Click Here to Meet Laura Lothian

The Real Estate Market - First Quarter 2025

Dear Home Sellers and Home Seekers:

First off, thank you to my treasured clients for entrusting me with $34,000,000 in local real estate sales in 2024. With sales half of what they were in 2021, stubbornly high interest rates, high inflation, and the unknowns of an election year, it was gratifying helping home sellers and home buyers navigate choppy waters.

After the six-week lull between Thanksgiving and New Years, January always takes off. It’s a great time to put your home on the market as buyers are scouring Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com and the myriad of other real estate sites.

The two most important factors influencing the real estate market are interest rates and inventory. As of January 5th, the mortgage interest rate for 30 year fixed is 6.67% which is much better than the nearly 8% interest rates of 2023. Inventory is low which is great for sellers and frustrating for buyers. That should change in the first quarter.

Now, more than ever, owning a home is still one of the greatest aspirations of Americans. In addition to financial security, building wealth, pride of ownership, we are now working from home more, homeschooling, entertaining and relaxing at home.

Hiring the right agent to represent your best interests continues to be a home seller’s most important decision, likewise, hiring the right agent to guide and secure the purchase of a home is equally important.

April 1st, 2025 will be the 23rd anniversary of the start of my real estate career. For over two decades I have helped 1000+ of clients sell and buy over $600,000,000 in local real estate regardless of a sellers’ market or buyers’ market. I hold the distinction of most homes sold in La Mesa per MLS data and was named a Top 1.49% Agent Nationwide by RealTrends and the Wall Street Journal 2022 and 2023.

I remained in the Top 1% of San Diego Realtors every month of 2024.

Experience and a stellar reputation matters.

Selling or Buying? Call Me. I can’t wait for us to get started!

Thank you.

Laura Lothian

It takes extraordinary creativity, effort, and investment to create house buzz, so Laura markets properties the way producers put on a show!

Every one of her listings is professionally photographed. Particularly large homes, estates, and homes with acreage and/or near the ocean also enjoy aerial photography. Photos are taken only during blue skies and twilight - no hazy, cloudy, or gray skies for Laura's listings! Homesellers are guaranteed gorgeous, artistic interior and exterior shots that bring traffic and offers. Look at the home photos in the slide show and throughout this site - ALL Laura Listings! All photo shoots are directed by Laura and taken by one of the best real estate photographers in Southern California! 

In addition to superb photography, Laura deploys her journalistic background and writing skills to infuse her clients' listings with color and vivacity! All homes enjoy Internet saturation, prominent signage with custom riders, Broker networking, email blasts to every Realtor in San Diego County, Event Open Houses, and prominent inclusion in local print media, including the San Diego Union-Tribune and Dream Home Magazine. In 2022, Laura joined the roster of some of the most successful, prominent luxury real estate agents featured in San Diego’s Dream Home Magazine by becoming an official “Dream Agent!”

Laura offers practical advice for homeowners wanting to put their home on the market: best times of the year to go on the market, what should or should not be done to get a home ready, best ways to present or stage (or even de-stage!) homes and so on. See practical tips here:

Laura knows home selling is more than marketing. Laura is a hard-working professional, a master negotiator, and very experienced with the complex contracts required by the Department of Real Estate and the State of California. She and her clients also have a perfect, transactions legal record: no insurance claims, no mediations, no arbitrations, no lawsuits - not even a letter of complaint!

With close to $1/2 Billion in local real estate sales - and in a litigious society - that says a lot about Laura's ethics and fidelity to her clients!

Your Personal Home Shopper!

The process for buyers starts with their preferred locations and a list of their Must Haves/Must Not Haves. Predicated on those criteria, Laura builds a custom MLS search that emails buyers new listings and price change listings every day directly from the MLS. Those properties with potential are seen by the buyers with Laura. For out-of-area buyers, Laura tours the homes and sends those buyers her own photos, videos, and comments. If a home becomes a serious contender, Laura researches value and advises buyers before writing any offers. In a competitive market, Laura's offers are written to get the seller's attention. Negotiation goes far beyond pricing. There are many aspects to consider: inspections, contingencies, length of escrow, structuring deposits, and so on.