanted to see the property right away but that was not going to happen. We have to make appointments with tenants and put the logistics together. But mainly I want her agent to show her, go over it with her to help her consider if it is a good fit. 

I happen to work with buyers and sellers and as a listing agent these calls are a common occurrence.

In past years only agents called…

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Buying a home is a scary prospect and I typically find that buyers who are not scared are either not really going to buy a house or have bought a home before. And some have had experience through family or friends and the prospect is not that worrisome. 

Why is it scary? There are lots of reasons…

For a couple this can signify a bigger commitment than marriage because now there is mortgage. Mortgages are not easy to dissolve and may prove harder to dissolve than the marriage.

Fear of the unknown, the housing market goes up and down and where it will go nobody knows.

Buyers worry about their jobs; people’s jobs are no longer stable. This fact has changed in the last 5 years. People get laid off or have to move for their job quite frequently.

…

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There once was the idea that agents should not be paid so much, and we often do get paid a lot of money. I will not go into what we pay to stay in business here. We are one of the last professions that has not been arbitraged and had our commission's turned into scale. Kind of like travel agents and other industries that have just been decimated by the online revolution. I started in 2004. There was no Zillow, and the internet was not really anything at that point. Because speeds were so slow, not a lot could be done with real estate with all the pictures and information. The internet speed increased and made real estate more viable online and Zillow came in.  2010 is when they came to all the real estate offices and they became more known to the…

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