January home sales in the west are WAY up!
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
Open House drawing Black Friday Crowds…
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.
Getting a Loan is Not Impossible
www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/30/RE8014CT0J.DTL .
I had some good friends over for Thanksgiving. Pretty early in the evening the question came up; “Lee how is the Real Estate Market?” “People can’t get loans? Huh”, he stated. This occurs often. Everyday it is mentioned the “Credit Crunch” we have to loosen up credit. I hope everyone reads “You Can Qualify For a Mortgage, It’s Just Tougher” by Marni Leff Kottle of the S.F. Chronicle, Read more
Award Winning Real Estate Company!
Prudential California Realty, San Bruno Is part of the Prudential Real Estate family which J.D. Power and Associates has ranked as Highest in Satisfaction for Home Sellers among National Full Service Real Estate Firms, in its 2008 survey. We are proud!
Do Home Sellers Want to Hear the Truth?
On first impulse, most homeowners would say that, of course, they want their agents to tell them “the whole truth and nothing but” when it comes to the sale of their home. But do they really? There is a common mistake that home sellers make: choosing a real estate agent based on the price that the agent says they can get for the home. Don’t make this common mistake!
Halloween Foreclosed House
I know Halloween is over, but I just remembered to share the photo of an interesting and very creative costume with you. As you know our San Bruno Prudential participated in giving candies out to children at Serramonte and Tanforan Malls as before on Halloween. It was a lot of fun. I saw the “Foreclosed House For Sale” walking and just had to ask him for a picture. The turbulence in housing market has affected many aspects of our lives, including our holidays. I wonder what kind of real estate Christmas ornaments we will see this year.
That House Costs HOW Much?
During my mall shifts at Serramonte & Tanforan Shopping Centers, I often interact with people who are just stopping by out of curiosity as to how much home prices are. The ones who own homes in this area are usually a little concerned about the value of their own homes. The ones who are renting in the area are curious to know if the prices are “at bottom” yet and if they should finally start thinking about buying a home. But it’s interesting to note the response of those who are visiting from out of town or even from another country. Their response goes something like this, “That house costs HOW much?”
San Bruno Coats for Kids Program…Share the Warmth!
Parents often tell their children that one of the best ways to remain grateful is to remember those less fortunate than ourselves. Here’s one way to practice that and “share the warmth” with others in our community. The San Bruno Garbage Company and the City of San Bruno are having a Coats for Kids Drive throughout October. Prudential San Bruno is participating in this drive again this year and is one of the drop-off locations for clean, gently used coats through FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31st. Although this is a Coats for Kids program, all sizes will be accepted. So look through your closets and don’t miss this opportunity to help someone stay warm this winter!
Coats will be distributed on November 20th.
You can drop off your gently used coat or jacket at Prudential California Realty, 180 El Camino Real, San Bruno CA 94066.
For more information, see http://jeanjoh.com/page/coatsforkids2008.


