We often hear a lot about the quality of education in Marin elementary schools and Marin middle schools, but it is nice to know it continues on through high school!

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I suggested catching the Larkspur Ferry and taking it to the SF Ferry building.  It is a fun place to explore.  Follow your explorations with dinner at Taylor’s Refreshers- think yummy milk shakes, burgers, etc. (I personally love their sweet potato fries- YUM!)  It is not your average burger joint- the menu features a wide variety of choices and adult beverages as well. 

If you wanted to go further in to San Francisco, you can easily catch the trolley just outside the ferry building and head over to Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf.  

This adventure is great for kids of all ages and is really good at any time of day as well.   The Ferry Building features a farmer’s market on Tuesdays ( 10am-2pm) and Saturdays (8am-2pm) as well.

Simple, inexpensive and fun (even for Marin locals!)

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Forbes used 10 data points for their ranking. Among the areas under consideration were education, housing, cost of living, crime, air quality and commute time.

As indicated in the article, the “rankings are skewed toward counties with good school districts.” This move certainly worked in Marin’s favor given the strong performance of our school system. The consideration of low crime, air quality (this summer excluded) and commute times were also likely favorable considerations for Marin.

Not in Marin’s favor was the cost of housing / living. The article cited a median home price of $901,900 as the most expensive on the list.

In case you needed it, the Forbes article is further confirmation of why people continue to move here. Despite the high cost of housing, people find value in the school system and quality of life. It is for these reasons that Marin’s home prices have held up so well in these difficult times for our nation’s housing market.

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1. How many people truly get the “memo” that the seller is motivated?  A few real estate agents?  Certainly not all of them, or even a majority of them.
2. Buyers (who may not even be working with an agent) may not visit the home or look at it on the web because they don’t want to look at something they can’t afford.  OR, because the listing price isn’t reduced in the multiple listing service,they just simply don’t know about it (their searches never find it!).
3. Many home buyers (and often agents) don’t want to offend sellers by writing a lowball offer.  We know you don’t get it. I don’t get it.  But it is true, the majority of people don’t want to write a really low offer.

What does truly motivated mean?  What it means to a seller might be very different to a potential buyer.  To me (a real estate agent), it means they are not motivated enough to put it in writing.

If a seller is truly motivated, their motivation needs to be reflected in a good healthy price reduction- in most cases at least five percent!

MOTIVATED SELLER??…..(should =) BIG PRICE REDUCTION

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Finally- in June, the number of Marin homes & condos going into contract passed up the number of units from June 2007!!  What does that mean?  More buyers entered into contract to purchase a property in June 2008 over 2007. 

Does this mean.. buyers are back in the market?

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Will that trend continue in July?  I would expect a summer slow down as many buyers and sellers are vacationing, with a resurgence of buyer interest and activity in the fall.

*Statistics pulled from BAREIS MLS.  Single Family Residential Only.

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Sofia Nadjibi, Mortgage Broker at Union Trust Mortgage in Marin County gave me some words of wisdom to pass on to my clients:

If you consider your HELOC your “emergency account,” you should consider drawing some of that money out TODAY and putting it in a good interest-bearing account like ING Direct or a Money Market account. This is especially true if you don’t have at least 3-6 months of liquid savings already.
If you were planning to use your HELOC to purchase a real estate investment, or for remodeling, etc – same advice as above – draw it out and put it somewhere safe. You can always put it back later if you don’t need it- but very soon you may not be able to access this money at all.

What’s happening?  Chase Home Equity announced that they are exiting the lending market.  Other lenders (such as Citi, Washington Mutual, National City and Wells Fargo) are expected to freeze existing home equity lines of credit balances, meaning no more cash out.

Need a HELOC?   Local Marin County banks are expected to still offer home equity lines of credit- think Bank of Marin, Tamalpais Bank and others, but of course if you really need that HELOC money, I wouldn’t “bank” on it!

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April 2008 vs. April 2007

Countywide, the number of Marin homes for sale was up almost 16% from last April. The number of homes under contract was down about 13% while the number of units sold is down about 31%.

While the number of homes sold in April 2008 vs April 2007 is dismal, the glimmer of hope is in the units under contract. We have gradually seen this number get closer to 2007 numbers for many Marin cities, indicating next month’s sold number may be even better.

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You aren’t really ready to look seriously for a home, just doing a little initial research and then you see it- your perfect dream home.   It is “the one” and you HAVE to have it.  You call your favorite Marin county realtor and say Ginger, “I want to put an offer on that home.”

“Great Joe,” I say, “did you call the mortgage broker I referred you to and get pre-approved?” 

……

……

“Joe, are you there?”

A year ago, you could almost get an approval in a hour or so.  It wasn’t a good one, but nobody really cared.  Right now, pre-approvals are taking about two weeks for Marin home buyers.  Why so long?  Well, there are a lot fewer places where you can go to get a jumbo loan in California, and even fewer lenders with reasonable rates. 

What we have here is called a roadblock.   

Fewer lenders available = a serious back log of buyers all going down the same single lane.  The road isn’t closed, but traffic is pretty slow.  The mortgage brokers I work with say it takes about two weeks for a pre-approval and suggest 60 days for a close of escrow. 

I have a secret for you.  (There is a way around the roadblock!)  Listen close…

Get pre-approved BEFORE you find your perfect Marin County dream home!

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If you’re planning an irrigation project this spring (or even if you’ve done one since March 1, 2007), you probably can claim a rebate of up to $350! 

• Bay-Friendly Rebate Program
• Bay-Friendly Rebate Application

If you live in Novato, they have a different program available

• Smart Irrigation Controller Rebate Program

Happy Landscaping!

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