Best countries to grow old...

I have found this fascinating article about what places are best, and worst for older people, and wanted to share it here on this real estate forum.  After all, a lot of people are looking into where to go to as they enter their "golden years", and this includes going to other countries in some

instances.  I think it can definitely trigger some more research down the line for some of us; many people purchase, or consider purchasing a secondary residence abroad to spend at least some of their retirement years in a different place.
In the US, about 13.3% is over age 65.

No denying older people are increasing in numbers throughout the world, although not in a uniform way at all.  A lot of the research is done here by an organization called HelpAge International which developed the Global AgeWatch Index, a series of reports available on this web site:  Global AgeWatch Index, for those who are interested in looking into the details.

Coming back to the article in question, from Shan Li at the LA times:
... and the winner is.....:

Sweden. 

Feel free to browse through the other pictures and Countries, showing the 2nd etc... best places to grow old, and the worst places to grow old.  Sobering article...  it can give us all a powerful reason to reflect...
Thanks for reading,
Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

Property for sale: holding off on offers, or not?

Property for sale: holding off on offers, or not?

As a seller, you and your agent prepare the house and the file carefully, you do everything right and the big day comes: it goes on MLS, you have a Realtor tour, and an open house during the week end.  The critical marketing exposure time has started, and between the paper advertising, the internet advertising and all the promotion, the world is starting to learn about your house.

The big question at that point is: do you hold off for offers until a certain date (hoping for multiple offers), or do you take offers as they come? 

Holding off for offers is a good strategy, if the house is well priced: it ensures that the house has been seen enough, and that potential buyers have had the time to review the file and decide what they want to do, after looking at all the disclosures and reports you carefully prepared upfront.  This way, when offers come in, chances are they are informed and well thought-out, and you can have a choice between good offers.  Odds are high the transaction will close without problems.

But the down side of this strategy is that some buyers are turned off by the process, and do not want to participate in this competition.  Also, if you hold off too long, other competing properties will come on the market and you will lose some potential buyers.  Finally, with this strategy comes the difficult choice to make if someone brings you a “preemptive offer”, which is likely much higher than the asking price.  If you take it you are not going to see what the other offers could have been (the ones that followed your instructions and waited for the “offer date”).  If you do not take it you could lose that high offer.  Hint: it is a gamble.

So the alternative is to “take offers as they come”.  But what do you do when one comes too fast, may be even higher than your asking price, and you have the feeling that either 1/ the buyers did not read the file carefully just to go faster or 2/ not enough people have seen the house? 
Could you have a higher or better offer by waiting for more people to have the time to see the property and work on an offer?  In real estate we say that the first offer is often the best one.  But this saying goes in a typical market, and our market is anything but typical.

Two key elements are in play here: 1/ the (pricing) strategy you prefer to use, and 2/ the quality of the advice you have with your Realtor and how good the information you get is.  I explain to my clients how important it is to have someone on your side during this critical period, to assess the real interest that exists out there for your property.  The tools your Realtor uses are critical too.  It is essential to know: - number of showings, and feed-back, - number of page views on the various web sites, - how many people are looking at the disclosures online, and what exactly they are looking at.  Not all tools get you this information, and not all agents take the care to sift through it. Finally, it is critical that your Realtor follow closely any interested party (agent or principal), and answers questions as best as possible; indeed any unanswered question has a dollar amount attached to it.  Better informed buyers will bring you an offer, and one additional offer may mean a big difference in your final sales price.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and if you like what you read, let your friends know!

Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

non-profit organization worth noting: Partners for New Generations.

Falling in Love, ... with a house

Why We Fall in Love—With Houses
Source: The Wall Street Journal

A survey by Realtor.com shows that 69% of respondents have had a home crush by falling head-over-heels for a house. A home crush is defined as being drawn to the same house again and again, in a study conducted between Jan 9 and Jan. 20, surveying 1,082 individuals.
House hunting can be like dating for many people: you check compatibility, and fit, and then, the crush may happen !

Find out some of the surprising finds of the study, from this article by Sanette Tanaka of the Wall Street Journal.

Have you had an experience like that?

Happy Valentine's Day!

As always, thank you so much for reading, and if you like what you read, let your friends know!

 

Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates
A place worth noting: Our Brother's Home in MountainView

US Cities Dominate Foreign Investors Picks

As a follow up on one of my previous blogs, I thought this was interesting information to keep in mind and to keep in perspective, when reflecting on prices nationwide.  Bottom line, the U.S. remain the destination of choice for foreign investors, after looking at all Cities on all 5 continents.

