Before closing escrow on your new home, it may be wise to walk through the house for a final look.  This gives you the chance to make sure that everything is still as it was when you agreed to buy the home.  Usually this walk-through is an informal procedure and not a contingency of your contract. The walk-through is your chance to check that the sellers completed all the repairs as promised.  It also gives you a chance to get important information about the house from the sellers.  This might include something as detailed as how to program the automatic sprinklers or something as simple as what time the mail is typically delivered.  This may be the last time the sellers are available to you, so it is your chance to make sure you are comfortable with all the mechanics within the home. E... 06/08/2009

The surrounding neighborhood is just as important because it can have a big impact on your lifestyle -- safety, available amenities, and convenience all play their part, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR also says you can keep your home value stable if you find the right neighborhood. And you can find the right neighborhood by getting information direct from the best sources -- rather than from second hand and often incomplete data bases professing to offer you one stop shopping for all your neighborhood checking needs. * Make a list of the activities -- movies, health clubs, churches -- you engage in regularly and stores you visit frequently. See how far you would have to travel from each neighborhood you're considering to engage in your most common activitie... 06/03/2009

The pattern gets clearer week after week: We are looking at a slow-motion housing recovery that should have us out of the recession later this year. Now that's not to ignore the fact that there are markets in the country that still face very challenging economic dynamics - with no real turnaround in view yet on housing sales, prices and unemployment. But the national numbers are telling us something important, and they increasingly look postive.   Brian Ripp, CRS, GRI, Broker - your  Bay Area Realtor www.BrianRipp.com   serving Fremont, Newark, Union City & surrounding communities. Real Estate & Property Management. 06/01/2009

LONGER STAY FOR TENANTS OF FORECLOSED HOMES: Effective immediately, an REO lender or buyer who acquires title through a foreclosure sale must give at least a 90-day notice to terminate a bona fide tenant as defined. A 90-day notice to terminate is sufficient for a month-to-month tenant or if a new owner will occupy the property as a primary residence at the end of the 90 days. Otherwise, a tenant with a one year or other fixed-term lease with a remaining lease term exceeding 90 days can stay in the premises until the remaining lease term ends. This new 90-day notice requirement applies to foreclosures of a federally-related mortgage loan or residential real property, except for properties under rent control, rent-subsidized programs (such as Section 8), or other state laws that provide ... 05/30/2009

What Are Ventilation And Its UseWhat Is The Need Of VentilationAir Conditioning And Preventive MeasuresWhat Are The Different Kinds Of VentilationHow To Avail Complete Efficiency Via AC Systems Ventilation is actually a process through which fresh air is intentionally pushed inside a space and stale air is thrown out. The ventilating process can be achieved naturally or mechanically. The ventilators and Ac have been used since a long time to maintain a nice air flow inside a building or a house. Fresh air helps to lower down the temperature of the house. Ventilation is very essential part of home improvement. Artificial infiltration: apart from intentional ventilation, air also enters the building through infiltration process. Infiltration process is uncontrollable air flow in a certain... 05/22/2009

I’ve gotten a number of requests from prospective homebuyers to provide more information about Fremont.  So, I’ve put together a brief overview below that describes the five districts (Mission San Jose, Irvington, Niles, Centerville and Warm Springs) that comprise Fremont.  Each district has its own atmosphere and unique attributes, making the Fremont experience greater than the sum of its parts. See my previous post for more information about the Mission San Jose district. As well as being a great place to find a home, the Irvington district is Fremont’s largest shopping area, with everything from small locally-owned shops and restaurants to the mainstream shopping stores available at The Hub shopping center and Gateway Plaza, both located close the BART station.  Irvington is also ho... 04/20/2009

I’ve gotten a number of requests from prospective homebuyers to provide more information on the various communities that I have expertise on.  So, I’ve put together a brief overview for Fremont’s Mission San Jose district below.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions that you may have. Fremont has 201,334 residents situated over 92 square miles, according to the census of 2008, making it the fifth largest city on the Bay Area.  Its established itself as the Bay Area home of many high-tech and bio-tech firms and is known for its attractive, manageable commutes to other tech companies located in the South Bay and on the Peninsula. In addition, San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley are accessible within 60 minutes on BART.  The historic Mission San Jose district is a very desira... 04/06/2009

