Your Real Estate Expert for Berkeley and Beyond
“Marilyn is exceptional. Her knowledge base, enthusiasm for her job, professional ethics, organization, sensitivity to our aesthetic requirements, loyalty and gentle perseverance set her apart.”
-- Bill and Carol Seidel
Marilyn Garcia, PhD
Broker Associate, Realtor®
DRE# 02014153
District Homes
1758 Solano Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94707
Direct:
(510) 390-5406
THE OUTLOOK: North Berkeley, Summer 2019 wrap-up
After a super hot spring 2019, the North Berkeley market settled down somewhat over the summer. Most properties still sold fast and for great prices, but there were a few that took somewhat longer to sell, and average days on the market overall was up a bit to 19 days. Interest rates though are still fantastic — if you’ve been thinking about doing a refinance, now is a great time to call your favorite loan person! There were not a lot of active listings in North Berkeley over the summer (only 23), and correspondingly not a lot of sales (only [...]
THE OUTLOOK: Berkeley Hills, Summer 2019 wrap-up
The market over the summer in the Berkeley hills was quite good. We all know that prices are determined by supply and demand, and both were in our favor. The supply of homes on the market was relatively low. There were 40 sales and 42 active listings in the Berkeley hills over the summer. The number of active listings was substantially lower than the 73 active listings in the spring, and the 68 active listings last summer. At the same time, demand was strong, helped in part by low interest rates, which are back under 4% in many cases. [If [...]
REAL ESTATE ANSWERS: Why do list prices sometimes increase after a property has been on market for a while?
Why do list prices sometimes increase after a property has been on the market for a while? In most parts of the country, properties come on the market, and if they don’t sell after a period of time, motivated sellers will reduce the list price to attract buyers. Around here, if a property is not getting the interest the seller hoped for, sometimes the seller will reduce the list price, but other times the list price will increase. What’s going on? The answer lies in the strategy that was followed in choosing the original list price. In other areas, the [...]
Emergency Alerts
EMERGENCY ALERTS Have you signed up yet for Alameda County emergency alerts? The system is called AC Alert, and it’s very easy to sign up to receive notifications from city and county agencies in the case of an emergency. Just go to ACalert.org online, and you can sign up to receive notifications by voice message, text message and/or email. The City of Berkeley previously used an alert system called BENS, but this system is no longer active, and subscribers to BENS are not automatically signed up for AC Alert. There are other alert systems that have slightly different focuses. I [...]