Picture yourself in an airplane flying above a popular beach. When you look out your window you may see people wading in the water. From this vantage point, you have a general idea of they type of beach-day those in the ocean may be enjoying. The water is very blue. The sun is out. People appear to be having a great time. You could certainly relay a very vivid description of what you were witnessing.
Take that same scenario, only this time, picture yourself wading in the water. You see many of the same things that an airplane seat would offer you. However, this time the details are crystal clear. As the waves come in they lift your feet off the bottom of the ocean floor and you gently regain your footing once the wave rolls through.
The two examples above are an excellent analogy of how buyers, sellers and agents attack the San Carlos real estate market. Occupying that airplane seat can be quite costly. You can take the seat on the airplane, or you can feel the peaks and valleys while wading in the water. Our market is hypersensitive and if you are not paying attention to each and every property that sells and the conditions underlying its sale, you will be at a disadvantage.
Let me give you a few examples:
Example #1
On Monday morning, Buyer #1 sees a San Carlos property come over his automated MLS search. The property is in a great neighborhood, seems well priced and Buyer #1 would really like to see it over the upcoming weekend. Buyer #1 is diligent and has a good grasp on the San Carlos housing market. However, he does not realize that he is not as educated on the market as he believes and his airplane seat is about to cost him.
Buyer #2 also has a solid grasp on the market. However, Buyer #2 is acutely aware of just how tight the inventory has become and the price ranges which have a target on them. Buyer #2 has been wading in the water for some time. He and his agent are on it. Buyer #2 heads over to the house immediately after work and starts to look at disclosures first thing on Tuesday. Buyer #2 gets his financing together and puts an offer together. It’s a good thing they acted so quickly because the listing agent decided to take offers on Friday and the house will never make it to an open house over the weekend. Buyer #2′s diligence works and he obtains the property. Wading in the water has paid off. Buyer#1 ends up confused as to why the home is not open on the weekend.
This scenario, just happened in San Carlos and it is the perfect example of the difference between having a good understanding of the market and being totally entrenched in it.
Example #2
A seller has decided to sell her home. After meeting with her real estate agent, the seller tells the agent that she would like to put the home on the market in about 6 weeks. Luckily for this seller, her agent does not have an airplane seat. The agent tells her that based on what has happened over the last two weeks in her neighborhood, it may be beneficial to bring the property to market much sooner and try and take advantage of a shortage of inventory and possibly gain some interest from some of the buyers who just lost out in a multiple offer situation in her neighborhood. Pushing the property to market in just ten days was stressful, but the payoff was huge. Eight offers find their way into the seller’s hands and wading in the water has just paid off handsomely.
Similar to Example #1 above, this set of circumstances recently occurred as well.
Analysis
Graphs, data, diligence and planning are all important parts to real estate. However, at the end of the day there is also a certain “feel” aspect to real estate and hypersensitive markets such as San Carlos. That “feel” aspect is much more easily managed when you are in the water versus in the airplane.
*Note: neither of the above examples included my clients.
Bob,
What is the relevance of Zillow’s stats in your view?
Hi GG,
We get the Zillow question a few times a week. I think Zillow works very well in certain towns, however, San Carlos is not one of them. San Carlos is an area where just one block can make a significant difference on price. Additionally, in order for Zillow to really give accurate stats for San Carlos, many people would have to take ownership of their home on the site and update the variables accordingly. Zillow works very well in planned communities, where the houses, square footage and location are all very similar and can be compared more easily.
Thanks for the post.
Bob