Marin Real Estate Blog

June arrived in full color for Marin hillsides and home landscapes. Flowers popped and lawns burst out in gorgeous greens as the sun warmed up the county all the live long day. The same could be said for the lower and mid range home market also.

Right house, right location, right price and condition…SOLD, often with multiple offers, and I’m not just talking 2 or 3. Several well priced listings saw 10 offers or more, rewarding one lucky buyer, leaving 9 more out to keep searching, money in hand. These were primarily in the lower or mid price range homes in any of our twelve towns. Not so much the case for the higher end.

The higher price range is very quiet right now. There have been two noteworthy sales in and around the $15 mil range, but other than that, inventory remains high. Showings to qualified buyers are rare, with most agents electing not to chase the market with an over abundance of open houses. As we all know, those are primarily for neighbors or lookers. Any serious buyer wants to see a nice, quiet, empty house, allowing them to connect to the property. Only trouble is, there hasn’t been a lot of connecting going on out there, at least as of this writing.

We’ll see if the increase in tariffs and higher interest rates keeps that market at bay. But for now, the lower priced homes are moving. This could be a sign of things starting to move in the higher priced markets, but we’ll see.

Enjoy June wherever you are. Thanks for reading.

Ted

Text or call 415.377.5222

ted@gomarin.com

Filed under: Marin Real Estate Blog by Ted Strodder

Just so we’re clear, those words have been spoken by dozens of Marin agents over the last month. Me included. While I’ve been through many different market gyrations and cycles, this one we’re in is definitely a first. The reason? It’s simple. Many homes are selling with multiple offers, while others are taking much longer. This isn’t that unusual here, but the gap between these is.

One recent sale in my hometown of Greenbrae at 13 La Cuesta was listed for $2.195mil, then Sold a week later for $2.813mil with 6 offers. That’s over $600,000 over asking, for a small, one story house that was livable, but could have used some updating. By comparison (though not a direct one) a two story house less than 1/4 mile away at 129 Bretano in Greenbrae has been sitting for two months with a reduced asking price of $1.750mil. Yes, it’s a bit smaller, but on a lot that’s twice the size. The reason for the disparity? Level land. The home on La Cuesta was on a flat lot, with lemonade stands out front. While the home on Bretano is on a hillside, with virtually no level yard, but with excellent privacy. There’s no need for any window coverings on homes like these, unless you want to keep out the morning sun. Given that Marin county (and Greenbrae) is 75% hillside, it’s a clear indication of the supply/demand dynamic here, with the demand for single story homes outpacing multi-story by a wide margin.

Take this other sale at 11 Stadium Way nearby in Kentfield. Another small single story home on a small, flat lot that was listed for $1.350mil, only to receive 5 offers and close for nearly $300,000 over that price. Watch for this to continue and not just here, but nationwide.

Further adding to the unpredictability of our market was the craziness in Washington and with the stock market. You’ve seen it as well as I have: Up, down. Back, forth. Stable, unstable. Makes it hard to decide which way the wind is blowing, even if it’s calm out. Let’s hope things settle down there soon.

Meantime, enjoy May wherever you are. It’s a great month here in Marin, with the days growing warmer, flowers, lawns and hillsides popping. It’s awesome.

Thanks for reading,

Ted

415.377.5222

ted@gomarin.com

Filed under: Marin Real Estate Blog by Ted Strodder

April kicked off where March left off in the weather department. Rain. It’s been a wet late winter here, which tends to put a damper on home buying, though we’ve yet to see any noticeable slow down or pullback. Open houses are still busy for new listings in all price ranges, with one exception. We tend to see buyer traffic drop off considerably after just 2-3 weeks. We believe that to be a sign that buyers are well-informed and updated on what the existing inventory is. They’ve learned (possibly the hard way) that they have to jump on any new homes that hit the market. So jump, they do.

My last two listings saw healthy visitor turnout their first three days, with showings beginning within one hour of going on MLS for one of them. We had two showings the next morning, and another half a dozen over the next 24 hours, with one offer coming in fairly quickly. It’s much too soon to tell if this is the norm or a one off, but from what I’m hearing from my fellow agents, they’re seeing the same thing.

The good news for buyers is that April typically kicks off the selling season here. All agents have some kind of list of people wanting (or needing) to buy, some of whom have been looking for 1-2 years. Hopefully, the sellers cooperate and start to put their homes on the market. But as of now, we only have a total of 274 homes Active and on the market in all of Marin. Everyone would like to see more, so let’s hope for that.

Thanks for reading and as always, let me know of any questions.

Ted

415.377.5222 text or call

ted@gomarin.com

Filed under: Marin Real Estate Blog by Ted Strodder

The Marin housing market continues its upward trajectory as we head into spring. Inventory is still on the low side with 326 single family homes for sale, but 98 of those are in contract. That leaves only 228 homes to choose from for buyers, many of whom have been looking for more than a year. Of our twelve towns, some of those have only a dozen or less total homes to choose from. Not much.

