The great British architectural thinker, Cedric Price, once said that, “sometimes the answer is not a new building.” He went on to tell the story of how his firm had been approached by a large London company who were convinced they needed to invest in building a new facility for their London employees.
Price’s firm started, as most do, by preparing a programming brief, that, based on detailed interviews with key personnel, described what was wrong with their current facility, and how the new one would ideally operate. They also made a list of all of the spaces the company felt would be necessary and how each of those spaces would relate to the other spaces.
After an in depth analysis of the results of their interviews, they prepared a proposal for the company that advised they needed to invest in…a new phone system. Their report explained why their old phone system was holding their people back from being more productive and costing the company millions in lost profits.
His firm went on to assist the company in finding the right phone system with all of the features they would need, and helped develop a training program with the phone system manufacturer to ensure that once the new system was installed the employees would be able to use the system like pro’s.
By doing this analysis and proposing the new phone system over building a new building, he was able to save his client millions of pounds that would have been invested in a new building.
I tell this story because in my many years as an architect, I have often seen situations where I am asked to make a proposal to design a remodel, or addition only to find that to do what the client wants will cost them far more than they can afford, or far more than the local real estate market would bear. They would never get their investment out of the house, and consequently, they do not proceed with the project.
In those cases, often the best solution to their building dilemma is actually to sell and move. The solution really is “a new building”, not the solution they were expecting. In a similar vein to Cedric Price’s story, the solution to my clients’ problems may not be an addition or remodeling, but simply to pull up stakes and move to a house that meets their needs.
Until now, I have been unable to help those clients. Now, I can. I have recently passed the California Sales Agent License Exam and joined the National Association of REALTORS (NAR). I am a REALTOR, working out of the Berkeley office of Coldwell Banker Realty. I joined Coldwell Banker because of their long history providing real estate sales and purchase services with professionalism and integrity.
Since 1998, I have been helping my clients turn their problem houses into their dream homes. Now, as a REALTOR, I can help a larger group of clients sell their houses, and find and buy their dream homes, too. Sometimes, the dream home doesn’t need to be designed by an architect, or involve contractors or building permits. Sometimes, your dream home is already there, just waiting for you to move in!
The current market is fraught with concern about high interest rates. But let’s look at that concern.
While it is true that during the Pandemic the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates to historically low rates in an effort to keep our economy going and avoid our economy falling into a depression. Getting the interest rates down around 2% helped fuel a boom of house sales and refinancing. Millions of people benefitted from the historically low interest rates, and our economy did not fall into a depression.
What were interest rates like prior to the Pandemic? Do you remember?
In the last 50 years, the average mortgage interest rate has been about 7%: right about where we are now. Back in the 70’s my parents bought their first home with an interest rate of 14%. Some bought with rates as high as 18%. Our current 7% interest rates are NORMAL for our economy.
And yet, because people have short memories, and can only remember the pandemic 3% rates, they are staying out of the market.
What this means is that housing prices in our area have fallen 6%, 12%, or more over the last 18 months. If you need or want to buy, NOW IS THE TIME. Take advantage of the lower housing prices and buy now. If interest rates come down, you can always refinance to take advantage. And interest rates are unlikely to stay down if they fall. Staying out of the market now means missing the lower prices on property. And because of the lack of buyers, banks are willing to work with borrowers, some of them offering interest rate buy-down programs that can provide you with lower rates for 1 or 2 years.
You can start the search for your new home at my REALTOR website, here. https://www.davidlocicerorealtor.com.
I’m game either way. If you want to build, add on, or remodel, or if you want to sell and buy a new home to meet the needs of your family, I can help. Just reach out and let me know how I can help you.
Architect (C19452) + REALTOR (DRE #02283004)
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