My objective in writing a real estate Q&A column is that it be relevant to the typical homeowner here in the Diablo Valley. To that end, my goal is to provide informed insight on where the real estate market is going and why. My commitment is to share the best, timely, inside real estate market information available. I promise to stay away from clichés, acronyms and confusing industry jargon that intimidate many from asking questions in the first place.
We all know that living in the beautiful Diablo Valley is something special, but truth be told, the current housing market has resulted in high anxiety for many. My hope is to do what I can to give you a little more peace of mind along the way. Email me at tom@tomhart.com with any question you would like addressed.
Let’s start with a fundamental question that I often hear from my clients.
Q. Tom, I am confused. Why do I see some homes in my neighborhood selling in a week or less for a relatively high price and some homes linger on the market for 100-200+ days without selling even at a relatively low price?
A. The two biggest factors for what you describe are condition & location. What’s happening in many neighborhoods in today’s market is that the most improved homes on the best lots in a given neighborhood are selling for a relatively high price, while the least improved homes on the worst lots in the same neighborhood are selling (eventually) for much less—sometimes as much as 10% to 30% less! Keep in mind that for every home that was remodeled in recent years here in our valley, there are probably ten others that have not been touched; bathrooms, kitchens, flooring, roofing, heating & air conditioning systems, pools, spas and even landscaping DO wear out (as evidenced by the bathroom our teenaged daughter & son have shared the last 18 years!) and even relatively new homes must be maintained. Couple the ‘condition’ issue with a home located on an inferior lot (noisy, no view, marginal privacy – every neighborhood has good, fair & bad lots) and you have the ‘double whammy’ effect that results in significantly decreased value. Finally, remember today’s buyers are savvy; they can see problematic issues immediately upon visiting a home and sometimes even beforehand with the help of technology tools like Google Earth views, Zillow evaluations or Redfin property searches.
