February 2009 - Krista and Rosie

Feb

Reassessment of Property Taxes in Alameda County

Posted In: Taxes

A reader pointed me in the direction of this, taken directly from the assessors website: “If property taxpayers wish to request an individual informal review of their property’s 2009-10 assessed value after receiving the July 2009 notification, they may do so by returning a simple, printable form available on the Assessor’s website http://www.acgov.org/assessor/reassessments.htm. Property owners not in agreement with their [...]

Feb

Berkeley Broker’s Tour- I’m Happy

Posted In: For the Heck of It

Here is a napkin I picked up from an agent serving snacks during broker’s tour. I just had to share!

Feb

Days On Market, Last 2 Years: Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, Kensington, Richmond and Oakland

Posted In: Albany, Berkeley, El Cerrito, Kensington, Local Market Statistics, Oakland, Richmond

Let’s take a look at what the average days on market has done over the last two years in each of our neighborhoods. Percentages are from Jan/07 vs. Jan/09. Albany, down 66% Jan 2007 24 Jan 2008 43 Jan 2009 8 Berkeley, all, down 7% Jan 2007 45 Jan 2008 43 Jan 2009 42 Berkeley Hills, up 7% Jan 2007 [...]

Feb

East Bay Economic Forecast

Posted In: Uncategorized

Here is an update from the East Bay Economic Q109 Forecast. Some of the information is quite interesting. The graph of “Affordable and Actual Median Home Prices” illustrates a comparison of estimated affordable home prices and actual median home prices in the East Bay for the years 2002-2008. We used median family income from U.S. Census’ American Community Survey 5, [...]

Feb

Berkeley’s OWN

Posted In: For the Heck of It

Ok, selfish plug for my women’s networking group, Berkeley’s Outstanding Women’s Network. This is where I talk the talk and walk the walk two times/month, all things real estate. We are small, but hip. www.BerkeleysOWN.com

Feb

Berkeley Oakland Median Prices Over Last 2 Years

Posted In: Berkeley, Local Market Statistics, Oakland

Here is a market snapshot for median prices for Berkeley and Oakland…click on the image for a larger view. 1st Graph: BERKELEY Median Price for solds did not change from Jan ’07 vs. Jan. ’09. 2nd Graph: OAKLAND Median price for houses sold down 72% from Jan. ’07 vs. Jan. ’09

Feb

Multiple Offers on REO’s?

Posted In: Listings, Oakland

Yes, they are happening, but this one is a first for me. 3586 55th Ave in Oakland, a bank-owned property, has been on the market for 128 days, has a $72,000 pest on it, in need of EVERYTHING, and has been in and out of contract 4 times since last fall. After starting with a list price of $495,000 in [...]

Feb

Details from the Stim Plan

Posted In: First Time Home Buyers, General Real Estate News, Mortgage & Finance, Taxes

Just signed into effect…thanks go out to Chet Gohd, RPM Mortgage in Berkeley, for helping to navigate through the details. Here is what matters to you: “There’s a nice windfall for some homebuyers in the economic stimulus bill awaiting President Obama’s signature on Tuesday. First-time buyers can claim a credit worth $8,000 – or 10% of the home’s value, whichever [...]

Feb

Valentine’s Greetings From Around The World

Posted In: For the Heck of It

H.A.P.P.Y….V.A.L.E.N.T.I.N.E.S….D.A.Y -Dia del Amor y la Amistad (Guatemalan for “Day of Love & Friendship”) -Qing Ren Jie (Chinese) -Sepandarmazgan (Iranian) -Valentinsdag (Danish) -Sevgililer Gunu (Turkish) -Alla hjartans dag (Swedish for “All Hearts’ Day”) -Ystavanpaiva (“Friends Day” in Finland) -Dydd Santes Dwynwen (Welsh) -Happy Valentine’s Day (American English)

Feb

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit Update

Posted In: First Time Home Buyers, For Buyers, Taxes

As part of the new stimulous package the President is set to sign off on a first time home buyer tax credit on Monday. Here is what is currently approved: The tax credit amount for first time homebuyers will be $8,000 for homes bought by August. (No longer the $15,000 tax credit for all primary residences as was originally proposed.) This is [...]