Buying your new Marin home can be very exciting.  You find a house your really like and you want to tell everyone you know about it.  Do yourself a favor and wait until you get into contract.  We know you want to get the advice of everyone you know… is it a good deal?  Do you know their situation?  What do you think of the house?  Why are they moving?  Well, this can have potential pitfalls in a small community like Marin.

Last week, one of my buyers saw a house they liked in Mill Valley.  They told some friends.  How many, I don’t know.  But two of those friends asked me if my client was writing an offer.  People other than my client were telling me what my client thought.  YIKES.  The thing is, you could be generating inflated interest in house.  If you want it, someone else might just decide they like it too.  Everything looks better when someone else wants it.

If two people actually mentioned it to me, how many other people know about it? By gabbing about it, you may also unintentionally damage your negotiating power.  What if the seller of your dream home hears from a friend about what you are saying?  Without even realizing it, you may have provided them with a good understanding of your negotiating position.  She loves the house SO much, she has told so many people about it, they must be willing to pay full price.

Zip it, until negotiations are complete!  Better yet, zip it until you close escrow.

Sunday, April 27, 2008  is Opening Day on the Bay.  Opening Day on the Bay is the official start of the sailing season and is always the last Sunday in April.  More than 150 boats generally take part in the boat parade, which starts at noon near Chrissy Field and generally finishes around 2 pm at Pier 39.  The parade is sponsored by the Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association and has been around since 1917.  This year’s theme is “Mother Goose and Friends”.

If you can’t be out on the Bay, downtown Tiburon and Sausalito are sure to be buzzing with activity as people converge on the two towns to watch the sights.  If you are looking to dine downtown, I would highly recommend you make a reservation (If you still can!).

Where to go:

• Guaymas
• Sam’s Anchor Cafe

The Black & White Ball is back!  On Saturday, May 31, 2008, the San Francisco Symphony will kick off summer with the 2008 Black & White Ball.  The event will be concentrated on the west side of Van Ness Avenue in the historic War Memorial Arts Complex and will feature fabulous live music, dancing, flowing cocktails and delicious food.

There are five different ways to attend the Ball, including three VIP dinners.  I will be starting my evening at the Patrons’ Dinner at the Grove Street Pavilion  before heading over to Davies Symphony Hall for the headline concert- Grammy-winning pop vocalist Seal.

After the headline performance, I plan to dance the night away listening to many fabulous bands including Blues Traveler, The Sun Kings, and many more.  From jazz to country, to hip hop to a Beatles cover band- it will have it all!  More than a dozen bands will be performing.

Dinner packages are expected to sell out early, so buy your tickets soon!

• What: Black & White Ball
• When:  Saturday, May 31, 2008
• Where:  San Francisco Civic Center
• Why:  Proceeds from the Ball benefit the Symphony’s Adventures in Music (AIM) Program, which brings music into the lives of every student in grades 1-5 in the SF Unified School District.
• Black & White Ball tickets and more information

I am a little late for March Marin real estate closed stats, but here they are!    The median price for Marin single family homes was $922,500- down slightly from February’s median price of $935,000.  The average days on the market for single family residences in Marin County dropped to 69 in March from 86 in February.

The number of Marin home listings has increased by 17% over last month.  The number of listings has also increased by 5% over last year.  While the number of listings increased, the number of Marin homes sold and also homes going under contract is still down substantially from March 2007.

Buyer confidence remains low.  In his recent Goldman Report, Pacific Union President and CEO Avram Goldman says,

We don’t have a real estate problem here—we have a financial and consumer confidence challenge.  Whether the economy is in a recession is not the question. Most consumers today believe we are in one. That is why consumer confidence is at its lowest point since the early 80’s. Add that to the continuing liquidity issues in the banking community and you have little, if any growth.

Buyers want and need to buy. The concern is when will the economy bottom out. Until they feel that it is, there will be a reluctance to move forward.

Home buyers are nervous and their lack of confidence is obvious looking at the 35% reduction in homes going under contract over last year. 

Sometimes we see real estate comments that just make us shake our heads.  I just ran across this:

“Please bring your buyers to see this great home. It will not last long on the market”. 

Oh my, I better tell my buyers “Don’t walk, RUN.”  This won’t last!  But wait….

Days on the market…163.  I guess my buyers can crawl there.  I am sure it is a perfectly fine house, but perhaps it is time to update the advertising?