“There’s no inventory.”  I cannot tell you how often I’ve heard that statement over the past few months as it relates to single-family homes in San Francisco.  Homes will go on the market as “coming soon” or straight to active status, and they are gone within days. The buyers who have stayed in or returned to San Francisco over Covid are now doubling down on upgrading their space, and there are just so many homes in San Francisco, especially in the $3 million to $5 million space.  

 

Frustrated buyers are laser-sharp in their focus, and their agents are doing all they can to bring their clients properties weeks and even months before they plan to go on the market.  

 

Over the past year, the MLS has enacted several rules limiting the ability of agents to publicly market their “off-market” listings. The goal of these rules is to make sure that all buyers have an equal playing field in seeing what inventory exists in the marketplace. But agent-to-agent relationships especially within brokerages do produce the “market gossip” that leads to off-market opportunities. 

 

This week my clients closed on a property that was only ever seen by them! This off-market opportunity came to be because of a great relationship between me and their listing agent, as well as my clients’ flexibility on move-in dates. 

 

Representing buyers successfully in this climate demands a lot of market research and personal outreach to the agent community- and nothing gives me more joy than knowing my efforts have resulted in connecting my clients to their perfect homes and helping the sellers move on to the next phase of their lives!