Thursday, April 14, 2011
101 La Serena Ave, Alamo
Visit http//:101LaSerenaAve.com to see the virtual tour on this fantastic home.
5 Steps to Deciding How Much to Offer - or Ask - for Your Home
Home buyers think they need to run spreadsheets and do fancy math to decide how much to offer, which can be super intimidating. Truth is, there's a short list of simple steps to making a smart offer – one that gets you a great value, but is also likely to get you the house. And most of the same steps apply to sellers who want to set the list price that will lure the most buyers and net them the most cash.
One of the hardest, most important decisions homebuyers face is how much to offer for their home. And the glut of information on the web about real estate only makes buyers even crazier than the decision itself does. Supply, demand, foreclosure rates, mortgage rates – buyers think they need to run spreadsheets and do fancy math to make a smart offer. And THAT can be super intimidating.
But the fact is, there is a pretty short list of steps you need to take to make a smart offer – one that gets you a great value, but is also likely to be successful at getting the property. (A low offer does not make for a great deal if you don’t get the house!) And most of the same steps apply to sellers trying to set the list price that will lure the most buyers (and net them the most cash)!
Step 1: What do the “comps” say? First things first. When it comes to pricing a home, or making an offer to buy one, the ‘first thing” is the home’s fair market value. Both buyers and sellers should work with an experienced, local agent to understand what the home’s value is. Most agents will do this by offering you a look back at similar properties that have recently sold in the neighborhood – i.e., the comparable sales, or comps.
Ideally, look for comparables that are very recent sales (3 months or less before you’re listing or buying), very similar properties (i.e., same number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage; and similar style, condition and amenities). If you do get into contract, these may be the same comparables which will be considered by the appraiser, so looking at them before making an offer can:
(a) provide factual support for a lower-than-asking offer or for the asking price, in a negotiation, and
(b) result in a sale price at which the property will actually appraise, later on - avoiding the common glitch of the deal falling through because the appraisal comes in way below the agreed-upon price.
Also, looking at comps is the first step for locating a home’s seller and prospective buyer in the reality-based universe of current home values. The fact that you bought or refinanced the place at a given value 5 or 6 years ago is entirely irrelevant to what it’s worth today, as is the buyer’s belief that the place was worth $100K less at the trough of the market, in 2009.
Step 2: What can you afford? This step is much more critical for buyers than for sellers. (Unfortunately, sellers, the facts that you need to net a particular amount to buy your next home or pay your existing mortgages or credit card bills off has no relationship whatsoever to the price at which you should list or will sell your home.)
Buyers – it’s a must to make sure that your offer price for any given home falls within the range of what is affordable for you. This includes offering a price within the range for which your mortgage was preapproved, but also includes making sure that the monthly payment and cash you’ll need to close the deal (down payment + closing costs) are affordable in light of the particular house. If, for example, the property will require repairs for which you’ll need to conserve cash, or has HOA dues you hadn’t planned on, you may need to rejigger your offer accordingly.
Step 3: What’s your competition? (And what’s theirs?) This is another step at which it’s critical to check in with your agent. You need to know what level of competition you’ll face – whether you are a buyer, or a seller. As a seller, you can find this out by looking at things like how many comparable homes are listed in your town or your neighborhood in your general price range (your agent will brief you on this). Sellers should also consider what type of transactions their home will be up against – the more distressed properties (foreclosed homes and short sales) with which your home must compete, the more aggressive you must be with your pricing to get your home sold.
The more competition you have, as a seller, the lower you should tweak your list price to attract buyers to come see your home. (And the more buyers come to see your home, the more likely you are to get an offer!)
Buyers should also be cognizant of the competition level they will face for homes. Believe it or not, even on today’s market there are properties and neighborhoods in which multiple offers are the name of the game. Work with your agent to understand the list price-to-sale price (LP:SP) ratio , which lets you know how much under or over the asking price properties are selling for in your target home’s neighborhood; the lower the LP:SP ratio, generally speaking, the less competition there is among buyers.
Your agent can also brief you on:
(1) The number of offers – if any - that have been presented on “your” property (which the listing agent will usually, gladly tell). If there are other offers, you’ll want to make a higher offer to compete successfully against them; and
(2) The number of days the home has been on the market, relative to how long an average home stays on the market before it sells – the longer it has, the more pressure is on the seller, price-wise, and the less competition the buyer is likely to have. (One exception is the sweet spot scenario, when a property that has been on the market for a long time has a price reduction and gets a bunch of offers as a result!)
