Dana Graham

Newsletters Category

July 2026 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: Since my May letter I’ve had plenty of opportunity to put the advice I gave into practice.  After 41 years, it’s probably more valid than ever.  The new listings I talked about (1825 Via Estudillo, PVE, and 9 Pleasant Hill Drive, RHE) both sold instantly with multiple offers over the asking prices, and I even sold a couple of others in between.  I am reminded at times like this of the value of a good, experienced agent.  This level...Continue Reading!

May 2026 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor. Sorry I'm a bit late writing this month. I am now putting the folks' houses on the market who weren't ready before the Spring rush. Between repairs, photographers, paperwork, etc, I'm just getting around to this. Regardless of what you may hear, the market remains very active for houses with realistic asking prices. We had 11 offers on the house on Valor, enclosed. We sold it to the 4th highest offer we got, which raises an interesting point: one of...Continue Reading!

March 2026 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: Last call to get your house on the market before the Spring rush.  As you know, I am a bit of a contrarian as to the general adage that Spring is the best time to sell.  Those who promulgate that idea do so on the logic that most transactions happen in the Spring and Summer.  While that is statistically true, if you think about it, that is not good for you, the seller.  If you’re the seller, you want...Continue Reading!

January 2026 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: And the beat goes on . . . I hope you had a good holiday season.  As of this writing there are 94 single family homes for sale on the Peninsula.  This is about double the number for sale at the peak of covid, which was probably the lowest since, oh I don’t know, the 1950’s?  But it’s still low.  In my 41 years of PV experience in this business somewhere around 150 homes for sale is normal.  As...Continue Reading!

November 2025 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: As I have been saying in my last few letters, after a few turbulent years, the real estate market is settling back to some form of normalcy (thank you Warren Harding).  Interest rates are down to just north of 6% for a 30-year fixed rate, and even better for a shorter fixed rate term.  This, and the number of homeowners reluctant to give up their 2.9% refinance obtained a few years ago, has resulted in the number of single...Continue Reading!

September 2025 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: In my last letter I briefly discussed the change in the market that began in Spring with a boatload of new listings hitting the market – far in excess of any I can recall in the last 40 years.  As a result of that and other factors, and after a few years of what is commonly referred to as a “buyer’s market”, the things have settled back into balance.  If you’re a seller, you can no longer put your...Continue Reading!

July 2025 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: I know the real estate market isn’t the first thing you think about, but don’t worry because it is for me.  For the last few years, really starting with covid in early 2021, the market has favored sellers to one degree or another.  I have discussed that in previous newsletters.  That pendulum (at least in PV) has now swung back to about an even balance between buyers and sellers, receiving a big shove this past Spring when the largest...Continue Reading!

May 2025 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: I know I’ve discussed this before, but it bears repeating:  succinctly, the Number One agent may not be the best agent to sell your house; in fact, the odds are against it.  Speaking as someone in the business, some things are more obvious to me than they may be from the outside, and this is one of them.  The biggest agents, generally those who sell the most houses and who do all the advertising, more often than not, are...Continue Reading!

March 2025 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: As we say in the business “inventory is up”.  I’ve always disliked the term “inventory” because it makes houses sound like just a commodity, which they never are to me.  Each house is filled with decades of precious memories. Generally prices are at or near their all-time highs, prior predictions of doom notwithstanding.  As I discussed at the time, when Covid hit, pretty much everyone predicted that the market would tank.  What actually happened was that Covid restrictions and anxiety...Continue Reading!

January 2025 Newsletter

Dear Neighbor: Not to beat it to death, but real estate prices were flat for most of 2024.  As you know, there was a big run-up in prices during Covid, the reasons for which I have discussed previously.  By all odds, there should have been a post-Covid price correction; but if there was, it was barely measurable.  One reason was the number of people who re-financed when interest rates were under 3% and don’t want to sell their house and give...Continue Reading!