Corole Rodoni Speaks to Intero About Housing

Listen to 10 minutes of Carole Rodoni's review of the current real estate issues of the day. She has been consulting and researching the Bay Area real estate market for decades and has always had great insight.

Short Sale Condo Berryessa Area Not on MLS Yet

Just listed, 2 bedroom, 2 bath short sale condo. Ground floor in modern complex. Very rare attached 2 car garage. Patio, 2 master suites, 1040 square feet, nice condition. Offered at $249,000. 2 bank owned REO condos in same complex in escrow already at similar prices. This is a deal and no huge competition like the bank owned deals. HOA just spent $800,000+ on repairs and modernisation in complex. HOA dues are approx. $480 per month. Call me for details and to write an offer on this property.

Zillow Zestimate Values - How they are derived

Good video from Zillow.com explaining clearly how the Zestimate is derived. Please let me know what you agree with and what you don't.

Trulia Voices Question - Convert Campbell Detached Garage to Legal 2nd Unit?

Absolutely POSSIBLE - there have been many 2nd units done in the Campbell area legally. Of course, the City will require everything done according to code - while this may not sound unreasonable - the cost of making a true 2nd unit legal may cost far more than what you may want to spend. The best solution would be to check with an architect and have some plans drawn up. The architect will check with the City and see what needs to be done to make this legal. Some initial blocks that will come up that may derail the project are set back requirements of the structure. While the garage may be "grandfathered legal', any re-work to the space may trigger all new approvals and zoning compliance - 5' from side property lines, 20' from rear, etc. If you don't own the home yet, perhaps consider a duplex which was built legally as 2 units.

Trulia Question - Arbitration or Not?

Do most buyers opt for arbitration? Question arose from a buyer who has an offer in to a seller. The seller is requiring the arbitration clause signed or no deal.

Yes, in most contracts, the buyer and seller agree to arbitration. Though this may not be the best solution depending on what transaction and which party you are. By not agreeing to arbitration up front, this does not eliminate the option if a litigious situation occurs - but then both parties must opt for arbitration. By opting for arbitration, then you are forced into that situation without choice. Arbitration is effective in the most part to save money and time, but it very well may limit what you can achieve in a full blow court situation. By the way, most attorneys, who buy homes, don't opt for arbitration, obviously.

Short Sale Commercial Warehouse Condo for Sale Union City

Short Sale APPROVED on this 2,452 square foot commercial warehouse condo in a great location in Union City. Very convenient to highways 880, 92 and the Dumbarton Bridge. Offered at $399,000 - this is a great price per square foot for this building in excellent condition. Address is 33371 Croation Way, Union City, CA.

Santana Row Area Apartment Building for Sale

10 units near Santana Row, Winchester Blvd and 280 for sale at a very attractive price.
7,050 square foot living building on a 12,000 square foot lot, fully rented, nine 1 bedroom units and one two bedroom unit. $116,000 gross rents annually offered at $1,300,000. Great 1031 exchange replacement property. Rents are strong and stable in this market segment. Excellent opportunity to buy into a good rental market. Call me to tour this property or to see the other great apartment deals available that we are tracking.

San Jose Silicon Valley Real Estate First Time Home Buyer Seminar

Our very informative first time home buyer seminar is scheduled for Thursday August 20th from 6pm - 7:30pm at the Intero Cupertino office. Tony Guaraldi of Intero Mortgage will talk about current financing options and our manager Jess Wible will talk about buying opportunities in the REO, short sale and conventional markets. Buyers in 2009 will do very well in my opinion. Get to the class and let's start looking at your first home.

RSVP please as seating fills up every meeting.

*** Need a Buyer for Approved Short Sale Townhouse in San Jose ***

After 4 months waiting on a short sale approval from the bank, buyer is no longer around. Short sale is now approved and I need a buyer for this great deal by Friday, August 7th! $400,000 price for a 2 year old townhouse, 1,496 square feet, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, end unit, 2 car garage, HOA is only $158 per month! View the virtual tour here. Address is 3234 Lago De Como Place, San Jose, CA 95136. Call me to tour as soon as possible!

