I do not do home loans. I could, but I don’t. I do know how to find the right house for my clients, negotiate the offer, and close the deal. That is my specialty. I leave the loan process to professionals that live and breathe loans everyday. Professionals like Gabe Bodner with RPM Mortgage in Cambell. Gabe and I have worked together on some easy purchases and some not so easy purchases. As a team, we have never lost a deal. One of the most common challenges comes into play when a client has a pre-approval but decides on the day they write the offer to “shop” the interest rate on their loan. Don’t get me wrong, anyone in the industry supports the right and the reason for a borrower trying to get the lowest rate. We understand that 30 years of interest is an amazing number. However, trying to get the lowest interest rate when rates change daily (almost every few hours) is a very elusive goal and can end up costing the buyer more money and stress in the long run. Loan rate shopping is more challenging today than it was even a year ago. With the new RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) of 2010, comes some very specific rules on how fees are disclosed to the borrower. This is a good thing, but the with consumer safeguards the typical 30-day close of escrow can be very, very tight. Many times there is a cost to being late. Loan locks may need to be extended or sellers may charge a per diem late fee if the contract is not closed on time. These changes are not necessarily the easiest to work with and many buyers don’t completely understand why it matters. In a competitive market, (high demand,…
Continue Reading »
My first home had dry wood termites. When I bought my second home, I bought a brick home thinking I would not have to worry about termites. I found out I had subterranean termites. I moved to California and realized most of the houses were built upon the fertile soil where orchards once lived. Where there were orchards, there were termites so it won’t surprise you to hear that many homes in the Bay Area suffer from wood destroying pest. There are things a home owner can do to help reduce the chance of having their home infested by termites and the like. The five most common maintenance issues that are neon welcome signs to pest are: 1.) Sprinklers spraying against the wood siding of a home. This creates a nice moist dinner of wood for termites to take hold. 2.) Water leaks around toilets and sinks. Wet wood = meal for wood hungry pest. 3.) Foliage and trees close to the house or laying on the roof. A perfect gateway for pest to enter roof rafters. 4.) Storing wood or paper products in or around the wood exterior of the home or garage. 5.) Improper drainage from gutters that allow for water to stand or collect underneath the home. The hungry swarm of wood destroying pest can eat at a home for years and cause thousands of dollars in damage. Some surveys indicate termites cause up to $2 billion dollars in damage annually in the United States. The map shows which parts of the country are more at risk for termite infestation. Will McCoy is a pest inspector with The Terminators. A locally owned and operated family business here in San Jose that I have worked with since I bought my first house in California nearly 18 years ago….
Continue Reading »
Home for Sale in Morrill Neighborhood of Berryessa Overview Maps Photos Features Description Neighborhood Open House Market Stats IDX Search $578,888 Single Family Home Main Features 4 Bedrooms2 BathroomsInterior: 1598 sqftLot: 9,320 sqft Location 2032 Seebeck CourtSan Jose, CA 95132USA To get updates on open home dates and other property events, please click the “Like” button below: CJ Brasiel Broker Associate, SRES, GREEN Fireside Reatly(408) 406-6035CJ@CJBRealEstate.comhttp://www.CJBRealEstate.com Listed by: CJ Brasiel Broker Associate Our recent listings Home for Sale in Morrill Neighborhood of BerryessaBeautiful, 5 YR New, Home on Communication Hill!Extra Large Lot R-2, 4BR/2BA, Downtown San Jose Subscribe to our listing feed Nearby properties for sale Tags: Buyers’ Tips, Market Information, Sellers’ Tips, berryessa real estate, large lot, pool, san jose home for sale, silicon valley real estate
Continue Reading »
The new Multiple Listing System (MLS) software provides a quick glance of information pertinent to real estate professionals about the daily real estate world. This “hot” list includes New Listings, Pending Sales, Reduced List Price, Sold, and Increased List Price. Increased list price? It caught my eye when I realized in the last week, 32 homes in the San Jose area have increased the list price of the home. I had to know why. In this market, what kind of seller believes, after sitting on the market for a while, they should increase the list price? Yep, you guessed it. Lenders. Out of 32 homes that increased the list price, many were simply clerical errors and the fact that the agent forgot to include an “8″ in the list price. But 19 of these homes were short sale listings where the list price had been increased. Many times after it had been a “pending” sale. This means that the list price was published on the MLS, an offer was received, accepted by the seller, and then submitted to the lender for short sale approval. Something happened and the deal did not go through and now the home went back on the market with a new, higher list price. I dug into the history a bit more and found that in many cases, there were multiple offers, the highest offer was submitted but before the lender could approve the short sale, the buyer walked. Therefore the listing agent decided to bring the home back active with the highest price offer to find another buyer. Why? Mainly because if the agent did not list at the higher offer previously received, the lender will almost certainly question it and at minimum counter to the last highest offer price. Short sale listing agents do…
Continue Reading »
