We are spoiled in Marin County. It felt like April driving around looking at new houses today in Southern Marin. The sun was shining, birds chirping, laughter. Once again, Mill Valley did not disappoint with warm, yet brisk weather. Perfect Patagonia vest weather for the Mill Valley locals.

Enough silliness. Here are my rankings for the new Mill Valley inventory:

1. 8 East Dr - 3 BD/1 BA - The quintessential Boyle Park home. Extremely charming, well updated, and accessible from any popular Mill Valley hangout (including tennis courts in your front yard). The downside? Very limited parking. $1,395,000.

2. 28 Bay Vista - 4 BD/3 BA - The views alone are worth a million bucks. Add to that a very spacious, tasteful, and…

Our associate Lucille Rosetti (info@thebereaved.org) recently sent us a wonderful article to use on our site. Great content. Enjoy!

Photo by Pixabay

There are many reasons a person might decide to move after the loss of a loved one. Maybe your loved one passed away in your home. Maybe the memories there are too painful to bear. Or, maybe you lost an income along with the death and you find yourself needing to downsize or move closer to family. Whatever the reason, rebuilding your life and making a major move should be as stress-free as you can possibly make it.

Moving with children

If children are involved, it makes matters a little more complicated. If your move is happening during the school year, that can make it even trickier. But…

Keeping Current Matters has a very helpful blog if you are interested in keeping up with another reliable real estate source. Today, they came out with an extremely helpful infographic on Millenial buying behavior. Enjoy!

A little bit of a drizzle didn’t stop the Narodny Team from seeing the fresh listings today. The market is dangerously thirsty for new inventory. Finally, we are seeing signs of supply increasing after the holiday drought. With 6 new listings in San Rafael becoming available in the past week, we sincerely hope this trend continues to create a more level playing field for today’s buyers.

Of the new San Rafael inventory I toured today, here is how I rank them from a value perspective (bang for your buck, mass appeal, resale potential, etc). See embedded links for pictures:

1. 121 Kinross Dr - Okay, okay, yes it’s the most expensive on this list. However, this house embodies some of the qualities that are so rare in today’s Marin inventory - big…

Although you should probably keep your distance from anyone that says they can predict the market perfectly, there are certain financial indicators that can help forecast buyer and seller behavior and its effect on home prices. The new tax law has everyone on edge. No one knows what this law will do to buyer demand or inventory levels. However, Keeping Current Matters and CoreLogic have done an amazing job compiling data into two infographics that will help your everyday consumer understand its effects. 

Predictions on 2018 prices without new tax law enacted:

Adjusted predictions with new tax laws enforced:

 With or without a new tax code, appreciation is in site. With continued low rates, it is still an extremely good time to buy or…

Multiple offer scenarios are extremely stressful. The process is saturated with uncertainty and frustration. If you are planning to submit an offer with a pool of others, identifying the right price to get the house is very difficult. You don’t want to overpay, and you definitely don’t want to lose out by a hair.

The thinking process is different if you aren't emotionally attached to the house in question. For this exercise, let's assume you really want this one. This is your baby and you’ll stretch as far as your financial comfort zone allows.

Picture a price in your head that you can see yourself offering. To manage your expectations properly, here are two future hypothetical scenarios you want to avoid as it relates to your offer price:

• …

Most sellers have strong opinions on allocating money towards staging costs.Is placing some furniture in the home really going to make a difference in the sale? Are those miniature soaps and potpourri going to bring in offers? Keeping Current Matters has developed a helpful infographic to tell us how important staging can be:

You can find more info on National Association of Realtor's profile on home staging.

On a personal note, staging is usually effective in luxury markets. Staging will fulfill a void in a buyer's imagination and recognize a space's potential. Giving buyers the ability to visualize themselves in a beautifully furnished space will translate to a higher value for the home. For a free consultation and see if your home would…