Roadmap with Irina - April 2023

Hi Iren, 

In Santa Clara County, the median single-family home cost $1,682,500 and sold in 9 days for 103% of the list price based on 642 sales in March 2023.

- Inventory was 610 up 2% from February 2022 and up 3% from March 2022​​​​​​
- Number of new listings for the month of March was up 27% over February, and down -41% from March of last year
- Closed sales were up 80% from February from 357 to 642, closed sales down -34% from March 2022

The real estate market is changing very quickly. I sold a house in Sunnyvale recently, and before I put that house on the market, all other sold houses received around 6-8 offers and were sold over the asking price. However, when I put my listing on the market, although I had super busy open houses, I only received 2 offers but managed to negotiate the price higher and sold over asking as well. Two houses in the same neighborhood that went on the market after mine received 1-2 offers and sold either at the asking price or below. Buyers have a lot of fear and even if they like the house and are financially ready, they are not rushing into buying and overpaying.

But it also depends on the price point. The most active market is in the price range under 1 mil because it is the most affordable. The 1-2 mil price range is a stable market with multiple offers and solid buyers. But most buyer’s hesitancy is on the market over 2 mil: higher monthly payments and more fears about economics.

April is almost over and in a couple of weeks I will update you on the real estate market. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me. I am always here for you!

If you are thinking about buying or selling, let’s connect, talk about your options, run some numbers, and see if this is the right time for you. Call me, I am always here for you.

Everyone needs some daily quiet time just for themselves. Recently, I had the luxury of staying home alone for 3 full days! It was wonderful!
 
My older daughter had the opportunity to go to Japan with her best friend and a group of teenagers for a week. I was super happy for her: I don’t know when we will be able to go to Japan as a family, and we don’t speak the language, so she had the perfect companions to visit and experience the country together. She is having a great time there trying new food, visiting historical and cultural places, and seeing all the beautiful sites that Japan has.
 
The rest of the family went to Hawaii for a week. My mother-in-law is turning 75 years old soon, and my husband wanted to take his mom on a special trip for her birthday. My youngest daughter decided that she will be the perfect addition to the group, so the three of them went together. According to their photos and messages, they are having a blast in Maui, and I am very happy for them as well.
 
And I happily stayed home alone. Since I got married, I’ve always had someone around, and I need my time alone, even just for a few minutes a day, to relax and regroup. Although I still have all our pets to take care of, it doesn’t bother me; they don’t make a lot of noise and don’t talk back, so it doesn’t count. I didn’t do anything crazy: no parties, loud music, midnight movie watching, or anything else. I still worked every day, made calls, met my clients, went to meetings, worked on marketing, etc. But I started the day alone and I ended the day alone. My cleaners did a deep cleaning of the house a few days before everyone left, and the house remained clean for the whole week! It’s so cool that I could find everything exactly where I left it! I enjoyed every minute of being alone because I knew that it would end soon. I had time to read a book without being interrupted. I thought about important things that really matter to me, but I was always busy to think about them. I analyzed my work and made some changes that will, hopefully, help me to be more organized. And ended the day off by knitting as much as I wanted. In other words, I was both very productive and relaxed.
 
So, it turned out that when everyone was getting new experiences and impressions somewhere else, I had my own vacation time and discoveries right in my own house. Tomorrow morning, I am picking up my daughter at the airport, and in a few days the rest of the family returns, so we will be back together and will have so much to share. I am not sure if the kids will understand that being alone wasn’t boring at all, but they will get it later. I hope that you have the same experience as I had at least once, so you could understand the luxury of being alone.