- Tom BrezsnyChoose Change Before It Chooses YouDecember 7, 2020Today 10,000 people in the US will turn 65. In another 5 years, that number is going to take a quantum leap further into the stratosphere. How does this huge demographic shift affect the decisions people are making today? What does it mean for the future of real estate? Homes are the biggest assets most of us will ever own. They are also the all-important centering places for our lives. It makes sense that they should occupy center stage in many of the life discussions...
- Tom BrezsnyEmptying the rice bowlDecember 1, 2020Emptying the rice bowl. Re-thinking our relationship with the “stuff ” we buy and cram into our houses until the bitter end. As a precursor to designing more graceful strategies for growing older and moving into the future. Mindfully engaging in real life experiences rather than living a life defined by “things”. It’s a perplexing time for baby-boomers. They’re feeling the onset of their own mortality. Even as they venture down the road towards the last third of their lives there’s a dawning awareness that...
- Tom BrezsnyToday, 10,000 people in the U.S, will turn 65November 24, 2020They’re part of a huge demographic shift that’s changing the culture, as millions of baby boomers born in the middle of the 20th century try to figure out how to live the last third of their lives in the 21st. The only thing different about today is: most of those 10,000 people will be sheltering in place and having their birthday celebrations on Zoom. Early on in the pandemic, I saw this quote from Scott Galloway, a professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business: While...
- Tom BrezsnyThe why of stagingNovember 2, 2020Continuing our discussion....How staging has gone from being a fashionable afterthought reserved only for the most elite homes to something that’s now considered integral to the successful sale of any home. And why, if it’s been awhile since you’ve experienced the real estate market from a Seller’s perspective, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to re-familiarize yourself with the essentials of staging as you’re beginning to get your own staging ducks in order. Suffice to say: Prepping and staging a house is harder than it...
- Tom BrezsnyReal Estate and TechnologyOctober 26, 2020I’ve been in a contemplative mood lately. Something that often happens when the winds of real estate settle into their more customary calm around this time of year. Many Buyers are on a furlough until after the first of the year. That’s when they’ll push the reset button and venture back into the fray. And many Sellers have their sights set on 2021 and are busy prepping for early spring. For now, I’m enjoying a little distance from the daily grind. There’s been a nagging...
- Tom BrezsnyPost Covid RecapOctober 19, 2020Picking up the thread… talking about the wild ride real estate has been on since COVID arrived in early March. It feels like a lifetime ago, but it has really only been six months since shelter-in-place became an everyday part of our lives. And while the progress of the pandemic already qualifies as a long strange trip, it’s wise to remind ourselves that it’s not over yet. Not by a long shot. So, with six months of post-covid real estate under our belts, let’s recap...
- Tom BrezsnyA Long Strange TripOctober 12, 2020Picking up the thread… talking about the wild ride real estate has been on since COVID arrived in early March. It feels like a lifetime ago, but it has really only been six months since shelter-in-place became an everyday part of our lives. And while the progress of the pandemic already qualifies as a long strange trip, it’s wise to remind ourselves that it’s not over yet. Not by a long shot. So, with six months of post-covid real estate under our belts, let’s recap...
- Tom BrezsnySupply & DemandOctober 5, 2020Continuing the conversation… trying to make sense of the incredible run real estate has been on since it re-emerged from shelter in place and found itself in a decidedly different post- covid environment, one profoundly transformed by the pandemic experience. This summer, prices have risen higher and faster than at any other time in my 30+ year career. Is this a bubble? Will it continue? What will happen for the rest of 2020? When in doubt, the best place to look for answers is the...
- Tom BrezsnyBusy WeekSeptember 28, 2020Busy week ... First there was a 16 offer situation on the Eastside. Then 12 offers on the Westside. Followed by 10 more in Capitola, 8 in Aptos and 6 each in Pacific Grove and North Monterey County. When the dust finally settled, there were 6 buyers that emerged from the mosh pit victorious and another 52 (and their agents) who found themselves back at square one waiting for the next big offer scrum. That’s a lot of disappointed Buyers and Buyers’ Agents. In some...