News release: http://info.trulia.com/index.php?s=43&item=113
Interactive map: http://trulia.movity.com/rentvsbuy/
Full list the 50 largest U.S. cities: http://info.trulia.com/file.php/3323/rent_vs_buy_50+Cities_2011_Q1.pdf
Highlights:
Definite buy in CA: Sacramento, Fresno, Long Beach, San Diego, San Jose.
Definite rent in CA: San Francisco.
In between: Oakland, Los Angeles.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Trulia Going Global
Now the world is flat and globalization is everywhere. Can real estate market be globalized? You bet!
Trulia partners with ListGlobally and, in a few months, we can search for international listings through Trulia.
News release: http://www.truliablog.com/2011/01/13/trulia-going-global/
Trulia partners with ListGlobally and, in a few months, we can search for international listings through Trulia.
News release: http://www.truliablog.com/2011/01/13/trulia-going-global/
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Places to Buy Home and State of the Market in SF Bay Area
I thought you might like to read this. Just to pass on some real experience of my client in the Bay Area housing market, even in Livermore! It is a mixed bag situation and usually depicts a great momentum changes around the elbow of a growth curve. Time to act decisively in good potential neigborhoods.
"One of my older relatives are looking to relocate to the bay area. They are in the 80s age group. They are looking for a starter home 3 bed/2bath preferably 500,000. They are keen on a single family home with some garden. A good neighborhood with families is critical.
...........
After looking at many south bay neighborhoods, we settled on South Livermore. I had never visited south Livermore before but we found it to have several nice neighborhoods and a cute but small downtown. These areas are closer to the south end where the vineyards are located (off 84) and there were also some good areas closer to the Livermore labs. We increased our budget a little bit and found very nice homes in very desirable neighborhoods. We were really surprised at how fast the homes was selling. One we really liked but was on a busy street sold on the afternoon, which we saw only in the morning. A couple of homes sold before we could even get to see them. These houses were about 1-8 DOM before they were sold. Makes me wonder about the downturn.
Anyway, we found our home and the sellers have accepted with one condition. They want to exclude their redwood deck from the inspection. What would the implications of this? If the risk is a few thousand $, then we can take the risk. However, unsure what larger implication this has."
"One of my older relatives are looking to relocate to the bay area. They are in the 80s age group. They are looking for a starter home 3 bed/2bath preferably 500,000. They are keen on a single family home with some garden. A good neighborhood with families is critical.
...........
After looking at many south bay neighborhoods, we settled on South Livermore. I had never visited south Livermore before but we found it to have several nice neighborhoods and a cute but small downtown. These areas are closer to the south end where the vineyards are located (off 84) and there were also some good areas closer to the Livermore labs. We increased our budget a little bit and found very nice homes in very desirable neighborhoods. We were really surprised at how fast the homes was selling. One we really liked but was on a busy street sold on the afternoon, which we saw only in the morning. A couple of homes sold before we could even get to see them. These houses were about 1-8 DOM before they were sold. Makes me wonder about the downturn.
Anyway, we found our home and the sellers have accepted with one condition. They want to exclude their redwood deck from the inspection. What would the implications of this? If the risk is a few thousand $, then we can take the risk. However, unsure what larger implication this has."
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
$8,000 Tax Credit Ends Soon
Act fast! Homebuyer tax credit ends soon
There's barely three months left before the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers ends -- and it can take that long to close on your new home.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Use any metaphor you want: the ticking clock, sands running through the hourglass or pages falling away from the calendar. The fact is, time is running out to claim the $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit.
Passed earlier this year as part of the economic stimulus package, the credit is good for up to $8,000, or 10% of the purchase price, and applies to people who have not owned a home in the previous three years. (There are some income restrictions.) The best part: Unlike a similar program from 2008, the credit does not have to be repaid.
The bad part: It ends on Dec. 1.
Because it usually takes around 90 days to close on a house after a contract is signed, buyers have very little time left to act. As of Thurs., Aug. 27, there were only 96 days left before the credit ends.
"Buyers have to get a home under contract very, very soon," said Tom Kunz, CEO of Century 21. "They probably should get out looking."
Sense of urgency
What they will find may surprise them: Many of the prime properties have already been snapped up. Home sales have been on the upswing, and inventories are so depleted in hot markets that first-time buyers are struggling to find homes in their price range. (Check prices in your city.)
In Whittier, Calif., for example, there are few repossessed homes for sale. Those are easy to buy because there isn't a lot of red tape and the bank wants to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Instead, most of the properties are short sales, where the sellers have to convince their lender to let them sell the house for less than they owe.