Good news is, we all expect inventory to increase as the spring/summer selling season approaches. Just as many buyers have been waiting to buy, so have many sellers been waiting to sell. It appears that mortgage rates in the 6-7% range are “the norm” now, with most buyers opting for short term adjustable rate mortgages, planning to refinance in the next 3-5 years. Business breeds business, as they say, and more listings will bring just that. For now, it remains a challenge for many home buyers, especially for those box-checking properties that are in very good (or great) condition with any type of flat, usable land. As always, single story remains highly desirable, as does being close to town, shops, schools, parks, etc.

That’s it for now. Enjoy March, wherever you are. As always, reach back to me with any questions.

Thanks,

Ted

Text or call 415.377.5222

ted@gomarin.com

Filed under: Marin Real Estate Blog by Ted Strodder

It’s February in Marin and the home buying season has already started. This is a stark contrast to the last two years, where we saw some of the slowest sales activity in history. Basically, people just stayed put. Not so anymore. The buyers have been out in force, particularly in the higher demand areas. That would be any home located within a walkable distance to schools, shops, parks or even all three. The more flat land, the better. Demand has already far exceeded supply with multiple offers abounding. And that was in early January. The market hasn’t typically “started” until February, so it will be very interesting to see where things go from here.

One new dynamic added to the already swollen pool of home buyers has been a slight influx of buyer inquiries from the fire-hit areas of LA. Early data shows that upwards of 70% of the victims there are likely to cash out and move, rather than endure a potential ten year process of rebuilding in or around their location. We’ll see how that goes, but I for one have lost a family home (twice) to fire while growing up. It can be devastating far beyond the financial, so my heart goes out to those people.

I’ll stay in touch. That’s it for now.

Ted

Filed under: Marin Real Estate Blog by AgentImage

It’s 2025 in Marin. Is it just me, or does that sound so much more futuristic than 2024. Ironically, what the future holds for Marin real estate is very much a topic on more than just a few minds here these days. So many people didn’t buy or sell in the last two years, the pent-up demand to do either has only grown. People have to live somewhere. That means, they often have to move. Maybe they need to stop paying rent and want to control their own home destiny. Maybe they need to trade up, trade down, or trade out of the county altogether for cheaper pastures. What’s interesting about that one, is the number of people who opt for a lesser priced, more affordable area, only to figure out within a few years why it’s so cheap to live there. Some of those decide to move back and you can’t blame them. Marin is pretty tough to beat for quality of living, but it’s easy to beat for home prices. Considering the flat two years we’ve seen here, that’s likely to change soon. It actually seems to be changing already.

Multiple offers abounded last week, at least some of the properties I had been watching. One was an older, 1920’s home in Mill Valley for $1.8 mil that didn’t even have a working HVAC, among other things. That didn’t stop 62 buyers from requesting a disclosure packet and 9 of those stepping up with strong, over asking offers, including all cash. I’m told the winner was one of those, with a one week closing. Is this a one-off? Unlikely. I watched the same thing happen, to a lesser extent in Corte Madera that was listed for $1.6 mil. There were 33 packets out on that one, with 6 offers in. The winner will close on that one shortly, but both of these sales obviously had no contingencies. The take away here is less about the winners and more about those who didn’t win. With these two properties alone, that leaves 13 buyers still out there, ready to buy. And the next time the right house comes around, I promise you, all of them will offer a little bit higher and better. Therein lies Marin home appreciation. Let’s see if this continues throughout the spring, but our market really hasn’t even gotten going yet. We usually start around mid February.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading. Hope this is a great year for you, wherever you are.

Ted Strodder

Golden Gate Sotheby’s Int’l Realty

text 415.377.5222

ted@gomarin.com

CalRE: 01057081

Filed under: Marin Real Estate Blog by Ted Strodder

December is here in Marin. Cooler temperatures are in the air, but not so in the housing market. Nobody knows why, but for some reason, our normally slow November was anything but. New listings and old were snapped up, often with multiple offers, at least on those that had what today’s buyer looks for in terms of price and presentation. “Done” homes continue to outsell fixers of any kind, but even those needing work flew off the shelves. This likely signals what we all suspect–that the market has seen the bottom, over the summer, probably, with steady upside to come. I’m not the only one who feels this way. Plenty has been written about it. Those are just my synergistic comments from the trenches and what many of us suspect or envision. As always though, what happens next is anybody’s guess. We won’t know when the market has hit bottom until we can look back a solid six months.

Going forward, I can tell you there is a lot of optimism. Many buyers are getting ready to buy, with an equal number of sellers appearing ready to sell. Business breeds business, as they say, and once the bulk buying starts again, it should be off to the races. We’ll see.

