November 2019

How high the bar is set when it comes to presenting your home these days

November 25, 2019Continuing...talking about the relatively new“big thing” in real estate known as “staging your home” and how it has become anindispensable part of the prep process for mosthomes coming on the market. Even average orrelatively inexpensive ones. We’re also talking about how high the bar is set when it comes to presenting your home these days. And how much thought, time and effort (not to mention real cost) actually goes into primping (not pimping) it before hitting the MLS. So what happened? Why are so many...

How staging has gone from being an afterthought to integral

November 18, 2019Continuing our discussion...How staging has gone from being a fashionable afterthought, reserved only for the most elite homes, to something that’s now considered integral to the successful sale of any home. And why, if it’s been awhile since you’ve experienced the real estate market from a Seller’s perspective, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to re-familiarize yourself with the essentials of staging as you’re beginning to get your own staging ducks in order. Suffice it to say: prepping and staging a house is harder than...

Terry Brezsny Ballantyne

- Terry Brezsny Ballantyne

The Lighter Side of Hair

November 15, 2019It's funny about hair. We all admire a beautiful head of lush hair on a head. But put just one hair in your soup and watch people recoil. How can one hair be horrible and thousands be attractive? Ladies, we spend lots of time and money in our youth getting a bikini wax, only to watch, as we age, our south of the border hair goes gray and scraggly. Or your eyebrows are disappearing and they need tint or colored wax to frame your face....

Home price appreciation is strong and say hello to the next wave of homebuyers – Millennials

November 14, 2019CoreLogic reported that home prices rose 0.4% in September and 3.5% year over year. The year over year reading dropped slightly from 3.6% in August and is a sustainable and meaningful level for wealth creation. The states with the highest increases year-over-year were Idaho (11.8%), Utah (8%) and Maine (8%). CoreLogic forecasts that home prices will appreciate by 5.6% in the year going forward, which is slightly lower pace from the 5.8% forecasted in the previous report. Frank Martell, the President and CEO of CoreLogic...

Let’s return to something we talked about last year..

November 5, 2019Let’s return to something we talked about last year...when the frenzy of the market was fraying people’s reserves of rational thought. And I noticed a widening gap between the public’s popular imagination about how real estate works and how it actually plays out in real life. There are two parts: 1) Every single Santa Cruz seller fantasizes about wealthy buyers swarming over the hill to pay lots of money for their house. 2) Not all Santa Cruz sellers are willing to do what it takes...