Or it could be Orinda, Montclair or maybe San Mateo. But the point is, my family and I are relocating back to the Bay Area. The hubby’s small company is doing great, but it’s based in San Francisco, and telecommuting is no longer working. We have to go back.
But don’t worry, the blog will go on as always. Guy will continue to be your local Realtor resource, and Mike, I’m sure, will continue to compulsively follow foreclosure data all the way to market bottom. I too will remain involved, reporting from your feeder market, which may add an interesting new dimension to the mix.
Guy and I have also teamed up with Realtor JoAnn Corriera, a ten-year veteran in our local market with an amazing reputation for honesty, integrity and getting the job done. We are fortunate that the blog generates many inquiries about buying and selling from readers, so she will help us get back to everyone in a timely manner. We may even coax her into blogging with us on the site. Still working on that one…
So now I get to play the role of delusional seller in front of you all and either sell or rent my big over $500K Somersett house that I have a less than 1% chance of selling in this market. And since we need to move in July/August, whatever we do needs to be done fast. This should be interesting.
BTW, yesterday was Guy’s birthday (ah yes, 1977, a fabulous vintage). Please join me in wishing him a happy birthday, so that I can feel less guilty about posting this a day late… 😉
GreenNV
Wow, Diane and Guy, this is a beautiful listing package. Not a typo in sight. The script focuses on the property’s positive assets. No excess caps or asterisks. Beautiful photography (even if the views out the windows are heavily Photoshopped). Even in your exit strategy, D, you are showing the market how it should be done.
Weird karma having the ReMax balloon floating over your property this morning?
larry lowball
So when does Ralph Edwards come out, and announce: “Diane Cohn, this is your life?”
Amazing what this Internet thing has done to people’s lives … love the on-line reality show, Diane Cohn’s life-makeover, real estate-makeover, family makeover …
Get yourself a sponsor, some eyeballs, and you won’t have to worry about some stupid shortfall in Somersett, or the high cost of private school living in Pacific Heights
Tell them the real story–your husband was ensnared in the Eliot Spitzer Emperor’s Club fiasco–and is negotiating a plea bargain–where he’ll have to serve less time–if his family moves with him to the Bay Area
And you, let the Washoe masses know that you’ve scored a deal to re-open an Emperor’s Club franchise that the Feds hope will ensnare Arnold Schwarzynegger …. and in return, you’ll be put in the witness protection program with a guarantee of a new identity and a front-row house on Lakeshore Drive
The only mystery remains–what will you call yourself, and the blog when you come back to the little people in the Reno area?
Come clean–and get these people off your back; your calling card is honesty and integrity;
Pull a Spike Lee-and Do the Right Thing, Diane.
Larry.
DERRICK
It doesn’t matter how fancy, photoshopped, or even how well written a listing is now days.. ALL the matters is price.. thats it!!
nothing else!
Diane have you considered offering the Nehemia down payment assistance with your listing? Just a thought!
smarten
As a follow up to DERRICK’S latest comments, may I remind everyone of Diane’s April 13, 2008 RGJ article “How Do You Offer $235K Less Than Asking Price and Not Get Rejected? [I’ve preserved the salient comments on ChaseNation at: http://www.chasenation.com/profiles/blog/show?id=2000642%3ABlogPost%3A5026 ]. Let me quote Diane’s very words: “most sellers in today’s market are delusional…note to sellers: buyers don’t care how much…you paid…spent on upgrades or…feel you need to net from the deal. They don’t even care if you lose money. They just want to get the best deal.”
EdBear
Diane,
I’m sorry that we are not going to have a chance to work together. I really felt that you could find us the right condo close in to downtown Reno.
I’ve lived all around the Bay Area (and still do, the condo will be for weekends), and suggest that you look closely at Walnut Creek. Less expensive than Lafayette or Orinda, better weather, great schools and excellent community ammenities. Oh yeah, much less “snooty” that the Marin white wine-sippers. Hell, people from the East Bay know how to get all around the area; people in Marin get lost leaving the county unless it’s just going to SF to shop.
EdBear
ThomasV
“In 2006 it comped at over $1 million. So at $750k we’ve already taken at $250K hit.”
Uh, no.
The other day I was at home and the phone rang. It was a man from the lottery and he told me that I had won $250,000 in the most recent drawing. He said I would be getting my $250K check in the next 15 days. I thought wow, money for nothin’. Three days later, the same man called back. He said he was very sorry, but he had made a mistake and in fact I did not win the lottery. He apologized and hung up.
Diane, I did not take a $250K hit when the lottery man called back. And neither have you. Just because 4 years ago your neighborhood was swimming with Greater Fools willing to pay, like you, whatever the builder wanted because “you can’t ever lose money on a house in Reno” does not mean you have already taken a $250K hit. What your house is worth is what somebody is willing to pay you for it. Did anybody ever offer you $1 million for your house?
I would have thought that after all your pontificating about getting realistic as a seller, as in the article linked above by Smarten, you would not make such a foolish statement. Thinking you have already “lost” $250K on your house is a beginner’s mistake and it is keeping you from realistically pricing your house now.