I’ve gotten a fair number of requests from prospective homebuyers to provide more information on the various communities that I have expertise on.  So, I’ve put together a brief overview for Union City below.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions that you may have. Union City contains 19 square miles and is a part of the Tri-Cities area, along with Fremont and Newark.  The current population is about 73,402 (According to the most recent census).  With 45.3% of the 18,642 households having children under the age of 18, it is a good place to raise your family.  The city has nicknamed itself “Gateway to Silicon Valley” due to its location in the heart of the Bay Area, with manageable commutes to the various tech companies located in the South Bay, the Peninsula and Fremont.  ... 03/29/2009

The City of Fremont and President Obama want first-time home buyers to achieve their dreams.  Now is a fantastic time to purchase your first home. As part of the economic stimulus package, President Obama signed into law a first-time home buyers tax credit of $8,000. First-time homebuyers who purchase a home this year between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1 may be eligible for the tax credit. Additionally, The City of Fremont offers loans through its First Time Home Buyer Program of up to $40,000 to eligible homebuyers for down payment assistance UPCOMING WORKSHOP - CITY OF FREMONT FIRST TIME HOME BUYER PROGRAM Tuesday, April 21, 2009.  Registration is now open.  Registration is mandatory. Visit the City’s First Time Home Buyer webpage to register for the April workshop. As I mentioned in my previou... 03/27/2009

The San Francisco Chronicle recently listed Fremont’s own Lake Elizabeth (Central Park) as one of the best urban outings in the Bay Area (March 5, 2009).  The park is set on 450 acres with an 83 acre lake. It is noted for its relaxing, natural atmosphere, walk-ability, separate dog park, boating, and ample bird watching. The park grounds also contain a number of sporting fields, a golf course and a water park opening in May of 2009. As a Fremont realtor, I understand how appealing and important access to an open park setting can be to those who are looking to buy a home here. The park is a short driving distance from most Fremont homes and many are within walking distance. The surrounding area has a good mixture of residential homes and shopping at Gateway Plaza and The Hub.  Families ... 03/26/2009

Last Minute Tax Tip - Minimize Taxable gain using Sale Expenses Many real estate investors overlook deductions when they sell their property. If you sold your rental property for a gain, make sure to minimize taxes by accounting for sale expenses - like closing costs, which can be found on the property's settlement statement. You should deduct Commissions Paid, Title Charges, Recording and Transfer Charges, and Additional Settlement Costs from the Contract Sales Price. This will help you minimize gain, and lower the tax liability on your sold property. Be sure to share these tips, and click here for more. To learn more about saving money on taxes, try the property management software and other money saving real estate software from TReXGlobal.com. 03/26/2009

A client I worked with this last weekend, got me to thinking about how I should look at this problem. It's all going to boil down to what you think will happen with: Your income stream (job security, ability to get another job, if your company decides it needs to downsize, etc.) Mortgage Interest Rates Property Values Obviously, renting is the safer, securer option for you right now, but the benefit of owning is that you fix your housing costs (since a 30 yr mortgage is major component of your home ownership costs, taxes are limited to increasing at 2% (California's Proposition 13), and insurance rates have actually come down the last 2 years). I don't think pricing will move up the next year. However we don't know where interests maybe. One concern out there is that interest rates wil... 02/25/2009

Considered the eighth largest economy in the world, California saw a near-doubling in home sales in the fourth quarter, a pace surpassed only by Nevada's 133.7 percent growth. Why is this important? The economy of California is a dominant force in the economy of the United States, with California paying more to the federal system than it receives in direct monetary benefits For many young couples, plummeting prices and record-low interest rates make it possible to own a home in California for the first time. And of course, Investors can snap up foreclosed properties for cheap and sell them during the next boom, one that is possibly not far off. Combined with the new California tax breaks, many dreamers are finding gold during the housing bust. California isn't the only market with inves... 02/24/2009

