The price of homes is drifting downward... and there are MORE homes on the market in Tracy than ever before.  I actually heard today that there are more homes available for sale in the entire United States than has ever happend previously.918 homes for sale in Tracy.11 pending9 sold this week.The good news is it appears that buyers are starting to buy, interest rates are holding steady.If you live in Tracy or Mountain House and your payment is adjusting rapidly, don't wait call today to see what your options are.  Foreclosure is not the answer.Susan Goulding, RealtorLoss Mitigation SpecialistKeller Williams RealtyTracy & Mountain House, CA209-914-5573 07/19/2007

da da ta da ta da... June Housing Stats for Tracy, CA.  They aren't pretty, but...June 4 For Sale 910          Pending 15          Sold  10June 11  For Sale 902             Pending 16             Sold  4June 18 For Sale 918            Pending 15            Sold  9June 25 For Sale  936            Pending 7            Sold  9For those that don't know Tracy is a town of about 80,000 people.  Many of the homes for sale are foreclosures, bank owned or short sales.  If you need to sell it's important to use a Realtor that knows the market, watches the market, call me.  Competitve pricing is what will sell your home.If you are looking to buy a home in Tracy, California call me for help finding the perfect home without the need to visit all 900.Have a great day.Susan Goulding, Realtor - Tracy, ... 06/25/2007

Tracy, CA. State of the Market as of June 24th 2007 There are presently 976 Single Family Residential Properties on the Tracy Market. Of these 937 are detached Single Family Residential homes. The average price of a detached SFR is $571,867. For this median price range the home square footage size was 2190 square feet of living space.Since June 1st there have been 41 sold SFR of which 38 were detached single family residences. The average listing price of these homes was $523,936 and that same average home sold for $513,926 for which the average size was 2024 square feet of living space. The average time to sell a home was 75 days.The median listing price of a sold home was $482,500 and sold for $470,000 for which the median size of a sold home was 2024 square feet of living space. The ... 06/24/2007

A Ball Boucing; The Tide; a Boomerang; California Real Estate -- what do these 4 things have in common?They always come back!  So what are California investors and buyers waiting for?  The tide only goes out so far, a ball only bounces until it hits the ground, a boomerang always turns goes back from where it was thrown and California Real Estate has always bounce back.Why - well balls and boomerangs have to do with physics, and the tide has to do with gravity and the sun, but in California it is all supply and demand.  Add that to the fact that our weather is awesome, especially in the Northern California Bay Area.  We don't have snow unless we want to drive to it, we don't have tornados or hurricanes, we don't even really have draughts.  The temperature is 60 - 90 10 months out of the... 06/19/2007

I know we've all heard it - the market is terrible.  Why would I buy now? There are tons of foreclosures, short sales and bank owned properties, etc.My questions is when do you want to buy and why not NOW.Let's consider why....1) There is a lot to choose from.2) This is a BUYERS MARKET.3) There are foreclosures, short sales and bank owned properties available.4) When the bottom hits you will have bought on the way DOWN not the WAY up.24 months ago if you wanted to buy you had to bid over at least one other person, you had to see a home, bid on it, buy it and then think "did I really love this home?"  Why buy in that market.Interestingly enoug most buyers buy in a sellers market, and most sellers sell in a buyers market. Isnt this backwards.  When will you have the biggest advantage, whe... 06/07/2007

866 homes on the Market in Tracy as of 5/7/0790 are pending49 have sold in the past 6 weeks.WOW!  this does not include Mountain House or Rural listings.Buy NOW!  Now is not a "flip" time, but a 3 - 7 year investment.  California Real Estate rarely stays down for long.  Call me for your own personal market report.Susan GouldingKeller Williams209-914-5573wwww.gotTracy.com 06/06/2007

Are you thinking about selling your home?  How about buying a home?  You can search for FREE, 24 - 7 from my web site.  This is a comprehensive web site that allows you to search not only Tracy, California, but almost anywhere in Northern California.I belong to 3 different MLS's so that allows you to seach from North of Sacramento, south to Madera.  You can search from Monterey to Santa Rosa, and Half Moon Bay to the foothills.  WOW all those locations on one web site.Once you find the perfect house, call me, I will find you the perfect REALTOR to facilitate your transaction if it is out of my service area.Check it out, you won't be sorry.Susan Gouldingwww.SusanGoulding.com 04/07/2007

