The San Jose Way

Rooftop solar panels are becoming more and more prevalent these days. I'm seeing them pop up on more homes in my neighborhood all the time. In California, the sun doesn't shine straight down at any time of the year. The line-of-sight from my roof to the sun usually goes over several neighboring p...

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 rente...

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 mon...

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 ...

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 pro...

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 ...

If you own property in a wildland area designated as a State Responsibility Area (SRA), you may soon be paying a new $150 annual "fire prevention fee" per habitable structure on the property. This new fee was created by Assembly Bill 29 signed into law by Governor Brown in July of this year. The ...

HomeSteps, the real estate sales unit of Freddie Mac, is offering "Condo Cash," a special limited time offer that will provide eligible condominium buyers with up to $1,500 for standard condominium association dues. HomeSteps' Condo Cash is limited to buyers who submit offers between Aug. 15 and ...

I've come across a good article that describes some important things to think about if you are considering purchasing real estate as an investment (e.g., to rent out). It's not a complicated article about cash flow or investment yield or cap rates or any of that. Rather, it offers suggestions for...

The August 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 July 2011, and is a wealth of practical and statistical information about the current state...