Now that our government has pledged almost a Trillion dollars to attempt to solve the continuing financial crisis, I thought it would be interesting to figure out what went wrong. Fortunately in the digital age we have access to an overwhelming amount of information that can be used to explain what the hell happened. Check out this article from the New York Times originally published in 1999. It’s hard not to escape the conclusion that this whole mess was predictable. When you give loans... Read Full Story

At the risk of stating the obvious, the current financial situation for banks and mortgage lenders is dicey is at best. Credit markets are tightening. Banks are so reluctant to lend money that many of them are not even lending money to other banks. The mortgage market is kind of like climbing Mt. Everest… the higher you go, the tougher it is. We’re all hoping the Federal government can figure this mess out and soon so we can get to the stabilization point. One thing is for sure, we live... Read Full Story

The Pleasanton real estate market in August was slow but steady, which has been the trend for the past few months. Inventory dropped slightly, perhaps signaling the start of a seasonal trend downward after Labor Day. At the end of August, there were 264 homes on the market, down from 269 at the end of July. Pending sales for August were up slightly, with 50 pending sales for the month, as compared to 45 for the month of July. Recent rate declines with the Federal takeover of Fannie Mae... Read Full Story

I remember meeting with a seller who’s listing with another agent had expired. I asked the seller how the traffic had been. “Great!” the seller exclaimed. “We have had an open house every weekend, and we are getting tons of traffic!”. “How about showings by Realtors?” I asked. The seller looked puzzled. “Well… er… not too many” was the reply. “Okay, so what has the feedback been from the open house traffic?” I inquired. Here comes the puzzled look again. “Well, er, I’m not really... Read Full Story

The real estate market in Pleasanton CA in July looked a lot like the market in June. The activity level is remarkably steady, though not brisk. Inventory is up slightly, especially in the under $1 million price bracket. But for now the market seems to have settled into a slow but steady pattern. The good news is that there are sales occurring… 45 pending sales in July to be exact, down slightly from 49 pending sales in June. The bad news is that there are now 269 houses on the market... Read Full Story

I love this sign, courtesy of the Knoxville News Blog. With so many “bottom feeders” out there posing as buyers, it is refreshing to see someone tell it like it is. I know everyone wants a deal, and I am generally good with that. But it gets annoying getting calls from people asking if the sellers on your home that is listed (correctly, by the way) at $899,000 will take $650,000. Sure, as soon as John Lennon plays his next live tour (Click on image to enlarge) Share This Read Full Story

So now that everyone has spent the last decade in a frenzy to put in granite counter tops, the New York Times is reporting that there is apparently an elevated risk of radon contamination from some of the granite being used in homes. Great. So my half dozen trips to the granite dealer to pick out the “perfect” slab, the endless discussions about which bull nose edge to use, and the decisions about where to put the seams and whether to do an over-mount or under-mount sink have potentially... Read Full Story

The big news this week has been the announcement the the Federal government will stand behind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and essentially step in to bail them out if necessary. This is good news for the jittery housing market and certainly the battered mortgage industry. But coming after the Fed-brokered sale (don’t call it a bail out!) of Bear Stearns, it occurred to me that I am starting to get this capitalism thing. It seems now that capitalism can be boiled down to one simple thought... Read Full Story

Let’s see. I am beginning to feel like Bill Murray in the movie “Groundhog Day”. Alarm goes off, I get out of bed, and the everything looks eerily similar. For the Pleasanton CA real estate market, the month of June looked a lot like the month of May. Sales were steady but not spectacular, the economic and national real estate news was troubling, and an air of uncertainty hung over the real estate market like…. well like smoke from dozens of wild fires. Wait, that was smoke from dozens... Read Full Story

There has been tremendous fallout from the sub prime & mortgage market meltdown. Lenders have tightened up underwriting criteria, and are demanding higher credit scores. Downpayment requirements have increased, and most of the high risk “stated income” loans have gone by the wayside. There is, however, no truth to the rumor that the major lenders now demand your first born child as collateral as well. Needless to say, the stricter lending environment has had a direct impact on the local... Read Full Story