The National Association of Realtors, economists around the country and other professionals are stating that 2012 is going to be the turnaround year for real estate. Not that the prices are going to skyrocket or interest rates will go lower... just that it's finally time for the market to slowly start to rebound.

We here in Ventura County have seen that. Simi Valley properties are few and far between. When there are so many buyers out there and virtually no inventory, that means multiple offers and prices have to do something... they won't go up in any drastic way, but the prices on Simi Valley town homes and Wood Ranch luxury homes will increase. More than one buyer means there is higher demand than there is supply. 

As a seller, wouldn't you want to be getting on the market now so that you can capture that buyer before more homes become available in the Spring?  That makes sense...

Stand out now and be the winner in this market to get your house sold before your neighbor. Tip the scales in your favor!

Are there any listings out there? I've resorted to door knocking, calling, emailing, begging associates for pocket listings... all to no avail!

We need listings, folks...there's absolutely NO inventory and I have lots of buyers, many wanting Wood Ranch homes, getting frustrated that there isn't for them to buy!  What to do?

How to find them? Where to find them?

Simi Valley properties? Wood Ranch short sales?

Anything, please, in those nooks and crannies? Call me right away!

So, as a follow up to my post of a few days ago, this one really makes my heart swell! (Too dramatic?) But it really does.

I track how and from where my business comes, and this particular client has made my day after the realization that she and I have actually been corresponding since 2008.

Yep, she initially emailed me as a result of the new website I put out, thanks to the company near our office called RealtyTech. I received Ms. Buyer's email as she registered on my site. She was looking for Wood Ranch homes, she lives in Texas and owns another Simi Valley property and resides in Hawaii a few months a year. Her parameters were quite narrow and specific.

She and I corresponded from her home in Texas and Hawaii for some time. Then one day she came to Southern California and we viewed some properties... nothing except a town home floor plan she liked, but no availability. So back to Texas and Hawaii for a couple more years... and absolutely nothing came up with her parameters in a Wood Ranch town home as they are very, very rare.

But we continued to correspond and I followed up. She would email me with questions, called about the value of her other Simi Valley property and asked about Wood Ranch homes; always keeping in continued contact with me either via email or phone.

That is what I called loyalty.
 

A couple of weeks ago, her travels brought her back to Wood Ranch, visiting Wood Ranch town homes as well as Thousand Oaks. Since inventory is so very low, we only saw two that were available in Thousand Oaks. My client's loyalty paid off... we took the children to bless the choice and we negotiated a very good price for my buyer.

Off she went to her home in Hawaii, while waiting for the closing, leaving her transaction to me to make sure all is well...
 

Thanks to this client for her trust, confidence and most importantly, loyalty to me.

 You probably know by reading my posts how much I enjoy living in my Wood Ranch town home and helping families purchase and sell homes here. With this post, I'd like to share some information about The Wood Ranch Golf Club, of which I am a social member and enjoy many of the functions there with many of my Wood Ranch neighbors.
 

 The Club, as I call it, has a varied list of social functions for members to enjoy. One that is especially fun is the monthly Wine Tasting Evening, one that my friends and I enjoy and at times, I invite clients as my guests.  It's an inexpensive evening, with eight or nine wines to taste and a delectable array of appetizers to enjoy as well.

 When a few of my lady friends and I go (and many times the one who lives in the Wood Ranch town homes will be the designated driver!), there's always a lot of laughter and people watching. It seems that many of the same members are there, many of whom live in Wood Ranch luxury homes or other areas of Simi Valley.  I always enjoy talking with them. There are people I see there who I know  from sponsoring the yearly Annual Fund Raiser at Wood Ranch Elementary School, the Wood Ranch Starbucks and even by people just recognizing me by my car or area marketing pieces. I door knock too and receive nice comments from the residents and even referrals for future business.
 

 As a matter of fact, at this last Wine Tasting, I received a referral from a contractor friend who is also a member. Nice of him to refer me.

 The evening ended with my lady friends and I toasting another fun Wine Tasting at The Club and enjoying each other's company for an early evening out of fun. Join us next time!!!

So, I knocked on the door of my clients whose short sale approval just came in. I wanted to surprise them and let them know we can open escrow on their Simi Valley home... the puppy greeted me and so did their children.

I greeted Ms. Buyer and showed her the approval and she looked at him with such surprise. (I'm not sure they were ready) The approval had come in just under five weeks and they were quite surprised. Whew... I breathed deeply for just a second... but were they ready for this move to a Simi Valley short sale home?  Thank goodness a big smile came over Ms. Buyer's face and then slowly did the same with Mr. Buyer.

These type of reactions are what make for a good day!

Earlier this week I wrote a post regarding buyers who decided to put off until after tax season to purchase one of the few Wood Ranch homes that are on the market. I discussed loyalty and disappointment and how, for me, loyalty is more important than placing a property into escrow with these buyers.

As an offshoot of that post... To the buyers who are still "waiting."

"Waiting" in real estate means not winning; that is, not getting the new home you want.

In the last several months, Simi Valley and the surrounding areas have had very, very low inventory in all price ranges of Simi Valley properties. I presently have six buyers in all price ranges from $300,000 to $800,000 and few properties to show.