4. How much do they need to sell (or buy) it? Buyers: Has the listing in which you’re interested been reduced at all? By how much? Has the listing agent informed you that her clients are highly motivated, flexible or have an urgent need to sell?
Sellers – most buyers are not in a high state of urgency to buy these days, given the long-term, high affordability of homes and interest rates, except when they have an urgent personal reason for moving, e.g., buyers who are relocating for work. Of course, all of real estate is hyperlocal, so it’s important to understand how motivated buyers are in your local market, generally speaking, before you set your list price.
How many homes in your target property’s area have had at least one price reduction, how likely a home in the area is to have multiple price reductions?
The higher these numbers are, the stronger of a buyer’s market it is, and the more bargaining power buyers likely have. And if you’re the seller, the higher these numbers are for your area, the lower you may need to price your home to be successful at getting it sold.
5. How much do you want to buy, or sell, the place? Step #4 was about taking the motivations of the folks on the other side of the bargaining table into account when formulating your offer and your list price. This step is all about you – what’s your level of motivation? Now, buyers, you certainly shouldn’t offer a price way above what the place is worth (see Step #1) just because you really, really want it, unless you have the cash to throw around. But within the range of the home’s fair market value, it may make sense to move higher within that range if you are highly motivated to get that particular property. Sellers: think of your list price as the most powerful marketing tool at your disposal. If you really want or need to sell, get aggressive about setting your price as low as makes sense for your home's value and local market dynamics to attract qualified buyers and help your home stand out against all the competition.
One of the hardest, most important decisions homebuyers face is how much to offer for their home. And the glut of information on the web about real estate only makes buyers even crazier than the decision itself does. Supply, demand, foreclosure rates, mortgage rates – buyers think they need to run spreadsheets and do fancy math to make a smart offer. And THAT can be super intimidating.
But the fact is, there is a pretty short list of steps you need to take to make a smart offer – one that gets you a great value, but is also likely to be successful at getting the property. (A low offer does not make for a great deal if you don’t get the house!) And most of the same steps apply to sellers trying to set the list price that will lure the most buyers (and net them the most cash)!
Step 1: What do the “comps” say? First things first. When it comes to pricing a home, or making an offer to buy one, the ‘first thing” is the home’s fair market value. Both buyers and sellers should work with an experienced, local agent to understand what the home’s value is. Most agents will do this by offering you a look back at similar properties that have recently sold in the neighborhood – i.e., the comparable sales, or comps.
Ideally, look for comparables that are very recent sales (3 months or less before you’re listing or buying), very similar properties (i.e., same number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage; and similar style, condition and amenities). If you do get into contract, these may be the same comparables which will be considered by the appraiser, so looking at them before making an offer can:
(a) provide factual support for a lower-than-asking offer or for the asking price, in a negotiation, and
(b) result in a sale price at which the property will actually appraise, later on - avoiding the common glitch of the deal falling through because the appraisal comes in way below the agreed-upon price.
Also, looking at comps is the first step for locating a home’s seller and prospective buyer in the reality-based universe of current home values. The fact that you bought or refinanced the place at a given value 5 or 6 years ago is entirely irrelevant to what it’s worth today, as is the buyer’s belief that the place was worth $100K less at the trough of the market, in 2009.
Step 2: What can you afford? This step is much more critical for buyers than for sellers. (Unfortunately, sellers, the facts that you need to net a particular amount to buy your next home or pay your existing mortgages or credit card bills off has no relationship whatsoever to the price at which you should list or will sell your home.)
Buyers – it’s a must to make sure that your offer price for any given home falls within the range of what is affordable for you. This includes offering a price within the range for which your mortgage was preapproved, but also includes making sure that the monthly payment and cash you’ll need to close the deal (down payment + closing costs) are affordable in light of the particular house. If, for example, the property will require repairs for which you’ll need to conserve cash, or has HOA dues you hadn’t planned on, you may need to rejigger your offer accordingly.
Step 3: What’s your competition? (And what’s theirs?) This is another step at which it’s critical to check in with your agent. You need to know what level of competition you’ll face – whether you are a buyer, or a seller. As a seller, you can find this out by looking at things like how many comparable homes are listed in your town or your neighborhood in your general price range (your agent will brief you on this). Sellers should also consider what type of transactions their home will be up against – the more distressed properties (foreclosed homes and short sales) with which your home must compete, the more aggressive you must be with your pricing to get your home sold.
The more competition you have, as a seller, the lower you should tweak your list price to attract buyers to come see your home. (And the more buyers come to see your home, the more likely you are to get an offer!)
