April 2023

- Tom Brezsny

Crazy is all relative of course

April 24, 2023Crazy is all relative of course. As in... crazy compared to what? That’s especially true when it comes to real estate prices... Crazy price compared to what? In the old days, when people were thinking about moving here from other parts of the country or from other, less expensive areas of California, they would often get blown out of the water by their first introduction to house prices in Santa Cruz. They just couldn’t understand why they got so little house for the big money...

- Tom Brezsny

Low Inventory is the Culprit

April 17, 2023We’re still in the longest running, highest appreciating, craziest-making “up” market anyone has ever seen. For more than ten years, a historic low level of supply has held sway and leveraged a remarkable rise in intensity, competition and prices. In the old days, 4-6 months of inventory was considered a balanced market but we haven’t seen anything close to that in a long time. What’s behind the great shrinking effect that has a stranglehold on supply?  Here’s a short list: Lack of New Homes: YIMBYS...

- Tom Brezsny

It’s Not About The Comps

April 10, 2023Continuing the conversation...we’ve been watching real estate prices go through the roof with a mixture of shock and awe these past few years. The top has fallen out of the market and opened up a seemingly limitless expanse of blue sky beyond the beyond of what most homeowners could ever have imagined five or ten years ago. For those on the sidelines, real estate has become a spectator sport - part fantasy football/part tv game show. There’s a huge home audience playing along, keeping track...

- Dax Nollenberger

Prop 19: A Game-Changer for California Homeowners and Heirs

April 3, 2023Are you a senior citizen in California looking to downsize or move closer to family members? Or maybe you're a homeowner with investment properties that you're planning to pass down to your children or grandchildren? In either case, Proposition 19, a bill passed in November 2020, is a significant change to California's property tax laws that you need to be aware of. https://youtu.be/tkr63gcYPTE Let’s start with a hypothetical, let’s say that you bought your Santa Cruz home in 1980 for $150k and have owned it...

- Tom Brezsny

Can You Guess What This Home Sold For?

April 3, 2023We’re talking about the nation’s fastest growing indoor sport: Armchair Real Estate - part fantasy football/part tv game show competition. There’s a huge home audience playing along with the market right now, testing its skill by guessing what homes recently sold for. There’s even a more advanced version that requires players to guess what homes WILL sell for when the dust settles in the multiple-offer moshpit. So, what about Zillow Zestimates? Can players get an extra edge by using one of those ubiquitous online home...