By a wide margin, foreign investors see the United States as the most "stable and secure" country for real-estate investment, according to a new survey ("Ranking of global Cities...".) from the Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate. Overall, the United States was ranked as one of the hottest investment markets for industrial, office and multifamily real estate. The cities of New York, San Francisco, Houston, and Los Angeles were rated to be particularly appealing, but the survey found an increasing interest in cities beyond these major destinations.

• In the 12 months that ended March 2013, foreign buyers spent $68.2 billion on single-family homes in the United States, or about 7 percent of all home sales.
• According to the survey, the United States is seen as the best market in terms of capital appreciation and for real estate purchases in 2014.
• Thirty-nine percent of survey respondents have a more optimistic perspective than they did a year ago regarding the U.S. real estate market.
  
• More than 80 percent of respondents in the survey indicated they will increase their portfolio size in the United States. 31% are planning a “major net increase.”
• Multifamily units were the top property type preferred by foreign investors, followed by industrial property.

Read the full story from Trey Garrison at HousingWire. 

Thanks for reading,
Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

Great local Nonprofit in the Valley:  Community Services Agency.

Home Improvements - ROI

How much should you expect to get back on a given home improvement?

 

It turns out that it depends on where you are, as much as the type of improvement you are planning to make.  Below are two infographics - 1 showing projects with not such great returns, and one showing those that have the best returns; these are provided by the California Association of Realtors and therefore are more appropriate for California. 

 

However, my experience is that here in the Bay Area of San Francisco, the returns are better than what would be typical anywhere else in the US.  In fact, this is something that one can verify by going to the "cost vs Value" web site link from this page out of the online Realtor magazine , and looking for instance at the "Pacific zone" and in particular " San Francisco", where the return for a kitchen remodel or a 2nd bath remodel will indeed be in most cases over the cost of the improvement.

(Click on the picture to enlarge)

 

 

As always, thank you so much for reading, and if you like what you read, let your friends know!

 

Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates
A place worth noting: Our Brother's Home in MountainView

Adjustable-rate mortgages regain popularity as prices, rates rise

Adjustable-rate mortgages are again gaining in popularity despite practically vanishing during the housing bust. Since home prices and interest rates rose last year, more people have turned to adjustable mortgages to keep their monthly payments affordable, with such mortgages offering a lower initial rate. However, careful! - the rate can rise over time with market changes.

Read the article from the LA times by Andrew Khouri.

Also, Households saved just 4.2 percent of the after-tax income in November. The average was close to 6 percent from 2009 until 2011. Wealth gains from existing assets, such as rising home values, may explain why households are saving less, according to this blog from the Wall Street Journal.

Are we back to what I call "aggressive financial living"? Hum, a trend to keep an eye on...

Thanks for reading!
Francis


Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

non-profit organization worth noting: Partners for New Generations.

Effect of interest rates on affordability...

December 2013 U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook
Freddie Mac released its U.S. Economic and Housing Market Outlook for December showing that housing affordability is being challenged as the year comes to an end.

Highlights from the Freddie Mac Study show that:

• At a 4.4 percent interest rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage that prevailed in the third quarter of 2013, more than 70 percent of the country remained affordable. All of the North Central region remained affordable, while just 36 percent of the West remained affordable.
• At a 5 percent rate (and no change in prices/income) approximately 63 percent of the country would be affordable, at 6 percent mortgage rates 55 percent would be affordable, and at 7 percent mortgage rates only 35 percent of the country would be affordable.
• On the plus side, existing homeowners' housing payment-to-income ratio has fallen to an average of 7.9 percent, its lowest level since 1980, a positive sign for sustainable homeownership.

See an interactive map of housing affordability, depending on interest rates.

Thanks for reading,
Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

Great local Nonprofit in the Valley:  Community Services Agency.

New Homes Sales vs Interest Rates - opposite direction...

The rise in interest rates may be a challenge for the real estate market in 2014, (although I have to point out: this is nationwide):

• During 2013, increases in mortgage rates corresponded with declines in home buying, and in light of shifts in the Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus effort, the trend is expected to continue.

• When the Fed first announced it would consider scaling back its bond-buying program, mortgage interest rates spiked in May. As a result, the seasonally adjusted annual rate of new home sales dropped by 4 percent from the prior month.
• In contrast, mortgage rates dropped by three-tenths of a percentage point during October just as new home sales surged 18 percent.
• In mid-December, the Fed announced that it will begin tapering its asset purchase program, but the Fed is only reducing its monthly buys of mortgage securities and Treasuries by just $10 billion.

