Upside down

Sales were up in April! The recovery is on! Be the first to buy in to a down market and make a fortune in real estate speculation! Uhm...not so fast.

Actually, we think this is a good time to buy, but don't make too much of the recent month-over-month increase in sales. The recovery may be starting, but it won't be measured month-by-month. We suggest tracking real estate investments year-over-year. Remember, the word is "investment," not "speculation."

If you decide to wade into these still-troubled waters, call us. There are bargains to be found out there, like no other time in the past seven years. We're tracking properties that we think have good investment potential. But you have to be selective. And patient.

"Off to the Principal's Office You Go"

Whether you're genuinely interested in school performance records or just looking for a way to waste time at work, you're bound to enjoy this handy tool. Wondering about your kid's school or maybe about the district you're thinking of moving to? Now you can find out the rate of school suspensions (and the reasons!) for every public school in California. Happy snooping.

Bottom Feeding?

We get asked almost daily whether the market has hit bottom. No one knows for sure, but we've been saying that, barring a major change in mortgage rates or an economic sea change (election year, anyone?), we think our feet will touch the bottom, so to speak, sometime between now and Q4, 2008. Well, one economist thinks we've hit the bottom already. Check out this WSJ article for a very interesting take on the market. Whether he's right, we cannot say for sure, but we definitely agree with his secondary point: the rebound will be slower (and hopefully more sustainable) than the boom.

Talkin' 'bout Mill Valley

A former client and friend sent this our way. We couldn't resist linking to it. For those clients who always look at us funny when we talk about how much things have changed in Marin, here's proof.

Duration, Duration, Duration

A belated post here. Some of you probably saw Kathleen Pender's piece in the Chron last week. We second just about everything she writes in there. Tons of good information. First time home buyers, in particular, would be wise to read and remember.