Jan

13

What Kind of Market is THIS

Posted In: Alameda County, Berkeley, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News, Investing, Listings, Local Market Statistics

Multiple offers, oh my!  No contingencies, oh my!  As long as you aren’t in Berkeley, Albany or Oakland, then it might be considered normal.  Normal is defined as a market where buyers and sellers have equal bargaining power.  Yah right, not here!  But all joking aside, even in these very competitive markets we are starting to see some normalcy.  Indeed [...]

Oct

03

Prices comparing 2007 to 2016 are up, and down

Posted In: Alameda County, Contra Costa County, For Boomers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News, Local Market Statistics

Seven out of ten of the Bay Area counties have surpassed 2007 prices.  I am so surprised.  Surprised, I tell ya!  And here I thought that all counties had surpassed 2007 prices.  But I was wrong. Why do we compare today to 2007?  2007 was the height of the real estate cycle (Note: real estate cycles typically last 7-10 years). [...]

Jan

29

Bay Area Median Sales Price

Posted In: Economy, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News

According to DataQuick the median price paid for a home in California last month was $299,000, the highest since it was $301,000 in August 2008. Last month’s median was up 2.7 percent from $291,000 in November and up 21.5 percent from $246,000 in December 2011. December was the 10th consecutive month in which the state’s median sale price rose year-over-year. [...]

Jan

11

Sean O’toole’s California Forecast for 2013

Posted In: Court and Auctions, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News, Local Market Statistics, Mortgage & Finance

Interesting article from www.foreclosuretruth.com http://www.foreclosuretruth.com/blog/sean/california-forecast-for-2013-more-of-the-same-save-the-black-swan/#comments I actually agree with most of this article, with my key thoughts being: In our neck of the woods trustee sale investors (think large suitcases full of cash on the courthouse steps) are seeing more competition but still finding amazing deals.  Most are not banking on large ROI’s anymore, just looking to make a few [...]

Feb

23

Overdue Mortgages Number 6+million

Posted In: Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News

According to DSNews.com and Lender Processing Services (LPS), by the end of January there were 6,082,000 mortgages in the U.S. going unpaid.  That tally includes loans that are 30 or more days delinquent and loans in foreclosure. The national mortgage delinquency rate as of January month-end was 7.97 percent.  The delinquency rate registered a decline, both for the month and [...]

Jan

05

East Bay Real Estate Predictions for 2012

Posted In: Economy, First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News

During tour today my colleagues and I were discussing what we thought the market would do in 2012.  One said she felt that the Berkeley market, specifically, would see an increase in appreciation of 2% – 3% due to a lack of inventory.  “There are so many buyers looking for homes and without inventory, we will see a lot of [...]

Jun

07

Real Estate’s Double Dip and the Catfish Recovery

Posted In: Economy, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, Local Market Statistics

DQ News reported a few days ago about the current status of the double dip, and uses a little humor while doing so. http://www.dsnews.com/articles/double-dip-altos-says-prices-have-been-steadily-rising-since-then-2011-06-02 What I find completely hilarious (and true!) is that the article deems the ebb and flow of home prices as the “Catfish Recovery.” You laugh, but think about it.  As the article references, a catfish is [...]

Mar

24

Bank of America Makes a Huge Move : Principal Forgiveness

Posted In: For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News, Mortgage & Finance

Bank of America announced today that it will introduce “principal forgiveness” program designed to help some troubled mortgage borrowers relief from the possibility of foreclosure.  The program will look to reduce loan balances of qualifying distressed homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages or subprime loans in an effort to make their payments more affordable.  The homeowners must be at least 60 [...]

Mar

02

So Much for the Move-Up Tax Credit

Posted In: First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, For Sellers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News, Taxes

There is so much mixed feelings about the market right now.  In the Berkeley and surrounding areas, one street is seeing multiple offers and the next isn’t.  The number of foreclosures has gone down drastically, although most buyers think there are buckets of bank-owned homes ready to come on the market.  I don’t think this is the case. No wonder buyers and [...]

Feb

15

FHA-Backed 203(k) Rehab Loans Can Make All The Difference.

Posted In: For Buyers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, General Real Estate News, Home Improvement, Mortgage & Finance

FHA rehab what? You mean there are still loans available to help fix up a house? S-WEET!Here is the scoop: The FHA-backed 203(k) rehab loan is an increasingly popular option in today’s market because so many available properties, especially foreclosures, are in need of repair. And let me tell you, I have been in plenty of them. The bones may [...]