With the Holidays behind us, buyers are back on the Real Estate scene scoping out the new inventory. This weekend I held a home in SSF open. I had over 65 groups come through and even ran out of fliers & ended up staying well after 4pm as buyers kept showing up. I can't remember the last time I ran out of fliers or had to stay longer then the open house was scheduled.
The home was a single family fixer, in a desirable neighborhood. I figured there was an abundance of buyers because it was the first weekend of scheduled open houses, come to find out it wasn't just my open house that faired well to the buyer's scene, it was everyone's.
Every Monday morning my office has its sales meetings. In the meetings we take count of how many people came through our open houses. Today the count was 400. Those are huge numbers which gives us all something to ponder... Buyers are out in droves, prices have come down and interest rates are historically at all time lows. Has the market hit its threshold? What are your thoughts? If you ask me, no one ever truly knows when a market has hit its bottom. All I can say is when it's your time to buy or sell, it doesn't really matter what else is going on around you. That's the beauty of Real Estate.

As 2008 wraps up and we all grasp onto our crystal balls to determine the fate of 2009... I wanted to end the year on a positive note with some statistics from the San Mateo County Multiple Listing Service that may help to give us all a positive outlook on the Real Estate market for 2009. South San Francisco was one of the Peninsula's hardest hit cities with short sales and foreclosures, but by the looks of it, SSF seems to be bouncing back just fine.

South San Francisco's First Quarter:

 South San Francisco's Second Quarter:

South San Francisco's Third Quarter:

Take a close look at the increase in closed sales, percentage of listing price received and total sales volume, while there is a steady decrease in Days on Market. While the average sales price has dropped since the first quarter it seems to have hit its threshold in the third quarter and on its way back up... although we don't yet have the statistics for the end of the year, all signs point to even more increases in closed sales and decreases in days on market. These are all great signs of a distressed market rebounding and becoming once again a stable market with so many great opportunities for buyers.
These statistics aren't just good news for buyers, its great news for all of you home owners. A stable market leads to appreciation, which leads to equity, which is why Real Estate in my opinion is the greatest investment you can ever make. I'll let you make your own opinions, but i'm sticking to mine!

Have you ever felt obligated to use a family member when it came to a business deal? While most of us have, has it ever left you wondering if that was the best decision? In some cases, it is an ideal circumstance. While in others it may be an uncomfortable situation that you were strong armed into. When it comes to Real Estate, for most people purchasing a home will be the biggest purchase in their lives. Which begs the question… do you want to hire a Realtor out of obligation or acquire one that has the skill set to provide unbiased information to assure you make the right choice when it comes time to purchase? I guess this circumstance definitely falls under the double edge sword category. Some would argue that family is always the best policy because there is already a built in “trust” clause. While others may argue that using family is a bad idea and only causes tension if something goes wrong. Let’s look at both the positive and negative aspects of hiring a family member as your Realtor…. Let’s pretend for a second that you are a first time home buyer and are ready to dive in and buy your first home. You have a family member who is in the business and expects you to use him/her. However, your not comfortable with them and aren’t sure he/she is the best fit. Meanwhile other family members are pressuring you to use them. Being a first time home buyer you have no idea how the process works or what loan products would be most beneficial to you. You look to your Realtor for guidance and to educate you on what loan products are available to a first time home buyer with little down payment, however your family member shrugs you off and leaves you playing the guessing game. When it comes time to get pre-approved your family member refers you to their lender and does not tell you to shop around for the best rate or explain what loan products you should be discussing with the lender. He/she automatically assumes because you’re family they can tell you what to do and you will do it no questions asked. To add icing to the cake, he/she refuses to show you short sale listings because they take too long, even though in your price range short sale listings make up about 1/3 of the inventory, which equates to you missing out on a huge chunk of homes that may fit your criteria. With this attitude, how are you supposed to feel comfortable with the home buying process? If you’re not comfortable enough to express your concerns, why on Earth would you continue the business relationship? At this point, the tension has built and it is only a matter of time until someone explodes and the family relationship is scarred. We sometimes have the tendency to let things slide when it comes to family. However when it comes to the biggest purchase of your life, do you really want to “let things slide”? On a positive note.. You are a first time home buyer, who has a family member in the business. You have a great relationship with him/her already and feel completely comfortable hiring them as your Realtor. Your family member is very hands on and explains the home buying process in detail, while setting you up with a few lenders to ensure you get the best interest rate and loan product available to you. Because you are a first time home buyer and have little down payment your family member knows he/she will have to show you all available active homes, whether they be regular sales, short sales or foreclosures. You feel more confident as the process moves forward and know you made the right decision when hiring your family member. So the question still remains… Is it better to mix business with pleasure or keep them separate? The answer won’t be the same for everyone. I guess at the end of the day, you have to listen to your gut. If you feel comfortable going into the situation, 9 times out of 10 things will pan out. If you are uneasy going in, maybe you should stop and weigh out the pros and cons before making your decision. If you don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings, talk to them about your concerns. If he/she is a professional, they will gladly refer you to another Realtor who may better fit your needs.

 As we approach the holiday season,  while everyone else is immersed in cooking the Thanksgiving Turkey and getting up at dawn to get those Holiday discounts on the season's hottest new toy you can take advantage of the season's best toy... a house!

In the last few months competition has been fierce when trying to purchase a short sale or foreclosed property. With the Holidays right around the corner, people's priorities will shift from purchasing a home to purchasing presents for underneath the tree.  Nobody ever stops to think that purchasing a home during the holiday season is the best gift of all.

