Market is Strengthening in Santa Clara County

The home market is definitely getting stronger in parts of Silicon Valley. Tonight at the office, there were over 10 offers on a well-located, obviously well-priced home in the west valley. Also, it seems as if the buyers are calling and there is good activity - activity not seen like this for maybe 6 months. I think a lot of people put their buying decisions on pause since late in the summer last year. Now, there is a higher conforming rate, interest rates are down (maybe not on the 30) and policy changes will affect this R-word time in a positive manner. I keep saying, those who buy in 2008 will do great - only 9 more months to go!

Short Sale Strategies

Nice 4 bedroom, 2 bath home on great street in Santa Clara - short sale situation - listed for 3 months with no offer activity. Now with a trustee sale date just days away, the listing agent got serious and reduced the price to generate huge interest. 3 offers in on the first weekend and hopes of stalling the trustee sale. If you want to get a home sold, especially with the unattractive situation of a short sale, it must be priced to compensate for the headaches and perhaps to fire up the buyer pool. There are many buyers out there and they jump at the great deals.

03/20/2008 Active 06/14/2008 asking $430,000 - 3 and maybe more excited buyers
02/21/2008 Active 06/14/2008 asking $629,000 - no offers
01/10/2008 Active 06/14/2008 asking $714,900 - no offers

Let me know if you want to get your home sold right away. There are solutions available to you.

Bank REO Santana Row Best Floorplan

The most sought-after A3 floorplan is available in Santana Row - facing the Row! - in the DeForest Building as an REO Bank owned property. 1,250 square feet which includes the "catwalk". A good location over Cocolat and Straits - although there will be noise from the nightly revelers at Straits. This is a good deal. Call me for a tour and to write an offer on this rare opportunity. 415-269-6249.

New Great Price on Milpitas Townhouse

315 Ethyl Drive - a very nice 2 bedroom, 1 bath, two story townhouse unit in Milpitas is now priced at $275,000! Just reduced from $309,000. Sellers are motivated to sell. This is a great bargain in this very solid location. The home features a private patio, 1 car garage, private entrance, nice condition and walking distance to the Great Mall and shopping on Calaveras Blvd. The community also has a very nice pool. Call me for a tour at 415-269-6249.

Bank Auctions vs Short Sales vs REOs

The banks are understanding how to get the best prices for their new inventory of homes. Advertise the hell out of a public auction, cram 5,000 people into the Cow Palace (or any other convention center of choice), provide easy financing to all who have a FICO score anywhere near 600 and price these homes at ridiculously low prices. Recent example: $550,000 value Belmont home, now REO, listed in brochure for $275,000 - what a deal! - 10 buyers bidding on this home and one "winner" happy to take the keys for $620,000! Good luck with that one. This makes sense why banks are more apt to let a property go to foreclosure than deal with a short sale.

Team in Training Fundraiser @ Xanh this Wednesday

Please come and have a great time at the new bar & lounge at Xanh in Mountain View this Wednesday March 19th. From 5:30-7:30pm, 25% of the bar sales will be donated to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. This is a great way to blow off some steam from work and raise money for a great cause. Address is 110 Castro Street. Bring amigos!

Best value townhome in Milpitas...

This is a very well priced 2 bedroom townhouse style unit in Milpitas. Access to 237,880 and 680. Located in a quiet section of the complex with a fenced patio. This unit has a 1 car garage plus parking on driveway for additional car. This home is a clean, bright, two story unit with hardwood floors through out and granite countertops in the kitchen. This is the best value for a town home in Milpitas today…
Come and See...

Call me for any of your Real Estate Needs...

Just Remodeled Home in Nice Neighborhood

Gorgeous remodel. New interior, exterior and landscaping. Huge master suite, new bathroom with spa tub. Was 4 bedroom original floor plan. Now is a 3 bedroom huge master bedroom suite with added den (not included in square feet). Double pane windows, tile roof, new interior paint, hardwood floors just refinished, new texturing and more. This home is stunning. Baker Elementary - A California Distinguished School is walking distance


