United Commercial Bank seized by FDIC and sold to East West Bank

One of the largest banks in the US focusing on Asian American lending was seized this weekend by the FDIC. This is the 120th bank to fail this year. East West Bank, with a similar Asian American focus was chosen by the FDIC to acquire UCB's assets, loans, liabilities and branches. This is a boon for East West Bank - especially because the loan loss liabilities are covered by the FDIC. Locally, UCB had a $22,000,000 loan in default on The Globe development in Fremont. Construction lending was the core of UCB's business. Typically a high profit lending segment, although of course the high risk is evident in this economy. See the San Jose Business Journal article on this for more details.

Duplex Short Sale San Jose - Oakridge Mall

The acceptance of short sale properties is becoming the norm. There is a very nice duplex by Westfield Oakridge Mall which was put on the market 4 days ago. There are now 4 offers in hand and the listing agent is submitting the best one to the bank's short sale department tomorrow. This deal was priced aggressively low at $495,000 for a 2,100 square feet quality condition duplex - perfect for an owner-occupant. And that is what it takes to spur interest and get a home sold. The emphasis is to beat the foreclosure deadline and to alleviate the negative cash flow burden that the seller is facing. This underwater property may very well be stabilized by a new owner in the next 45 days. If you know of anyone who has a property that has negative equity, is facing payments that are way too high to handle or has foreclosure looming, talk to us about our short sale successes.

Silicon Valley Turkey Trot 2009

I love this race! Great way to pre-offset the gluttony of Thanksgiving - run a fun, flat, enjoyable 6 miles through downtown San Jose, Naglee Park and the Rose Garden. The 10K run finishes well running from The Alameda @ Race Street to the Shark Tank. This race continues to get more popular every year. If 6 miles is not in your training program, there is a 3 mile version through downtown that is great too. And this year Peirre Silber is sponsoring the costume contest - do I see visions of Bay to Breakers in San Jose as this race continues to morph?