San Jose Real Estate Blog

Top 5 Reasons Buyers are Afraid to Buy a House in This Market

Published on 2012-02-13 12:53:02

Historic low interest rates. Lowest home prices in nearly 15 years. Yet, buyers remain hesitant to buy a home. Why? Fear. Here are the top 5 fears associated with buying a home along with some calming solutions and thoughts. 1.) Home prices may fall even more! Yes, they may. When you make a stock purchase, you certainly buy with some understanding it may go up, down, up, and down over the course of ownership. The same with the home.  You don’t sell when its low and you hold until its high

Top 10 Reasons Why a Short Sale Approval is Delayed

Published on 2011-12-13 08:44:43

How long will it take for a short sale approval? Definitely one of those questions that many buyers and sellers are asking.  When we first began riding  the wave of short sales in 2008, lenders were simply not prepared for the high volume of requests.  But as we move through the housing market crash, lenders have staffed up, developed departments and professionals and we are beginning to see improvements in the short sale approval process.  However, there are a lot of variables in how long i

San Jose Downtown pushes on, determined

Published on 2011-12-09 11:48:48

Last night I had the privilege of being part of the first Pitch Crawl, sponsored by the ever-so-fabulous Tracy Lee.  Pitch Crawl is Tracy’s most recent adventure in the world of bringing people together.  The Pitch Crawl format allowed twelve investors to listen to pitches by entrepreneurs over three minute rounds.  There were possibly 75 or more people and the interaction was literally buzzing.  Ideas were being spat out and demos flying on mobile phones and tablets.  Puzzled faces,

How do I know if additions or remodeling on a home have been properly permitted?

Published on 2011-12-06 23:37:38

This is becoming more and more an issue in Santa Clara County.  During the housing boom, sellers and buyers turned a blind eye to the permitted work.  But now, lenders have placed a magnifying glass on the issue of non-permitted work and buyers have become much more savvy about asking about permits.  Appraisers (specifically FHA) can be asked by an underwriter to comment on whether or not additions or remodeling was completed with permits.  In speaking with an appraiser, if it is obvious tha

Rents heading up. Affordability for home owner ship at 15 year best. Time to buy a home?

Published on 2011-12-06 12:19:37

The Wall Street Journal reports stronger lure for prospective home buyers with the monthly cost of owning a home more affordable now than at any point in the past 15 years, homeownership is becoming less expensive than renting in a growing number of cities. The Wall Street Journal’s third-quarter survey of housing-market conditions in 28 of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas found that home values declined in all but five markets compared with the second quarter, according to data from

How to resolve residential easement and/or property line issues?

Published on 2011-12-01 16:25:42

Question: We are in escrow to close on a house.The home is being sold out via a trust and we found out 2 weeks before close of escrow that a small portion of the driveway is on the neighbor’s property. We found out that the drive-way was a hand-shake deal between the previous owner and the neighbor. The sellers tried to get an easement agreement with the neighbor; the neighbor refuses to sign the easement. In the meantime we moved into the seller’s home because a) it was unoccupied,

Housing Market in Review for San Jose

Published on 2011-11-21 10:07:41

Good news!  FHA loan limits have been extended at higher cost living area FHA loan amounts of $729,750 instead of $625,500! This will help FHA buyers opportunities to more homes in the Bay Area. HIGHLIGHTS: For the general housing market of Silicon Valley and Central Coast: The median price of existing single-family homes decreased to $510,000 down -1.0% vs Sep-11. Existing single-family home sales decreased -13.9% from Sep-11 for a Oct-11 total of 1,722 sold units. Condos decreased in price to

How will Shadow Inventory impact the San Jose housing market?

Published on 2011-11-17 17:00:06

A potentially complicated, controversial topic amongst those following the housing market is how Shadow Inventory will impact the housing “recovery”.  On the web you will find almost an equal amount of articles explaining why the shadow inventory will challenge the housing recovery until 2015.  Look at another URL and you will find positive remarks on how the banks are releasing foreclosures now and how “robo signing” issues are resolving in the courts.  First and fore

San Jose Home Price Trends: Could 2012 be the beginning of a housing recovery?

Published on 2011-11-10 20:55:42

What drives the real estate more than any other factor?  Jobs. What drives buyers from renting to buying?  Increase in rents to the point where home ownership is attractive. What drives buyers who plan to buy a home to buy now?  Interest rates. So now, some data to back all these ideas up. From the LA Times report, “home prices are projected to turn around in 2012 — jumping 11.5% to $321,138 next year, then rising 10% more in 2013 to $353,411. The recovery is expected to run through 2

What are closing costs when buying a home?

Published on 2011-11-04 20:14:44

Closing costs are any fees related to the purchase of a home that are outside the price of the home.  Different states, counties, and cities calculate closing cost differently so it is best to speak with a real estate professional who is familiar with the area you intend to purchase your home.  Closing cost are the combined fees charged by different entities to close the deal.  Costs can include title fees, escrow fees, prorated fees such as taxes, insurance, and interest.  Closing fees can