Are You Gonna List Or Buy With Me In Fall?

With the Feds deciding last week not to raise the interest rates, buyers are very motivated to go "House Haunting" during October and find their future home to fry the Thanksgiving Turkey in.

There are plenty of treats in this goolish Fall scenario for the seller as well - less competition on the MLS! VA and FHA approved buyers tend to concentrate on the Fall season to get their offers accepted rather than waiting for the next Spring bidding wars.  Some of my most successful open houses happened during Fall season. 

How inviting can we make a home look just by staging a few pumpkins at the door step or on the fire place?

I would love to make a dirt cake with extra big worms in it and hold a twilight open house for you on Halloween, costumes are welcome, and we don't mind to receive a scary high offer from a gool or goblin, aren't we?

Let's talk and get the listing appointment scheduled to be ready for Halloween. I swing on my broom to visit you TODAY.  

Email: silviabichler@kw.com or txt: 408.706.0671

Here are the Gilroy Stats from Week 38, 
the force is still with us in Silicon Valley South:
1 Single family homes currently listed as bank owned.
11 Single family homes currently listed as short sales.
39 Single family homes are currently overpriced.
171 Is the average days on market of overpriced homes.
85 Single family homes sold in the past 90 days.
83 Single family homes in escrow (8 short sales).
183 Single family homes listed for sale.
$653,000 Median sale price for single family homes in past 90 days.

This Month in Real Estate - Gilroy Edition June 2015

I truly appreciate my fan club who reminds me every month to publish the Gilroy edition of "This Month in Real Estate." Here are the June 2015 numbers fresh out of the MLS oven.

Remember, the June numbers reflect the strong real estate market of May 2015. Starting Memorial weekend I have noticed a gradually softening Gilroy real estate market which will be reflected in next month's edition.
Looking back to 2014, the Gilroy number of homes sold in June compared to May dropped by 20 percent. Will we see the same scenario again? 

This week's selling pressure in the mortgage market has largely been created by mortgage investor profit - taking in front of Friday's May nonfarm payroll figure. The majority of analysts are currently projecting the May headline non farming report will show the economy created 225,000 new jobs nationwide. The national jobless rate is expected to continue to hover at 5.4% while hourly earnings are projected to edge 0.2% higher. These numbers are already well priced in the mortgage market. Mortgage update provided by Turnkey Mortgage Solutions .

May Day May Day - This Month in Real Estate - Gilroy Edition

Thinking of Mooooving?

Thinking of #retiring and #moving to a place with living costs below the national average and home prices in the $200,000-s? Abelene TX for example? Forbes Magazine just stated this city as the number one of the 25 Best Places to Retire.

How Fast Are Selling Homes In California?

For Silicon Valley homebuyers it means, "Don't sleep on it if you want to sleep in it." Homes sell faster than hot dogs around here, the majority of them are less than the average Californian 30 - 45 days on the market.
Thank you Tony Garcia for the great info.

This Month in Real Estate - April 2015 - Gilroy Edition

The Neighbor's Grass Is Always Greener...

...but is it also more drought resistant than yours or even fake? This is the question of the spring season in California because, and let's face it, we will be confronted with another drought and city ordinances which will limit the watering of lawns.

Those of you who reject switching to an attractive desert landscape theme with succulents and nopales and are not thrilled with fake grass, should wise up on drought-resistant grass seeds which are summer dormant and require only little or even no watering during the hot season.

Thirsty Bluegrass, which 95% of American lawns consist of, is not the best choice unless you live in a climate that gets sufficient rainfall.

According to a NASA study on lawns, 50,000 square miles of grass covers the US, which it says should be turfgrass to reduce watering, which the EPA estimates accounts for one third of Americans' water usage.

I found the following suggestions at Treehuger.com - great alternatives in a time when water should be conserved where ever and when ever we can.

Zoysia grass
Flexible. Loves sun and shade. Slow growing. Tolerates traffic. Produces lush carpet. El Toro, Empire, Jamur, and Palisades most drought-resistant.
Bermuda grass
Loves the sun, responds well to watering, good traffic tolerance, but needs lots of mowing. Many varieties are drought-tolerant. Best in sub-tropical southern zones.
St. Augustine grass
Floratam is most drought-tolerant variety but generally it prefers dappled shade. Got trees? Ask your local municipality if it's giving them away. LA gives up to seven but palms don't count. Water-wise arbors here are crape myrtle, London plane and silk tree.
Buffalo grass
Midwest prairie native needs full sun but so-so with traffic. Warm season but tolerates cold. Low rainfall and slow grower. Most are drought-tolerant.
Bahia grass
Decent choice for infertile soil. Needs full sun. Course but thick covering.
Fescues
Cool season grasses for more northern climates. Absorbs water well after drought.

Establish your turf
Determine if cool or warm season grass is best for your location. Keep in mind, not all varieties of warm season species are drought-friendly. Check with a local nursery or master gardener for natives. The key is deep roots and deep watering. Over-watering can damage roots.
Be a conservative when watering your yard, even if you're growing food, try drip irrigation, and harvest rainwater instead of using the tap.

Those other things to do: make it a smaller patch of lawn by surrounding the plot with drought-tolerant plants and ground covers. Might be a good time for thyme, and at the risk of another pun, think sedum.