Buyers should also be cognizant of the competition level they will face for homes. Believe it or not, even on today’s market there are properties and neighborhoods in which multiple offers are the name of the game. Work with your agent to understand the list price-to-sale price (LP:SP) ratio , which lets you know how much under or over the asking price properties are selling for in your target home’s neighborhood; the lower the LP:SP ratio, generally speaking, the less competition there is among buyers.
Your agent can also brief you on:
(1) The number of offers – if any - that have been presented on “your” property (which the listing agent will usually, gladly tell). If there are other offers, you’ll want to make a higher offer to compete successfully against them; and
(2) The number of days the home has been on the market, relative to how long an average home stays on the market before it sells – the longer it has, the more pressure is on the seller, price-wise, and the less competition the buyer is likely to have. (One exception is the sweet spot scenario, when a property that has been on the market for a long time has a price reduction and gets a bunch of offers as a result!)
4. How much do they need to sell (or buy) it? Buyers: Has the listing in which you’re interested been reduced at all? By how much? Has the listing agent informed you that her clients are highly motivated, flexible or have an urgent need to sell?
Sellers – most buyers are not in a high state of urgency to buy these days, given the long-term, high affordability of homes and interest rates, except when they have an urgent personal reason for moving, e.g., buyers who are relocating for work. Of course, all of real estate is hyperlocal, so it’s important to understand how motivated buyers are in your local market, generally speaking, before you set your list price.
How many homes in your target property’s area have had at least one price reduction, how likely a home in the area is to have multiple price reductions?
The higher these numbers are, the stronger of a buyer’s market it is, and the more bargaining power buyers likely have. And if you’re the seller, the higher these numbers are for your area, the lower you may need to price your home to be successful at getting it sold.
5. How much do you want to buy, or sell, the place? Step #4 was about taking the motivations of the folks on the other side of the bargaining table into account when formulating your offer and your list price. This step is all about you – what’s your level of motivation? Now, buyers, you certainly shouldn’t offer a price way above what the place is worth (see Step #1) just because you really, really want it, unless you have the cash to throw around. But within the range of the home’s fair market value, it may make sense to move higher within that range if you are highly motivated to get that particular property. Sellers: think of your list price as the most powerful marketing tool at your disposal. If you really want or need to sell, get aggressive about setting your price as low as makes sense for your home's value and local market dynamics to attract qualified buyers and help your home stand out against all the competition.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
C.A.R. releases 2009-2010 “State of the California Housing Market”
Affordable home prices, tax credits for home buyers, historically low interest rates, and a large number of distressed properties prompted many first-time home buyers to enter the market in 2009, according to C.A.R.’s 2009-2010 “State of the California Housing Market” report released today.
California’s median home price hit bottom in February 2009 at $245,170. Since then, the median home price has increased steadily in month-to-month comparisons, but remained below 2008 levels throughout 2009. The annual median price is projected to increase to $280,000 in 2010 from $271,000 in 2009.
Homes priced $500,000 or less dominated the sales mix throughout 2008 and early 2009, but peaked at 85 percent in January 2009. Meanwhile, the market share of homes sold for more than $500,000 increased from 15 percent in January 2009 to 25 percent in July 2009, holding steady around that figure for the remainder of last year.
Affordable home prices, tax credits for home buyers, historically low interest rates, and a large number of distressed properties prompted many first-time home buyers to enter the market in 2009, according to C.A.R.’s 2009-2010 “State of the California Housing Market” report released today.
California’s median home price hit bottom in February 2009 at $245,170. Since then, the median home price has increased steadily in month-to-month comparisons, but remained below 2008 levels throughout 2009. The annual median price is projected to increase to $280,000 in 2010 from $271,000 in 2009.
Homes priced $500,000 or less dominated the sales mix throughout 2008 and early 2009, but peaked at 85 percent in January 2009. Meanwhile, the market share of homes sold for more than $500,000 increased from 15 percent in January 2009 to 25 percent in July 2009, holding steady around that figure for the remainder of last year.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Stimulus Housing Plan Slow to Take Shape in Contra Costa
Stimulus housing plan slow to take shape
By John Simerman Contra Costa Times
Posted: 02/02/201004:45:33 PM PST
Updated: 02103/2010 05:15:15 PM PST
A year into a $6 billion federal program to buy up, rehab and sell abandoned properties in hard-hit neighborhoods, the bulk of the first $40 million in Bay Area rants remains unspent. Cities and counties are struggling to get their hands on the right homes, competing with cash- carrying investors and thwarted by banks reluctant to put foreclosed houses on the market. The creeping pace of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program seems to defy both the idea of rapid federal stimulus and the fast flow of houses bobbing into foreclosure - one every 18 minutes in the Bay Area. Housing experts say its troubles are partly attributable to red tape and overwhelmed banks, but mostly to what they never anticipated: a surge in the market for beleaguered properties.
