Happy July Fourth!

When we are celebrating the Independence of our great nation, we shall also remember that in 1776, a nation that captured a dream was born. One of the key elements envisioned by our forefathers was the right to own properties.

Amidst our celebration, we shall ensure that this dream endures for our future generations.

Silicon Valley Housing Market sees Sharp Year - Over - Year Median Price Increase

October 13, 2014

Good news for the active home buyers.  This is like a little breeze in the hot Silicon Valley Housing market.

The activities in local real estate market have slowed down a little; however, the median prices in most counties are up.  The inventory and closed sales are decreasing in Santa Clara County.  For details, please see the most recent market data from MLS:

Sharp YTY Mdedian Price Increase for Silicon Valley housing

Does lower interest rate make house more affordable?

September 8, 2014

After the interest rate dropped, the mortgage applications went up 0.2 % last week from the previous week. The details are in the following link:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101965360

I believe this will spur demand of housing; however, it would not help get more houses to the market for sale.  In Silicon Valley, the supply of homes for sale is historically low.  This helps increase the price of homes for sale.  Compounded with the cash buyers influx into the Valley, any home buyers have not had an easy time in the process of purchasing homes.  Some have been watching and waiting on the sideline, while the brave and young buyers jumped in and bought their first homes. The necessity of owning a home for the young first-time buyers are proving to be correct for this market.

This is just our observations, not solution to our tight real estate market... We welcome your opinions and input.

Thanks for reading.

From being in a rich neighborhood to burglary prevetion

August 2014

So,
Silicon Valley, we are in. San Jose is #2 and San Francisco #4 in the top 10
list of priciest cities for 2013 according to the TechScio website ranking.

http://www.techscio.com/the-richest-cities-in-the-us/

However, do people feel richer?  Or in the shadow of the rich new neighbors,
some felt poorer.  A burglary in our
neighborhood prompted me to rethink about the rich-poor mindset.  I would like to share an article from Los
Altos Town Crier on the prevention of burglary:

http://www.losaltosonline.com/news/sections/news/200-police-fire/48218-burglary-bump-in-lah-alarms-residents-and-sheriff-s-office

Hope you find the reading helpful.  If you
are interested in receiving my quarterly post cards, please send me an email to
HelloDean@gmail.com. So you will get some real estate update not just
virtually, but also physically.  After
all, we are handling REAL properties daily.

Thank you
for reading.

May 2014

On my Spring 2014 mailing, I talke about many water saving devices/practices to help ease the pain of draught: Low-flush toilets, Low-flow showerheads, Faucet aerators, Gray water system and Xeriscape landscapes.  They can increase the value of your property because of the lower maintenance cost.

National Geographic has an article on water conservation tips which gives readers more details:

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/freshwater/water-conservation-tips/

Hope you enjoy the reading and learning.  If you are interested in receiving my quarterly post cards, please send me an email to HelloDean@gmail.com. So you will get some real estate update not just virtually, but also physically.  After all, we are handling REAL properties daily.

Thank you for reading.

Water Conservation for new remodelling

 New rules that may affect you:

Effective January 1, 2014, homeowners obtaining permits to remodel a property built prior to 1994 are required to retrofit with toilets that use no more than 1.6 gallons per flush, shower heads with flow rates of no more than 2.5 gallons per minute, and other interior fixtures that use less than 2.2 gallons of water per minute. This applies to all single-family property permits, as well as multifamily and commercial property permits where 10 percent or more of the square footage is included in the remodel.

By January 1, 2017, all residential properties in California that were built prior to 1994 will need to be in compliance with water fixtures as outlined above, which will bring them up to the same standards as homes built since 1994.
Although retrofitting of all pre-1994 homes will not be mandated until 2017, making this change could save water and money for homeowners.

Creative ways to help young adults purchase their first home

A recent article from Los Angeles Times "Finding ways to help young adults make their first home purchases" reveals some creative trends for the younger generation to buy their first homes.  Many stories are echoing some of the buyers' experience.

http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-harney-20140216,0,7652846.story#ixzz2thIIJl3U 

With Stricter mortgage underwriting standards, higher unemployment, and heavy student debt, it's making it hard for the age 20 - 30 potential buyers to buy a home.  But they may be able to get help from family, friends or relatives with more creative techniques for their financing:

•  27 percent of first-time buyers in 2013 received gift money from relatives to help defray the down payment and closing costs.

• With professional help, some family or relatives provided either second mortgages or first mortgages, and when properly structured, these loans provide higher returns (than bank deposits) to family or relatives.

Please check into the article as it also provides some interesting statistics.  Please seek licensed professionals' help when trying these.