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Ted Strodder


415.377.5222
Golden Gate
Sotheby's International Realty
189 Sir Francis Drake Blvd
Greenbrae CA 94904

December in Marin: A Usual Slow Month For Home Sales as Buyers Wait for New Inventory

A chilly start to December brought out the down jackets and lovely holiday sweaters for many in Marin. I asked a few local retailers who said that Black Friday was a busy one, but the rain dampened the ensuing shopping days. If the early reports are accurate, many of those ventured to their screens to order, rather than to the mall, making it the busiest online shopping start ever. Not ironically, that’s what most do to shop for homes already anyway, so why not order the latest gadget with your mouse while viewing the latest listing from Marin? Nearly all do now, but let’s have a look at that.

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Back in the mid 90’s (aka the Jurassic Era) real estate formed a relationship with the newly-introduced world wide web. The once-a-week printed MLS book was already long gone, but even by ’98, there was no clear method for the public (non-Realtors) to browse for homes on the internet. Many of us pasted a “Public Link” into our websites, which allowed any viewer to see a limited amount of data on any listed property. But the sites themselves were deplorable in content by today’s standards. They were usually based on a template for around $500, with 5-6 color patterns to choose from. Custom sites ranged upwards of $5k – $15k and were out there, but rare, and they still lacked good integration of data and internal links. Today, many website templates are free, or close to it. The purveyors make their money off of hosting ($50-$500 a month) with a confusing offering of SEO placement gimmicks, few of which seem to work. But these new websites always contain a new home search widget or link that goes directly to your local MLS at no charge, and with all the photos and data your agent sees. But few visitors even use those. Why? Hint: starts with a Z….

That’s right, Zillow / Trulia now virtually controls all the online searches for homes. By the year 2000, “over 50% of all home searches started online”, which was a whopping number to all of us. That slowly crept up and today, that number is at virtually 100% of buyers or sellers starting their search on the internet.

I mean, why not? You’re in your comfies and slippers, in your own home or sneaking in a bit of personal screen time from the office (on a break, always on a break). You, the general public, now see everything your agent see’s and usually in real time. (Zillow still only updates twice a day, but we’re expecting that to change in 2017). But all the 42 photos, video and drone aerials are there, along with a Google mapping feature that helps you to know all about any property before even getting in your car. It’s like Cyber Monday every day of the year. It saves time and gas, as that under-priced new listing quickly reveals to be right next to the freeway, something the photos omitted, but the map did not.

Looking to buy or sell in 2017? Go for it. Inventory will remain low, but at least beyond the nearly nonexistent numbers we’re seeing now. In some or our smaller towns, there may be only 1-2 homes for sale, or as we saw in centrally located Greenbrae last month 0 homes for sale over a two week period. A first ever, for me, as there usually is something on the market in any price range.

But with more people choosing to move into Marin instead of out, look for this trend to continue into the future. Yes there will be more homes on the market in the spring, but there will also be more buyers, so get ready to bid on anything that looks tempting, just be careful about losing out if you really like it. Every sale sets the bar for the next one down the street (so to speak) and that price will always be higher if the property components are roughly the same as the last Sold home.

For now, enjoy December, wherever you are. As always, let me know of any questions, thanks for reading and Happy Holidays!

TS

Text or call 415.377.5222 or ted@gomarin.com