 Summer has definitely arrived and that means the market has shifted.
(Do you feel it?) Which isn't to say that prices have dropped, or that the market has cooled, but that it has reached its cruising altitude to be sure, and you should expect fewer listings as the summer progresses. In short, the fast and dynamic spring market is behind us and list prices should more closely represent Seller expectations. (Look for key phrases like "transparent pricing.")
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 Last week, I was in Tahoe at the "Luxury Council" seminar sponsored by Chase International, a high-end Tahoe real estate company with IMPRESSIVE listings on the lake, in Truckee, and throughout the Tahoe area, extending all the way into Reno and Sparks, NV, This wasn't just an opportunity to view some remarkable properties on the water, but to network with out-of-area Agents and to share some trade secrets. (They're really not so secret.)
 A car service to drive us around the lake for The 21st Annual "Lake Tahoe Luxury Estates Tour" sounded like a good idea until the driver showed up late, noticeably shaken, had no sense of direction (nor smart phone with GPS to guide him), and arrived in an actual s t r e t c h limosine that was too large for our small party of five, and too clumsy to make the hairpin turns required in the narrow, windy roads of Glenbrook and Zephyr Cove.
 It's June which means a whole new crop of birds have just graduated from high school and are about to leave the nest . . . Congratulations! (It also means we are entering our summer market.) Baby birds no longer, these kids are about to soar - some off to college in distant locals, while others will take a gap year, volunteering as they defer their higher education.
 "So tell me what you do," I said to Sarah as we met outside of Peet's on Piedmont Avenue. Sarah and I are in a professional networking group together and these one-to-one sit downs are part of our homework, outside the regular Tuesday lunch meetings.
"I'm a trust and estates lawyer," Sarah said with a smile, her elderly dog on her lap, "I help people disperse their assets and plan their affairs."  On Wednesday evening, I held a staff-appreciation party for our GRUBB Co. colleagues in my recently completed garden (and by recently, I mean the exterior lights were going in that very day)! With contributions from many of my co-workers, including DJ and John (our Brokers), there was plenty to eat and drink and the evening could not have gone better. It's events such as these that remind me why we work so hard to create a place to call "home" and why sharing it with others is even more rewarding.
 It's not every day I get a good laugh, but I did last week while at Calm Salon for an overdue 3-hour Keratin treatment. Tucked in for the long haul (don't ask; my hair is extremely high-maintenance), I had one interesting conversation after another with the ladies of Piedmont as they came and went in turn. (Think Forest Gump on the bus bench).
"Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get."  "Where do you live now?" I asked the interested young couple, with toddler in tow, who'd come to visit me at the end of last weekend's open house and were clearly smitten with my latest listing ; a cool Mid-Century. (What's not to love?)
'We're in Oakmore," they said, "but we should have bought in Piedmont. This is exactly what we want." It's a story I can easily relate to.  Remember the Movie: You've Got Mail? (If you're a man, of course you don't. If you're a woman, you've memorized it by now.) In this charming romcom, a BIG-box book store, "Fox Books," has opened up and is threatening to drive the little book store, "The Shop Around the Corner," out of business.
 It's my anniversary this weekend so I'm reflecting on the MANY years Cliff and I have been married. Honestly, 27 years has flown by (for better or for worse), and I'm grateful for every minute of it. (Well, almost every minute of it. Cliff's untimely muscle tear the week before our wedding meant we had to postpone the honeymoon!)
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AuthorJulie Gardner, referred to as, "the pulse of Piedmont," has been writing The Piedmont Perspective for 9 years. Categories
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