Archive for August, 2008
South County Sales Week of August 13 – 20, 2008
How many south Santa Clara County resdential listings went from active to pending status this past week? In the towns of Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy, there were a total of 41 listings that went under contract last week! That is a very healthy number and shows that buyers are finally getting the message to take advantage of this market.
Of these 41 sales, the list price ranges were as follows:
$200,000 – $500,000 = 27 sales
$500,000 – $800,000 = 9 sales
$800,000 – $1,200,000 = 2 sales
$1,200,000 – $2,000,000 = 3 sales
This is indicative of our lowering median and average prices in the south county due to the low price range of what is selling. It is interesting to note that out of these 41 residential sales last week, only one of the sales was a townhouse/condo.
Tune in next week to see how we fare in sales in the market!
Purchasing a Home? Why Use a Realtor?
The reasons for using a real estate agent are both many and very significant. They include, but are not limited to the following:
1. The seller of the home will have a qualified Realtor looking out for their best interests. They do not pay their Realtor to look out for you. That is my job.
2. Real estate is all that I do. I am constantly monitoring the market and actively looking on your behalf daily. Through my networking, I often have information on new listings before they hit the market.
3. As a Realtor, I have access to information that the public often finds difficult to obtain. I can research any home on the market before my client writes an offer to ensure that my client isn’t paying too much.
4. Negotiating isn’t much fun for the average home buyer. This is one of my strengths and I love to do it. I negotiate on property all the time when an average home buyer will only negotiate on a few homes throughout their entire lives. I save my clients money.
5. Besides price, there are other terms in the contract that also require negotiation. I am completely familiar with the real estate contracts in use and know the ins and outs of negotiating the various terms.
6. Contracts can sometimes seem overwhelming and confusing. I work with these contracts on a daily basis. I will assist you with understanding the components of the contract and ensure that you are protected.
7. There are many other details relating to the purchase of a home to deal with. I align myself with other professional service providers to make the purchase easy. I have great alliances with mortgage brokers, title and escrow officers, and home inspectors. You don’t have to worry about much of anything…I do it for you.
8. My services don’t cost you anything. I work on your behalf for free!
Clearing the Mind
As a much-needed “time-out”, I just spent a glorious week-plus with family and friends in Sunriver, Oregon. I highly recommend this resort for the actively inclined. We mountain-biked all day to several spectacular waterfalls, went rock climbing on granite over-looking the river, hiked to mountain vistas, lakes, and volcano rims, and went white water rafting. There’s also golfing, tennis and swimming. In addition, we spent a lot of our time together cooking, cavorting and conversing.
Sunriver Resort has wonderful houses for rent and we were fortunate to rent a large home overlooking Deschutes River which flows through the resort. There was plenty of room for all of us and, with our rented bicycles, transportation for everyone, no matter where they wanted to go.
The for-sale home prices at the resort were comparable to prices here in the south county. The most expensive home I saw listed at Sunriver was in the mid-$2 million range and the lowest-priced condos were listed in the mid-$200,000s. This range is a little lower than what we have to offer currently in the south Santa Clara County, but for many, the Sunriver homes are not their primary residence.
So, for a multi-generational vacation where there is something to entertain everyone, we will be visiting Sunriver again. But for now, it’s back to work….
Gretchen Merrick
cell (408) 892 9015
