Catherine Krueger's Blog

Wow what a start!  While usually January is a sleeper month, not this year!! Buyers were out there anxiously waiting more inventory to hit the market and ready to jump on the somewhat perfect house out of desperation.  My business is booming and I hear that most agents are in the same boat, at le...

Lately I have seen a flurry of homes coming onto the market and selling right away even in the deepest places in Contra Costa County where I usually never go.  I have been showing houses in Rodeo and writing offers and even there it is a mad rush to get your offer accepted!! Yes prices are a lot ...

After scoring a major victory against the bank and getting "my way" I want to warn everyone not to give up when dealing with a bank.  Yes you will get the addendum stating that offer is final, take it or leave it but I fought for my clients and renegotiated the price after our inspection despite ...

Well it seems that buyers are back but reticent to buy!  I had this beautiful home on the market and held it open with great success.  Over 100 people came every single time and yet in the end I ended up receiving 2 offers and selling it for asking price???!!! weird market.  I can't complain but ...

What is wrong with people? Just because they can insult someone from the safety of their homes, bbs or whatever device they use does not mean that they should!!! Isn't there some kind of etiquette that we used to call respect... I just finished reading the nastiest answers from zillows and other ...

I have always been told that banks tell you what to do and you don't have any say in it.  While I have found that to be true in most cases I am in the middle of a "fight" with this bank and I am making progress maybe at the expense of my health with all the stress associated with selling a home t...

Well I guess $300K over the asking was the magical number.  I heard that my offer was not accepted but I was not told who got it and if it was an all cash versus an offer over mine.... My clients and I are bummed.  Everyone around me is shocked that prices in Berkeley are still crazy and that peo...

I wrote a few weeks ago about this house in the Berkeley hills where there were 12 offers.  The bank still countered everyone for the highest and best offer despite offers $200,000 over the asking price....  That is pure gluttony.  And then the worst part is they accepted an offer with 10% cash d...

The market is such that nowadays most of our inventory is bank owned properties and short sales.  Rarely will we see a "regular" sale and if they exist you can tell right away in the disparity of asking price!!  Banks don't care about making a profit it seems like.  They will unload the property ...

I keep wondering why we are supposed to bail out banks when they have not been too keen on saving money themselves.... I wrote an offer last year for a short sale and the bank completely ignored me for 4 months which happens in 80% of the cases.  The house finally went into foreclosure and was so...