-  If mortgage interest rates increase a little, some analysts have stressed that any such rate increases will see the recovery slow rather than reverse.

• The interest rate on U.S. Treasury notes is also increasing, which could signal higher interest rates ahead because it is used as a reference point for the cost of borrowed money for U.S. consumers and businesses.

See the corresponding graphs on this page of the Wall Street Journal.

Thanks for reading,
Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

non-profit organization worth noting: Partners for New Generations.

To keep in perspective: Sales Price Graphs 2012-2013

To piggy back on my last blog, let's look at values in our part of the Bay Area of San Francisco (Silicon Valley).

To keep some perspective on the market in our counties, let's look at the graphs (past 2 years) of the average sales price for residential housing (houses, and PUD's combined, which include all townhouses and condominiums),
in the County of Santa Clara first:

(click on the graph to enlarge)

 For this County, the ratio of the Sales Price to the List Price follows the curve below, which shows that from March to May of 2013, the market was the most heated:

 

------------------

Looking at the County of San Mateo, for the same statistics:

 ... and the ratio of Sales Price to List Price, which shows that in that County the market remained even more heated and unbalanced than in the County of Santa Clara, for the 2nd half of 2013.

 

 A few things to note: 

- another thing to remember when looking for a home in both Counties is that as an average, prices are higher in San Mateo County than in Santa Clara County;

- the overbidding was just starting to warm up in 2012;

- finally, something that is noticeable from the stats is that prices did not go down much at the end of each year, from the highs of the middle of the year.  This is somewhat of a new phenomenon that I had mentioned in an earlier blog (last year in November).

 

Interested in local statistics for your own neighborhood, and the value of your assets?  Just let me know, I'll be glad to study it.

 

Thanks for reading!

Francis

 

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates
A place worth noting: Our Brother's Home in MountainView

To keep in perspective: California families struggle...

To keep things in perspective, which is always nice when you live in the Bay Area of San Francisco, I thought this article was worth reading.


According to the California Budget Project, a nonpartisan research group, many California families are struggling from paycheck to paycheck, and expensive housing, high childcare costs and rising healthcare expenses are the main factors.
Nearly one-third of households in the state spent at least half their income on rent.
Full article from the LA times, which also includes links to the richest and poorest cities in the US.  Source: LA Times - by Shan Li.

Happy New Year! and thank you for reading,
Francis
 
Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

Negative Equity in the US

Negative Equity in the US.

CoreLogic, a California based research firm, reported that as of the 3^rd quarter of 2013, the number of properties with a mortgage in the US is about 42,6 million.  About 6.4 million – or 13% – still have a negative equity. 

 

CoreLogic indicates that, of those 42.6 million properties with positive equity, 10 million have less than 20% equity, leaving them in a situation where it’s still hard to refinance due to underwriting constraints.

 

"Fewer than 7 million homeowners are underwater, with a total mortgage debt of $1.6 trillion," said Mark Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic. "Negative equity will decline even further in the coming quarters as the housing market continues to improve."

 

The state of Nevada had the highest percentage of mortgage properties in negative equity at 32.2%, followed by Florida (28.8%), Arizona (22.5%), Ohio (18%) and Georgia (17.8%).

HousingWire.com article by KerriAnn Panchuk

 PS: let’s remember that many transactions are cash: According to this very nice RealtyTrac study, all-cash purchases nationwide accounted for 40 percent of all sales of residential property in July.

 

Thanks for reading, and may you have an excellent Holiday Season!

Francis Rolland
Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

non-profit organization worth noting: Partners for New Generations.

Automated valuation systems in real estate

Countless are the times when clients tell me that they believe the value of their home is “X” because Zillow or another automated valuation system on the internet said so. 

Automated home value estimates have been a popular tool for real estate search websites, and while these tools may satisfy clients’ needs for quick information, in many cases the information they provide is inaccurate.  Although many agents and brokers are aware of the limitations of these models, many consumers are not, and improper use of these tools can encourage mistakes.

Automated valuation models (AVM) are designed to predict a home’s price based on comparing it with similar properties in the area. They do this using county property record data from thousands of offices around the country, comparing several attributes such as square footage, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and other property features. This data cannot take into consideration the specifics of the neighborhood or the details of the properties (lot size, improvements, quality of the maintenance…).  It is my experience that while they can be a good first indication, and sometimes accurate, they miss the mark in roughly 30% to 40% of cases.  Where all homes are similar, like in a condominium complex or a given tract of identical homes, they may be quite accurate.  In places where each home is unique, in nature or in location, they can be quite off (think: Los Altos Hills, or Palo Alto to cite a few). 

