Roadmap with Irina - September 2022

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Hi <<First Name>>,

The school year is in a full swing, and I wish all students a successful school year, great teachers, new friends, and lots of positive impressions. I hope that you had a wonderful summer and now are back to your busy schedule!

Real estate market activity continued to slow down in August. 945 single-family homes sold in August compared to 1,094 sales in July of this year, and for condos, the number of sales went down from 443 in July to 393 in August. The median sale price for single-family homes in August went down from $1.72 mil in July to $1.62 mil, which is a 5.8% decrease. For condos and townhouses, it went from $946K to $900K for the same time, which is 4.9%. This just tells that it was a normal summer with people leaving for vacation to travel, so potential buyers were busy having fun with family and friends. There was a noticeable up-pick of buyer’s activity in the middle of August, and I hope this is the beginning of the August-October bump of an active market.

Looks like people are getting used to the higher interest rates and feel more comfortable resuming their house hunting. Buyers don’t have as much competition now as they had a few months ago, and they have great opportunities to buy around the asking price. Is it the buyer’s market then? Not quite. Inventory is still low. The more homes are on the market, the more balanced it is. Let’s watch the market and see what the rest of the year will look like.

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.

Questions? Comments? Contact me!

WASTE CHALLENGE

We all have chemicals in our homes that do not serve us anymore and are harmful to the environment, but we cannot just through them into the garbage, they need to be disposed of properly. There are a few places in Bay Area where you can drop off your hazardous waste. I usually go to the San Jose one.

What items are accepted here?
- Flammable (dry or wet paint, petroleum-based products, polishes, gasoline)
- Corrosive (acids, bases, batteries, drain clog removers)
- Toxics: poisons, pesticides, gardening chemicals, ammonia, solvents)
- Reactives (pool chemicals, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, perchlorates)
- Misc. (propane, helium, small oxygen tanks, smoke detectors, fluorescent lamps, medications, sharps).

The process is very simple:
1. Collect all the items that you want to get rid of and put them in plastic bags or boxes.
2. Make an appointment with the waste center here.
3. Put your bags and boxes with the hazardous items in the trunk of your car and come to the waste site in time.
4. It’s a drive-through experience. You just show your id there and open the trunk. The personnel will take the items out, and you can go back to your hazardous-free home.
It’s super easy! You feel good about taking care of your home and the environment.

Get your kids involved! It’s the perfect time to show them that you care about the planet and establish good habits.

I challenge you to do this. Take a picture of yourself or your family taking hazardous waste to the collection site and send it to me. I will send you a gift in return. Yes! I will send you a gift for cleaning your own house! I will wait for your pictures till the end of October, so you have plenty of time. I really encourage everyone to participate in my challenge. There is nothing to lose, so JUST DO IT!

Looking forward to seeing your pictures!

PLUS SIZE ME

We all know that for overall healthy people there are just two reasons why they gain weight: it's either eating too much or exercising too little. I am guilty of both. 😊

All my life my weight went up and down depending on my lifestyle. I remember I lost about 40 lbs during my first year at university away from my family. I was healthy and felt great, but my mom cried when I came home for a school break and started a “recovery mission”, so at least half of those 40 lbs returned by the end of the summer.

At the beginning of covid, when things were uncertain and worrying, all of us started eating and drinking more, and I did the same, so one day I couldn’t fit in my favorite jeans. Around that time, I met my friend (hey, Karina!) at a grocery store and she looked fabulous! Slim, happy, radiating positive energy to everyone. I wanted to look as good as her! She told me about a special nutrition system that she followed, and I decided to give it a try. I signed up for that and within 4 months I lost 20 lbs eating less and not feeling hungry at all. That was so cool! I was light-weighted, full of energy, wearing all my favorite clothes, and feeling great! I managed to keep the weight for a year until I relaxed and went back to my bad habits. ☹ I know, I have 3 kids, busy schedule, and I am a good cook when I actually cook, but these are all just excuses for being lazy.

To be clear, I have nothing against overweight or slim people. After all, I love them for their personalities and not the size of their pants. I just know that I will be happier, better-looking, feeling more energetic and positive if I drop a few pounds (or more than a few). Sometimes I don’t feel motivated at all to exercise in the morning or stop eating after 8 pm. My daughter once told me that we will not feel motivated all the time, but we need to be disciplined and do the right things if we really want to reach our goals. Wow! The sport definitely taught her a lot! I guess I don’t have any other choice than to get back to my diet; small plates and cups, morning exercises, and discipline. At my desk, I have a picture of me in my best shape, so I have evidence of my own success that I just need to repeat, stabilize, and maintain it. Please do me a favor, remind me from time to time about my commitment, it will keep me accountable. And feel free to kick me in the pants if I am not doing it. Hope to share my great results with you soon!
Stay healthy!

Always yours,
Irina

Roadmap with Irina - September 2022

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Roadmap with Irina - September 2022

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Irina Bondar | CA DRE# 02051897

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