My Favorite Holiday, a Deal Story, and the Market Update

Deal Story: Finally, There are Deals to be Had

The Market Update (in just a few Charts)

 

As a child, it meant a long wonderful day at my grandma's house with a ton of family and friends of the our family. The day always started with a trip to the cupboard for my grandma's homemade cookies, noshing commencing before 10AM, and a big buffet of yumminess starting in the early afternoon.  

 

Festivities went late into the night (it felt late to me) with card and board games, talking, more noshing on leftovers, football blaring in the background, and playing guitars and singing folk songs.  I'm lucky to have such wonderful memories, and so excited to recreate a new version of these memories for my kids at their grandmas' houses whether its Thanksgiving, Passover, or any other holiday.

And with Thanksgiving comes the time for reflection and gratitude.  Thanksgiving is so special in my family because my Grandma arrived in the US just days before Thanksgiving as a young immigrant escaping the holocaust in Germany with her immediate family. It was truly of time of thankfulness and gratitude for her as she realized she could never go back to Germany, and the US was now her new home. I can't help but to count my lucky stars for my life, my lover, my kids, my family, my health, my successes, and every single one of you who has touched my life whether you realize it or not. 

 

 

With many thanks and so much gratitude for the memories that make my days so fruitful! I'd love to hear from you, reminisce about our memories together, and create new ones to reminisce on in the future! 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

I can not say that anymore!  COVID has wreaked havoc on San Francisco's Commercial Office Space with so many workers now working remotely around the country and the world.  This means that the buyer pool that would have been driving prices up is no longer in town to drive up the competition.

 

 

Here's the short story and my crystal ball theory (as promised from last month)...

 

It's my belief these particular sellers paid top dollar ($1,450,000) for this property when they competed for it in a multiple offer situation in 2019.  But when they left town because of COVID and decided to sell, they priced the property too high ($1,395,000) fearful that they would lose money on the sale.  So, nobody bid on the property when it was listed too high because San Francisco buyers know that properties tend to be listed 10% - 20% or more below the perceived market price.  When the property sat on the market for a while with no activity, the sellers dropped the price ($1,195,000) and suddenly 5 sets of buyers started circling.  An offer date was set and for whatever reason, nobody bid on the property again.

 

My clients had seen the property but decided not to submit a bid as the garage was a bit of a challenge for their car.  But they LOVED the property otherwise.  Quite frankly, I didn't think their budget could afford this property, as it comp'd out at $1,400,000 or more.  

 

The day after bids were due, I saw an open house email come out from the listing agent leading me to believe an offer was not accepted.  I called the listing agent almost immediately, and having done a deal with her earlier in the year, she gave me the low down on the property. Without skipping a beat, I called my clients to share the intel, and they were in contract by the evening for $150,000 less than the sellers paid for it ($1,300,000). Needless to say, this is a STEAL of a deal.  

 

 

 Looking at my own crystal ball, I think we have a short window between now and when companies open their office doors back up.  San Francisco and the Bay Area's recovery has been slower than the rest of the country, as this region has taken the most conservative approach (various mask mandates and vaccine mandates for public spaces) to COVID safety and health.  While the rest of the economy is steadily recovering, I believe that San Francisco's economy will shoot up and over the rest of the country as people race to get back into this amazing city and back into office space where San Francisco will continue to remain to a hot spot for jobs due to innovation, health and well-being for its workers.

 

"But Brandi, the world of remote work is here to stay!"  Maybe, but probably not. When I worked for an interior design firm focused on commercial office space, we used to always say, "the pendulum always swings," because it always does! Offices will likely require workers to be in the office at least a couple of days a week, and we'll see that change over time as workers realize they want or need to be where the bosses are...

 

For every person who has left the city to work remotely, there will be at least one to three or more super eager people ready to live in this amazing city, take their place in an office, make a remote worker redundant, and climb that start-up or corporate ladder. As the saying goes, "somethings never change, they just become different."

 

MORAL OF THE STORY: If you're on fence thinking about buying a property in San Francisco and or want to get a deal, RIGHT NOW is the time make that leap! 

 

 

As the year begins to wind down and move into the mid-winter holidays, the market typically slows down as well.  The number of new listings declines and then plunges in Decembers with sales volume following one step behind. Price reductions often jump, and some listings, especially more expensive homes, are pulled off the market until the market wakes up again in the new year - usually in late January or February depending on the weather and other factors.  Of course, buying and selling occur at all times of the year, including in mid-winter, but commonly at a much reduced rate. Note that typical market seasonality was upended in 2020 due to the pandemic and more normal seasonal trends seem to have returned in 2021.

 

For buyers, the coming months can offer substantial opportunities in the form of reduced competition, fewer multiple offers, less overbidding, more room to negotiate, and often significantly better deals.  This is an excellent time for buyers to take a second look at listings that haven't sold, and to make aggressive offers.

 

And for sellers?  It's a good time to start prepping now for a future sale to be ready for the spring market, which tends to perform better for sales.