A sea of eager, cash-toting investors are lapping up cheap foreclosures, often before the agencies can bid on them. The program requires that cities and counties buy the properties at a discount - a condition the banks have been slow to embrace given the high demand. "I don't know that we expected in the East Bay to see the level of competition from investors in neighborhoods that were facing blight," said Larry Bush, spokesman for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.The result: Contra Costa County, with $6 million from the federal program, has so far managed to turn over just one house, although it has nine more in the works with the help of Habitat for Humanity and other private housing firms. That's a leg-up on most other Bay Area cities and counties. Antioch, a hotbed of East Bay foreclosure, received $4 million, but has spent none. Richmond, with $3.3 million, had committed about 10 percent of the money as of Dec. 31, and so had Alameda County, which got $2.1 million. San Jose bought two rental properties for rehab, but had committed less than $500,000 of its $5.6 million, according to quarterly reports to HUD.
"I didn't think it would be this hard," said Kara Douglas, Contra Costa County's affordable housing program manager.
Oakland, with an $8.2 million grant, has weighed in with just two purchases of single family homes, and one rental building for rehab. "The banks are not opening up these properties so easily, and we're having to compete with investors who are there with cash at hand," said Michelle Byrd, director of the city's community block grant program. "There are a lot of speculators out there. It's just been very difficult to acquire the properties."
The clock is ticking. Most cities and counties must commit all of the money by September or risk losing it - a deadline that has state and local agencies grumbling.
"It's a great program. It's helping these communities hit hard by foreclosures that undervalue the rest of the market and also increase crime," said Chris Westlake, deputy director of the state Department of Housing and Community Development, which oversees $145 million in program money. The deadline is an issue, he said. "Everybody's yelling for an extension. There's a concern nationwide." It's unclear just how much the investor market is itself doing what the federal program set out to accomplish - stanching the tide of vacant houses that lower property values, pushing neighbors deeper underwater and roiling new waves of foreclosures.
"The belief was we would ensure that the homes were going to some people who were going to put real investment in it," said Bush, "and that means a homeowner who is going to be living there, as opposed to someone who would do a low-budget retrofit and try to rent it out."
Banks concerned about their own balance sheets have proven reluctant players. They also appear to be keeping houses off the market and delaying foreclosures, said Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac. Some banks are letting delinquent borrowers stay longer in houses, rather than boarding them up. About half of bank repossessions over the past year aren't yet on the market, he said.
"They don't want to flood the market, and they have another problem - the elephant in the room: They don't have to write down the value of these assets until they resell them," he said. "The banks really have held back an awful lot of inventory."
It's clear that's what's happening in Oakland, said Byrd, and it's confounding the federal program.
"I think Congress envisioned the banks would just be r.eady to work with us and give up these properties, whereas they're not."
Squeezed by supply and demand, housing advocates working with Contra Costa County have been forced to broaden their search. Habitat for Humanity wanted to key in on the troubled Shore Acres section of Bay Point, for instance, for a greater impact. Instead, they've picked up five houses across the city. "Our ideal would be to find a number of homes on one street," said Alyssa Thunberg of Habitat for Humanity. "We were hopeful we could focus narrowly, which hasn't happened yet."
The delays extend across the country, with only about 30 percent of the money committed so far, said Craig Nickerson, president of the National Community Stabilization Trust, which has pushed large banks to join a "first look" program, where local agencies can bid on properties before they reach the market. It's only beginning to work, and East Bay cities and counties have signed on. Habitat for Humanity is closing on its fifth house in Bay Point, with plans for eight. Another housing contractor has bought two houses for the county in San Pablo.
The purchases reflect a grim reality. One house on Riverside Drive in Bay Point went for $376,000 in 2006. Another, on Surf View Drive, sold for $285,000. Habitat for Humanity paid $210,000, for both. Some need complete renovation, lead abatement, asbestos and mold removal. The house on Riverside Drive needs a new roof, replacements for the shabby floors and a new kitchen. Volunteers wielding sledgehammers and shovels got started one recent morning, pulling floors and yanking out toilets, cabinets and sinks. Black, indelible ink on the walls hinted at tough times before the residents left. "Sometimes, one must move on, no matter how painful separation may be," reads a forlorn message in the garage. "Let's focus on the future not the past," implores the thick scrawl on a bedroom wall. "It's a very difficult time in a family's life. There's no way to sugarcoat it," said Janice Jensen, CEO of Habitat for Humanity East Bay. "Our emphasis is to take a sad situation for one family and make an impact going forward."
