April, 2024 | Brezsny Associates

Introducing Richard and Rachel…

April 26, 2024One conclusion I’ve come to is this: The market’s lack of listings isn’t a reflection of the lack of people wanting to sell their homes. Rather it’s just the opposite. There are actually an inordinate number of people out there who really do want to sell, are actively thinking about it and would probably put their homes on the market tomorrow, if... and this is a big if.... IF they could figure out how to sell their existing homes and move-down into a smaller ones...

Why is Downsizing So Hard?

April 19, 2024Circling 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 about...

- Dax Nollenberger

Santa Cruz Real Estate Spotlight: 423 & 425 Pacheco Ave

Welcome to ‘Santa Cruz Real Estate Spotlight,’ by Dax Nollenberger. Today the focus is on 423 & 425 Pacheco Ave. Our team, Brezsny Associates, recently listed these two eastside Santa Cruz properties. Sold separately or together, these properties are screaming with potential in the beautiful and quiet Banana Belt neighborhood. 423 Pacheco is offered at $1,075,000 and features a vintage 1920s 3-bedroom, 1-bath home on a large 6,752 sq ft lot, complete with a separate 2-bedroom guest house and multiple development options. Meanwhile, 425 Pacheco, priced at $699,000, offers a buildable parcel with existing outbuildings, perfect for new construction or multi-generational living. Both lots provide a great community vibe and are ideally located in Midtown, offering excellent commute access and a chance to revitalize historic gems.

After Emptying the Rice Bowl

April 12, 2024Checking the mailbag after my recent column “Emptying Your Rice Bowl”, a meditation on the nature of all the “stuff ” people fill their lives and their houses with... Kudos to the clever reader who sent me the photo-shopped picture of his garage with the door lifted up and a man-made mountain of rice spilling out of it! But the prize goes to another reader who sent me the following: Next time you come snooping around our house looking at all of our “stuff” I’m...

Emptying The Rice Bowl

April 5, 2024Emptying the rice bowl. Re-thinking our relationship with all the “stuff ” we buy and cram into our houses until the bitter end. As a necessary precursor to designing more graceful strategies for growing older, facing change and moving into the future. Mindfully engaging in real life experiences rather than living a life defined by “things”. It’s a perplexing time for baby boomers. They’re feeling the onset of their own mortality. Even as they venture down the road towards the last third of their lives....

Realtors Grappling with Seismic Shift! Part 2

April 2, 2024Continuing the conversation…. talking about last week’s big court ruling that’s generating lots of headlines, lots of buzz, and lots of scrambling within the industry. At this point, it’s just a ruling and it’s anyone’s guess how it will affect the day-to-day process going forward. We’re still in the “the more we find out the less we know” stage. Whatever else happens, fundamental changes are in the offing: Sellers will no longer be committed to paying compensation to buyers’ agents’ (they can if they want...