Sound Off: What makes the Bay Area market unique?

A: Our unique ability to embrace change of all manner and style, search for better solutions, improve the quality of our lives and those around us and the diversity of lifestyles make the Bay Area an exceedingly desirable place to live. Creating companies and work places that develop new medical, environmental, technological, educational and socioeconomic transformations draws and attracts the brightest people in the world to our communities.

Couple those attributes with some of the best weather on the planet, beautiful and vibrant coastal and inland cities and towns and the attraction is irresistible.

A strong labor market that includes skills and jobs of all levels and dimensions fuels that desire and drives up the need for additional housing.

Property values and construction costs are at all-time highs with contractors searching worldwide for qualified workers. Huge demand and low housing supplies continue to sustain our robust and vigorous housing market, unlike anywhere else in the country.

Jill Gumina, Hill & Co. Real Estate,

(415) 265-1717, jkgumina@gmail.com. A: Several factors push home prices higher in the Bay Area. We have far more buyers than sellers, causing prices to rise faster here than most elsewhere. The region is a tech hub and home to startups paying high salaries with stock options. This creates an influx of buyers who are willing to pay a premium just to break into the market.

Millionaires are born overnight when these startups issue their initial public offerings. These newly minted millionaires join the frenzy, further elevating prices. Because few new single-family homes are built in San Francisco, they’re becoming a rare commodity. Our market’s response to these factors is that we usually set an offer date, and only market a property for a short time, confident we’ll have buyers.

We price properties low and buyers bid up, the opposite of most markets. Sellers usually provide inspection reports, encouraging “clean offers,” and leaving little negotiation once in escrow, which is usually only 25 to 30 days, or less.

This makes for a very competitive and fast-paced marketplace.

Maitri Ratanasene, Paragon Real Estate Group,

415-215-5505, maitri@paragon-re.com.

A: The real estate community here is very sophisticated, yet collegial. Yes, we are competitors, but we are also very supportive of one another. It makes for a wonderful place to practice.

The local practice of supplying complete disclosure packages and reports to buyers before they write offers promotes smoother transactions. Buyers can then make a decision to write an offer or not. This makes it less likely that escrows will fall apart due to unexpected discoveries.

Another local practice common to the Bay Area is publishing an offer date, typically after two weekends. This allows buyers to see the house more than once and get their affairs in order. All offers come in on same day, allowing seller to pick the best. It’s an orderly process that avoids having to make offers in haste.

This is just part of what makes it a wonderful place to practice real estate.

Zanna Knight, Compass Realty, 510-459-7198,

zanna@zannaknight.com.