Best Buys In Ojai/Team Deckert – Our daily blog spotlighting the best in Ojai Valley real estate!

August 20, 2026

Quote of the Day

The U.S. is the only country where failure to promote yourself is widely considered arrogant.

~ Garry Trudeau

This Day in History

August 20, 1940: Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is assassinated. Exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is fatally wounded by an ice-ax-wielding assassin at his compound outside Mexico City. The killer – Ramón Mercader – was a Spanish communist and probable agent of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Trotsky died from his wounds the next day.

Born in the Ukraine of Russian-Jewish parents in 1879, Trotsky embraced Marxism as a teenager and later dropped out of the University of Odessa to help organize the underground South Russian Workers’ Union. In 1898, he was arrested for his revolutionary activities and sent to prison. In 1900, he was exiled to Siberia. In 1902, he escaped to England. Over the next decade he was expelled from numerous countries due to his radicalism, having lived in Switzerland, Paris, Spain, and New York City before returning to Russia at the outbreak of the revolution in 1917.

Ojai Weather

Sunny – High 93 / Low 58

Lake Casitas water capacity – 96.5%

Thursday, August 20, 2026

1:55 p.m.

There are no new listings on the market, but here’s a quick market update: Normally, I would include the graphs from Altos Market Data – but upon further investigation, I find their statistics to be off by quite a large margin. So, I have done the research myself on a few of the basic metrics we watch as Realtors & Brokers – including days on market, average and median sales prices, and the average list-to-sales price percentage.

These statistics include Ojai and Oak View only, and only residential homes (no commercial, mobile home, or land parcels):

Last quarter of 2025 – 10/1/25 through 12/31/25

Average Days On Market – 89

Average Sales Price – $1,388,668

Average Price Per Square Foot: $768.00

Median Sales Price – $1,175,000

Highest Sales Price – $3,848,000

Last quarter up to today – 5/20/2026 through 8/20/2026

Average Days On Market: 49

Average Sales Price: $1,541,926

Average Price Per SF: $766.00

Median Sales Price: $1,330,000

Highest Sales Price: $5,500,000

Overall, I would say (mostly from “feel”) that there’s a slight buyer’s edge in the market – allowing buyer’s to negotiate a little more effectively to secure a lower purchase price on their home. The large difference in Days On Market is likely seasonal – spring to summer are typically more active months than fall to winter.

Pic of the Day

Wednesday, August 19, 2026

2:50 p.m.

There is one new listing on the market:

1225 S. Rice Road #36 – $429,000

Pic (video) of the Day

(Click on the photo below)

“Yes, it was very sad when the guy stopped…drawing the deer.”

Tuesday, August 18, 2026

12:40 p.m.

One new listing has come to the market since Friday:

259 Prospect Street – $890,000

Recently cancelled, withdrawn, or expired listings – back on the market as “new:”

203 N. Fulton Street – $919,000 (this had recently expired on 7/27).

Pic of the Day

I can’t wait to see your Pong-inspired bathroom

Friday, August 14, 2026

11:35 a.m.

There are two new listings on the market:

160 N. Encinal Avenue – $939,000

306 E. Matilija Street – $2,200,000

Recently cancelled, expired, or withdrawn listings – back on the market as “new:”

16096 Maricopa Highway – $1,449,000 (this had recently been cancelled on 7/10).

Have a great weekend!

Pic of the Day

Amazon driver, arriving at Charolotte’s place:

“Aw, hell no!”

Thursday, August 13, 2026

10:00 a.m.

There is a new “coming soon” listing on the market:

125 Oak Drive – $835,000 (coming soon, 8/14)

Pic of the Day

Actual listing photo – what kind of orgy house is this?

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

10:55 a.m.

One new listing hit the market in the last five days, but it’s already a pending sale:

11374 Oakcrest Avenue – $850,000 (already under contract)

I just returned from a 10 day trip to visit my family in Chicago. It was a combination of sadness and joy – the sadness consisted of saying “goodbye” to our family home that the Deckerts had owned for 52 years. My younger brother – who bought the home from my father 15 years ago – made the move to a new home just 20 minutes away. We went through the last of the older family photos, letters, notes, and other memorabilia between my mother and father, combined their ashes and put them in smaller urns that all the kids could take with them (I received a minor inquisition from the O’hare TSA when I carried it with my on-board luggage), held a vinyl album lottery of my dad’s 1,500 or so records; sawed open an old safe that belonged to my younger sister (with her approval, of course) – hoping for a more exciting reveal than that of Al Capone’s vault; and my brother’s mother-in-law made throw pillows out of several of my father’s old work uniforms – complete with his name patch, as well as the company’s logo. Indeed, tears were shed.

But there was much joy as well: The six of my younger siblings and myself, goofing on each other during the album lottery; the last Deckert family baseball game to be held in the side yard; one of my younger brothers – who stopped playing sports by the time he was 10 years old – hitting a home run over the house; seeing my little sister, who only a year ago first signed up with the School of Rock adult band in order to learn to sing, then watching her perform live in front of a room of 200 people and absolutely nailing “You Got Today” (by Maggie Rose) – causing me to get the chills and tears to form in my eyes; watching my sister’s kids also perform live on that same stage; stopping at Portllo’s twice to get the famous Chicago-style hot dog (which I would pick over steak and lobster any day); and staying up until 2:00 a.m. just shootin’ the breeze with my brother.

All great and cherished memories of my former home – but it’s good to be back home in Ojai, my “forever” place to be!