Whenever a potential home buyer contacts me about buying a home in Silicon Valley, or in the San Francisco Bay Area, I send them a list of great resource links to help assist in their education of the market and the area. I wanted to provide a quick list of my favorite links for you on investigating an area and evaluating the housing market. When moving to California from another state or part of the world, it is helpful to have resources on the cost of living. Bank Rate offers a great relocation calculator for the states on cost of living components. I like this site best as it compares detailed cost like dry cleaning, gasoline, food items, and of course housing. The only area I have found in the United States more expensive to live in than San Jose is Manhattan, New York. Most clients are interested in understanding school scores and how they relate to neighborhoods around Silicon Valley. Historically, for the Bay Area, school scores have a huge influence on affordability and re-sale value of homes. The best site for quickly identifying possible school assignments for a neighborhood with a great visual on API scores is School Performance Maps.com. This web site has a quick read on 2007 scores but if you click the ed-org link on each school pin point you can get the recent API scores through 2009. The Ed-data.org site also offers information on class size, demographics and socio-economic make up of the schools. From this site, I always suggest parents go to Great Schools.org because it offers comments from parents about the school. That is the site where you learn if there is a new principal or changes in the schools noted by parents. Neighborhood safety is also an important check point for…
Continue Reading »
Because real estate is cyclic and none of us have much control over a global economy, it is important to do everything we can to maintain and grow value in our homes. Here is an overview of some ideas on how you can build equity even in a down housing market: 1.) Leveraging your home can be a beneficial tax benefit as well as a good investment for your money. Consider interest rate and terms carefully when choosing any loan product to buy a home or refinance a home. With rates hovering at 4%, check in with your loan agent to see if re-financing makes sense. Obviously, the more cash in, the more initial value, but weigh that carefully against the cost of borrowing and cash flow. 2.) Know your neighborhood and local real estate market. Work with your real estate agent to choose the best neighborhood for historic value growth and value stability during tough times. Once you are living there, do everything in your power to keep the neighborhood positive. Neighborhood watch, involvement in local schools, participating in neighborhood associations, as well as local planning boards can help keep your neighborhood improving. Also work with your neighbors to maintain a pride of ownership in your neighborhood. Tags: Buyers’ Tips, Sellers’ Tips
Continue Reading »
After living in San Francisco for a few years, moving back to San Jose and its suburban nature took some getting used to. I missed the ability to walk to a variety of restaurants at any time of the day or night. I missed the ability to stop in at a library without getting in the car. I missed the urban architecture offered by the many new developments along the Embarcadero and Potrero Hill. However, lately, I am taking notice of San Jose’s new downtown developments, and in particular have created a warm and fuzzy feeling for The 88 high rise homes. There are several new high rise developments around downtown San Jose but few can tout a Walk-able score of 100 like The 88. With the new Safeway Market in the same building, and within a block or two, multiple restaurants, movie theaters, and the Martin Luther King Library there is really no reason you would have to leave your neighborhood. Not to mention San Jose State University two blocks away, the San Jose Opera house another three blocks away, and the North First light rail station across the street, which also connects to the Diridon Cal Train Station. This is what is meant by urban living. Proximity, convenience, and culture. The 88 is everything an urban dweller could want. Designed by the SB Architects and developed by Wilson, Meany, Sullivan ,who also developed the San Francisco Ferry Building and The Beacon residential development across from the San Francisco Giant’s ballpark. This team knows what they are doing. Elegance, functionality, wrapped into workable floor plans, make The 88 come together as homes any home buyer would enjoy. But living at The 88 is not contained to your individual condominium. Living at The 88 expands to many other areas. The…
Continue Reading »
Ahhh, the question that will be on everyone’s mind for at least the next decade. I bought my first house in the late 1980′s. I sold it about a year and a half later and had to pay at the closing table. My interest rate was about 8% on that loan. The first month I moved in, the AC condenser line clogged up and I came home after a 12 hour shift to find the carpet saturated down the hall. But I loved the yard. It was lush, had a huge deck, and I had countless parties with friends and the memories still make me smile. My dog ran a raccoon up the tree in that yard. The oak tree in the front yard destroyed my septic drain field and that cost me a couple of thousand dollars to fix. I loved that house. I remember inviting my parents over for dinner and they didn’t get lost. This was the first time they didn’t have to try to find a “unit number” in a huge apartment complex. They simply pulled up in my drive way. I loved that house. Then I moved to Texas in 1992. Beautiful newly constructed home on about 5 acres. I remember when my parents came for Christmas, my Dad told me “Hon, you’ve really made it.” My parents believe owning a home is a sign of success in your life. It was a responsibility that took hard work and many weekends of my time. Can you imagine weed-whacking about a mile of ditch in Texas summer sun? Uh-huh. Responsibility. I loved that house. My dogs could run all around until they wore out. Chasing rabbits, squirrels, and other neighborhood dogs. When I went to sell that house, I found out that I had about $10,000…
Continue Reading »
