Zoom-Zoom

While sitting in my office the other day I saw a flash of kaleidoscopic color wiz by my window. One, two three, four...12 in all, single file, like ducks in a row, or birds in flight. There they were again. The Majestic Bikers of Marin!

Dressed head to toe in peacock blue, red, white and blue, neon yellow, limeade green...you get the picture. They are all stately, tall and buff. Manly specimens in all their glory strutting their way through the streets and hills of Marin, some solely, but usually in large groups like knights on horses. They are a powerful and mighty group. They have their own separate bike lanes without potholes, are given the right of way at yield signs, have their own coalition called the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, special clubs, free bike parking at local events, and recently I noticed that they have their own free bike repair stop at the new Whole Foods Market in Mill Valley.  

Now, I could join the jealous complainers in their cars who hate to get caught behind these people, who if they weren't in PC Marin would likely happily run them all off the road. But I actually enjoy watching them ride by in their padded-butt Swobo shorts and candy apple red Sidi shoes. I especially like it when I am waiting at a red light next to one and I can sneak a peek to see who it is. Do I know them? Is it Levi or Lance? More often than not it's a white haired 50-something guy camouflaged as a Euro athlete. Good for him! I should be out there instead of driving!

So, on this day I went home and was sitting in my kitchen thinking about these road warriors when I turned around and exclaimed, "YOU'RE THE GUY!" as in walked my son Damon, dressed head to toe in cycling regalia.

Cycling Resources in Mill Valley:

Event: Mill Valley Bike Swap

Camp: Mt. Tam Bikes Summer Camp

Store: Studio Velo (247 Shoreline Highway)

Store: Tam Bikes (357 Miller Ave

Store: Above Category (228B E Blithedale)

Are Two Heads Better Than One?

In Real Estate there is a Beast plaguing buyers and sellers that I like to call "The Two Headed Dragon."

 

He stands on their shoulders, weighing heavily. Out of one fire breathing mouth he roars, "You can't buy until you sell!" And out of the other hissing mouth he spits, "You can't sell until you buy!"

He flies circles around the Buyer and Sellers head, causing them to become dizzy as he spouts stats and opinions on the market picked up from "experts," news outlets, friends, neighbors and the cashier at the pet food store.

"The market is great! Buy now!"

"The market is in crisis. Don't do anything!"

"It's a buyers' market!"

"It's a sellers' market!"

"There's nowhere to go but up!"

"The market is spiraling downwards!"

The Dragon's taunts consist of one other line: What if? What if you find a new house, but you can't sell your current house? What if you sell your current house, but can't find a new house? What if you can't qualify or afford your dream house? What if you put a price on your current house, but no one wants to pay it? What if you just wait until the perfect time comes? What if the perfect time already came and went?

What the Buyer and Seller will find is that they've let the Dragon bully and Whatiff them out of one of the best opportunities to buy and sell at the same time in Marin County that I have ever seen.

Do you have a Dragon on your shoulders weighing you down? If so, what’s your biggest concern?

How's the Market?

The other day someone poked their head in the door at my office and with a smile that was a frown turned upside down, squeaked, "How's the Market?" There it was again. The dreaded question, like a mosquito buzzing around my head in the dark. 

Well, what would my answer be this time? I sized him up and thought maybe he would be the analytical type and I could impress him with my "up to the minute" market statistics, bar graphs, and colored pie charts. Or, maybe he just wanted me to wow him with my best professional opinion based on over 25 years in the business, backed up by the professional opinions spouted in the IJ, of course. Or, wait a minute! He could be a potential seller interviewing me for his spectacular new listing! Or one of those coveted pre-approved buyers just waiting to find the perfect house, which of course only I happen to know about. What to do...

I know. I could cover all of those scenarios with a one word answer: "Great!" 

And that would be the simple truth if you are a realistic buyer or seller.

But a blanket statement on the market is never one-size-fits-all. While external factors such as supply and demand, prices, and interest rates dictate the feasibility of buying or selling a home, personal factors ultimately determine the state of the market and if now is the right time for YOU to buy or sell: are you in a place in your life where you need to downsize? Do you have a growing family that needs more space? Were you just relocated for a new job? Do you want to be closer to family? Would you prefer to have your cash in equity? Are you pursuing a lifestyle change? 

If now is the time, you’re in luck, because the external market factors are quite attractive. Interest rates have been hovering around all-time lows, there are many homes for sale at reasonable prices in Marin, and many buyers are out there looking for the perfect house. We’ve seen the return of some multiple offers, cash deals and quick closings.

No one has a crystal ball to predict when the “perfect” moment is to maximize value. But, as I told the inquiring mind in my office, right now the market in Marin County is just plain “great!”

How does the market look in your eyes? I'd love to hear in the comments below.

Just bring your salt shaker into your garden

Everything is Green. Everything is pure. Everything is home-grown in downtown Mill Valley, or so it seems. People pass by my office with their "all natural" baked goodies, solar cooked pizzas from Stefano’s (the only solar powered pizzeria in the US, mind you), and freshly hand squeezed fruit smoothies all day long. Now, I find this an interesting contrast to when I worked at the Strawberry Frank Howard Allen office where cars were lined up and down the street to get into In-n-Out Burger and McDonald's. Perhaps they think that while walking down the street they will be seen by everyone, but they are invisible in their cars? No matter...

I happen to be blessed (got in long time ago) with a large lot and a huge (mostly) level yard. At the bottom of my yard sits a vegetable garden and every year my kids and grand kids plant our summer garden with the prerequisite tomatoes, pumpkins, pole beans and corn. That's it. We get our summer/autumn blooms and we're happy and done until next year.