With the latest interest rate decrease and the great loan products out there, while everyone else is sipping on egg nog, you can be signing your closing papers and surprising your family with the biggest present of all. Here are just a few reasons or advantages I should say on why the Holiday season is the best time of the year to purchase a home...

• Less competition from other potential home buyers
• More negotiating power (During the holidays, there are not a lot of buyers, so sellers are more likely to sell for less in order to get their homes sold).
• Pick of the litter (Without a lot of home buyers out there, you will have your pick of the latest inventory).
• Having a home to wrap those presents & sip on your egg nog!!!!

Everyone's question these days seems to be "Is now the right time to buy"? I have come up with a chart that helps you make the decision if now is the right time to buy!

              Current Home                                                                                     New Home

 The above chart is an example of a "move-up" buyer determining whether it is a good time to purchase an upgrade property.

 Now ask yourself this question... "When does it make more sense to move up- when prices have gone up less or when they've gone down more?"

If you have answered when prices go down, you are the lucky winner!!!! You profit the most when the spread is less. So whether you are discouraged that you don't have enough equity or down payment in order to move, ask yourself this question....

"If you don't feel you can move up comfortably now, how will you be able to do so when prices go up further?"

 ***One last thing to ponder... When interest rates go from 6% to 7.5% the prices of homes would have to go down 14.7% in order to keep the same monthly payment.

I can't wait for the day that short sales fall off the face of the planet! Many of my clients whom I have said before are first time home buyers. Sadly this means that I am writing what seems like hundreds of offers on short sales! I cringe everytime I check inventory for new listings for my clients!

I know I shouldn't be complaining because I am writing offers, but between the wait time and in most cases the listing agent knowing nothing about short sales it is just too much to bare! I have four different clients that have offers out on short sale properties, so maybe if I am lucky I will close escrow in 2010!

I try to explain to my clients that patience is a virtue and basically wait it out until one responds. One set of clients have been really proactive and we actually just got into contract on a regular sale. We viewed the property and wrote on it the first day it hit the market. My clients were actually startled by how fast everything happened and couldn't believe they were in escrow. Of course as chance would have it two of the short sales offers were both approved, so I had to regretfully say NO THANK YOU! It figures, it would take 5 months to get a response and then when my clients are FINALLY in escrow my phone starts ringing!

Most of my clientele are first time home buyers... some may say that isn't the best database to have, but I think it is definitely the most rewarding.

I am a firm believer in FHA as that is all I have encountered in the last several months. Because my buyers have limited funds for down payments, FHA has been the only way they can qualify for loans. While there may be more paperwork involved and that ever so annoying upfront mortgage insurance fee, FHA is giving home buyers the opportunity to achieve financial success when all other products have failed them.

I recently entered escrow with a couple I have been working with for 6 months now. Because they are first time home buyers their price point was in neighborhoods saturated by short sales and REO's. I can't even tell you how many offers we wrote, but I can tell you that after a long six months, a home came on the market that was niether a short sale or REO. We we wrote on it the very first day and I am proud to say my buyers are now in escrow and can't wait to move in.

This would not be possible if it weren't for FHA, so I for one say THANK YOU FHA!!!! I wanted to write about something positive, as it seems the media only likes speaking about the negative. Real Estate in my opinion is the best investment out there and I am proud to say that I assist in helping people achieve their finacial success... after all isn't owning a home the "American Dream"?

I recently wrote a blog on my companies website, that was completely taken out of context by a few people. Has this ever happened to you? The comments my administrator was receiving were not so nice to say the least.

When I write blogs, I typically like to add sarcasm or some sort of wit to keep the blog interesting. The problem is becuase there is no real "tone" or explanation blogs can very easily be taken out of context. After reading some of the comments, I felt horrible and never wanted to write another blog again. Obviously I have decided to write again, but I feel as though I am holding back as to not piss anyone off.

So I guess my question is, how do you speak your mind or shall I say stick to your guns, without the backlash of someone twisitng your words and writing negative comments back to you? I'm beginning to think you just have to roll with the punches and if some are harder then others you just have to learn to let it go. Not everyone can agree with you at all times... right????

As technology has sped up in the last few years, Realtors really have had to beef up those skills in order to create new ways of marketing to capture leads and build their business. My question is how beneficial is it and how much time does one need to spend in order to achieve "zen" social media status??

I have set up my profile on what feels like a zillion different sites in order to get my name out there and get back in touch with people I had lost along the way. I can say that it does help in finding people, but that in its own way can be a double edge sword. What if there are just some people you don't want to reconnect with? Does the end justify the means when it comes to that?

I will have to say that I have started to get more leads as I get more involved with social media, but I feel like it is so time consuming. When is enough really enough? Any thoughts to the latest craze called Social Media and is it really detrimental to our business?

I think it is neccessary to have a web presence, I guess it is just finding a healthy mix of the "New School" vs the "old School" way of prospecting!

I have recently started to take advantage of the FHA Loan Programs that are available to buyers. I thought it would be helpful if I posted the FHA requirements that may benefit you & your clients.

Why Choose FHA?

FHA Loan Limits

1 unit $729,750

2 unit $934,200

3 unit $1,129,250

4 unit $1,403,400

*Good news!

FHA'S Higher Loan Limits are here

-         Purchase  & Refinance

-         NO DECLINING MARKET VALUE J

-         No Income Limits (like most programs)

-         HUD has no minimum credit score

-         1-4 units O/O only (Full doc only)

-         Permits non-occupying co-borrowers w/ out separate qualifying ratios (FNMA requires the income combine for qualifying ratios)

-         Cash out refinances up to 95% LTV  / 97.75% rate & term

If you are a buyer in the San Francisco Bay Area & would like additional information, please email me at nicole@mve2day.com