East Bay Housing Market Blog

Jun

Website rates “walkability” of a home

With gas prices reaching an all time high (last week I paid $4.89/gal) people in Seattle are turning to a new website called http://www.walkscore.com. The creaters of Walk Score measured the Walk Score of 77 Seattle neighborhoods and created a walkability map to help you find Seattle’s most walkable places to live. The site sizes up restaurants, schools, parks, shopping [...]

Jun

Networking in the Blogosphere- is there any value left?

Posted In: Web/Tech

Earlier this year I participated in a panel discussion at the California Association of Realtors in downtown LA. The topic? “Social Networking. Is there any value left?” I was humbled to be on the panel with such esteemed members of the real estate community. This title now has me thinking, what exactly is social networking? Social networking for you may [...]

May

Important: New financial guidelines for investors

Posted In: For Buyers, Investing, Mortgage & Finance

Freddie Mac Cuts Maximum Number of Financed Properties Freddie Mac recently announced guideline changes that will greatly affect residential real estate investors. Beginning August 1st, 2008 the following changes will go into effect: A borrower may not have more than four financed 1-4 unit properties, including the subject property. For cash out refinances the borrower must own the property for [...]

May

Hawaii Real Estate

Posted In: Investing, Places

So I am back from my extended vacation. Spent some time in Maui and Kauai. While I was there my husband and I poked around at real estate, of course. We were suprised to discover that much of the land is still purchased using a land lease. What is a land lease? Wikipedia says that a land lease is a [...]

Apr

NEW LISTING: 1 Lakeside Dr., Unit 412, Oakland

Posted In: Listings, Richmond

Mar

Aye, what a messy closet you have

Posted In: Home Improvement, Home Maintenance, Neighborhood Businesses

Let me set the mood: I am with a buyer, we walk into a multi-million $ house up in the hills, admire the stunning views from the living room, imagine cooking dinner on the gleaming Viking Range, walk on the refinished hardwood floors through the hallway, open up a closet in one of the bedrooms and *BOOM* its time to [...]

Mar

Cool Quote

Posted In: For the Heck of It

I really like this quote: “We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives…not looking for flaws, but for potential.” ~Ellen Goodman

Mar

The house that someone built

Posted In: For Buyers, Listings

Have you ever walked into a house, be it a friends house or a house you wandered into during a Sunday open house, only to think: Whut??? Yes, it happened to me today. Only this was during a broker’s tour. The outside is a typical home for the neighborhood: 1940’s ranch style, surrounded by beautiful Oak trees and nice views [...]

Feb

My Technorati

Posted In: Web/Tech

Technorati Profile

Feb

The nitty gritty on the short sale

Posted In: For Buyers, Foreclosures & Short Sales, Investing

Short sales. No, they aren’t sales that close quicker than the standard 30 days (by Bay Area standards). In a nutshell, a short sale is when the amount the borrower owes in loans is higher than what the property would sell for. Many lenders will allow the property to be sold for less than the amount owed on a mortgage [...]