Habitat for Humanity will finance low-income buyers, but may need to sell the houses for less than the county pays to buy and rehab them, to make them affordable. So the county's $6 million will likely drain slowly over the five-year program. In the meantime, more foreclosures are expected to hit the market soon, Nickerson said. Another 4,800 homes were lost to foreclosure last quarter in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties, according to MDA DataQuick. "We're going to see a major tick-up in foreclosure activity, and also a major tick-up in East Bay communities buying property and beginning to get some traction on this effort," Nickerson said. Some more than others.
Last month, HUD announced its second round of funding for the program. Alameda County and a group of cities - including Dublin, Hayward, San Leandro, Fremont, Livermore and Pleasanton - got $11 million to buy 100 properties for low-income rental housing and redevelopment.
A Santa Clara County consortium won $25 million for 205 houses and properties. But HUD rejected a $50 million bid from Contra Costa County and a consortium of cities to buy and rehab houses and help with down payments and counseling. The federal agency gave no explanation. "When you look at the census tracts in Northern California, and even the East Bay, eastern Contra Costa had the biggest problem," Jensen said. "It's a little baffling."
By John Simerman Contra Costa Times
Posted: 02/02/201004:45:33 PM PST
Updated: 02103/2010 05:15:15 PM PST
A year into a $6 billion federal program to buy up, rehab and sell abandoned properties in hard-hit neighborhoods, the bulk of the first $40 million in Bay Area rants remains unspent. Cities and counties are struggling to get their hands on the right homes, competing with cash- carrying investors and thwarted by banks reluctant to put foreclosed houses on the market. The creeping pace of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program seems to defy both the idea of rapid federal stimulus and the fast flow of houses bobbing into foreclosure - one every 18 minutes in the Bay Area. Housing experts say its troubles are partly attributable to red tape and overwhelmed banks, but mostly to what they never anticipated: a surge in the market for beleaguered properties.
A sea of eager, cash-toting investors are lapping up cheap foreclosures, often before the agencies can bid on them. The program requires that cities and counties buy the properties at a discount - a condition the banks have been slow to embrace given the high demand. "I don't know that we expected in the East Bay to see the level of competition from investors in neighborhoods that were facing blight," said Larry Bush, spokesman for the Department of Housing and Urban Development.The result: Contra Costa County, with $6 million from the federal program, has so far managed to turn over just one house, although it has nine more in the works with the help of Habitat for Humanity and other private housing firms. That's a leg-up on most other Bay Area cities and counties. Antioch, a hotbed of East Bay foreclosure, received $4 million, but has spent none. Richmond, with $3.3 million, had committed about 10 percent of the money as of Dec. 31, and so had Alameda County, which got $2.1 million. San Jose bought two rental properties for rehab, but had committed less than $500,000 of its $5.6 million, according to quarterly reports to HUD.
"I didn't think it would be this hard," said Kara Douglas, Contra Costa County's affordable housing program manager.
Oakland, with an $8.2 million grant, has weighed in with just two purchases of single family homes, and one rental building for rehab. "The banks are not opening up these properties so easily, and we're having to compete with investors who are there with cash at hand," said Michelle Byrd, director of the city's community block grant program. "There are a lot of speculators out there. It's just been very difficult to acquire the properties."
The clock is ticking. Most cities and counties must commit all of the money by September or risk losing it - a deadline that has state and local agencies grumbling.
"It's a great program. It's helping these communities hit hard by foreclosures that undervalue the rest of the market and also increase crime," said Chris Westlake, deputy director of the state Department of Housing and Community Development, which oversees $145 million in program money. The deadline is an issue, he said. "Everybody's yelling for an extension. There's a concern nationwide." It's unclear just how much the investor market is itself doing what the federal program set out to accomplish - stanching the tide of vacant houses that lower property values, pushing neighbors deeper underwater and roiling new waves of foreclosures.
"The belief was we would ensure that the homes were going to some people who were going to put real investment in it," said Bush, "and that means a homeowner who is going to be living there, as opposed to someone who would do a low-budget retrofit and try to rent it out."
Banks concerned about their own balance sheets have proven reluctant players. They also appear to be keeping houses off the market and delaying foreclosures, said Rick Sharga, senior vice president of RealtyTrac. Some banks are letting delinquent borrowers stay longer in houses, rather than boarding them up. About half of bank repossessions over the past year aren't yet on the market, he said.