"That's why there's such a sense of urgency now," said Irma Tapper, a Century 21 real estate agent in Whittier. "The banks have to approve short sales, and they're taking three to six months to do that."
That means a first timer putting a bid on a short-sale might not get an answer form the bank until well after the Dec. 1 deadline for the tax credit. So when an actual repossession listing hits the markets, it creates a feeding frenzy.
Chuck Whitehead, who runs the Coldwell Banker agency in Temecula, Calif., said one recent listing hit the market on a Friday and by Monday there were 57 bids.
The National Association of Realtors attributes much of this activity to the first-time buyer tax credit. It estimates that 1.8 million buyers will file for the credit, and 350,000 of them wouldn't have been able to buy without it.
"It makes a big difference because most of these clients are in a lower price range," said Michelle Edmunds, an agent with Coldwell Banker in Temecula, Calf., who has closed sales for six first-time buyers. "The houses they buy need work and normally they wouldn't want to move in because of the [less than perfect] conditions the homes are in."
That is true for Wesley Forsythe. This June, the 30-year-old computer consultant and his girlfriend bought a row house in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia. Since he paid just $80,000 for the three-bedroom, two-bath place, the credit acted like a 10% discount.
"It allowed us to expand our price range and plan additional renovations," he said. "My mortgage is several hundred dollars less than what my new rent would have been."
Forsythe applied for the credit immediately after closing, filing an amended 2008 tax return. The IRS cut him a check in less than seven weeks. He's spending it now on new hardwood floors, repainting most of the interior and renovating a bathroom. He's stretching the cash by doing much of the work himself.
Cash for Clunkers effect
Of course, analysts worry that this frenzy will dry up once the tax credit expires. They argue that without the incentive, much of the pressure on homebuyers to act quickly will vanish, and the nascent housing recovery could slump.
In many ways the tax credit is similar to the Cash for Clunkers program that ended this week. Already, auto dealers are anticipating that car sales will evaporate after accelerating during the program.
"It's just like Cash for Clunkers," said Robert Dye, a senior economist for PNC Financial Services Group. "It runs the risk of a let-down as the program runs its course."
Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who is a former real estate broker, is pushing legislation to extend the tax credit through next year, increase it to $15,000, include non-first-time homebuyers, and remove income restrictions.
The effort has drawn strong industry support.
"We need to stimulate the move-up buyer," said Century 21's Kunz, "so it works its way up the pricing food chain. That's what we need to get inventory moving again."
http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/27/real_estate/homebuyer_tax_credit_ending/index.htm?postversion=2009082715
There's barely three months left before the $8,000 tax credit for first-time buyers ends -- and it can take that long to close on your new home.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Use any metaphor you want: the ticking clock, sands running through the hourglass or pages falling away from the calendar. The fact is, time is running out to claim the $8,000 first-time homebuyers tax credit.
Passed earlier this year as part of the economic stimulus package, the credit is good for up to $8,000, or 10% of the purchase price, and applies to people who have not owned a home in the previous three years. (There are some income restrictions.) The best part: Unlike a similar program from 2008, the credit does not have to be repaid.
The bad part: It ends on Dec. 1.
Because it usually takes around 90 days to close on a house after a contract is signed, buyers have very little time left to act. As of Thurs., Aug. 27, there were only 96 days left before the credit ends.
"Buyers have to get a home under contract very, very soon," said Tom Kunz, CEO of Century 21. "They probably should get out looking."
Sense of urgency
What they will find may surprise them: Many of the prime properties have already been snapped up. Home sales have been on the upswing, and inventories are so depleted in hot markets that first-time buyers are struggling to find homes in their price range. (Check prices in your city.)
In Whittier, Calif., for example, there are few repossessed homes for sale. Those are easy to buy because there isn't a lot of red tape and the bank wants to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Instead, most of the properties are short sales, where the sellers have to convince their lender to let them sell the house for less than they owe.
"That's why there's such a sense of urgency now," said Irma Tapper, a Century 21 real estate agent in Whittier. "The banks have to approve short sales, and they're taking three to six months to do that."
That means a first timer putting a bid on a short-sale might not get an answer form the bank until well after the Dec. 1 deadline for the tax credit. So when an actual repossession listing hits the markets, it creates a feeding frenzy.
Chuck Whitehead, who runs the Coldwell Banker agency in Temecula, Calif., said one recent listing hit the market on a Friday and by Monday there were 57 bids.