-3 bedrooms and 2 full baths, built in 1960.
-Approximately 1,465 square feet of living space, 6090 lot size.
-A thorough and stunning renovation was just completed
-Huge master suite with office adjacent and two large closets with organizing systems in the dressing area.
-Master bath with new spa tub, new tile floors & tile surround, new double sink vanity and stone vanity top with new faucets & light fixtures.
-Kitchen with large island, granite counters, all new Kenmore stainless steel appliances (side by side refrigerator, dishwasher, trash compactor, microwave, wall oven & 5 burner gas island stove top), custom cabinets with roll out drawers, 6 glass display doors, new sink & Price Pfister integrated spray faucet and herb garden window above sink.
-Office addition permit work was started and not finished by a previous owner.
-Central gas forced air heating and central air conditioning
-New Kenmore washer & dryer in garage
-Wood burning fireplace with gas starter, new tile face & skirting
Skylights in both bathrooms, office and kitchen
-Dining area with custom built buffet, granite top & glass display doors
-All new sod, new trees, plants, sprinkler system front & back, tile front porch, painted rear patio and redwood bark ground cover.
-New six panel interior doors, new hardware throughout & new lighting
-Excellent Moreland Schools - Baker Elementary - a California Distinguished school, Moreland Middle & Prospect High School all nearby
-Nearby great shopping and dining at Westgate Mall and El Paseo de Saratoga shopping center

Commercial Brokerage Cooperation and Non-Cooperation

I understand commercial real estate agents and brokerages want to keep their listings to themselves. This will eventually make the company receive 100% of the commission on the sale. My big difficulty is - this under-exposes the listing and the seller gets a lower price due to it's poor exposure. I just ran across a listing that required an electronically signed statement by the buyer's agent for, get this, 0% commission! I gripe at the 1% fees offered out. I really gripe (and then blog about it) when I have to sign a document that gets me NOTHING! Does this help the seller? Can I effectively market the listing to my buyer? GRRRRR....

1st Time Buyer Seminar March 20th

Don’t miss the Peninsula Investment Forum Meeting on March 25, 2008. Details below...

Team In Training Happy Hour Fundraiser at Xanh March 12th

At Xanh I have set up a fundraiser perfect for all of us.

What we drink at the bar & lounge between 5:30-7:30 on Wed March 12th, 25% of your drinks tab will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society via Team in Training.

So please make time, bring a friend or two and come have a drink next week.
110 Castro Street in Mt View.

Remember to mention Team in Training to the bartender or waitress.

This goes towards my goal of raising $5,000 for L&L while running the San Diego marathon on June 1st.

See you soon and let me know if you are coming so we can have a good head count,

Thanks!

- Mario

Nice 3 bedroom Bank REO Townhome in Milpitas $349,900

3 bedrooms, 1 bath, fenced yard, low HOA dues, 1 car garage, convenient location to 237, 880 & 680 all for $349,900. Bank owned property. Easy transaction. Let me show you this great opportunity before it sells. The market is heating up in this category - 3 pending sales in this price point.

Great Investment Opportunity

Very solid rental investment property at the gateway of booming downtown San Jose. This well-located apartment building has been very well kept as well as upgraded over the last years. All units have newer central HVAC systems, double pane windows, new doors and other upgrades. There is good parking for the building both in the front and back. Fully occupied investment property - come look!
Great condition apartment building. Your buyers will be pleased. Building has underwent the airport upgrades and is now in excellent shape. Not your typical downtown building.

Please contact Mario Pinedo for any information
Bus:408-342-3155
mario@interorealestate.com

Best Deal in Silver Creek Country Club

GORGEOUS PROPERTY!!! EXCELLENT CONDITION!!! BEST DEAL IN SILVER CREEK COUNTRY CLUB!! VIEW OF MOUNTAINS!! BRITE & OPEN FLOOR PLAN WITH HIGH CEILINGS* LOTS OF WINDOWS!!* GRANITE KITCHEN COUNTERTOPS* NEWLY REFINISHED KITCHEN CABINETS* TILE ISLAND* UPGRADED CARPET* DOWNSTAIRS GUEST SUITE* STUNNING OFFICE WITH CUSTOM BUILT-IN CHERRY WOOD CABINETRY* ATTAHCED 3 CAR GARAGE* ENJOY POOL & JACUZZI*

Please call Mario Pinedo, CCIM Intero Real Estate Services
for any information on this property
Bus:408-342-3155
mario@interorealestate.com

Bank Owned REO Condo in Mountain View

I just toured this very nice 2 bedroom, 1 bath condo in Mountain View at $349,900 for 894 square feet that was a very good deal. It was a short sale for months and is now wholly owned by the bank and finally deliverable without all the headaches of a short sale. Near Castro Street and off of Middlefield and HWY 85. Call me to tour asap!