So, I was very intrigued when a fellow Mill Valleyian told me that she was planting a vegetable garden in her front yard this week. "What can you plant now?" I asked. She said she had planted lettuce, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, parsley, mint, rhubarb, radishes and on and on. She plans to eat only what springs up in her color coordinated, organic garden. She even planted a blueberry vine! I examined her garden and said, "Wow! What's that beautiful red berry vine growing over there on your garden wall?” "Oh that,” she said, “is my plastic Christmas decoration vine. I guess it's time to take it down."

As I said goodbye, and chuckled over mistaking the decoration for the real thing, I immediately raced home to Google "year-round vegetable gardens."

Do you garden? What do you find grows best in our Southern Marin climate?

Carless in Marin

Broker's Tours for new (and not so new) listings are on Wednesdays and Thursdays each week in Marin. I'm sure that you have seen the cavalcade of shiny, luxury cars winding their way through your neighborhoods. Last week my agent friend Dana and I decided to carpool together. When we met downtown I looked at her car and said, "Don't you drive a BMW convertible?”

She said, “Yes, but I'm having a car dilemma, so I'm test driving my husbands new Toyota. My BMW always needs repairs and we have four vehicles between the two of us.”

"Funny you should say that," I responded. “I'm driving my husband's Jeep because the lease on my Lexus is up and I don't know what to do. We have three cars for the two of us. I considered giving one to my perfect puppy Leo to drive, but he couldn't see over the steering wheel,” I joked.

We agreed that determining which car to drive can be a dilemma: buy or lease? American or Foreign? 4x4 for trips to Tahoe or compact for commuting? Large enough to schlep clients, signs and grandchildren, practical enough to be affordable and eco-friendly…

We pondered this as we carefully planned out our house tour by order of importance:

1. Catered luncheon by SUPER CHEF So and So

2. Lunch will be served

3. All other types of food offerings

We spent four hours driving from San Anselmo back to Mill Valley and everywhere in between. We were amazed that her husband's car was able to beat the yellow light on a u-turn, double park in front of fire hydrants, and not slip off the edge of the long and winding road to the top of Redwood Avenue in Corte Madera!

Gliding back into her parking space downtown, we decided that if we gave up our current cars and downsized to two vehicles per household, our husbands would be thrilled to drive their “spare” trucks, wash our “new” cars, and keep them filled with gas, right? We also would be taking cars off the gridlocked streets of Marin and save on wasteful monthly expenses in the form of additional loans, upkeep and insurance. 

Let's hope this is a new trend!

Parking, please.

 One of my main reasons for goin’ downtown is that it is so close from my home's red front door to my office's red front door that I could walk everyday. Good exercise, good for the environment, good idea!

However, despite my good intentions, I drove my SUV there the first three days. The first day was legitimate because I couldn't walk carrying my computer and all my new desk supplies. The second day I needed to look cute in my high heels, and the third day I was just too lazy.

Parking in Mill Valley is easy if you're a local and know your way around, right? After several loops around town past two hour metered parking spots, all full by the way, mysterious "Employee Only" parking spots, and lots of red curbs, I lucked out and found the perfect four hour free spot. The space fits two cars perfectly between two residential driveways. No lines to park between, no meters, no RSVP stickers needed (whatever they are). 

Day one I pulled right in to this magic spot, in front of a similar SUV, went to the office, worked on a few deals and went home. Day two I went right back to MY spot. This time the SUV was also parked there but had moved forward about a foot and a half. I parked carefully, went to work, mapped out a few must see homes for my buyers, and went on tour. The third day the SUV had left me a space suited for a Volkswagen Bug. Nevertheless, I managed to park without protruding into the driveway. I later returned to a note on my windshield warning me that I was "getting too close" to their driveway – phew, at least it wasn’t a ticket! info@millvalleypd.org

From now on I think I will park my car in front of my own driveway. It's much easier and almost as close, unless of course it's raining, or I have a blister on my toe.

You Gotta Have Heart

 How many times when you were goin’ downtown have you noticed that Mill Valley is goin’ to the dogs, or most assuredly has gone to the dogs? I walk my perfect puppy Leo there several times a week and he has a plethora, abundance, cornucopia of dog bowls to choose drinking (bottled, pure spring, organic?) water from. Practically every business has a water bowl of varying shapes and sizes to pamper our pets. So when I asked my new manager Andy where our dog bowl was, he said, "We've been talking about getting one for a while." When I asked my new office mates why there was no bowl they said, "Because we can't decide on which one to get."

Seeing as there are endless options, I decided that if we are going to treat Leo and all the other dogs to a water bowl, I needed to take matters into my own hands. But it couldn't be just any dog bowl - it need to be the right one for our office. So what kind of bowl would give off just the right vibe...? Well, Frank Howard Allen's motto is "Love where you live." My motto is "Specializing in the Heart of Marin," my license plate has a heart on it, February is Heart Awareness Month, and it's Valentine's Day. Seemed like a no brainer to me.

As luck would have it, while walking through Target the perfect bowl, or I should say bowls, jumped into my hands. There was a set of three heart shaped plastic nesting bowls! What a coup! The big red one now has fresh water (sorry just tap) every day outside our office door. And inside, the other two bowls have dogie treats and people treats (chocolate Hershey Kisses). So, whenever you are passing by, with or without your dog, feel free to stop in for a treat.