"They don't want to flood the market, and they have another problem - the elephant in the room: They don't have to write down the value of these assets until they resell them," he said. "The banks really have held back an awful lot of inventory."
It's clear that's what's happening in Oakland, said Byrd, and it's confounding the federal program.
"I think Congress envisioned the banks would just be r.eady to work with us and give up these properties, whereas they're not."
Squeezed by supply and demand, housing advocates working with Contra Costa County have been forced to broaden their search. Habitat for Humanity wanted to key in on the troubled Shore Acres section of Bay Point, for instance, for a greater impact. Instead, they've picked up five houses across the city. "Our ideal would be to find a number of homes on one street," said Alyssa Thunberg of Habitat for Humanity. "We were hopeful we could focus narrowly, which hasn't happened yet."
The delays extend across the country, with only about 30 percent of the money committed so far, said Craig Nickerson, president of the National Community Stabilization Trust, which has pushed large banks to join a "first look" program, where local agencies can bid on properties before they reach the market. It's only beginning to work, and East Bay cities and counties have signed on. Habitat for Humanity is closing on its fifth house in Bay Point, with plans for eight. Another housing contractor has bought two houses for the county in San Pablo.
The purchases reflect a grim reality. One house on Riverside Drive in Bay Point went for $376,000 in 2006. Another, on Surf View Drive, sold for $285,000. Habitat for Humanity paid $210,000, for both. Some need complete renovation, lead abatement, asbestos and mold removal. The house on Riverside Drive needs a new roof, replacements for the shabby floors and a new kitchen. Volunteers wielding sledgehammers and shovels got started one recent morning, pulling floors and yanking out toilets, cabinets and sinks. Black, indelible ink on the walls hinted at tough times before the residents left. "Sometimes, one must move on, no matter how painful separation may be," reads a forlorn message in the garage. "Let's focus on the future not the past," implores the thick scrawl on a bedroom wall. "It's a very difficult time in a family's life. There's no way to sugarcoat it," said Janice Jensen, CEO of Habitat for Humanity East Bay. "Our emphasis is to take a sad situation for one family and make an impact going forward."
Habitat for Humanity will finance low-income buyers, but may need to sell the houses for less than the county pays to buy and rehab them, to make them affordable. So the county's $6 million will likely drain slowly over the five-year program. In the meantime, more foreclosures are expected to hit the market soon, Nickerson said. Another 4,800 homes were lost to foreclosure last quarter in Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano counties, according to MDA DataQuick. "We're going to see a major tick-up in foreclosure activity, and also a major tick-up in East Bay communities buying property and beginning to get some traction on this effort," Nickerson said. Some more than others.
Last month, HUD announced its second round of funding for the program. Alameda County and a group of cities - including Dublin, Hayward, San Leandro, Fremont, Livermore and Pleasanton - got $11 million to buy 100 properties for low-income rental housing and redevelopment.
A Santa Clara County consortium won $25 million for 205 houses and properties. But HUD rejected a $50 million bid from Contra Costa County and a consortium of cities to buy and rehab houses and help with down payments and counseling. The federal agency gave no explanation. "When you look at the census tracts in Northern California, and even the East Bay, eastern Contra Costa had the biggest problem," Jensen said. "It's a little baffling."
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Bay Area Housing Market-Uneven Recovery from WSJ
THE WALL Steeet JOURNAL.
WSJ.com
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA JANUARY 21,2010
Bay Area Housing Market Starts to Pick Up
Year-Over- Year Price Gains Return to Cities Near the Coast, but Inland Areas With More Foreclosures Still Struggle
By JIM CARLTON
Bay Area homeowners haven't had much to cheer about in the past few years amid the nationwide housing- market meltdown. Now there's a glimmer of good news: The local housing market last year began showing signs of a tentative, albeit uneven, recovery.
Cities closer to the coast such as Palo Alto, Belvedere and Tiburon saw a return to year-over-year price gains of previously sold homes in 2009, according to MDA DataQuick, a data provider in La Jolla, Calif. But other towns in harder-hit inland areas like Vacaville and Vallejo mostly lagged.
Overall, though, the region last year fared much better than in 2008. In 2009's fourth quarter, 29 of 91 cities or communities around the Bay posted gains in the median price of an existing single-family home from the same period a year earlier. In contrast, only two cities or communities logged such gains in 2008, according to DataQuick. The 2009 quarterly data didn't include the last week of December.
"We appear to be in the early stages of a fragile recovery," said Andrew LePage, a DataQuick analyst. Still, he noted that the median home prices in most Bay Area cities and communities remained well off their peaks.
