May 2021

Buyers Remorse

May 24, 2021Musing about Buyers Remorse. That insidious part of real estate that takes great pleasure in showing up like an unwanted guest in the middle of so many escrows. I’m sure Realtors use the phrase too much but what else can we call “it”? Is there another word to describe all those clandestine meetings that happen in our clients’ heads while they’re struggling to navigate the home-buying process? Or the crazy cascade effect that ratchets-up when their worry centers start tossing “what-Ifs” into the air like...

Busy Week

May 18, 2021Busy week ... First there was a 16 offer situation on the Eastside. Then 12 offers on the Westside. Followed by 10 more in Capitola, 8 in Aptos and 6 each in Pacific Grove and North Monterey County. When the dust finally settled, there were 6 buyers that emerged from the mosh pit victorious and another 52 (and their agents) who found themselves back at square one waiting for the next big offer scrum. That’s a lot of disappointed Buyers and Buyers’ Agents. In...

Circling back to the subject of downsizing

May 10, 2021Circling back to the subject of downsizing... That vague, catch-all term we use to describe the strange place many people find themselves in these days, as card-carrying (social security) members of a rapidly aging culture. Most sellers in Santa Cruz are people of a certain age. There’s an even larger wave of would-be-sellers-of-a-certain-age waiting in the wings. Those are the folks who are still wrestling with existential questions about the last third of their lives and trying to trick themselves into “beginning to think...

Low Inventory Woes – Why More Sellers Aren’t Selling

May 3, 2021Staying on topic...Low Inventory Woes - Why More Sellers Aren’t Selling. Trying to pinpoint reasons behind the historic low inventory we’re experiencing. What’s causing the huge crimp in the supply-side of the market equation. Whenever there’s a significant change in the market, pundits like to trot out their short list of “ usual suspects”. Low Inventory is caused by people’s aversion to capital gains. Or concerns about higher property taxes. Or, since they’re already locked into their homes at rock-bottom interest rates, why sell and buy new houses with more...