East Bay Realty Pro Blog

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Entries from December 2008

Better and Better to Be a Buyer

December 18th, 2008 · No Comments

Today’s news reports indicate that 30-year, fixed rate mortgages have dropped to an average interest rate of 5.19 per cent, the lowest level since 1971. Meanwhile, unemployment claims are reported to be near the highest since 1982.
If you have good credit and have been thinking about buying a home, this is a fabulous opportunity. Don’t [...]

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Tags: Real Estate · Real Estate Advice · Real Estate in the News

East Bay Real Estate Consulting

December 15th, 2008 · No Comments

As an hourly real estate consultant, I have helped people in the East Bay. In one recent case, the client was a senior citizen who had a number of questions relating to her property. She was neither buying nor selling, but required information for planning purposes.
Several days ago, I helped another individual with a purchase [...]

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Tags: Hourly Consulting · Real Estate · Real Estate Advice

Understanding Foreclosure-related Scams

December 8th, 2008 · No Comments

On 11/6/08, I wrote about foreclosure scams. Subsequently, the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) legal department created a Q&A on the subject that provides details that might help prevent some distressed homeowners from being victimized.
There is too much information to list it all here, so I have excerpted some of the more salient Q&A’s from [...]

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Tags: Real Estate · Real Estate Advice · Real Estate in the News

Excellent Time to Re-fi

December 3rd, 2008 · No Comments

In my last post, I talked about why this is a great time to buy. As many have discovered in the past week or so, this is also a fantastic time to get a new loan or refinance an existing one. According to news reports, applications for mortgages more than doubled during Thanksgiving week. This [...]

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Tags: Real Estate · Real Estate Advice

Should You Buy Now or Wait?

December 1st, 2008 · No Comments

Today I did some MLS research to substantiate my sense of the current market in Oakland. The statistics backed up what I have been saying to my clients — soft prices combined with attractive interest rates add up to a special buying opportunity.
This lead me to write an article for my newspaper column. “Great Time [...]

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Tags: Real Estate · Real Estate Advice