Coastal communities with lower inventories of homes for sale dominated the increases, accounting for 24 of the 29 areas that posted price gains. They included San Francisco, with a 4.8% year-over-year rise in the median home-price to $715,000, Oakland, up 11.1% to a median $211,000, and San Jose, where home prices rose 4-4% to a median $470,000. The biggest gainer was Palo Alto, where the median home price more than doubled from a year ago to $1.1 million.
Inland cities with more foreclosures, such as Vallejo and Vacaville, were among the top decliners, though the biggest drop was in Marin County's Greenbrae, where median prices plummeted more than 27% to $1.02 million last year.
DataQuick cautioned that the sharp price fluctuations in some cities are partly attributable to a shifting mix of homes sold and a low number of transactions. For example, more high-end homes sold in Palo Alto would help boost its median price, while a shift to more lower-end homes in Greenbrae could depress its median.
When shown by another indicator-the median change in the price per square foot sold-some communities that gained in overall price didn't fare quite as well.
The ritzy Belvedere-Tiburon area, for example, saw its median price per square foot dip 4% year over year, even though its overall median price jumped 30.8% last year to $2.55 million, according to DataQuick.
Still, Palo Alto's price per square foot soared 98.7% last year, and real-estate agents there have reported brisk sales. Agent Ken DeLeon said he sold 21 homes in Palo Alto in 2009, up from 14 in 2008. Palo Alto's median price had fallen in 2008 as much as 55% from 2007, helping to fuel the upsurge, he said.
In another hopeful sign in the market, bidding wars have returned. In Palo Alto, Jay and Jen Borenstein bested 21 other bidders in November to buy a two-bedroom, two-bath home near Stanford University's campus that was listed for $729,000. Their winning bid: $1 million, or 37% above the asking price. The property was valued at about $1.5 million in 2008, according to estimates by Zillow.com.
"My feeling is this is a good value," said Mr. Borenstein, 39 years old, a computer-science lecturer at Stanford.
Less competitive are parts of inland areas like Morgan Hill, where a couple this month closed escrow on a five- bedroom home they bought for $585,000, which was $15,000 below the asking price, said their broker, Lianne Pinkston. Ms. Pinkston said the bank-owned property, on 3.8 acres outside Morgan Hill and zoned for horses, drew only one other bid. "Properties like that out of the city are less competitive," Ms. Pinkston said.
WSJ.com
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA JANUARY 21,2010
Bay Area Housing Market Starts to Pick Up
Year-Over- Year Price Gains Return to Cities Near the Coast, but Inland Areas With More Foreclosures Still Struggle
By JIM CARLTON
Bay Area homeowners haven't had much to cheer about in the past few years amid the nationwide housing- market meltdown. Now there's a glimmer of good news: The local housing market last year began showing signs of a tentative, albeit uneven, recovery.
Cities closer to the coast such as Palo Alto, Belvedere and Tiburon saw a return to year-over-year price gains of previously sold homes in 2009, according to MDA DataQuick, a data provider in La Jolla, Calif. But other towns in harder-hit inland areas like Vacaville and Vallejo mostly lagged.
Overall, though, the region last year fared much better than in 2008. In 2009's fourth quarter, 29 of 91 cities or communities around the Bay posted gains in the median price of an existing single-family home from the same period a year earlier. In contrast, only two cities or communities logged such gains in 2008, according to DataQuick. The 2009 quarterly data didn't include the last week of December.
"We appear to be in the early stages of a fragile recovery," said Andrew LePage, a DataQuick analyst. Still, he noted that the median home prices in most Bay Area cities and communities remained well off their peaks.
Coastal communities with lower inventories of homes for sale dominated the increases, accounting for 24 of the 29 areas that posted price gains. They included San Francisco, with a 4.8% year-over-year rise in the median home-price to $715,000, Oakland, up 11.1% to a median $211,000, and San Jose, where home prices rose 4-4% to a median $470,000. The biggest gainer was Palo Alto, where the median home price more than doubled from a year ago to $1.1 million.
Inland cities with more foreclosures, such as Vallejo and Vacaville, were among the top decliners, though the biggest drop was in Marin County's Greenbrae, where median prices plummeted more than 27% to $1.02 million last year.
DataQuick cautioned that the sharp price fluctuations in some cities are partly attributable to a shifting mix of homes sold and a low number of transactions. For example, more high-end homes sold in Palo Alto would help boost its median price, while a shift to more lower-end homes in Greenbrae could depress its median.
When shown by another indicator-the median change in the price per square foot sold-some communities that gained in overall price didn't fare quite as well.