Absolute NNN California Burger King

Walmart pad ABSOLUTE NNN Burger King with 9 years left on lease. Built in 1998, this Burger King is operated by a master franchisee with 40 stores. Personally guaranteed by the franchisee. Currently $115,000 per year rent to landlord. Offered at $1,695,000. No landlord responsibilities! Perfect 1031 tax deferred exchange replacement property. Let's run the numbers on your single family rental or fourplex and see how much more you can get in income and without the headaches of management.

Great Neighborhood Bank Owned Duplex Santa Clara

Off Bascom and Newhall - very close to Santa Clara University, Westfield Valley Fair and Santana Row is a quality duplex now owned by the bank. 1,550 square feet, 2 bedrooms and one bath on each side. Shared two car garage. Upgraded kitchens and baths, hardwood floors, vacant units. This is a very nice duplex investment in a solid neighborhood. Nice, easy investment property. Let me show you the numbers and the area. $575,000. One more short sale duplex in the area too. May take a long time, but well worth the wait.

1031 Tax Deferred Exchange Strategies

Ron Ricard of Investment Property Exchange Services, Inc sent the follow article regarding current investors strategies paired with the 1031 exchange:

Investors are Buying

Today's educated investors are repositioning their investments and buying up "deals" during this dip. Purchasing at today's low prices can allow investors to have positive cash flow with single family rentals that, in some markets, are normally purchased primarily for appreciation. Investors are beginning to sell assets like apartment complexes, commercial and industrial properties and using the cash to exchange into multiple single family rental properties that will cash flow immediately. When the real estate market turns positive, these investors will be poised to gain maximum appreciation and will continue to reposition their real estate investments utilizing the benefits of a 1031 Exchange.

Some Creative 1031 Exchange Strategies

1. Sell commercial/industrial/retail properties and buy multiple single family rentals
2. Sell single family rental properties and buy desirable vacation rental properties
Many vacation areas are priced at record lows
3. Sell vacant land and buy single family rentals, vacation rentals or commercial/industrial/retail investment properties
4. Sell investment properties and buy a "dream" property that later can be converted to a principal residence
5. Converting from or to an IRC §1031 "Qualified Use" may offer tremendous favorable results

For your 1031 questions, Ron Ricard can be reached at 408-483-1031 or ron.ricard@ipx1031.com

Good Time to Buy Apartments?

Great time to buy investment real estate? Depends. For sure in the single family home market, prices are down significantly. Interest rates are also at close to all-time lows. So, yes, very good time to buy. The apartment market is different altogether. Because first time buyer financing is harder to get and also due to many foreclosures making homeowners into tenants, there are far more renters in the marketplace than normally would be. Therefore, rental rates are up and vacancies are down. Most apartment owners are happy and not very motivated to sell. Read: no good deals here. The one opportunity I see is in the duplex – fourplex market. Here there has been financial trouble because of the loose financing that occurred. Compare this to the financing of apartment buildings above 4 units which has always been very conservative. There are short sales and bank owned foreclosures to be had in the duplex – fourplex market. And with rents up… yes, good time to buy.

4plex Cap Rate Same Same Comparison

I just ran an analysis on a 4plex which traded hands in 2006 for $950,000 and now my investor bought it two months ago as a short sale for $700,000. The GRM went from 16.5 to 12.2. The Cap Rate was 3.5% and now is 5.2%. Yes, definitely better numbers. Even better is the cash flow after financing because interest rates dropped approximately 100 basis points.

Santa Clara County Foreclosures Rising Again

Check out the article by Mercury News real estate reporter Pete Carey about the rising tide of Foreclosures in the Valley. The tide is rising again, somewhat buffered by the Obama plan and other local governmental agencies artificially halting foreclosures. This will stretch out the problem so that the pain will be felt more evenly over the next couple years. Expect a significant impact in listing inventory as we get past September.

Great Specials on New Condos in San Jose

- 2 bedroom, 2 bath downtown San Jose new high rise condo for $354,550!
- Another building offering 3.99% financing this weekend with 5 units on special.
- and my favorite building's best floor plan 1 bedroom on special for $395,000. Great deals on the City Heights, 88 and Axis.
Call me to tour!

