When It Rains, It Pours

In real estate it's always feast or famine. Summer is up, winter is down. This, however, is a weird year. Interest rates keep going up. 30 year fixed loans hit 7%. Ouch. Prices are getting squishy here in the Bay Area. There's a house around the corner from us that was listed one or two months ago for $1.4M. They just dropped it $200,000 to $1.2M. There are many places in this country where $200,000 will buy you a mighty fine house, and here in Los Gatos, that is just the spread on the *original* list price and the *current* list price. It's just mind boggling.

I've lived here just over six years, and I still have what we in the industry call "sticker shock".

We rent, mind you. No way in hell I'd even want to consider the $15,000 a year tax payments on that house. That's a house payment in some parts. And here? That's what you pay for the privilege of owning a house, and a mortgage.

Yeah, it's "all a write off". I know that more than anyone. But that $15,000 a year would be 5 trips to Paris for J and I. It would be a new car. It would be another IVF with Dr. Moustache, or 4 IVFs with the nice folks in Jersey. So many more things. Things that have so much more value to us.

But hell am I digressing from where I was going with all of this.

Despite how utterly wishy washy the entire real estate market is getting, I have suddenly found myself overloaded with clients. I mean, it's like near to being out of control. Just today I landed two new sellers who want to list with me. Unprovoked. Unsolicited. They called ME. Whoa. What the hell is going on here? I haven't been marketing myself, cold calling, door knocking, or anything of the like. Now I am appreciative as all hell for the business. It was a very slow winter and spring for me and I've got some catching up to do, but when things suddenly start falling into place like this it does give one pause.

Anyways, I am going to be off riding this wave for as long as I can. See what comes of it. I ordered a shitload of new marketing materials from the folks at Vista Print tonight in order to try to keep the momentum going.

We're heading to Nogales next week on Friday for our second LIT, and our 6 year anniversary, so until then I'm going to have my head buried in work. I'll get to do some breathing on our short trip to Nogales. Hopefully all this ass breaking work will pay off. And soon.