Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Real Estate”
A few days ago I wrote about the importance of taking national or regional real estate articles with a grain of salt. And then yesterday, the East Bay Times published a front page story that clearly illustrates just what I mean. For right below the paper’s masthead were two headlines — one proclaiming the Winds Have Shifted and another saying …
So you’ve been looking for homes for a while and wonder why many of the homes you see online don’t appear on the printout your agent gives you. Or why your agent tells that you a particular home is already under contract even though it still shows up when you search for homes on various popular real estate web sites. …
Not too long ago, it was common for many real estate agents (especially in Contra Costa County) to routinely withdraw a listing after about 30 days and re-enter it into the multiple listing service (MLS) a few minutes later. They did so to reset the Days-On-Market counter to zero, thus giving the illusion that every home which showed only 5 …
We’re now a month and a half into 2019 and so far, the year has gotten off to a slower start than it has over the last five years. We seem to be returning to more of a balanced market, which is actually the healthiest real estate market of all. A balanced market favors neither the buyer nor the seller. …
We’re now about six weeks into the new year and so far a few interesting statistics have emerged. As you’ve seen elsewhere in our Blog and probably seen or heard elsewhere, there’s a general impression that the market has begun to shift towards more of a balanced market — one that favors neither buyers nor sellers. But if you talk …
Some years ago, we met with a nice couple who were thinking of selling a townhome that they’d been renting out for years. It was worth quite a bit more than what they paid, which meant they’d be facing a pretty hefty capital gains tax bite from the sale. They didn’t have any immediate plans for the proceeds as they …
Throughout the year, various government agencies, organizations, economists and real estate think tanks release statistics and analyze the data to tell us how the housing market is doing. And often these stories become front page news or the lead story on the evening news, with additional snippets all over the internet. Even though it’s been said you can’t believe everything …
In order to close escrow, any existing liens on the property have to be paid in full. The most common liens are existing mortgages. And usually the payoff process is pretty straight forward: the title company contacts the lender, obtains a loan payoff statement and uses a portion of the seller’s proceeds to pay off the loan the day escrow …
Real estate pundits are often quick to signal a change in the market and hail it as distinct market shift. A national expert comes out saying interest rates are going to skyrocket. A government report says that home sales were down two months in a row and economists are calling it the beginning of a housing slowdown. A self-proclaimed market …
Before going into real estate, Jamie and I both worked in title and escrow and we were always amazed when we saw transactions unravel and nerves fray near the close of escrow due to things that could have been resolved had they been tackled weeks or months earlier. So from the moment we activated our real estate licenses back in …