I've been talking with three of the buyers for some time. One wanted a Wood Ranch gated community.  Another wanted to save more money and believed property values were going down more. Well, here we are... interest rates at an all-time low and prices expecting to rise ever so slightly this year. More than that, all offers, it seems, are now in multiple offers. But nothing seems to sell them. So now, they have no choice but to wait. If they would have purchased one of the Wood Ranch homes that really were good for them and that they liked, they would be in home ownership now. 

So, I'm doing marketing to those areas we've designated as their choices. They missed out and now we wait.

Anyone have anything for my Simi Valley bank-owned property buyers or my Simi Valley relocation buyers?  Pocket listings for my buyers? Please be sure to call me first!

I decided it was time to see if inventory is really as low as I really think it is. I took a couple of hours yesterday afternoon to conduct some heavy research in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), and I came up with some interesting stats. I concentrated on Wood Ranch homes. I could do the rest of Simi Valley properties as well... but this is a start.

These numbers are approximate, so know sometimes I cannot count line by line very accurately (laughter).

I pulled properties in Wood Ranch that would include Wood Ranch short sales, Wood Ranch foreclosures, Wood Ranch luxury homes, condos/towhomes and Wood Ranch gated homes. Simply said, all homes in Wood Ranch, be it a condo, senior condo, or any other type of Wood Ranch home for sale. Here is what I learned:

And, by the way, this information is based on the MLS as of yesterday, January 19th 2012, and I need to cover myself by saying the info is not deemed reliable or guaranteed...WHAT?
Yep, I can only convey the info as I see, so bear with me...

I counted ONLY 41 homes that are active listings; that is, 41 homes - ready to sell. They could be equity sellers, short sales or foreclosures, and investor-owned properties.

Now a further breakdown of these Wood Ranch homes:

Of the 41 homes, 24 of them are Wood Ranch homes that are single-family dwellings including the zero lot line homes in the Sonomas and the Fairways.

Of the 42 homes, 9 are Wood Ranch condo/town home types, like Village on the green or Country Villas I or Country Villas II. There are also 8 senior condos, the units on the north side of Country Club Drive.

 There's your 40 or so Wood Ranch homes...

So, what does this all mean?  We've been saying it for awhile...in a few short words, buyers beware...little or low inventory equals a seller's market.

   I had an opportunity this past weekend to show Wood Ranch homes to a couple who are past clients.  They have purchased and sold a number of properties, both Simi Valley homes and in the San Fernando Valley. I found a new listing we've talked about for them to purchase as a rental.  At some point in the next couple of years they would sell their Wood Ranch luxury home and move into this listing.

   We viewed the listing and one or two others and they were excited about this community of highly upgraded Wood Ranch gated homes.  We discussed several options and they went off to visit their children with a promise to call me the next day.

   As promised, I just spoke with Mrs. Prospective Buyer.  She informed me that although that home would be good for them, Mr. Prospective Buyer feels they should wait until after tax preparation is complete. Now I tell you... no disappointment that they postponed a purchase, but a thanks for these clients' loyalty over and over.

A group of us get together every month, six to eight ladies, and we drink wine, eat appetizers we all brought, and play our favorite game of Skip-Bo. We gather at one or the other Simi Valley homes.  That was last Tuesday night.

Tonight it's Muvico with another few of my lady friends to eat, drink and see a movie in the VIP section.

Why, you say, would I write a Blog about this?  I guess it's again to discuss the balancing of life.

Today, my schedule is so unbelievably overbooked that I'm taking one appointment at a time. Two clients are leaving town in a day or two and we need their offers on a Simi Valley town home and Thousand Oaks home signed off. Two other clients are having social functions to which I was invited and it’s important to at least show up for a bit. They purchased Wood Ranch homes from me in the last several years.

I'll rush through the appointments, but no one knows I am. I'll keep a smile on my face at all times and usher out the door...and no one will know I'm doing it.

I could do all the MLS work for three more clients who want me to list their Simi Valley home, show Simi Valley foreclosures and short sales but you know what...by 6:00 I'll say enough and I'll work on it tomorrow.

After all, tonight is relaxation with my friends!

"So, while we were looking for a Wood Ranch luxury home with someone two years ago, we made an offer on a listing of Jo Ann's. A realtor made a comment that Jo Ann was an aggressive realtor. Not as an insult, but rather as a compliment implying that she gets the job done.
 

Well, fast forward to last year.  We had our realtor show us several Simi Valley short sales and bank-owned properties.  We had several offers written and signed though we were not seeing any movement. We had written an offer on an upper-end Simi Valley property and were holding it as the realtor told us to wait asthere was another offer and we didn't have a chance to get it because of the other offer.

We then decided to call Jo Ann... she showed us several properties and we wrote many offers on Simi Valley short sales.  When we mentioned to Jo Ann about the offer we were holding that was a Simi Valley bank-owned home and that we really wanted that home, Jo Ann said she knew the realtor well and would call him...she was aggressive...she contacted the listing agent, told him we were going to write an offer and asked that he present it to the bank along with the first offer he had... Jo Ann was not whimpish about contacting the listing agent...

Guess what...we started working with Jo Ann in October 2011 and closed escrow mid December 2011 AND we got the house we wanted, a Simi Valley bank-owned home, closed escrow and are very happy here!

Thank you, Jo Ann, for your diligence and working through for us. Your guidance and expertise is most appreciated and we would not hesitate to refer anyone to you."

- Sheila D'Angelo & Earnie Beem 

Thank you Sheila and Earnie!