Don't Be a Common Real Estate Investor - 09/22/11 07:47 PM
With traditional investments delivering low returns, some are considering buying rental housing. Investing in real estate right now can be profitable, if everything goes as planned. Rents are increasing in many areas, and more properties may be coming on the market. Traditionally, investors rented out properties for 1 percent of the purchase price per month. However, according to one property management firm, today, some investors are receiving as much as 2 percent of the purchase price.
However, potential investors should do their homework and avoid some common mistakes. A recent Wall Street Journal article lists six of them.
While it may … (1 comments)

Is Your Mortgage Killing You (literally)? - 09/15/11 12:15 PM
Check this out:
"New research by Janet Currie of Princeton University and Erdal Tekin of Georgia State University shows a direct correlation between foreclosure rates and the health of residents in Arizona, California, Florida and New Jersey. The economists concluded in a paper published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research that an increase of 100 foreclosures corresponded to a 7.2% rise in emergency room visits and hospitalizations for hypertension, and an 8.1% increase for diabetes, among people aged 20 to 49."
The article also states that "areas in the top fifth of foreclosure activity have more than double … (0 comments)

Why isn't that vacant house on the market? - 09/12/11 12:18 PM
The September 2011 edition of my Santa Clara County Real Estate Market Trends Report covering San Jose and surrounding communities is now available. This report covers the state of the real estate market thru August 2011, and is a wealth of practical and statistical information about the current state of the real estate market in Santa Clara county. Key headlines from this month’s report:
Where have all the foreclosures gone? Home and condo sales pick up in August. The report is available to download from http://www.box.net/shared/vqgonbpxrkjkkxzkez1z.
Feel free to pass the report along to anyone you think may be interested.
… (0 comments)

Renewed Trust for Tough Times - 09/08/11 02:26 PM
Does it feel like trust is one of the major casualties of the economic meltdown of 2008 – followed by the “Great Recession,” the “Jobless Recovery” and now the threat of a “Double-dip Recession?”
Weren’t we assured that home values were destined to go up and up and up?
There have been lots of promises that help is on the way—and lots of warnings of scams and schemes that have only served to confuse the matter. So where’s a homeowner who’s underwater or over-leveraged to turn?
Here’s the bottom line: the choices that homeowners make when they feel they are at … (1 comments)

Fire Prevention Fee Update - 09/01/11 06:07 PM
Here is an update to the California State Responsibility Area fire prevention fee I noted in a previous post (see New Fee for Wildland Property Owners). The Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention just issued the official regulations regarding this new fee.
To recap: the state legislature and Governor Brown have approved collecting an annual "fire prevention fee" from owners of property in California wildland areas designated as State Responsibility Areas (SRA). The collected monies will go to creating an SRA Fire Prevention Fund that will fund fire prevention activities benefiting the property owners in the SRA.
On August 22, the … (0 comments)

 
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Jeff Spoelstra

San Jose, CA

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Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate

Address: 5985 Almaden Expressway, San Jose, CA, 95120

Office Phone: (408) 256-4330

Cell Phone: (408) 838-5820

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Working the real estate world in San Jose, California.


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