Should I rent or buy?
Should I rent or buy is a question that just about everyone asks themselves at one time or another. At what point does it make more sense to own a home than to rent one? Much of the decision comes down to personal choice…..Do I want to be in charge of my own home or have someone else be responsible for repairs and maintenance?
For me, the choice was a relatively simple one because I have always hated the idea of a landlord telling me what I could and couldn’t do in my home, so I always knew I would try to do whatever I could to purchase my own home.
In the end it often comes strictly down to the money. Sometimes, it simply doesn’t make sense to purchase a home, particularly if it means that you will be struggling to make the payments each month, let alone pay for property insurance and taxes. When my son and his wife were trying to decide whether to continue renting or buy a home, they went to this website and found it to be very helpful: http://www.decisionaide.com/MPCalculators/Menus/MP_Calculators.asp. When you get there scroll down the page and you will find a link for Renting vs. Buying. Read more
Is the Giants Victory Similar to Buying a Home?
How can the baseball World Series be anywhere related to Home Buying you may ask. Let me explain…
The San Francisco Giants won as a team, and that is the only way to successfully buy a home. You need a team. A great mortgage broker; Tim Lincecum. An excellent Realtor, who is not just a real estate agent (follow this link: http://ow.ly/39GSe); Cody Ross. A hardworking assistant; Edgar Renteria, an experienced inspector; Aubrey Huff, a dependable escrow officer; Busty Posey, and of course a reliable management team; Bruce Bochy.
Now you see the importance of a team. Without one player you may not get the home. A good Realtor has a good team.
Another correlation to the Giants TEAM Victory is the Team of Low Interest Rates, Low Prices, and Motivated Sellers. That leads to the Victory of Closing on a Home; Brian Wilson.
Realtor’s are People, Too!
Recently, my colleague, Rommel, wrote an excellent blog on ethics in our business. There is another side to the story, however, and that is the ethics of the clients.
While answering phones in the office this weekend, I received a call from a man who wanted to see one of our listings in San Francisco. I agreed to meet him at the listing at 11:00 a.m. the next day.
That night, I was involved in a relatively minor car crash and when I awoke the next morning I felt exhausted and unwell….still a little in shock from the accident, I guess. Even though I didn’t feel well, I planned to do my job and attend our scheduled showing, as well as doing my open house later that day. Read more
Mondays… We all Love Them
Mondays…we all love them. For us Realtors, it is the day after holding an Open House. For myself, Mondays are the day my lockbox key is to be updated. On this particular Monday, I was in Berkeley showing single family homes to my client. I’m usually consistent in making sure my key is updated every Monday morning before doing anything else. That afternoon was the rare exception. As soon as I parked my car to walk over to the clients in front of the property, it dawned that we were not immediately going to be able to enter the home. I sincerely explained to them what happened and managed to make another appointment to meet with them in another hour and half. Driving back to the San Bruno office and then back to Berkeley was not exactly an appealing idea.
Quickly, I thought there must be another way where I could at least stay in Berkeley to update my key and prevent wasting precious gas. Several Prudential California Realty office locations came up on my Blackberry. After a few calls, I finally spoke to a helpful sounding agent who invited me to stop by and use their key updating station at her office. Although it was located on the other side of where I was in Berkeley, I certainly didn’t mind driving there considering how much time and money I was saving. Read more
I Earned that Deal…BUT!
Another Realtor(r) walked away with a check. Please understand this rant is not directed at clients who’s transactions do not work out despite the best intentions. There are times when as a Realtor you spend a great deal of energy and effort and then, for a variety of reasons, it just doesn’t happen. No, readers, this is the story of being the Starter Realtor.
My tale started when I began working with clients who had a very set idea about what they were looking for. They were pre-approved Read more
5 Tips To Improve Your Odds in a Multiple Offer Situation
“Multiple offers? I thought we were in a Buyer’s Market?” Well, it certainly IS a great time to buy in that we are seeing interest rates that are still at historical lows coupled with housing prices that are more affordable. But on the other hand, here in the San Francisco & Peninsula area, we are seeing an increasing number of multiple offer situations. For example, on the last home my clients submitted an offer for, there were 26 (yes TWENTY-SIX!) offers, all of which were put in within the home’s first two weeks on the market! Whatever the reasons for this, it’s become clear that if a home is well priced or below market value, there’s a good possibility that prospective home buyers will find themselves in a multiple offer situation. Here are five tips to help make your offer stronger:
Short sale?
What is the ubiquitous term: short sale mean? Many people may have an idea of what that term means, the following is a condensed version of a short sale. A short sale is when the owner of a property is upside down meaning they owe more than what their property is worth and they cannot refinance for that exact reason. They have fallen behind on there payments in many cases due to a jump in interest rate or loss of job. One option is to short sale the property and attempt to sell it before it goes into foreclosure. A short sale may satisfy a sellers outstanding debt (if the seller did not pull equity) and is not as bad as a foreclosure for their credit. The operative words are ”as bad” I want to be clear it will negatively impact the sellers credit to some degree. Read more
Sunnyside…a little neighborhood in San Francisco
I share with you all a quaint little place in San Francisco called Sunnyside. It is nestled alongside Glen Park and highway 280. The story is that the name Sunnyside came about when the developers were marketing this area. They wanted to attract buyers to this (kinda) foggy part of town so they came up with the clever name of Sunnyside. It has a gorgeous view of the Brisbane Mountains. It is a small neighborhood, but conveniently located and easily accessible to all parts of San Francisco. The commercial strip if you will, is mainly along Monterey Blvd where there are several restaurants and a small but convenient Safeway grocery store. The Glen Park neighborhood is also so close that Sunnyside residents can easily walk to the great restaurants like, Chenery Park or Sangha among others for a nice dinner. The recent opening of Canyon grocery store has also been a great addition. The Glen Park BART station is conveniently a quick walk away as well. Read more
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Recent Posts
- Top 5 Reasons to Buy a House in the Bay Area in 2012
- After Christmas Sale, – Bay Area Homes up to 60% off
- San Bruno Eye Sore is about to Go
- What If My Offer Is Rejected?
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- How to choose the “Best” real estate home loan.
- Is it a Good Time to Buy a House in San Mateo County? Part 1
- What’s the difference between inspections and the”final walk-through”?
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