Last week in my blog and newsletter I wrote about rural neighborliness. I must have touched a nerve - I have received more feedback on that topic than on any of my previous posts/newsletters and all of it has been positive. It feels really good to know that people are reading and thinking about these subjects. My favorite response came from one of my neighbors when I lived further out Greenwood Ridge, closer to Elk, Michael Koepf. Michael wrote to me his own memory of neighborliness:
I remember when I first moved to Greenwood Ridge in 1972 and started to build my house. This guy drives up our dusty road in an old beat up jeep; stops at our building site, and as the dust clears introduces himself in a cheerful and loud voice as Francis Fashauer. "Welcome" he shouted with a smile as he handed Mary and I a big bag of fresh vegetables from his garden, "I'm your neighbor."
Yes, that was my dad. I'm sure a few of my other neighbors from where I grew up have similar stories to tell - and that's really where I learned my own notions of neighborliness. He was a very friendly, outgoing person and I'm sure that is at least partly where I get my own love of meeting new people.
A few weeks ago three members of the Coastal Mendocino Association of REALTORS(R) went to Sacramento to attend the California Association of REALTORS(R) Spring Business Meeting and Legislative Day. This is a chance for REALTORS(R) to get together and discuss issues concerning real estate in California. Some of the information they brought back I found interesting and thought some of you might also. In a mid-year update, speakers at the meeting suggested that we are past the bottom in almost all sectors, that while Notice of Default filings are down, distressed property sales remain and probably will continue to do so for some time and that we are seeing a historic increase in the affordability of homes. Also of interest - prices throughout California have declined 58% from the peak in 2005 to the trough in Spring 2009;our local area, which is considered Northern Wine Country, declined 57.6% in the same time period. Interestingly, prices have started to increase, 14.2%, in our area (Northern Wine Country) from Spring 2009 to Spring 2010. Overall, speakers seemed to think financing is continuing to be a problem, with the higher end being especially constrained by the lack of jumbo financing.
I find most of that information encouraging and I think that buyers are starting to realize we are past the bottom; the overall consensus in my office is that buyers are coming back. So if you've been thinking about putting your property on the market, now would be a good time. Please feel free contact me if you have any questions about any of this or if I can provide market information about your property individually.