The market isn't "crazy"—but it is intense.

We shared in our team Slack recently a thoughtful post by a fellow real estate agent who shared why he's no longer calling this real estate market "crazy"—and we agree with the sentiment.

It's harder than ever for buyers to compete in this market. Just because we've had a lot of success stories with our buyers doesn't mean some of them haven't had a few heartbreaks first. So to call the market "crazy" or "wild" is a flippant way of ignoring the fact that it's also difficult and emotional. Semantics? Maybe. But we prefer to err on the side of compassion.

Which is also why we wanted to share some recent stories of hope. Take our El Cerrito buyers who have been home searching for a little over a year. At first, they weren't in a rush. We wrote a few "might as well try!" offers that were more conservative. But as the market intensified and their increasingly competitive offers still kept getting rejected, they began to lose hope. Today, they're finally in contract.

Another pair of buyers had worked with other agents in the past and weren't happy with the experience. We were able to get them into contract within two weeks of starting the home searching process, but the property wasn't quite right for them. Twelve days later, they found the one that they and their cats could call home sweet home.

Another buyer of ours began her search in earnest two months ago and was able to find the perfect condo because one of our agents happened to have an in with the seller and helped sway the seller's heart in our buyer's direction.

And one of our most recent buyers? She's a well-known Bay Area performer, and she began her search less than two weeks ago. We were able to swoop in and find her dream loft (her words!) BEFORE the offer deadline. 

Success stories? We've got hundreds of them. Sometimes they're long stories, and often they're shorter than even the buyers expected. But if you're a buyer or want to be one, but are discouraged by the market... yes, it's intense. And yes, it's possible to succeed.