Glimpsing below at how many houses are going under agreement in Metro West, and you would never know it is actually November; one would think we were at the height of the spring market! The weather is brisk and so is the activity in the real estate market - no signs of letting down here it seems. There are serious buyers in all price ranges chomping at the bit to get their house. Buyers are pulling out all the stops (or I should say, dropping all contingencies) to get the right property.
Last night I had the pleasure of telling one buyer's agent their client was the top bidder on a listing, and they had won! The agent screamed with joy, "I love you, Teri." That was a first! Other agents were understandably not as happy to hear their clients had lost that round, and it was a tough call to make. I was on the other end of that line this week when my buyer did not get the house they liked. It's heartbreaking to share that news when they have put their best foot forward.
A big headline this week is that Zillow pulled out of the e-buy game. They are no longer going to try and sell houses, and to be honest I never thought that model would work. The real estate firms who call themselves "technology" firms have missed the point. We are in the people business, not the technology sector. Real estate has so many nuances and moving parts - not to mention a huge emotional component to it. What we do is so multi-faceted, and can't be effective or valuable for you if it's done solely through a website. Even Zillow is now admitting that. As my partner Maggie Gold Seelig so eloquently says, "in the end, think about who you want to have the keys to your house, who do you trust?" The internet is a great tool for finding concrete information on sales, prices, taxes, appraisals and photos. How you interpret that information and what you do with it is where skill, intelligence, creativity and hard work comes in. A successful sale can't be done without those key ingredients.
Since it's November and Thanksgiving is just weeks away, we will most likely see fewer listings come on. At this point, many people will wait until after the new year to list. But it's a different world full of surprises, so the real estate market may keep chugging along at this historically fast pace. If it does, you will hear about it here first! 
Have a great week!! I am going "Goat Hiking" tomorrow. LOL!! Will share more about it in next week's blog :)