Branding - A brand is a customer experience represented by a collection of images and ideas; often, it refers to a symbol such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme. Branding is a way of getting people to remember you. For example, if you see the golden arches, you immediately think McDonalds.Branding can also be used to help people remember your house. It can either be a positive brand or a negative brand. As my family and I were looking for a house, my children, unknowingly branded houses as a way of remembering them. There was the "fish stank" house, so named because it smelled like a stinking old fish tank which had not been serviced in a while. There was the BBQ house (smell of BBQ ribs in the oven), the pool house (pool in the backyard), Pottsgrove (street name), and we even ... 04/04/2007

Have you seen or heard about home staging and would like to have your house or listing staged, but you're afraid?Afraid staging is expensive? (It's less than you think!)Afraid staging will disrupt your life? (It will actually help keep your house in a "show ready" state.)Afraid your house is not worth staging? (Any house can benefit from staging. I'll explain why.) Afraid the changes will not really make a difference? (You'll see Before and After photos)Afraid your house or style will be questioned? (A stager's goal is to help your house give a positive and lasting impression; not critique your taste.)In order to ease your fears and see what staging is about, I am offering a Free Home Staging Seminar. Sunday April 22, 20071:00pm - 3:00pmTracy Branch Library / Wadsworth Room 20 E. Eaton ... 04/03/2007

There are two prices when it comes to selling a house.  There is the "asking or listing" price and there is the "value or worth" price.  Let me explain the difference between the two.  Have you even been to the grocery store to buy a can of something and you pick up one can and it has a dent in it?  What do you do? Most buyers will put the dented can back on the shelf and chose another can which is not dented.  Why? Although both cans have the same product in it, to the buyer they are not worth the same.  What will it take to sell that dented can?  A price reduction.  This is the same for anything on sale including houses. When listing a house, Realtors will give homeowner comparables or comps of similar homes which are presently on the market or have sold within the past few months. Ho... 03/31/2007

Here is a QUICK update on the Market in Tracy.As of a week ago - March 12 There were a total of 709 homes on the market104 homes were in Escrow21% of the homes on the market were between $620,000 and $635,000.Check back often - updates bi-monthly.Susan Gouldinghttp://www.gotTracy.commailto:AR@gotTracy.com209-914-5573 03/26/2007

I go to Open House to see how homeowners are preparing their homes for sale.    I am so surprise at the way they are "marketing" the listing. Do they really want to sell? Are they really expecting the price they are asking? Many homeowners have the assumption that they can place their home on the market as is and someone will come and buy it for the price they are asking. Well that was the case a few years ago but times have changed and we are now in a buyers market. Buying a home is a big investment and buyers want the best value for their money. With so many homes on the market, buyers can pick and chose. I am based in Tracy, CA so I enjoy going to Open Houses in this area. One home I went to over the weekend, was in a nice area of Tracy, in a cul-de-sac in a newer neighborhood with P... 03/20/2007

I haven't seen the new craze movie "The Secret".  I do understand the premise.  If you believe in good things, good things happen.  If you give in slices your get returns in loaves.  However, is this really a new philosophy on life?  Hasn't perception always played a role in how people think and feel?  Half full or half empty?  I've spent a lot of time this week thinking about Real Estate.  The Central Valley of California is being hit hard by REO's; foreclosures and short sales.  Will this trend stay forever, I doubt it.  I'm a firm believer that California Real Estate is always a great long term investment.  However, investors who got 100% loans hoping to flip something quick and easy have been badly burned. I feel terrible for the first time home buyer who got put into home loans the... 03/16/2007

You only have first time to write a blog once.  This is mine.  I envision this as a place to comment, gripe, praise, impart information, etc to anyone who cares.The community of Tracy is a great place to raise kids.  I've got 5; 2 are in college, 3 will be in college eventually.   I've said that one of the problems with the community of Tracy is that I can't ever go to the grocery or anywhere without make up, someone will know me.  The upside of this phenomenon is that my kids can't go anywhere without someone I know seeing them either. 01/31/2007