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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Nicole Machado

Open House drawing Black Friday Crowds…
January 12, 2009 · Nicole Machado · 8 Comments

With the Holidays behind us, buyers are back on the Real Estate scene scoping out the latest inventory. This weekend I held a home in SSF open. I had over 65 groups come through and even ran out of fliers & ended up staying well after 4pm as buyers kept showing up. I can’t remember the last time I ran out of fliers or had to stay longer then the open house was scheduled. I felt like I was at a department store on Black Friday and everything was 50% off!
The home was a single family fixer, in a desirable neighborhood. I figured there was an abundance of buyers because it was the first weekend of scheduled open houses, come to find out it wasn’t just my open house that faired well to the buyer’s scene, it was everyone’s.
Every Monday morning my office has its sales meetings. In the meetings we take count of how many people came through our open houses. Today the count was 400. Those are huge numbers which gives us all something to ponder… Buyers are out in droves, prices have come down and interest rates are historically at all time lows, has the market hit its threshold? What are your thoughts? All I can say is when it’s your time to buy or sell, it doesn’t really matter what else is going on around you. That’s the beauty of Real Estate.

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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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Julie Cleland

Is this Real Estate Year Over Yet?
December 20, 2008 · Julie Cleland · 2 Comments

Based on the activity my phone is seeing and on conversations with clients, as well as fellow agents, the answer would be decidedly “NO”.   For many, now is the time to move forward and the holidays are not going to get in the way. 

 Just when many of us in the business thought it was time to ring out a difficult 2008 and ring in an improved 2009, buyers and sellers began to tell us, “Not so fast!”.  In the past week alone I have heard from 3 clients who starting thinking about real estate much earlier in the year and have come to the conclusion that waiting is no longer an option.  Read more

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Lee Ginsburg

Bay Area Real Estate’s – Perfect Storm
December 10, 2008 · Lee Ginsburg · 6 Comments

Perfect Storm = Low Interest Rates, Low Prices, and Lower Inventory.

We have all the ingredients. 

If you have been waiting for prices to stabilize you are on the cusp of being late. 

Homes in Daly City, San Bruno, San Mateo, San Francisco and South San Francisco are selling.  To keep up with the demand Bank of America is falling behind on appraisals and is hiring outside appraisers.  I spoke to a termite inspector yesterday.  He had 5 inspections scheduled for the day.  Need I say we did not speak long.  There is a buzz in my office.  Conference rooms are filled with buyer’s consultations.  Banks dealing with short sales are moving faster and be more aggressively.  If you are a first time home buyer or a seasoned investor; jump in, the buying is great.  It is a PERFECT STORM for you.  Low Prices, Low Interest Rates and Lower Inventory.  Getting a Loan in not impossible  
http://www.pruvoices.com/2008/12/gettin-a-loan-is-not-impossible/  

If you are busy with the holidays maybe meet with me (877-Lee Sells) or your favorite realtor just to get updated on the market so you are ready to take advantage of the Best Buyer’s Market in 30 Years come January. 

 www.leesellsmore.com 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/30/RE8014CT0J.DTL

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Nicole Machado

Mixing Business with Pleasure… does it actually mix?
November 19, 2008 · Nicole Machado · 1 Comment

Have you ever felt obligated to use a family member when it came to a business deal? While most of us have, has it ever left you wondering if that was the best decision? In some cases, it is an ideal circumstance. While in others it may be an uncomfortable situation that you were strong armed into. Read more

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Nicole Machado

Is it a good time to Move Up?
October 17, 2008 · Nicole Machado · 1 Comment

Everyone’s question these days seems to be “Is now the right time to buy”? I have come up with a chart that helps you make the decision if now is the right time to buy!

 

              Current Home                                                                                     New Home

Sell

Spread

(What it would cost you to move)

Buy

$100K

$100K

$200K

       (Value appreciates 10%)         $110K

$110K

$220K

 (Value depreciates 10%)

$ 90K

$ 90K

$180K

 The above chart is an example of a “move-up” buyer determining whether it is a good time to purchase an upgrade property.

 Now ask yourself this question… “When does it make more sense to move up- when prices have gone up less or when they’ve gone down more?”

If you have answered when prices go down, you are the lucky winner!!!! You profit the most when the spread is less. So whether you are discouraged that you don’t have enough equity or down payment in order to move, ask yourself this question….

“If you don’t feel you can move up comfortably now, how will you be able to do so when prices go up further?”

 ***One last thing to ponder… When interest rates go from 6% to 7.5% the prices of homes would have to go down 14.7% in order to keep the same monthly payment.

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Nicole Machado

Christmas Come Early
September 15, 2008 · Nicole Machado · 1 Comment

Best Present of AllAs we approach the holiday season,  while everyone else is immersed in cooking the Thanksgiving Turkey and getting up at dawn to get those Holiday discounts on the season’s hottest new toy you can take advantage of the season’s best toy… a house! Read more

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