Sorry I've neglected this blog so long. With my lack of attention here, you'd think I was busy just raking in the dough...well, not quite. I've been busy all right...lots of people looking, no one ready to commit. This is confusing to me since our Sonoma home prices have been dropping like stones, houses have been coming off the MLS because they are going into foreclosure (nevertheless, reducing inventory) and interest rates still low.
Now if someone could please tell Alan Greenspan to be quiet because it is no longer his job to comment on the future housing market - that's now someone else's job!
It is the spector of future price drops that seem to be in our way. I'm not in the financing part of our market so I'll just make the next comment based on my own personal experience: Buyer to lender: "What if I could purchase this place for just $25K less? Maybe I should wait." Experienced lender: "Well, let's just look at what difference that would make in your monthly payment. OK, looks like it would be about $33.19/month less - is it worth waiting to buy?"
I wish someone could do that for the buyers who are deciding that waiting is better now to watch these same houses drop $25,000. - maybe they'd act!
Recently, a fellow realtor and I took our Sonoma Real Estate show "on the road" and decided to participate in a Silicon Valley Real Estate EXPO. It was a one day conference and the first of its kind in that area. Silicon Valley, remember, is the home of the Google and Yahoo children - you know the ones with money to burn! Silicon Valley, the home of the high tech industry, is almost 2 hours from Sonoma, barring any of the normally horrible traffic down that way. Our traffic around Sonoma is nothing compared to their concrete jungle. We met some investors there and we were asked to speak to their club soon. It made us feel that at least we were doing something positive!
I'm interested in any ideas others have about your own "good ideas" to get your real estate story out. Have you done something unusual you are willing to share with us? Is anyone doing anything to take advantage of the currency exchange rate to attract buyers from out of our country?
It's a great time to be in California Wine Country - they are smashing the grapes now, having plucked them from the vines. You know what comes next!
Come visit Sonoma! Buy a house!
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