How much do I offer?

July 16, 2008 · Shokoofeh Nowbakht · Comment here

Ok, you find a house and now like to make an offer, but how much? Don’t think just because it’s a short sale or REO that you can offer 20% or so lower than the asking price. Do your homework, study your market, and find out what the market value of the property is. Discuss it with your realtor. Generally, if the property has been on the market for months and specially if it hasn’t had a price reduction, you would have a stronger position to negotiate. Don’t be surprised to see multiple offers and overbidding on short sales and REOs in today’s market. Sometimes, the listing agents list the property at lower than the true market value to create activities and multiple offer situations. So, talk to your realtor and make a reasonable and realistic offer.

GOOD LUCK!

20 homes under $500,000 in San Bruno

July 16, 2008 · Shokoofeh Nowbakht · Comment here

First time home buyers and investors, what are you waiting for? I just checked the multiple listings and found 20 homes in San Bruno for sale, listed under $500,000. WOW!!! These include regular sales, shortsales and bank owned.

This is the time to buy real estate!

Shokoofeh Nowbakht, Realtor

Real Estate Roller Coaster

July 9, 2008 · Mark Hasha · Comment here

Is the Bay Area real estate market on its way back up or is it still coasting down?

On June 25^th the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® reported that home sales increased 18.1 percent in May in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home fell 35.3 percent. So is that good news or bad for S.F. bay area real estate market? It depends.

If you need to sell your home the bad news is that your home may have given back any appreciation it had made over the last three years. The good news is that if you have owned your home for more than three years you should realize a gain on your home sale; it just won’t be at the top of the market. If you are selling your home to buy another, then more good news, your next home will cost less than it would have a year ago.

Have you thought of buying investment property in the past but the numbers just didn’t make sense? Good news, with the decrease in the prices of homes and the strong rental market due to over extended home owners returning to the rental market you can once again find properties that can generate enough income to cover expenses and offer good returns on future appreciation.

Despite all the confusing information in the media, the best news I got from the California Association of Realtors report was that home sales have increased. Real estate operates on the law of supply and demand and as the number of home sales increase, inventory will begin selling off and prices will once again return to stability and the long term appreciation will occur as it has always done in the past.

Welcome to PruVoices!

July 2, 2008 · admin · 2 Comments

Welcome to PruVoices, a real estate blog sponsored by Prudential California Realty located in San Bruno, California. We are here to talk with you about all sorts of real estate related topics and hope you join in on our conversations on all things real estate!

Our topics include:

Bay Area neighborhood news and events. The San Mateo Peninsula areas we cover include Daly City, Brisbane, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Pacifica, Millbrae, Burlingame, San Mateo, Belmont, San Carlos, and Redwood City.

Local real estate trends such as the amount of homes on the market versus recent sales. What is affecting real estate prices in your neighborhood?

Marketing your home. Let’s talk about great ways to get your home sold and how to get top dollar.

Real estate finance topics include current interest rates, pre-qualifying for home financing and FICO scores and loan programs such as FHA loans, first-time home buyer programs, CalVet, and some of the more local programs.

Real estate in the news, a place to express your opinion and leave comments about real estate articles in the news and on the web.

Frequently asked questions is another category that should help some of those who are too shy to ask!

We look forward to connecting with buyers, seller, and agents alike. We welcome all comments on our posts. Please don’t be shy to ask a question. That is how we all learn!

Our goal is to continue to provide information and engage in conversations about different areas in the Bay Area that you would like to buy, sell or simply talk about. We are very excited that you found us so leave us a comment and we will respond promptly!

Thank you for joining us!