Commentary: To be as green as Gumby

Last month, in my column, I wrote that spring is in the air. Really? I'm still waiting. OK, I realize that on Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil emerged from his burrow, saw his shadow and sentenced us to six more weeks of winter. Did we miss the day a related marmot or squirrel took a peek from its Capitol-area tree and doomed us to more rain and cold? Since when are we living in Seattle? There's been one day in 2023 with a temperature above 70°F. And in March alone, there were 12 days with a low of 39°F or lower. Let's get on with spring! I have rain gear that needs to dry out and a bunch of short-sleeve shirts that need wearing. I'm ready to get my green thumb on. Get going to get growing? How does your garden grow? I love the sun and expect that all of this rain and cool weather will lead to a great growing season. But how would I know? I'm a rookie gardener at this, but it just seems like a fun thing to do in between helping people with their real estate needs. My gardener is going to help me install some planter boxes. OK, he's not helping me. He's doing it. Ha-ha! One of my friends, Ken, has a super green thumb. He's as green as Gumby or a toy army man. At this point, if I can land anywhere in the green shade between blue and yellow on the color wheel, I'm going to be pretty happy. So I'm going for plants that seem to thrive in this area. Translation: Items even I can grow. Ken tells me the sungold cherry tomatoes I absolutely love are easy to grow. I eat them like candy in the summer. He also says zucchini squash and cucumbers are easy to grow. I'd really like to add eggplant, too. So why start my own garden? Better tasting food? Healthier? Save money? The joy of it all? Sure. All of those are great reasons. I think one day, I just thought it would be fun to learn something new. If you're a gardener, share what benefit you get from having your own vegetable garden and why you do it. And your best tip. If my attempt at being a gardener, grower, horticulturist or propagator doesn't pan out, well, I can always take up kite flying. On the way to the park, I can stop at Safeway and get some of those tasty cherry tomatoes. The real estate market is like the weather. It's windy, rainy but flashes of sunshine. Similar to 2022, inventory of homes available for sale in Folsom and El Dorado Hills is still low. But with interest rates hovering around 6.6 percent in mid-March and creative loans being offered, homes are still selling. Compared to the first quarter of 2023, Folsom and El Dorado Hills (EDH) have experienced similar changes in numbers. Although EDH has experienced an increase in average price of home sold in 2023, both areas have experienced declines in ratio of sales price to list price, number of homes sold year to date and average days on market. El Dorado Hills' average price of a home sold in the first quarter of 2023 is more than $1,086,000, up slightly from the same period in 2022. But Folsom has seen a decline, as average sold price has dropped to $726,000. Both areas have seen ratio of sales price to list price drop to 98 percent from more than 102 percent in 2022 while days on market are up almost 100 percent, as the average is 48 days in EDH and 49 days in Folsom. Home sellers still frequently receive multiple offers around 45 percent of the time. In both areas, 67 percent of those multiple offers include either two or three offers. Interestingly, while there are a large percentage of multiple offers, the average home sells for just 98 percent of the list price. In my clients' recent experience, it's all over the map. I've had buyers have their offers not accepted and there were lots of offers. I've had sellers experience strong sales similar to this time last year. Meanwhile, I've had buyers get their offers accepted in a more relaxed fashion and sellers experiencing a higher days on market to find the right buyer. As we expect the weather to change to a more normal pattern for this area, we can be assured the local real estate market should continue to change as well. I love where I live. I'm excited about 2023. I'm excited to continue to help more families in 2023 with their real estate needs. With proper planning and a good Realtor (luckily, I know a really good one), you can smoothly get to your next stage in life. For more tips on how to successfully navigate the real estate purchase or sale, or suggestions on Folsom topics, please contact me at Coldwell Banker, 916-812-4341, pquan@cbnorcal.com, www.PatQuan.com. CA DRE #01918240