Now Is the Time…

Those of us who inhabit the Upper Midwest have a rich cultural history, defined largely by the extreme bipolarities of weather we must endure–the sweltering humidity of our Augusts, the -60 degree wind chills of February, and of course the more moderate and desirable springs and autumns. So not surprisingly, many of us are more than familiar with the innate desire to some day move out of this area to a fairer and finer life in California, where the weather is (for the most part) warm, sunny, and consistent.

Well, according to an article on InmanNews.com, the median price of homes the southern parts of the Golden State are dropping and sales are down.

Now could be the perfect time to turn your California Dreamin’ into California Livin’.

It’s not just SoCal that has prices plummeting. Median prices on homes across the San Francisco Bay Area have dropped to $548,000, down from $620,000 a year earlier.

Maybe you don’t want to deal with the overcrowded highways and smoggy skies of SoCal. And you can’t afford the costs of living in the Bay Area. Maybe you want a secluded spot where you can enjoy pristine mountain ranges, beaches that are clean and unpopulated, and the stunning magnificence of the Redwood Forest. If that sounds like you (and you don’t mind rainy winters), you might consider living in Humboldt County. The heart of it is arguably in Arcata, a progressive town (possibly the country’s most progressive town) that plays host to a small state college and a legion of retired hippies. The county’s largest city, Eureka, boasts a modest 28,000 people. The nearest metropolitan areas are Portland, San Francisco, and Sacramento, all about 5-6 hours of driving on winding, two-lane switchbacks. So if you’re not into big city life and want to be surrounded by natural beauty in its greatest form, it might be the place for you.

You can read the whole article on dropping home prices in California here.

Market for Your Market

Ideas on optimizing your target market for the current market conditions

The market is in bad shape today. But not surprisingly, some markets are in worse shape than others. For whatever reasons, Realtors often find themselves stuck working in their market area for better or worse. But if you are one of the thousands of Realtors stuck in a poor market, don’t worry. There are ways to make lemonade out of even the sourest of lemons.

 

For example, let’s take San Bernardino and Riverside counties in Southern California. An article from Entrepeneur.com by Danielle Babb considered this area one of the worst in the country for buying homes. She cites this metro area as one of the top three worst for foreclosures in the country. Home prices are plummeting and jobs in the area are scarce.

 

What would you do if you were Realtor in this area? Pack up the office and move back to Los Angeles? Maybe. But a less drastic measure would be curtailing your overall marketing to focus on a more specific demographic of home buyers; in this case, retirees. Falling home prices means it’s more affordable, they don’t need a bustling job market, and since they’re retiring, your clients should be less concerned with the value of their home in a year or two than they are with location and comfort. The area is jam packed with upscale country clubs, golf courses, fine wining and dining, and casinos. The weather is hot and dry year round, which many elderly people crave, and since they’re retired, they don’t need to worry about job scarcity.

 

Of course there are some areas which offer very little to potential home buyers, like Detroit. The job market there has been on the decline since long before the housing bubble, the economy took (and continues to take) a huge hit from the loss of jobs in the motor companies, the weather is atrocious, and the area is overall quite depressed. Admittedly, there isn’t much advice one can give Realtors in this market except to “pack up and move.”

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