Home Buying
49ers at Your Doorsteps – Will They be Good or Bad for Home Prices?
May 18th, 2013 by Tina Lam \\ Blog, Home Buying, Local Market Conditions
Last week, the Santa Clara 49ers stadium has officially been named Levi Stadium. This is another step closer for the 49ers to take residence in Santa Clara. When the San Francisco 49ers made it into the Super Bowl this February, it woke the South Bay from sports-apathy into football fanatics. While the 49ers did not [...]
Read More >>The Difference Between a Real Estate Broker and Agent
October 31st, 2011 by Tina Lam \\ Home Buying
Broadly speaking, an agent is anyone hired by comprar viagra internet a principal (also referred to as a client) to act on her behalf and represent her best interests. In highly regulated industries like real estate or financial securities, there’s a further distinction made to distinguish between an agent and his assistants. Within the real [...]
Read More >>How to Find a Good Real Estate Agent
August 16th, 2011 by Michael Cheng \\ Home Buying
As much as any profession touts its progressive transformation by the transparency of the Internet or the accountability of social media, the hard reality is the people in the profession haven’t changed much. There will always be those who operate with integrity and professionalism and those who look for shortcuts. It’s especially true in real [...]
Read More >>Comparing the Financing Costs of FHA versus PMI
July 16th, 2011 by Michael Cheng \\ Home Buying
With banks and traditional lenders still reeling from the financial fallout caused by their lax lending standards, the Federal government has stepped in as the backstop lender of choice for buyers with less than the standard 20% downpayment. Currently, the FHA (Federal Housing Administration) provides insured loans for nearly a fifth of new loans and [...]
Read More >>Bad Listing Agents Undermine the Real Estate Industry
June 13th, 2011 by Michael Cheng \\ Home Buying
Working with my buyers in this tough market, I’m constantly surprised by the number of non-responsive or incompetent listing agents I come across. With sales already hard to come by, I really can’t understand how some listing agents can see it fit to either 1) ignore calls or requests for showings from selling agents or [...]
Read More >>Homeowners Continue to Trade Up
June 1st, 2011 by Michael Cheng \\ Home Buying, Investment Opportunities, Local Market Conditions
An interesting trend I’m starting to see around my area is a segment of homeowners still trading up even in a declining market. While I find it rather unexpected, I believe the local conditions make such a move both feasible and favorable. First, by trading up, these homeowners are opting to sell their homes at [...]
Read More >>Short Sales are Causing Short Fuses
May 23rd, 2011 by Michael Cheng \\ Home Buying, Investment Opportunities, Local Market Conditions
It’s no secret that distressed sales are dominating most real estate markets and that most distressed “sales” are short sales. While short sales are very common on listings, very few actually end up being successful sales, hence my emphasis on the word. Rather, short sales should really be called short listings, since the ultimate seller, [...]
Read More >>Best Schools for Your Money
May 20th, 2011 by Tina Lam \\ Home Buying, Local Market Conditions
A list of the nation’s top 10 cities with top-performing public schools challenges the idea that the best schools can only be found in the most expensive housing markets, announced a report from GreatSchools.com and Forbes.com. In the South Bay, there are also high performing school districts with reasonable median home prices. These are some [...]
Read More >>Reporters Are Still Looking Into the Rearview Mirror on Housing
May 12th, 2011 by Michael Cheng \\ Home Buying, Investment Opportunities, Local Market Conditions
In another generally fluffy bit of reporting on the housing market, the Associated Press reports that mortgage rates are once again dropping towards record lows and the housing market continues to look terrible. While that’s no surprise to readers of this blog, what I do find surprising is how seeming normal market conditions are being blamed [...]
Read More >>Zillow Predicts Housing Market to Fall a Further 8% This Summer – Why I Think That is a Good Sign
May 10th, 2011 by Michael Cheng \\ Home Buying, Home Improvement, Investment Opportunities, Local Market Conditions
Once in a while, a kindred spirit writes an article that brightens my day with analytical clarity. In the midst of the current housing market doldrums, this article by MarketWatch’s Brett Arends makes a ton of sense. While the housing market continues to suffer and works through what appears to be another tough summer, the signs [...]
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