Writing Multiple Offers

A Trulia Voices question that came up today was whether a buyer can make multiple offers on different homes at the same time. Of course they can. This is a good strategy in a seller's market as well as in a buyer's market. It give better chances to a buyer when normally the seller is holding all the cards - or information. Normally a buyer will receive counter offers from all his bids. Then the buyer can weigh the best value vs. the different amenities and locations of each house. At this stage the buyer is closer to knowing that each seller's true motivation is in reference to the price they are willing to sell.

Outstanding Short Sale Property in San Jose's Evergreen Area

I just spent the weekend researching the Evergreen area of San Jose for a great listing I have coming up next week. What I found was a fantastic short sale opportunity that is ripe for the picking. It's a home that has been listed at $739,000 for 1,960 square feet, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath home on a large 8,500 sqft lot in a great neighborhood. This is not the listing I was working on. It is a property that is currently on the market begging for a buyer to step in. The sellers are selling at a price less than what they owe. Most cases like this are in an effort to not have the property foreclosed upon and save their credit. If you want some info on this fleeting opportunity, let me know as soon as possible.

Reverse Mortgages

Corey Matelli of The Reverse Mortgage company just spoke at my BNI networking meeting this morning about reverse mortgages. One interesting thing I learned was reverse mortgages can be refinanced. A client of his who took out a reverse mortgage two years ago, recently refinanced out another $180,000. Her house had appreciated in the last two years and she had also aged another 2 years. Both of these criteria allowed the bank to put a new loan in place and she walked with a large sum of money. There is definitely a misconception about the permanence of reverse mortgages. If you are 62 years of age or older, this very well may be a great solution for you. Corey's website is very helpful - check it out.

San Francisco Real Estate - South Park

The South Park neighborhood is wonderful - no Cartman to be found. This tucked away street encircling a wonderful little park is predominantly commercial space with a few apartments scattered around. If you are looking for the hub of the architectural firms in San Francisco - go to South Park. There is a 2,000 square foot space for lease perfect for a great neighborhood restaurant. We spent a couple hours today at a charming French restaurant snacking on pate and tasty sourdough bread. No crowds, wonderful weather and a vibrant little street - that is what makes so many of San Francisco's neighborhoods so desirable.

Foreclosures San Mateo County

I just got a call from an investor friend of mine who was at this morning's San Mateo County home auction. The auction was delayed because the crowd became too big. The police had to be called to do crowd control! My thoughts - way too many people being "educated" at investor seminars on how to benefit from the foreclosures and to get rich quick. When everybody is doing it...
There are still real estate market segment where you can get very good returns, safely and not have to be fighting with mobs as if Loehman's was having a year end sale! BTW - I buy all my 100% cotton dress shirts there - 15 neck, 32/33 - in case you feel generous:-)

Real Estate in Spanish - Casas en Espanol

Si quieres ayuda en comprar o vender tu casa o piso en California, yo te puedo ayudar. Desde 1991, estoy ayudando a duenos de casas y personas que quieren ser duenos, con sus asuntos imobilarias. Por favor llamame cuando puedas a 408-342-3155. Gracias!

Foreclosures San Jose

Please heed this warning - banks are foreclosing on properties. This may seem obvious to many of you. And the reality is that for some home owners - that possibility is not given its due attention. The majority of homes that are foreclosed upon, the owners did not communicate with their lender. This lack of contact, lack of urgency to work out a solution, solidifies the bank's resolve to foreclose. Banks are in a difficult position right now, they are faced with hundreds or thousands of loans in default. They will be cooperative to the home owners who are in constant communication with them. They will also be efficient in the foreclosure process when little or no communication comes from the homeowner. We can hold back the massive losses in the foreclosure arena if we work with the banks to get resolutions in place. If you are facing default, please contact your lender immediately and put into place a repayment plan. Thanks for reading.

One Rincon Hill San Francisco New Condo

Closings for some of the One Rincon Hill condos in the first tower are scheduled for January. I was just talking to a client who has a deposit down on one of the units. She is looking for an equity partner or perhaps a sale of her position. If anyone is interested to know more, please give me a call.

Laws to Live By - By Gino Blefari - CEO Intero Real Estate

Law of Clarity- The clearer you are about your goals and objectives, the better you are in achieving them.

Law of Priorities- Your ability to set clear and accurate priorities on your time determines the entire quality of your life

Law of Posteriorities-before you start something new you must discontinue something old

Law of the Most Valuable Asset- Your most valuable asset is your earning ability

Law of Planning- Every minute spent in planning saves 10 minutes in execution

Law of Rewards- Your rewards will always be determined by your results

Law of Time Pressure- There’s never enough time to do everything but there’s always enough time to do the most important things

Santana Row - Capital of San Jose Real Estate

There is turmoil and traction in Santana Row. The apex of real estate new money and high tech start up playground makes for some interesting stories. There have been foreclosures, short sales and financial difficulties. There also have been winners buying those same foreclosures, short sales and difficulties. It is definitely a wonderful place to live (for some who like that sort of thing) and those who are bullish and solvent are betting long term on Santana Row.

