The challenge with being involved in your government is having the time and energy to dig through the information to find the facts. Most of the time, the average citizen (like myself) only reacts to a public policy change when it lands on our doorstep. I have been following the debate regarding Governor Brown’s shutting down of the state’s Redevelopment Agencies. I have attended many functions over the last year where developers swore that this would have a huge impact on their ability to develop homes for “in-fill” areas. Simply put, without government subsidies it would not be cost effective to create new town homes in a transitional neighborhood of San Jose because affordability would be out of reach for the average resident. If you listened to the debates, why should property taxes go to big developers? Pet projects like parking garages in Los Angeles and high rises in San Jose, were considered foolish in a time of economic recession. Makes sense to stop providing subsidies to wealthy builders. Or so it seemed at first glance. But redevelopment money is not just for big developers.  Redevelopment money was  intended to rebuild neighborhoods by providing encouragement to builders to take a risk. Redevelopment money was meant to fuel jobs in areas of the county where there were very few jobs to be had. Redevelopment money was meant to provide an opportunity for lower income families to own a home. Redevelopment money was meant to support public servants like teachers and firefighters the ability to afford a home in Silicon Valley when their salaries alone where not enough. The Governor was successful at making sure developers did not get subsidies. But what he also did is gave teachers and other public servants no choice but to accept foreclosure. Why? If a teacher…

In a recent industry magazine I saw the word “resilence”.  It immediately sent my mind down a winding path thinking about its definition and my world. Indeed, this one word summed up the last three years of my career in real estate. re·sil·ience noun /ri?zily?ns/   The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. Truthfully, it summed up a majority of peoples’ lives over the last three years.  The capacity to recover has been and is being tested in every possible way.  In early 2008 we recognized the real estate world was changing.  Sometimes changing so fast, it was difficult to sit down at a kitchen table with a seller and explain that their house value had not only decreased but was actively decreasing at a rate of 2% – 5% per month. In 2009, the reality of AS IS became clear as REOs and short sales hit the market and buyers looked at me puzzled by the definition of this new market’s  affordability.  Yes, you may now get a deal but you have a ton of work to do before you can move in.  Furthermore, the return of FHA loans into the California market sent agents reeling into new requirements applied by appraisers and underwriters.  But, as professionals do, we recovered and quickly became experts at anticipating issues and added to our daily calendars meetings at homes to provide the out of town appraiser with comps and data related to our local market. Moving into 2010, buyers saw the tax incentives as a way to hedge their bets against predicting the bottom of the housing market but were still very surprised when their offer was 1 of 8 on the REO they found.  The “believe it or not” speech I gave over and over to first time buyers explained how…

I for one am excited about the San Pedro Square Market Place in downtown San Jose.  Built around the historic Peralta Adobe and Fallon House, the market will boast open market offerings from unique food (no franchise?), fresh foods, and entertainment.  I love visiting the Ferry Building in San Francisco and believe this market will truly help San Jose downtown by providing a great, central space for all to gather.  It is scheduled to open late this summer (2011) and will provide a blended space of history and new for San Jose residents.   For more information about the market check out the web site. Tags: Market Information, downtown, open markets, peralta adobe, san jose, san pedro square