How much did that house sell for? (March 22nd-28th)

How to Make Me Blush

I loved working with these fantastic (and adorable!) first time home buyers. They knew what they wanted, but were flexible when it came to what the market had to offer. After getting their feet wet with a couple unsuccessful offers, they knew it was time to step up to the plate and make their dream of home ownership come true. Working together I was able to get their offer accepted, beating out 13 other contenders. Home sweet home is walking distance to a favorite neighborhood cafe, close to commute routes, and in the sweetest little neighborhood. Despite a challenging market, I'm happy their buying experience was positive, and I'm left glowing after receiving such a great review.

I can't recommend Shannon highly enough! As first time home buyers in the bay area, my husband and I were clueless and nervous about the home buying process, but Shannon guided us every step of the way. Beyond being a great realtor she was a great teacher, advocate, and partner. She is clearly an  expert in her field, which was such a comfort to us as home buying novices. Many times she answered questions we didn't even know to ask. It was also clear to us that Shannon had our best interests at heart at all times. She listened intently to what was important to us, always provided us all of the information we needed to make informed decisions, offered her professional opinion, but never pushed us in any way. Shannon made the process as easy and stress-free as it possibly could be. We are so happy in our new home and even now that the sale is complete Shannon has continued to be a resource when questions have come up in our first few weeks of homeownership. She has been everything we were looking for in a realtor and more! We feel very lucky to have found her and we will certainly be calling her again for any future real estate needs. If you are looking for a great real estate agent, you can't do better than Shannon!

Zillow | Realtor.com | Yelp

How much did that house sell for (and where to buy now)?

There's a little tucked away neighborhood in Oakland that remains a good buy and a great investment opportunity. The bungalow style homes tend to hover around 1,000 square feet with two bedrooms and one bathroom, but if you are looking for an investment, Allendale is where you should look. It will be a few more years (think 5 or so at the rate Oakland is growing) for it to realize its potential, but depending on your holding strategy it could be worth it -- especially if you're an adventurous first time buyer aching to become a homeowner who will live in your first home for the typical 5-7 years. Located adjacent to the thriving Laurel District just on the other side of 580, Allendale sits above Brookdale between High Street and 35th Avenue. This relatively quiet neighborhood of bungalows reaps the benefits of it's flourishing Laurel neighbor while holding lower property values due to elevated crime rates (predominately theft, but you should do your own research if you're curious). This is typical of what we've seen in other areas where people who can't afford to buy in established neighborhoods buy there and begin to plant roots, more deeply investing in their neighborhood; crime is less tolerated and in time it's reduced (think: Temescal, NOBE, and the one-the-brink neighborhood, Bella Vista). It's not for the faint of heart at the early stages, but in a county with an average sales price exceeding $800,000, a charming home for under $350,000 can be a worthy entry point (see 3307 Over Street on the list below).

Coming Soon (Sunday) to a San Francisco Chronicle Near You

Yours truly will be featured for the fifth time in the San Francisco Chronicle's Real Estate Sound Off where the following will likely be edited down to fit in the space allotted. But just for you, here's my full thoughts on paying off your mortgage versus refinancing.

 When considering how to approach the mortgage on your home there are a few things to consider: How long do you plan to live there? What kind of loan do you have and how does it fit into your long term plans? How much equity do you have in the property? What is your interest rate compared to current rates?

Because of the lending fiasco of the early and mid-2000’s many people think that refinancing their home means pulling money out, but that’s not always the case. If your interest rate is higher than the current rates for a comparable loan, why not refinance and reduce your interest rate? As long as the fees to do so don’t outweigh the long-term benefit there’s no reason not to keep more money in your pocket each month. If your plans changed and the length of time you will stay in your home has lengthened (or shortened) making a different loan a better fit for your new plan, talk to a mortgage broker to see if there are ways to lower your monthly payment or restructure your loan for greater long-term stability.

If you decide to pull some money out of your home, carefully consider what that money is going to be put toward. Will you use it to do home improvements and increase the overall value of your home? Like reinvesting dividends, that could be a good use of your money. Finally, if you plan to spend some of your equity but are happy with your loan, consider a home equity line of credit which will preserve your primary loan and won’t draw on your equity until you actually spend the money.

How to refer the right Realtor

With somewhere around 185,000 licensed Realtors in California, you can almost throw a shoe and hit one of us (but please don't). Given that number, the odds are that you personally have a Realtor or two (or five) in your circle. We've all been trained from day one to ask our friends and family for their referrals, but when you know more than one good real estate agent, how do you choose which to refer your friend to? Do you refer them to anyone, or do you end up keeping quiet to avoid causing offense? Here's a simple solution: base your referral on best fit.

Let's look at it from another perspective. Your favorite restaurant is a little Mediterranean place in your neighborhood. You have friends visiting from out of town who ask for a restaurant recommendation, but you know they don't like Mediterranean food. Would you still refer them to your favorite restaurant because you believe it's the best? Hopefully not, you'd be setting them up for disappointment and they might not ask you for another restaurant recommendation. In the same light, you wouldn't recommend a professional to a friend if you know they wouldn't work well together.

In your pool of real estate professionals you know a person's style and personality. Real estate is a personal profession; people invite us into their homes and lives so we can best assist them. Because we spend a lot of time with our clients, the right client-professional fit is important for a successful working relationship and a satisfied client. So when you have the opportunity to refer one of your denizens of Realtor friends to another friend, family member, or acquaintance, consider who would be the best fit.

Other things to consider when referring a Realtor:

Are they a full time professional, or is this a part-time gig?

What is their communication style?

How experienced are they in the industry?

Do they specialize in the target area?

Pragmatics of referring:

People are busy. With the permission of the person who needs help, pass their contact information on to the real estate professional to whom you're referring them. Let us remember to call them so they can focus on other things.

How much did that house sell for?

The volume of closings are down for the week with 36% selling for more than $100k over asking price. In the next couple weeks you can expect similarly reduced closings as we head into the new year anticipating new inventory.

The spring market is the time when new inventory bursts on the market, when the flowers are blooming, the skies are more blue than grey, and the market is primed and ready for movement. This used to happen in late February or early March, however in 2015 we saw the "spring" market begin in late January. I don't think we'll have to wait even that long to see an influx of inventory hit the market in 2016.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, this holiday season has been unseasonably hot with copious buyers competing for dwindling inventory. Those buyers will still be here come spring, in addition to those who sat out the holidays.

If you're thinking about moving in 2016, now is the time to get started making that happen. Don't wait. They say luck is where preparation meets opportunity, set yourself up for a lucky 2016 by calling me now to get your ball rolling before the ball drops for new year's.