Mortgage Update July 2, 2009

Rates have been holding and slightly improving over the past week. Adding fuel to the fire for mortgage bonds today was a stinker of a jobs report. The Labor department reported a loss of 467,000 jobs in the month of June. The national unemployment rate rose to 9.5%, its highest since 1983. Any time there is negative economic news the safer fixed income investments such as mortgage bonds get the benefit.

On Monday of this week China, the largest holder of US debt, announced they will continue to purchase our Bonds as part of their current foreign-currency reserve policy. China holds $763B of the $6.45T in US debt. This was great for mortgage bonds as China’s buying has really helped to keep our interest rates low over the past several years. Why do they do it? They wish to devalue the Yuan against the dollar so their exports to the United States are cheaper for the American consumer. The United States is the largest buyer of manufactured goods from China, and they want to keep it that way! By weakening the Yuan against the dollar it helps to ensure that American demand for Chinese goods will remain strong. Mortgage bonds get the benefit of this when China buys our debt.

Turn times are starting to improve for conventional loans, which is great news for the purchase market. The reason is that the refinance boom came to a halt when rates went up and origination volume decreased significantly. Conventional underwriting is much faster than the past several months, but there are still delays from the new appraisal process started on May 1st of this year. Over all it’s good to see lenders getting caught up with underwriting. I would still allow extra time for condo deals and FHA. Contact us with specific scenario questions as it’s always case by case for turn times.

That’s it for this week. Have a great 4th of July!

Tony Guaraldi
Mortgage Consultant

Commercial Retail Tenants Poorly Represented

It's a sad fact of the commercial real estate world that small retail users of space and for that matter also small office space users don't get good representation or they get none at all. Economics play a big factor in this. If a business owner needs 1,000 square feet of retail space for a new venture and he wants to have a 2 year lease at a rate of $1.50 per month, the compensation for the work is too small for the effort. A commercial leasing agent is looking at gross commissions in the range of $1,000-$2,000. Yes, that is not small potatoes. And yet, when compared to the work of finding the space (think no MLS, lots of sign calls, hitting commercial marketing meetings), setting up appointments to show the space (few small spaces with lockboxes, setting up appointments with landlord reps), a month of lease negotiation, attorney review time, city approval (heaven forbid a conditional use permit process), touring of architects and contractors, and then dealing with huge costs of starting up a business - that may dissuade the hopeful retail operator from actually signing the lease... I could go on and on... Many leasing agents don't see the economic benefit of allocating the time and effort. The realty then tends to be budding business entrepreneurs driving themselves around and calling on signs in the areas they think they should be. Many times not considering other areas that very well may support their business model better. Then calling landlord reps directly - who of course have their fiduciary duty to their main client - the landlord. The prospective tenant then signs whatever lease proposal hits the table. It's not equitable by any means. Solutions are grim - the best would be to hire a leasing agent - not by the commissions expected on a landlord sided fee offering - on a flat fee agreement sufficient enough to warrant the work. Few bootstrap business people want to fork out that kind of fee. OK - that's my gripe for the day - based on a commercial tenant who called me yesterday finally realizing the gravity of the lease document they signed years ago.

Willow Glen Open House June 27th 1:30-4:30

http://tours.altavistavirtualtours.com/5510

This home is wonderful. Come visit tomorrow and be impressed!

Short Sale 4plexes are Gone

The market is improving all around. I cannot say this is our firm bottom by any means. Although, there are a lot of buyers and their agents chasing single family homes, townhouses and condos with multiple offers and going over asking prices. What I found interesting is that this wave has finally come over to the duplex - fourplex market. A few months ago, there were some outstanding short sale opportunities in west San Jose, specifically near Southwest Expressway and San Jose City College. Now those deals are all in escrow - some 3,500+ square foot fourplexes were listed at $650,000-$750,000. My client just bought a fourplex on Leigh Ave - very nice property - Pollack & Gambord style - for $700,000. If that property went on the market now, it would easily be worth $800,000+. We were in a short sale escrow for approximately 3 months and the market moved higher in that timeframe. There are still some deals that are not being chased, but they are becoming fewer. Has the market really turned...? Comments and thoughts please!