Silicon Valley For Sale Homes Inventory Increasing

The inventory trend is definitely up. This is still a bifurcated valley with the west side doing much better than the rest. Time to make some offers...

Mortgage Interest Rates Up? Down? What?

The fed cut rates for the first time in 4 years!!!!!
By .5% too!!! And sooooo what? Are mortgage rates lower? That is the question most people want answered. The answer is sadly no. Short term rates get affected immediately, so the monthly and one year ARMs will eventually adjust down. The most popular 5, 7, 10 and 30 year loans will not come down. There is now fear of inflation due to the rate cut which means investors will not oversubcribe offerings of the longer term notes - which tips the see-saw toward higher interest rates. Frustrating, confusing, yes and yes. I do believe that the housing market has been beaten up and will rebound next year. This is definitely the time to consider going long in real estate - IE: buy.

Silver Creek Valley Country Club Real Estate

This is a very special place in Silicon Valley. Very well designed community of homes encircling a golf course - and quite a challenging golf course! A great club house, a wonderful community pool and tennis center, all make this pristine community a lovely place to live. All the homes are spacious, well-designed with light and volume. The social atmosphere of Silver Creek is also something special. There is one elementary school within the neighborhood that most kids attend. Residents in this neighborhood will definitely meet the neighbors. Not so normal in the rest of Silicon Valley. Homes range from spacious condos to 5,000+ square foot mansions. If you are interested in a wonderful home that we have coming on the market soon, drop me a line!

TIC units in San Jose?

Yes, the trend is more quickly seeping out of San Francisco. Tenant in Common divisions of duplexes, fourplexes and apartment buildings is becoming more accepted in the Peninsula and the South Bay. The impressive Andy Sirkin is speaking this Wednesday Sept. 19th to a Silicon Valley audience of buyers interested in dividing fourplexes to live in. With a little down payment and a good credit score, people can get into a unit for nearly $250,000 or less in pricey San Jose. There are limitations to this TIC arrangement, although they will wane as the market accepts it more. I'll be listening to Andy Sirkin tomorrow in San Mateo as he speaks on his specialty of writing legal documents governing the TICs

Foreclosures in Silicon Valley

The tide of foreclosures is rising in even the most solid of areas in Silicon Valley. I do believe though this is just a distribution of wealth from those with shaky financials to those who are ready to benefit from this weakness. There are very many people watching for short sales, foreclosure sales and bank REOs. The low rate of return in local investment properties also makes these low cash flow investments at least as attractive as their alternatives. There is also the ease of flipping a house that was well-acquired. The wealth of this valley will offset any difficulties that a small percentage of people are feeling.

Investment Shopping Center Santa Clara for sale

I just saw a listing in Santa Clara that is perfect for an owner-user. Multi-tenant retail in Santa Clara County is very had to come by. This is a nice deal on Keily and Homestead in a very good area of Santa Clara. Priced at $495 per foot, with 4,758 square feet on a 16,000 sqft lot - this is a nice deal. Rents are low. They do have very good verifiable upside. Interested?

1031 Exchange into NNN commercial property

It is possible to do a 1031 tax deferred exchange from an equity rich position like a rental house in the Bay Area to a cash flow vehicle which dramatically increases cash flow. My client last year traded his 5 rental houses into one NNN drug store and tripled his income. He also eliminated his tenants' annoying phone calls!

San Francisco TIC "condos"

Andy Sirkin is the premier attorney to consult when structuring a Tenant In Common (TIC) investment purchase in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is definitely attractive to purchase a home in San Francisco significantly less in price than the same size condo. What are the downsides? Will you ever be able to convert to a true condo? Who oversees the overall maintenance of the building? These are significant issues that need to be answered when buying a TIC. What are the advantages besides price? I will follow up with some more research into this very viable home option soon.

Bad Real Estate Market or What?

Please consider that there is always a bad real estate market AND a good real estate market at the same time. There is always an advantage position in every market. If there is low inventory and many buyers (seller's market) - then it's great to be a seller and not so great to be a buyer. In today's market - it's not so great to be a seller and very good to be a buyer. If you have the ability to play the side of the fence that is attractive at any give time, do so. I just sat down with a client yesterday who owned a fourplex in San Jose. We decided that it was not the time for him to sell. It was definitely a time for him to buy. Prices are down approximately 15% in that fourplex neighborhood in a year and rents are up maybe 10% in the same year. The trend for both those indices will remain the same for a while. Those who make strong, long-term purchase decisions this year amidst all the negativity will do very well in the medium to long run.

Divorce and Real Estate

There are many "life events" that affect how we manage our real estate assets. One event, that I have been personally educated in, is going through a divorce. Whether you own one family home which you may want to sell to go your separate ways or you have a portfolio of properties that must be divided - divorce requires planning for best results. Capital gains issues are very important. 1031 issues too play a big role if you have investment property. I humbly say that my ex and I did mediocre at best planning. This was due to antagonistic communication and general distrust. There is never win-lose - that really is lose-lose. Play the win-win game - no matter how tempting is revenge. Both parties can walk away happier and have more assets to start their "phase two". I plan to write more specifics about divorce and real estate issues in further blog entries.