New loan guidelines and higher limits

Yulin Lee of Opes Advisors - she is my go-to lender - submitted this press release on the new loan limits by Fannie Mae:

Fannie Mae Implements Jumbo-Conforming Mortgages
As of this morning, Fannie Mae announced that it will increase its conventional loan limits to a maximum of $729,750 for single family homes. This increase is a temporary one, and is good through the end of 2008.

This new "breed" of loans between $417K - $729,750 are being called Jumbo-Conforming loans, and Fannie Mae has published details on borrower and product eligibility, underwriting, pricing, and delivery of these loans for certain high-cost areas.

Here's a quote from Fannie Mae:
"To help provide liquidity to this market segment, we will accept whole loans and MBS deliveries of Jumbo-Conforming Mortgages starting April 1, 2008 for 15- and 30-year FRMs, and starting May 1, 2008 for 5/1 ARMs. A 5/1 ARM with a 10-year interest-only period will be available in addition to fully amortizing options."

Ten Bay Area counties will have their limits raised to the new maximum loan limit of $729,750 for all three types of loans (FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac). Those 10 counties include: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, San Benito, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Napa and Monterey.

What we still don't know is when the lenders will start rolling out programs with the new loan limits and pricing. We expect it to be in the next couple of weeks. If you are interested in learning more about the details and how this change might impact you, feel free to give me a call.


Below are some useful links for more info:

http://www.ofheo.gov/newsroom.aspx?ID=418&q1=1&q2=None
https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/hicost1.cfm

Change Is In the Air

In an effort to continue serving my clients with the best products and services available, I have recently changed company. I am excited to tell you that I am now with Opes Advisors in Palo Alto. In my capacity as your Mortgage Advisor, I will continue to support you and serve you with all your Mortgage Planning & real estate investment needs.

To learn more about Opes Advisors, please check us out at www.opesadvisors.com.



Yulin S. Lee, MBA, CMPS
Mortgage Advisor
Building Wealth, One Piece At A Time!

Phone: 650-799-8768
www.yulinlee.com
www.yulin-lee.blogspot.com

Shopping Center for sale Sacramento Roseville

There is a very nice, bite size two tenant retail shopping center pad for sale in Roseville. Offered at $2,200,000, this is a 4 year old property, fully occupied by a strong restaurant tenant (we love restaurants and dental practices - if you ask why - I'll get in to it) and a small office retail space occupied by Nationwide Insurance. Decent cap rate of 6.75%, with 10 year money at approximately 6.4%. The IRR on this deal is over 10% before tax and 8% after tax. This would make a very good investment property.

Immaculate home in West San Jose

Gorgeous remodel. New interior, exterior and landscaping. Huge master suite, new bathroom with spa tub. Was 4 bedroom original floor plan. Now is a 3 bedroom huge master bedroom suite with added den (not included in square feet). Double pane windows, tile roof, new interior paint, hardwood floors just refinished, new texturing and more. This home is stunning. Baker Elementary - A California Distinguished School is walking distance.

Located at 2098 Arrowood Lane, San Jose CA
Open House Saturday 3-8-2008 1:30pm - 4:30pm and Sunday 3-9-2008


Call me for a personal tour at 408-342-3155

Silicon Valley Rents on the Rise....

Our good friends at Cal-Western Property Management have the following duplex units for rent across the valley. They have a very small inventory of available rental units. Most of their portfolio is happily rented or leased. At these rents, the duplex market is a good opportunity to invest in because prices have been weakend a bit by the financing shake up.

-Los Gatos- 671 Vasona Ct. $1700 monthly rent 3/2 Dplx: frplc/patio/pool/frig/wdhkp/yard- 1300sqft garage

-Mt. View- 210 Kittoe Dr. #A $1700 monthly rent 3/1.5 Dplx: dspl/lndryrm/patio/frig/yard- 1100sqft carport

-San Jose Almaden- 6546 Crown Blvd. $2395 monthly rent 3/2 Dplx: dshw/frplc/dspl/patio 1700sqft 2-car

- San Jose Downtown- 766 Vestal St. $1550 monthly rent 3/1 Dplx: lndryrm/frig/wdhkp 954sqft 1 car space

-San Jose South- 775 Blossom Hill Rd. $1695 monthly rent 3/2 Dplx: dshw/dspl/lndryrm/patio/frig/yard 1200sqft 1 car