Meantime, stay safe wherever you are and enjoy this holiday month.

Ted

415.377.5222

ted@gomarin.com

Filed under: Marin Real Estate Blog by Ted Strodder

Wow, hard to believe that November is here already. The months and years seem to fly by these days. Our kids grow up like our gardens, each taking great care and nurturing to be their best, improving with time. The same can be said for where we live, I suppose, although most homes have an interesting dichotomy. They depreciate as they grow older, but appreciate in value thanks to the economics of supply and demand. That’s certainly the case here in Marin. Some say it’s the price of the land that goes up. I think it’s the land plus the improvements on top, no matter how much it may weather the storms of times. Speaking of storms, winter is on the way. What does that mean for the housing market? Who knows, really. But if history is any gauge, we likely see the same winter market that I’ve seen throughout the years.  

Home sales tend to slow here, starting a week before Thanksgiving, continuing on until early February. By the time March 1st hits, we usually are well into our typical early spring selling season, which lasts until July 1st. People like to get moved in and unpacked by mid August, whether they have school age children or not. The data is clear on this, with the bulk of home sales and appreciation occurring in those four plus months. There is generally an uptick again starting in mid September, but the rest of the year usually shows only a few percentage points of value increase. This has been a good year for Marin home values over all, despite what we see going on in other areas of the country. Unless there are any noteworthy major economic events, this is most likely the case going into 2025. But as I said, who knows.  

In the meantime, stay happy and healthy. Keep your attitude up, remain optimistic. Smile when you can, remaining thankful for what you have, not what you don’t. Enjoy November, wherever you are. Stay safe and as always, thanks for reading.

Ted

415.377.5222

ted@gomarin.com

Filed under: Marin Real Estate Blog by Ted Strodder

Marin homebuyers came out in force last month, most likely fueled by two things: the lowest mortgage rates in two years, along with the desire to close escrow and unpack by Thanksgiving or Christmas at the latest. We’ve seen close to 150 properties go into contract recently, in all price ranges and with all types of homes. From mobile homes to mansions, we witnessed good strength and depth throughout the twelve towns of Marin. This could very well be an indication that the softness of the last eighteen months is behind us, but we won’t know for sure until we are 3-6 months passed it.  

Inventory has also seen a solid uptick, with well over 300 homes for buyers to choose from. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll recall when that number dropped to only 99 at one point, the lowest any of us can recall. For now, the sentiment amongst my colleagues is that we should see a very healthy spring market. If you’re a buyer, you may want to consider stepping in and stepping up sooner rather than later. If you’re a seller, continue working on any fix up projects, allowing any future lucky occupant of your home to be able to move right in. 

In the meantime, stay happy and healthy. Keep your attitude optimistic. My 96 year old Dad sure does. The heart of a lion, that guy, thankful for what he has, not what he doesn’t. Enjoy this gorgeous fall, wherever you are, along with all of 2024. Stay safe and as always, thanks for reading.

Ted

415.377.5222

ted@gomarin.com

Filed under: Marin Real Estate Blog by Ted Strodder

“Do you remembah, the twenty-first night of Septembah…” Earth, Wind and Fire, right? Not sure why I started with that this month. But maybe it’s not so inappropriate after all. Despite ominous predictions to the contrary, not a lot of wind or fire in the earth bound real estate market here in Marin, not after the new disclosure of transaction fees began. These have always been negotiable and they’ve always been posted right up front, with complete transparency. But now they aren’t published, not publicly, anyway. Why they decided to change the structure of it, who knows. But so far, it seems to be very much business as usual.

We saw half a dozen sales in our office alone the first few days. Most of those involved multiple offers (up to 8 on one particular property), but the takeaway was that every listing provided for what’s been known as the lowest standard gross selling fee for decades: 5% of the sales price, split 4 ways between each office and then with each agent involved. Agents don’t make all that much on any transaction. So very few will risk a sale with anyone who is trying to forge a new road off a very established path. Where it goes from here, we’ll see. But for now, there’s a few extra forms to fill out and sign. Other than that, it’s business as usual with deals being done by the dozens.

Inventory remains typically light. But there’s rarely more than a handful of houses to choose from for most buyers in any given price range. After Labor Day, we should see the usual uptick in new listings, with things possibly slowing down–also as usual–in late November, all the way through January. After that, most predictions point to a healthy spring with lower mortgage rates and brisk sales. But we’ll see. 

For now, stay happy and healthy. Keep your attitude optimistic. Things could always be worse. Be thankful for what you have, not what you don’t. I sure am. I’m still here, after all, into my 39th year of doing a job that I absolutely love. 

Enjoy Septembah, wherever you are, along with all of 2024. Stay safe and as always, thanks for reading.

Ted

415.377.5222

ted@gomarin.com

Filed under: Marin Real Estate Blog by Ted Strodder