Neither Snow nor Rain nor Heat of Day….

February 16, 2009 · Kathy Wall · 7 Comments

It is about 3:30 p.m. and I’m doing an open house in a lovely, although freezing, townhome in Pacifica. The rain is pouring down in sheets. The door is open, hoping to encourage someone to come in. I’m bundled up, including wearing long johns under my slacks, and am suddenly reminded of the postal service motto: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat of day nor gloom of night shall stay these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” It occurs to me that, to a great degree, professional Realtors follow the same creed. An example of this would be my day today. Read more

Housing Stimulus – An Open Letter to the Politicians

February 10, 2009 · Lee Ginsburg · 6 Comments

To Congress Woman Jackie Spier, Senator Diane Feinstein, and Senator Boxer

I am a local realtor specializing in San Mateo and San Francisco Counties. I do not think the $15,000 Home Buyer Tax Credit in the Economic Stimulus Package is making best use of Tax Payers money. Read more

Judging a Book by it’s Cover….Always a Mistake

February 3, 2009 · Kathy Wall · 8 Comments

At our office meeting this morning we discussed the fact that a large chain restaurant plans to offer free breakfasts to anyone who comes to their restaurant tomorrow. I won’t be going, because I have been boycotting them for more years than I can remember, after reading (on many occasions and in several locations) that their corporate culture allowed employees to discriminate again African Americans. I’ve never gone back since.

This made me think about how important our public image is and how one wrong move can cost us a customer for life. We need to be extremely conscious all the time about what we say and how we say it, both with our voices our physical gestures, and our written words. A silly joke that someone finds offensive or the way we discuss a neighborhood at an open house…almost anything can have the potential to lose a client or hurt someone’s feelings. Read more

Say Goodbye to an Old Friend

January 13, 2009 · Terry Birt · 9 Comments

Since I have lived in Millbrae, my Saturday ritual consisted of a walk downtown to the farmers market, a trip to Starbucks and end up at Mervyn’s. When it was announced that Mervyn’s was closing, my initial response was “how sad” then my second thought was how long the building was going to remain empty. Read more

Loan, Gift or Partner to Help Children Buy A Home?

January 9, 2009 · Lee Ginsburg · 6 Comments

As parents we all love our children and only want to help them. In the Bay Area parents almost have to help with a down payment. Do you give your children a gift or a loan? Is it better to be a co-borrower with them? Maybe be partners. If you help one child, you have to help the others. California is a community property state and that creates other issues. It is difficult to bring it up but more than half the marriages wind up in divorce and gifting child money to purchase a home is possibly giving your child’s ex-spouse a very generous gift. Asking a child to sign a promissory note is not always comfortable. In many families Money is a “taboo” subject. I helped my son purchase a home with the idea he was to pay it back when he could. My wife and I always had a good relationship with my son so we did not see any need to have a signed document. Hope that does not come back to bite us. He got engaged a year later and married a short time later. Read more

YES YOU CAN (Buy a Home)!!

January 6, 2009 · Jean Joh · 8 Comments

I just met with some new clients for a Buyer Consultation, a complimentary service I routinely offer before going out to view homes with anyone. These clients are newlyweds, just starting out in the home buying process, and they were not even sure if they would be able to buy a home at this point, not having had a chance to save up much money for a down payment yet. With their permission, I also invited a mortgage broker to join us for this meeting, so that they might be able to get a better idea of their situation and what they needed to do in order to prepare for their purchase. Well, at the end of the meeting, they (and I) were excited to discover that YES, it would actually be possible for them to purchase a home in this area and perhaps much sooner than they had anticipated. Read more

How to Rock Real Estate Sales in 2009!

December 30, 2008 · Karin Cunningham · 8 Comments

If you are a full time real estate agent in the Bay Area, you may relate to some of what I am saying. It may not work for all “necks of the wood” but I have some strategies that really work. I know from experience. I had a lousy 2006 and 2007 in real estate sales…the worst ever even! Then 2008 came along and to my surprise, it started AND ended with a BANG! Read more

Do you feel like you are in a media induced recession?

December 2, 2008 · Karin Cunningham · 4 Comments

If it were not for all of the news I watch on TV or the newspapers and internet news, I wouldn’t think I was in a recession! I don’t live in a bubble, in fact, I live in the Bay Are and I am a Realtor. My phone rings everday with people who want to buy real estate at the new opportune prices and I receive emails each day as well. The malls, Serramonte and The Shops at Tanforan, where we have our real estate kiosks see 1,000s of holiday shoppers all day long and meet PLENTY of people interested in buying buying buying and gas prices have gone down to boot!

I am only one person making my own observation. I have had some hardships as well and DO realize that the economy has slipped but my point is, if we did not have the media would we be so overwhelmed with a recession? My husband is a stay at home dad and our family and friends in San Bruno and the Bay Area are doing ok and I AM GRATEFUL FOR THAT! I just wonder how other people in the Bay Area are doing? Please comment!