Category: Economy

East Bay: Berkeley Named Top Spot For Selling Your Home

By Home Girl, aka real-estate blogger Tracey Taylor If you are selling your home, Berkeley is the place to be doing it, according to a piece in Forbes which ranks the ten best suburbs to sell a home. (Suburb? Ouch that hurts.) This is how they put it: Berkeley known sometimes as a hippie haven, … Continue reading East Bay: Berkeley Named Top Spot For Selling Your Home

Reduction, Ad Nauseum

I’m not a Realtor, so I’ll tell something I’m more qualified to comment on: buyers’ perspectives. For instance, I can tell you how buyers looks at a property that’s been reduced more than twice. We feel sorry for them. They’re like awkward teenage boys at their first dance, pretending to be terribly busy with their shoe laces … Continue reading Reduction, Ad Nauseum

Coming Soon! And, Coming Later!

Realtor Kevin Gueco writes a very sunny review for the coming soon Mosiaica 601 condo project (pictured above) in his SFNewDevelopments blog. There’s definitely some room for pleasant surprise in the announced price  (pleasant to me, anyway, since I selfishly find all condos I cannot afford to be unpleasant): “Mosaica 601 announced last week that … Continue reading Coming Soon! And, Coming Later!

Taking Over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Some Clarification

If you’ve been wondering what all of this Government takeover of Fannie and Freddie means, you’re hardly alone, so we just went ahead and copied what we just read to give you some different perspectives of what is being said in the real estate world. We take zero credit for this, it all came from … Continue reading Taking Over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Some Clarification

Labor Day is over…now what?

Labor Day is behind us, which typically marks the beginning of Real Estate season. Many buyers are waiting for that special place to hit the market, and many sellers are getting their homes ready to place in the increasingly critical public eye, and hoping they sell prior to the looming Holiday Doldrums. More and more … Continue reading Labor Day is over…now what?

Our (extended) backyard is getting more affordable, Lake Tahoe luxury real estate takes a dip

It’s not very often that we get excited about a dip in median or average sales price, but when we’re talking our favorite playground and extended backyard, we have to admit we’re a bit giddy. From a recent article in the Reno Gazette Journal: “We had an absolute record-breaking year for the high-end market in … Continue reading Our (extended) backyard is getting more affordable, Lake Tahoe luxury real estate takes a dip

Comment du Jour: “Check out the VC funding [the Bay Area] received…”

From Aubear1 in Bay Area attracts top talent and money (theFrontSteps): Check out the percentage of VC funding that this region received during Q1 ’08 versus other parts of the country: PWC MoneyTree.com I can’t think of a more compelling piece of information that paints the picture of how this region continues to create both … Continue reading Comment du Jour: “Check out the VC funding [the Bay Area] received…”

Reader Reports: Bay Area attracts top talent and money

From a reader: “Best article of what is really going on in SF…” We have to agree that it is a very good example of the caliber of intellect, talent, and passion we find in San Francisco that will certainly help San Francisco weather this storm; however, it is not the entire picture. A good … Continue reading Reader Reports: Bay Area attracts top talent and money

California Foreclosure Crisis: I ask, Senator Barbara Boxer replies

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t a personal message to me, but I contacted Senator Boxer not too long ago to find out more about her ideas behind helping Californians who are upside down on their homes (actually I was mostly interested in getting the code to post her video directly on the site.) After sifting … Continue reading California Foreclosure Crisis: I ask, Senator Barbara Boxer replies

San Francisco Real Estate watch: SF Chronicle’s recipe for fear

The main ingredient: “The Associated Press-AOL Money & Finance telephone poll of 1,002 adults, including 769 homeowners, portrayed a public afflicted with anxiety about what will happen to their pocketbooks in the near future. Those anxieties also show how the slumping real estate market has led to a weakened economy. [No shit?]” Add the graph: … Continue reading San Francisco Real Estate watch: SF Chronicle’s recipe for fear

Mercury rising? San Francisco foreclosures on the increase?

Browsing TechCrunch today, we came across a site we had visited before, HotPads.com, that provides a fair bit of mashing goodness, and were reminded that we had never posted on the matter. Given all the continued hoopla in the media over the perpetual demise of real estate and the end of the world as we … Continue reading Mercury rising? San Francisco foreclosures on the increase?

Is San Francisco real estate still “Holding On”?

A reader forwards us this link to a recent article in this special section of the New York Times, which leaves us wondering, “Is San Francisco real estate still ‘Holding On’?” Some quotes: -“Once real estate in the most expensive cities no longer seemed to be a can’t-miss investment, you might have thought more people … Continue reading Is San Francisco real estate still “Holding On”?

Still confused about Conforming Loan Limits?

3 Oceans Real Estate provides some answers: Raising the conforming loan limit has the following benefits: 1. It does in fact greatly stimulate the economy 2. Many consumers who got in over their head will now be able to afford their mortgage 3. Greater affordability for housing is created 4. It will influence a portion … Continue reading Still confused about Conforming Loan Limits?

Chop go the rates…again! (Feds cutting rates makes us queezy)

“Fed Cuts Rate by Half-Point; 2nd Reduction in 8 Days” [New York Times] In lowering its benchmark Federal funds rate by half a point, to 3 percent, the central bank acknowledged that it is now far more worried about an economic slowdown than rising inflation, and it left open the possibility of additional rate reductions. … Continue reading Chop go the rates…again! (Feds cutting rates makes us queezy)