The new state budget contains a $10,000 tax credit for buyers of new homes in California. Here are some highlights: · Applies to new, never-occupied houses and condos bought between March 1, 2009, and March 1, 2010. · It is for 5 percent of purchase price or $10,000, whichever is lower.  · It is for both first-time buyers and move-up buyers. · Limit is one. This is not for investors. · Buyer must live in the home for two years to receive the credit. · Buyers will get $3,333 off their taxes starting in the year of purchase, and $3,333 in each of two years afterward. · There are no income limitations for the buyer. · The tax credit does not have to be repaid (unless buyer sells or rents out home before two years). · There is a $100 million limit statewide on this tax credit. First come, f... 02/23/2009

Absolutely nothing! But if you go to TReX's webinar, you might show up on the cover of Vogue, on posters in Paris, and even on the moon! Ok, I made that last part up... But this part I am not making up, and if you don't believe me, you can ask Tina Merritt! I am NOT kidding you about this! Tonight, I worked on the things I learned on your webinar last week and posted my links to Craigslist, Backpage and Kijiji. Within 3 (yes, 3!) minutes, I had another investor sign up! I may have lied about the beautiful agent who wanted to paint my face... but I am not making up what Tina said! Register for this Friday (2/20) to see what all the hype is about. MARKETING to Real Estate INVESTORS 25 Minute Webinar - Fridays at 2PM EST/ 11 AM PST Why are RE Investors important to me? (5 min) How can I be... 02/19/2009

President Obama announce his plan for forclosure mitigation a few minutes ago. One of the provisions in the new plan is to allow home owners who are under water, to refinance thier mortgages. What this means is that even if your home is worth less than the amount of Mortgage on it, you will still be able to refinance your mortage into a 30 or 15 year fixed rate loan at current mortage rates. This will be effective in 2 weeks from now. This will come as a big releif to a large number of home owners who have been making all their payments on time, but have been feeling the pain of not being able to refinance at the current historic low rates. 02/18/2009

With home searching on the Internet becoming the more popular choice for home buyers to do their initial house hunting, agents can become displaced very early on in the process of working with a home buyer.Take my site and I for example: tricityhome.com. It uses google/api integration for its Fremont CA home search engine. At the time of writing, we receive 21,000 hits each month. But, when an email arrives at the inbox or the phone rings due to a call to action on the site, the commonplace afterward is to just have the agent provide links, updates and e-notifications for the soon to be homebuyer.There's the disconnect. We are no longer in control. Most of the time, the home buyer does not want to form a relationship yet. They just want their stuff. I can relate. I only want my stuff wh... 02/08/2009

We are located in Pleasanton, California and provide services to those in Alameda, Contra Costa County and surrounding areas. Jason Ryback is a Short Sale and REO Certified Specialist. If you are behind your payments or have no equity in your house we can help you avoid foreclosure. You have Options! We will stop the harassing phone calls and letters from your bank. You have seen and heard all those commericals on the Radio and TV about Loan Modifications. The sad truth is most of these are scams. They will ask you for upfront money in order to start the process. In a lot of cases you can have this done for free through non-profit organizations or loan-modification assistance programs. A lot of homeowners are paying for work that never got completed and in turn are loosing their homes t... 02/07/2009

One of our homes for sale is getting more viewings. I have some ideas about that.In my opinion, I think that homebuyers are at least feeling better about searching for homes in general. That's really all this image taken from my Realtor.com reporting is proving. But, none the less, people are searching more than they were, say in November.My website has more visits too.     Here is a snippet from my domain reporting program. In short, After the Holidays, people seem to be ready to search.We do not have offers on the home, but that is another blog post.If you notice the spikes on the 13th and the 14th, then again on the 21st, you will see that those are Tuesdays or Wednesdays. Interesting. If you know why, let me know.I am hopeful and hoping that people are really starting to feel better... 01/24/2009

Some people say TLC means Tender Love Care. I call it "Time Labor and Cost". Please express your views on what this acronym should be called. 01/12/2009