East Bay Realty Pro Blog

Years ago, my wife and I had serious issues with our sewer line and had to totally replace it. One of our considerations at the time was to use the latest, trenchless technology. We ended up using traditional methods because a section of our pipes went through concrete and this does not work with trenchless.
I [...]

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If you are making payments on a house that is worth substantially less than your loan, you may have thought about how to get out from under this burden. Financial, legal, tax and credit ramifications are all important in deciding which route to take.
You might have approached your bank for a loan modification only to [...]

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My latest article, “The Changing World of Choosing an Agent,” must have struck a resonant chord because I have received numerous phone calls about it. Those who responded shared their experiences of both buying and selling real estate in this area and their disappointment with one or more of their agents. These agents had not [...]

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Two recent news bits reinforced my observation that people behave in ways that often can be considered irrational.
Item 1: An online story I read last week about a real estate survey that indicated, in today’s market, buyers have a significantly higher opinion of the agent who represents them than sellers have of their agent. The [...]

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A Florida company that helps For Sale by Owners (FSBOs) recently filed for liquidation. It reminded me of how much knowledge and skill is required to successfully represent sellers, especially in today’s market. Needless to say, if competent agents are having trouble getting their listings sold, it is that much more difficult for most owners [...]

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The next time you pick up a flyer at an open house, you might see an odd design stamped in a corner. Called a “QR Code” (Quick Response), its purpose is similar to the bar codes used in stores. It provides an electronic link to further information.
Using your smart phone to photograph the QR code, [...]

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As a result of the mortgage meltdown, lenders are now hyper-cautious about who gets their money. A recent L.A. Times article, “Lenders’ Data Mining Goes Deep,” explains how banks use “data mining,” i.e., delving into seemingly insignificant information, available online, about their borrowers to make or change lending decisions.
An example that seems amusing, but isn’t, [...]

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According to an online real estate article, the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), with 23,000 members, recently “pulled the plug” on a web-based application that allowed consumers to view which agents had the greatest number of listings and/or transactions in a given neighborhood or Zip code. This happened shortly after it was introduced because HAR [...]

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I am back in Sacramento for the mid-year meeting of the California Association of Realtors. Yesterday was “Leg (short for Legislative) Day. ” That afternoon, over 1000 Realtors went to call on their local legislators. The “Hot Issues” were the need for legislation to:
1)  Address the many problems relating to appraisals and [...]

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Would you read every word in the new, tightly printed, eight-page California Association of Realtor’s (C.A.R) residential contract? Probably not.
This contract, used by most real estate agents, has recently undergone its most extensive revision in the past eight years. Changes to this standard real estate purchase agreement can have a significant impact on the quality [...]

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