The ritzy Belvedere-Tiburon area, for example, saw its median price per square foot dip 4% year over year, even though its overall median price jumped 30.8% last year to $2.55 million, according to DataQuick.
Still, Palo Alto's price per square foot soared 98.7% last year, and real-estate agents there have reported brisk sales. Agent Ken DeLeon said he sold 21 homes in Palo Alto in 2009, up from 14 in 2008. Palo Alto's median price had fallen in 2008 as much as 55% from 2007, helping to fuel the upsurge, he said.
In another hopeful sign in the market, bidding wars have returned. In Palo Alto, Jay and Jen Borenstein bested 21 other bidders in November to buy a two-bedroom, two-bath home near Stanford University's campus that was listed for $729,000. Their winning bid: $1 million, or 37% above the asking price. The property was valued at about $1.5 million in 2008, according to estimates by Zillow.com.
"My feeling is this is a good value," said Mr. Borenstein, 39 years old, a computer-science lecturer at Stanford.
Less competitive are parts of inland areas like Morgan Hill, where a couple this month closed escrow on a five- bedroom home they bought for $585,000, which was $15,000 below the asking price, said their broker, Lianne Pinkston. Ms. Pinkston said the bank-owned property, on 3.8 acres outside Morgan Hill and zoned for horses, drew only one other bid. "Properties like that out of the city are less competitive," Ms. Pinkston said.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Sound Advice for an Earthquake
I picked the information below off the internet. It seems like sound advice and is contrary to the instructions I grew up with.
Where to be During an Earthquake
Remember that stuff about hiding under a table or standing in a doorway?? Well, this guy has a completely reverse opinion. This is very interesting, different from what we were all taught.
Boy! Is this ever an eye opener. Directly opposite of what we've been taught over the years! I can remember in school being told to, "duck and cover" or stand in a doorway during an earthquake. This guy's findings is absolutely amazing. I hope we all remember his survival method if we are ever in an earthquake!! !
Please read this and pass the info along to your family members; it could save their lives someday!
EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE: "TRIANGLE OF LIFE"
My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.
I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries.
I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.
The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know that the children were told to hide under something.
Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the "triangle of life". The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the "triangles" you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building.
TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
1) Most everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.
2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on The back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.
5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different "moment of frequency" (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads - horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible - It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.
9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed car s had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.
Spread the word and save someone's life... The Entire world is experiencing natural calamities so be prepared!
"We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly"
In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to be correct. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul, University of Istanbul Case Production sand ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific test. We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten mannequins did "duck and cover," and ten mannequins I used in my "triangle of life" survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the results. The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly observable, scientific conditions , relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover.
There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people using my method of the "triangle of life." This film has been seen by millions of viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe, and it was seen in the USA, Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV.
Where to be During an Earthquake
Remember that stuff about hiding under a table or standing in a doorway?? Well, this guy has a completely reverse opinion. This is very interesting, different from what we were all taught.
Boy! Is this ever an eye opener. Directly opposite of what we've been taught over the years! I can remember in school being told to, "duck and cover" or stand in a doorway during an earthquake. This guy's findings is absolutely amazing. I hope we all remember his survival method if we are ever in an earthquake!! !
Please read this and pass the info along to your family members; it could save their lives someday!
EXTRACT FROM DOUG COPP'S ARTICLE ON THE: "TRIANGLE OF LIFE"
My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world's most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.
I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries.
I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.
The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the time know that the children were told to hide under something.
Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the "triangle of life". The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact. The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the "triangles" you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape, you will see, in a collapsed building.
TIPS FOR EARTHQUAKE SAFETY
1) Most everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.
2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created. Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on The back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the bottom of the bed during an earthquake.
5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different "moment of frequency" (they swing separately from the main part of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads - horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible - It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.
9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed car s had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.
Spread the word and save someone's life... The Entire world is experiencing natural calamities so be prepared!
"We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly"
In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to be correct. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul, University of Istanbul Case Production sand ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific test. We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten mannequins did "duck and cover," and ten mannequins I used in my "triangle of life" survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the results. The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly observable, scientific conditions , relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover.
There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people using my method of the "triangle of life." This film has been seen by millions of viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe, and it was seen in the USA, Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Voice Pad at RE/MAX Accord
Do you ever see a for sale sign and wonder what is the asking price? RE/MAX Accord has developed a powerful tool call VoicePad to assist you in your search. Voicepad provides a telephone number that, once called, will ask you the address of the property and then provide you with the price and other pertinent information (bedrooms, baths, features, etc.). For more information please call me at 925 362-0415.
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