SAN FRANCISCO—In a seller’s market like the Bay Area, even buyers with capital have a hard time landing a home—to the extent that buyers’ ads may even be a good idea.
“This nice young couple, two Stanford grads, working now—one at Google and one at a startup—they were putting in good offers, $300,000–400,000 above list price, and not getting it,” says realtor Ken DeLeon. “They were very frustrated, so I put out big, full-page ads saying ‘Charming couple seeking beautiful home’ and gave the criteria—$1.8 million, three bedrooms, in this area of Palo Alto.”
