Once a quarter I publish a newsletter for my clients and mail them a hardcopy. If you'd like to be on my mailing list, please email me your address. If not, you can read my latest newsletter below.

Dear Friends,

I don’t know why I forget about June gloom every year until June arrives with its on shore breezes and plenty of fog.  I have some friends who live near Sacramento and they’re always glad to come to the City at this time of year to get a dose of outdoor a/c.  Do any of you actually have indoor a/c?  I think I’ve sold one house in 30 years that does.  Think of all the money we’re saving!

On a practical note, I have reminded you in the past of the value of having a regular pest report done on your properties.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take my own advice and had some rather expensive dry rot repairs recently.  You can have a professional look at your property for around $400.  It is money well spent and could potentially save you thousands, not to mention the messy repairs.

I hope you are all well.  Thank you again for your referrals, they are a great compliment to me.  Please call me if I can be of service to you or your friends.
Have a great summer!

Sincerely,
Tom Biss

Market Update

The spring market has been extremely robust.  Properties of every kind (condos, single family homes), in every neighborhood have done very well.  Of course, price was the defining factor.  Overpriced properties have not sold and there are more than a few properties that have been on the market for months with no offers.  Many of those properties were purchased for high prices when the market was appreciating dramatically and there seemed to be no end in sight.  Of course, we know now that there was an end, and that was in the fall of 2009 when the stock market tanked.  It has been understandably difficult for those sellers to accept that their properties are worth less today than what they paid for them, but they are.  I don’t have a good answer for them, except to hope that the market will eventually come back to that level. How long that will take is only a guess, but most experts think the market will stay flat until the economy improves. We saw strong confidence in the economy in the beginning of the year and I think that fueled the real estate market.  But both seem to have stalled a bit.  The European debt crisis, and I might add our own, is cause for concern.  But interest rates are still historically inexpensive, the Bay Area economy is still fairly strong, and there are still many buyers out there. They are looking for value however and price remains the defining factor!

Thomas Biss
Senior Marketing Representative
Sotheby's International Real Estate
117 Greenwich St.
San Francisco, Ca.  94111
415.901.1776