SkrapGuy
Diane, if you buy stock in a company for $40 a share, and a year later the price has gone to $70 a share, and year after that you sell for $30, you have lost $10 a share. You have not lost $40 a share. This is investing 101.
Only in the woulda, coulda, shoulda approach to investing does one believe he has lost $30 a share. As in, I coulda sold Cisco for $80 a share after paying $15. And I shoulda. My failure to do so has resulted in enormous investment losses, in the hundreds of thousands.
If only I woulda.
And no, it’s not different for real estate.
DERRICK
“Diane, if you buy stock in a company for $40 a share, and a year later the price has gone to $70 a share, and year after that you sell for $30, you have lost $10 a share. You have not lost $40 a share. This is investing 101”
I respectfully disagree… If you sold for 30/share a year later you lost 40/share.. why ? well when it was at 70 you could have sold.. that was YOUR money, yet since you decided NOT to sell YOU LOST YOUR money..
simply put.. a guy goes into a casino and puts 20 dollars into a machine, which he gets up to 100 dollars.. instead of cashing out and taking his profits he decides to keep playing… to which his friend says.
Hey, why don’t you cash out and take the money.. To which he says, Nahh Its ok, I’m playing on the casino’s money now.. WRONG .. once you have won that money or realized a gain off ANY investment.. THAT IS YOUR MONEY..
you can’t say well.. its alright I didn’t lose anything I still have my 20 dollars!! haha WRONG WRONG you HAD 100 dollars but you LOST it.!.
Harmon
Using SkrapGuy’s example, try convincing the IRS that the capital loss is $40 a share. I am an accountant, and I can assure you that SkrapGuy is correct that the loss is $10 a share.
To say Diane ‘lost” $250K is like saying, well, I have a 1995 Subaru that at one time was worth $10,000. But since I can only sell it today for $2,000, I have “lost” $8,000.
RobertCPA
Diane’s basis in her house is, according to her, is about $800,000. If she nets more than that on a sale, she has a gain. If she nets less than that, she has a loss calculated as the difference between what her net sales proceeds are and $800,000.
Her loss is not based on some hypothetical, maybe, perhaps, possibly, ‘some appraiser told me so’ estimate of what her house might have been worth at some point in the past.
ThomasV is correct. The lottery winnings were never realized, and neither was a hypothetical sale at $ 1 million. Diane may have a emotional position that she could have sold for a gain had she timed the market to sell at the peak, but emotional positions are not recognized by the IRS or pursuasive to most savvy buyers. If Diane wants to think that she has already “lost” $250K, that’s her right. But I doubt it will be pursuasive to a potential buyer of her property.
Diane Cohn
Smarten, ThomasV, SkrapGuy, Harmon, RobertCPA, you’re right. I told you it was my turn to play the delusional seller in front of everyone, yes?
And thanks for harping on the price. The more you do, the more likely I am to get a price reduction from the other half. I won’t even tell you what I’d start it at if it were my decision alone, so don’t ask. And as you point out, we won’t know its true market value until someone steps forward to buy it at whatever price they’re willing to pay.
3Wombats, Future Buyer, John Newell, Miller, Todd, CBam, Gina, Joe, Don, downtownjunkie, gene, Myrna, LynneB, Hubby, Relocating Buyer, thanks to you all for your words of encouragement.
Rory, thanks, maybe we’ll stick to the East Bay.
GreenNV, you know how we are.
Lowball Larry, LOL, you kill me. I’ll let you know what channel it’s on when production is over.
EdBear, thanks for the added info. Looks like the East Bay is winning.
Derrick, you’re right about pricing. It’s usually the number one concern for most buyers.
MKChick, thanks, and we totally understand about the silicon valley job situation. Thanks for the executive rental suggestion. I just don’t want to be landlord at any price (BTW, thanks John Newell for your ten cents on that) especially if I have to deal with short term turnover.
Thanks again everyone for taking the time to comment.
Diane Cohn
PS: Soooo, does everyone really think that Guy was born in 1977?
BanteringBear
“PS: Soooo, does everyone really think that Guy was born in 1977?”
Uhhhh, no. Two things. First, he looks about 50. Second, I remember something about a marathon which listed his age at over 40. Just kidding Guy.
Rory
I would like to echo the comments of a few others. If you’re intent on living in the Bay Area, places like Orinda and Walnut Creek trump Marin. It’s not that Marin is a bad place – it’s obviously not for many reasons – It’s just that the people and the mentality of the community is very off-putting. Not to mention Highway 101 is gridlocked from the GG Bridge to Novato from 3pm to 7pm! And with few public transit options servicingb servicing the North Bay (ferry service,, the car is the only reasonable option for most commuters. My only advice would be to find yourself a nice place in the Oakland hills (but not inside the city limits of Oakland!) which is close to a BART station. You’ll be happier using BART while saving a ton of time and money and anguish.
I’m rambling…..Anyways, good luck to the Cohn family regardless of where you finally call home!