The National Association of Realtors attributes much of this activity to the first-time buyer tax credit. It estimates that 1.8 million buyers will file for the credit, and 350,000 of them wouldn't have been able to buy without it.
"It makes a big difference because most of these clients are in a lower price range," said Michelle Edmunds, an agent with Coldwell Banker in Temecula, Calf., who has closed sales for six first-time buyers. "The houses they buy need work and normally they wouldn't want to move in because of the [less than perfect] conditions the homes are in."
That is true for Wesley Forsythe. This June, the 30-year-old computer consultant and his girlfriend bought a row house in the Fishtown section of Philadelphia. Since he paid just $80,000 for the three-bedroom, two-bath place, the credit acted like a 10% discount.
"It allowed us to expand our price range and plan additional renovations," he said. "My mortgage is several hundred dollars less than what my new rent would have been."
Forsythe applied for the credit immediately after closing, filing an amended 2008 tax return. The IRS cut him a check in less than seven weeks. He's spending it now on new hardwood floors, repainting most of the interior and renovating a bathroom. He's stretching the cash by doing much of the work himself.
Cash for Clunkers effect
Of course, analysts worry that this frenzy will dry up once the tax credit expires. They argue that without the incentive, much of the pressure on homebuyers to act quickly will vanish, and the nascent housing recovery could slump.
In many ways the tax credit is similar to the Cash for Clunkers program that ended this week. Already, auto dealers are anticipating that car sales will evaporate after accelerating during the program.
"It's just like Cash for Clunkers," said Robert Dye, a senior economist for PNC Financial Services Group. "It runs the risk of a let-down as the program runs its course."
Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., who is a former real estate broker, is pushing legislation to extend the tax credit through next year, increase it to $15,000, include non-first-time homebuyers, and remove income restrictions.
The effort has drawn strong industry support.
"We need to stimulate the move-up buyer," said Century 21's Kunz, "so it works its way up the pricing food chain. That's what we need to get inventory moving again."
http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/27/real_estate/homebuyer_tax_credit_ending/index.htm?postversion=2009082715
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
How is Zestimate Calculated?
A lot of us use the Zestimate on zillow.com to get the value of a house. How is it calculated? Watch the Zillow videos.
For real estate professionals:
For general site users:
For real estate professionals:
For general site users:
Friday, August 14, 2009
Real Estate Seminar (Part II)
The second part of the seminar had 25-30 attendees from Cisco. The questions from the audience were very specific:
- is real estate in bay area hitting the bottom yet?
- when is a good time to buy?
- how is the rental market in bay area?
- shall we look outside of bay area if we want positive cash flow?
- what are the tax advantages of real estate investment?
- what about loan options for investment properties?
Dr. Ho addressed the questions based on his first-hand info on the market and 30+ years of experience of seeing the ups and downs in the real estate market in bay area. It was a greatly informative and educational seminar, for veteran investors as well as first-time home buyers.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Real Estate Seminar (Part I)
Last Friday, Dr. Ho hosted a real estate seminar in San Jose with 35-40 attendees from Cisco, including their family and friends. It was an open forum with the purpose to address questions on people's mind regarding real estate and investment in bay area.
Dr. Ho brings together his expertise in medical knowledge and 30+ years of experience in real estate, and started the session with an anatomy on decision making:
Dr. Ho brings together his expertise in medical knowledge and 30+ years of experience in real estate, and started the session with an anatomy on decision making:
- Should I buy?
- Can I buy?
- Will I buy?
After all, buying your first home or an investment property is probably one of the most important decisions to make in life. Dr. Ho went on to open up the floor to the audience, addressing their specific questions as well as throwing in some fundamental guidelines for real estate investment. Some highlights:
- 4 Quadrants: wage earner, salary earner, business owner, investor. The goal is to become an investor and make the money work for you.
- Dr. Ho's 2 Principles of Real Estate Investment, from his 30+ years of experience (sorry we can't divulge the "secret" here; you'll have to attend the seminar or contact Dr. Ho otherwise to find it out)
- Criteria to buy an investment property: cash flow analysis, ROI, rental market, supply and demand curve
- Your own home is not an investment, as contrary to some popular belief.
- Why does the housing market behave like a basketful of rice?
The session was nicely concluded with a delicious catered lunch and mingling among the attendees. It was a diverse audience with some people looking to buy their very first home, and some others looking to add more investment properties to their portfolio. People exchanged information and learned from each other.
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