Kathy Wall

Environmental Issues When Buying A Home
June 29, 2009 · Kathy Wall · 3 Comments

I recently had to renew my real estate license for another 4 years and, as part of that process, had to take 45 hours of continuing education.    I’ve been selling real estate for 16 years and, after all of that time, you start to think you know it all.    Clearly, I was wrong, because I learned a lot from taking these courses.    

The course that covers environmental issues in  homes was of particular interest.   I thought that some of the things I learned might be of help to my readers, so my next few articles will cover some of the environmental issues people need to be aware of.   Today, I’ll talk a little about asbestos. Read more

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Adam Chinn

Homes Are Moving Quickly!
June 19, 2009 · Adam Chinn · 5 Comments

cartoon-house-runningI recently started working with some first time home buyers. We made an appointment to view four homes in Daly City and South San Francisco. They have not had much experience viewing homes and wanted to get their feet wet to see what was offered in the current market.

As always, I do my best to preview the homes I show, as to gain as much knowledge as possible about the homes we are going to view.

What we were surprised to find out is that, out of the four homes we planned on viewing, 3 of them were marked pending or were going to be marked pending soon. All of the homes were vacant and have been on the market less than a month.   Read more

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Terry Birt

Missed Opportunity ?
May 22, 2009 · Terry Birt · 6 Comments

buyers-choiceRecently, it seems that all the buyers have come out of the wood work….
We have been inundated with large groups at our open houses and receiving large amount of “sign calls” and inquires on our websites…
But the one thing that has not changed is fear…Depending on where the property is and the price range that it is in, there is a different strategy on how to make an offer. I think the public understands that the interest rates are great, and  inventory has lessened, and  buyers are hearing about multiple offers; but there is something that is preventing them to make a move. My advise: Work with your agent…let them help you understand… ask a lot of questions.

Just this week, I have encountered buyers who I met a few weeks ago, they saw this home in their price range, and have their financing in order, but they needed time to “think about it”.  When they came back to reconsider the home, it was gone (in escrow with multiple offers).  Had they written a couple of weeks ago it could have been theirs.

 Don’t lose your opportunity. There are several ways to protect yourself from competition and allow you to participate in obtaining home with your price and terms.

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Kathy Wall

Real Estate Jargon…What Do All of These Terms Mean?
April 6, 2009 · Kathy Wall · 11 Comments

We Realtors often bandy about tons of real estate jargon.  We talk to our clients and friends about short sales, REO’s, contingency periods, etc.     I have come to realize, however, that just because we know what all of this stuff means, not everyone does, so I thought it would be helpful to describe some of the terms we use.   Hopefully, this will give you some idea of what we’re talking about as we rattle on and on and your eyes are going bleary!  Here goes:

Contingency Periods:    We, generally, refer to these when doing our contracts.   As an example, we tell you that you will have a 10 day period to “remove  your property condition contingency” or 20 days to remove loan and appraisal contingencies.   What this really boils down to, is that these are the time frames during which you will have  the right to get your deposit back if  you cancel the contract.   Once you “remove these contingencies,” you are no longer entitled to get your deposit back, unless you can prove some sort of fraud.  Read more

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Jean Joh

Mortgage Protection Program for First-Time Homebuyers!!
April 3, 2009 · Jean Joh · 4 Comments

newsGreat news for California home buyers!  As if the $8000 tax credit, historically low interest rates, and affordable home prices were not enough, the California Association of Realtors Housing Affordability Fund (C.A.R.H.A.F.) is making the pot even sweeter by offering a mortgage protection program for first-time home buyers.  Wow!  

Back in January, I posted a blog on my personal blogsite (http://budurl.com/5vpd) about the Hyundai Assurance Program (if you lose your job or have another hardship within 12 months, you can give your new car back) and commented that it would be an interesting idea if we could have the same sort of thing for buying homes.  The basic idea – buy a new home, and if you lose your job, you can give the home back without penalty.  Well, it seems that someone out there was reading my blog…okay, maybe not, but this new program is not too far from the same line of thinking.  So what does it entail exactly?

Read more

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Dean Rizzi

January home sales in the west are WAY up!
February 25, 2009 · Dean Rizzi · 1 Comment

I just caught this article off of Google AP.  I’m passing it along because it gives more detailed picture of the January sales report.  NAR reports existing home sales where down to their lowest levels in six years.  However, if you look at the western region, they are up 32.1 percent from a year ago.  Although prices are down, sales jumped 57% in the bay area!!  Buyers are clearly taking advantage of the high inventory.  What a great time for young families to get into that first home!

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h78GtI74ZouhZ1bCfF7cOWPQWKzwD96IS94O1

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Kathy Wall

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

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Jean Joh

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

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