April 2021

“When you’re 20, you care what everyone thinks, when you’re 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks, when you’re 60, you realize no one was ever thinking about you in the first place.” This quote was attributed to Winston Churchill for some reason, but it turns out he never said it. I don’t know who did, but they were spot on. Is this a modern concern? Or has it remained constant since the beginning of Man? I’ve got money on the latter.

Human nature being what it is, whether in the backs or forefronts of our minds, there are some comparisons being made. If the playing fields were always even, there’d be little reason for conflict, resentment, dissatisfaction, depression.

In the real estate business, we are confronted with “haves and have nots”, everyday. Living and working in one of the richest markets in the country, it continues to astound me how much wealth resides in the Bay Area. One minute we’re with clients who can pay millions of dollars for a home in cash, and the next, on our way past numerous homeless encampments, we’re meeting with clients who are scraping together every last dime for a starter one bedroom condo.

From a daily blog I read called “Daily Stoic”, “It’s easy not to feel blessed. We look readily for what we don’t have rather than what we do. We see people who are taller, who look better, who have more and feel deprived. Why couldn’t I have been born rich? Why couldn’t my company have gotten that contract? Why can’t I play in the NFL? But, of course, as we are feeling sorry for ourselves, we’re not noticing that the people who were born rich, who did get the contract, who are in the NFL, are focusing on what they don’t have, too. Why is Dad never around? Why couldn’t I get paid more? Why didn’t I make the Pro Bowl?” What a miserable way to live. And how unnecessary! Today, you need to stop and look at what you have, not at what you lack. Count where you have been lucky, look at what has gone your way. Consider how many people who would kill to be where you are, to have been given the life that you have. You are blessed. Don’t forget it. Don’t be unhappy.”

That’s where my mind was, today. Regardless of where you happen to be, on the front end, middle or back end of life, I think it’s wise to not only focus on simple gratitudes, but to stop comparing. (That means YOU too, Derek, lol.)

Q1 is typically a slow quarter, its sales and sales prices mostly reflecting activity during the mid-winter holiday “doldrums”, as the market gradually wakes up in the new year. But business went crazy this past winter — sales peaked for the year in Q4 — and first quarter activity was far higher than Q1 2020.

Interest rates, though still extremely low by historical standards, have climbed 20% since their all-time low in January.

DID YOU KNOW? The Newly rich are an important demographic real estate marketing circles: So what are they finding desirable these days? In San Francisco, newly rich techies are migrating from modern “white box” apartments in the neighborhood of SoMa to traditional prewar “trophy homes” in more established areas such as Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Pacific Heights and Sea Cliff. They seem to be excited by historic mansions with elaborate moldings and architecture…..In Manhattan, one of the most successful new developments on the Upper East Side is THE BENSON (marketed by Alexa Lambert of COMPASS) that boasts traditional leaning architecture by Robert A.M. Stern who is also responsible for the record-shattering pricing achieved at 220 Central Park South, the most expensive condo in the US.

DID YOU KNOW? Commodities prices are soaring and impacting the cost of building homes: Prices for granite, insulation, concrete blocks, and common brick have all pushed to records in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s producer-price index. Drywall and ceramic tiles are short of records but have also climbed. Oil, lumber is up dramatically as the economy rebounds and massive savings and cheap money, and stimulus money are put towards buying and renovating homes….Building supply chains were not geared for this massive recovery and OPEC cut back oil production in 2020…oil is in paint and plastics and LOTS of other stuff we use to build. This will impact the price of all new homes including rentals

DID YOU KNOW? Fran Flanagan from COMPASS Brentwood CA shared this interesting perspective on how far we have come as Women’s History Month draws to a close. Let’s take a moment to celebrate how far women have come in terms of purchasing and leasing real estate. Fran was only 22 when she obtained her real estate license in 1972. Her first deals representing buyers were unbelievable…truly:

* Lenders would not accept a woman’s salary to qualify for a loan.

* The income of married women counted only as 50% of what they actually earned.

* One lender actually asked for a letter from a woman’s doctor, confirming that she was “on birth control,” to qualify her salary at all.

* If a woman signed a lease, her husband, brother, father, or son had to co-sign.

* Women had no separate credit at all.

* In 1974, the Federal Credit Act was passed. No lender could deny equal credit to any person because of their sex or marital status. A woman could buy a property on her own, obtain a credit card on her own, and qualify for a loan on her own. This was only 47 years ago. With one change in one law, the world of real estate changed forever.