Whenever the moving process begins, inevitably there are items you don’t really want to move with you but are in good condition and could be valuable to someone else. You can try to organize a yard sale to help reduce the belongings but many times only the ultimately organized can make time for sorting, pricing, and answering ads on Craigs List during their own moving process. It is not uncommon to find yourself a week before the open house or a week before the moving van comes with a multitude of items that you wish could simply, “find another home for”. A home for items that could be appreciated and not simply wasted by being dumped into the over crowded landfill. A home for items with useful life that could help someone else start or re-start their lives. With that in mind, I wanted to provide a list of resources of where you can consider donating items. This also takes time but will provide you with a good feeling when it is all done. This list is not complete and I hope that readers will comment below on other places they have used in the San Jose, Santa Clara County area for donations. Special thanks to Cyndie and Mario Le Chuga for sharing their homework and their friendship with me. Organization Items they take? Address/Phone Web Site Good Will Accepts your new or gently used items — like clothing, appliances and furniture. 1080 North Seventh Street, San Jose, CA 95112 (408) 869-9198 http://www.goodwillsv.org/ Salvation Army clothing, appliances and furniture 359 North 4th Street, San Jose, CA 95112-5254 (408) 283-3864 http://bit.ly/cGbRv3 Sacred Heart food, blankets, clothing, baby diapers (sizes 4, 5, 6) 1381 South First St. San Jose, CA 95110 Todd Madigan – (408) 278-2180 toddm@sacredheartcs.org http://www.shcstheheart.org/ Second Harvest Meals in…
Continue Reading »
The median price for single-family, re-sale homes reached its highest level since August 2008: up 34.6% year-over-year to $632,450. The sales price to list price ratio, a good indicator of demand, for single-family, re-sale homes in Santa Clara County was 101% in April. This is the tenth month in a row the indicator has been over 100%. Home sales were up 4.1% from March, but down 1.4% year-over-year. Pending sales reached record levels in March with 2,519 homes under contract. This bodes well for sales in the next few months. Inventory also increased in April from March: up 8.2%, and it was up 0.2% compared to April 2009. This is the first time inventory has been higher than the year before since January 2009. Seems like home owners are beginning to feel more confident in the market. Of the 1,022 homes put on the market in April, only 85 were bank-owned. So where are the buyers’ markets? The buyer markets are no longer on the East Side of San Jose (Berryessa, Alum Rock, Milpitas, Evergreen). Most of the deals under $500K have been scooped up in the last two years. Except, central San Jose. Downtown, areas around Burbank (San Carlos Avenue) have some homes under $500K for sale. This may also be due to the many new condo complexes struggling to fill their units with residents. The deals are in the $700K-$1M range now. Areas where the average sales price tips about $700K show a buyer’s market. Affordability at play again. The ability to obtain a jumbo loan at play again. To meet the “conventional” loan which is secured on the secondary market, 20% is required. Better rates if you do not exceed the $729,000 limit on your loan. We are now looking at a buying pool that has over…
Continue Reading »
Lead poisoning is a serious issue. According to researchers, “Lead poisoning can lead to learning disabilities, behavioral problems and, at high levels, seizures, comas and death”. Children under the age of six are at a higher risk due to their natural tendency to place things in their mouths. This new regulation requires professional renovators and home owners alike be educated on the proper method for disturbing areas that may be contaminated with lead. This is normally related to homes built prior to 1978 when lead was used in plumbing materials and paint. Due to the durability of lead paint, there may deep layers on window sills, trim, and door casements. If these areas are going to be sanded, prepped with a pressure washer, or removed, adequate precautions must be taken. This includes but is not limited to proper dust control, particle containment and proper disposal of all materials. If you are planning on painting or renovating your home and it was built prior to 1978, your contractor should be trained in lead removal and have one certified worker on the job to supervise the process. The training for contractors is anywhere from $75-$250 and the estimated cost for the process requirements per job range from 5-10% additional for each job. Your contractor should provide you with a pamphlet informing you of the health issues related to lead. This new regulation, going into effect April 22nd, 2010, has many in an uproar. Including my father who has been a painter for nearly 60 years and describes the hand mixing of lead and linseed oil with his bare hands to create the right color. My father is 84 and shows no signs of lead poisoning. He believes this issue will place additional cost on the contractor because of training and the…
Continue Reading »
This is one of those questions like the chicken and egg type debates. It depends. It depends on where you live, what type of pool it is, the condition, and a couple of more small details. Understanding more details about pools will help evaluate what value it brings to your home. Whether you are looking at purchasing or selling a home with a pool, it is good to ponder this question and see best how to manage the answer. Where you live makes a big difference in the value added of a pool to a home. Obviously, the longer “swimming” season you have, the more value a pool can have. A pool as a part of a home in Florida is much more valuable than a home with a pool in Minnesota. Some areas like Arizona seem to almost require a home to have a pool. The climate can also affect the cost of a pool. The warmer the climate the less energy used to heat the pool. Also sunnier climates can utilize solar panels to heat the pool. The type of pool construction affects the longevity and upkeep costs related to the pool as well. Vinyl covered pools typically last about 10 years. A gunite pool can last 20 years if well maintained. Concrete pools can take a great deal of upkeep in areas with seismic activity as cracks must be kept up with on a continuous business. Fiberglass pools can also be a good choice for longevity but may not be available in a custom shape. Hence the reason why many home owners choose gunite so that a pool can be made to fit the landscaping shape of the yard. The condition of the pool and the pool pump should be evaluated any time a buyer is looking…
Continue Reading »
