"Housing in Silicon Valley is in high demand, and there's a significant need for our employees and our community to have more options," said Ames Center Director Eugene Tu. "Plus, this housing will mitigate some of the increasing traffic and air emissions in the region."
Interesting blog from Aly J. Yale, Senior Contributor to Forbes, reminding people who took out a loan in 2018 might benefit from a refinance.
The Ascent Staff, from the Motley Fool, conducted a survey of over 1000 Americans to explore the links between happiness, fulfillment, self-esteem and financial distress.
97% of people with debt believed they would be happier if they didn't have debt - I wonder who are the other 3% ;-).
A rundown shack with a city view in San Francisco's Potrero
Hill area is listed for $2.5 million. The seller has obtained a rare permit to
tear down and rebuild on the site in a city that's historically opposed to
building demolition. The planning commission has granted permission to build a
four-story, 4,451 square foot home with a two-car garage and private elevators.
The list price doesn't include teardown or reconstruction costs...
Among the people who lost their home, 35% bought another home since then, and 65% did not...
This, plus the fact that more of them in this age group carry a loan, and for a larger percentage of their home value, is a "troubling trend" according to the authors of this study.
Finally, counting renters as well as home owners, the report finds that "the number of households age 65 and over with housing cost burdens continues to climb". Nearly a third spent more than 30% of their incomes for housing, and about 1/2 were severely burdened, paying at least half of their incomes for housing.
In particular, 56% of Millenials are determined to own a home, and about 75% of them are pretty confident that they will have the ability to afford a home in the future. About the same number think it is the best long-term investment.
I believe there would be a large demand for small homes like these, located on small lots. The cost surely would be more accessible than the normal price of a small house on the traditional 5000 sq.ft piece of land, in our crowded local cities and counties. A lot of the value is in the land in the Bay Area, and with this type of arrangement you can envision a subdivision of many smaller lots, costing a fraction of the current prices.
Getting Title Insurance is the only way you can have some vision on the history of the property, and whether or not it has liens or encumbrances. I also personally think it is a good idea (i.e. a very good idea) to talk to the Title company and ask questions about the preliminary title report and what it means exactly, when you are in contract to purchase a property.
Light fixtures fascinate: when you go into a light fixture store, don't you want to buy them all? They radically change the room where they are installed, depending on the style, intensity, location.
The majority of Americans actually favor investing in the stock market,
including 33 percent of Gen Xers, 38 percent of Baby Boomers and 44 percent of
the Silent Generation, however Millennials favored cash investments. The survey
showed 30 percent of Millennials said cash is their favorite long-term
investment.
I read this interesting article (with interactive map) on the KQED news website about the downpayments made for california purchases made with an FHA loan. Granted, not all loans are FHA in California, especially in our local counties of Santa Clara and San Mateo. But for most of the rest of California, it is interesting to see that parents help with the downpayment of their kids' purchase.