As always with statistical data, a percentage of the evaluations will be accurate – but be careful it is not by mistake.  Also, figures do not know the market conditions, which can only be understood by a professional dealing with local sales 24/7.  I do not mean to be critical, but I just want to remind clients that these valuations should just be a first indication, not the final opinion of value.  Another way to look at it is, as we like to say in the business, "home valuation is not an exact science".

Read more details and the fullRE Insider interview.

Thanks for reading,
Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

Mars, Venus, and Real Estate...

As a full time agent, spending most of my time "in the trenches" I found this Real Estate News Release by Prudential quite refreshing and greatly informative, as it deals with people, attitudes, personal reactions and ... genders.  I had to look twice and - although one has to be careful with generalizations -  found some interesting trends that are not always apparent when you are buried in the details and in the heat of the action.  Also, I found their infographic illustration of their findings quite interesting.

Here is the Prudential Real Estate News Release I am referring to:

  View of Homeownership Differ by Gender
A new survey by Prudential Real Estate indicates that men and women don’t see eye to eye when it comes to homeownership and the responsibilities related to homebuying and selling.

Men claim to be more responsible for financial aspects

while women assume the lead for neighborhood research and planning portions of the process. While 39 percent of men in partnerships claim researching banks and securing a mortgage are completely their responsibility, 42 percent of women in partnerships indicated it is their sole

responsibility to manage appointments, and 34 percent take the lead in researching neighborhoods.

Women also seem to enjoy the process of purchasing a home more so than men. A full 87 percent of women said they enjoy looking at homes compared with 77 percent of men. Moreover, feelings associated with homeownership are more pronounced in women than in men. When asked about the reasons why homeownership is “very important,” more women associated it with a sense of pride or accomplishment (16 percent higher than men) and independence (11 percent higher). For men, “control over living space” and “more space for my family” were most important.  -- Complete News Release.

 

One last thought: different personalities will attract different people, and therefore each of us will have a different experience and perception of people's reactions.

What is your own experience?

Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

non-profit organization worth noting: Partners for New Generations.

2013 Cal. Annual Housing Market Survey

The Annual Housing Market Surveys conducted by the California Association of Realtors is always full of interesting tidbits, some of them not so small in fact.  All these facts, figures, percentages are fascinating if you like figures. 
-- If you are not so much interested in the statistics of the California real estate market, I would skip this blog.
If on the other hand you are curious about it, with a macro vision of the market, it yields some interesting thoughts and points.  Here it is:

C.A.R. Releases “2013 Annual Housing Market Survey”

Nearly half (49.5 percent) of all homes sold in 2013 were sold above asking price, nearly twice the share in 2012 (25.9 percent) and triple the share in 2011 (16.6 percent).  The 2013 figure was more than twice the long-run average of 18 percent during the past 20 years.  For homes that sold above the list price in 2013, the median premium paid over the list price was 4.8 percent, unchanged from 2012.  Note: in Palo Alto, the average ratio of Sales price over List price is 111.7%.

For the third consecutive year, an increasing number of home sellers – nearly half – planned on purchasing another home in the future.

The shortage of housing supply intensified further this year, leading to heightened market competition and more multiple offers, with more than seven of 10 home sales (72 percent) receiving multiple offers in 2013, up from 57 percent in 2012.  The 2013 figure was the highest in at least the past 15 years, with each home receiving an average of 5.7 offers, up from 4.2 offers in 2012 and 3.5 offers in 2011.  Note: in Palo Alto and Los Altos, 10 to 20 offers are fairly common.   

The distressed market continued to be the most competitive segment of the market, with more than 9 in 10 (91 percent) real estate-owned (REO) properties attracting multiple offers, an increase from 71 percent in 2012. The short sale market was less intense than the REO market, but still 3/4 of all sales received more than one offer, a jump from 66 percent in 2012.  There is no "deal" in the local real estate market...
Close to seven of 10 equity sales received multiple offers in 2013, a surge from 51 percent in 2012.
More information on the CAR website.

Francis
Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates
A place worth noting: Our Brother's Home in MountainView

Haunted house anyone?

Realtor.com® Releases Haunted Housing Report
Realtor.com has released the results of its Haunted Housing Report, which explored consumer sentiments around their perceptions of "haunted" real estate. Survey results from nearly 1,400

respondents reveal consumer thresholds for purchasing haunted houses for sale, past experiences with spooky homes, popular "warning signs" of a haunted home, expected discounts when buying "perceived" haunted houses for sale and intolerable scary occurrences.

According to the survey, 26 percent of respondents indicated that they would consider purchasing a haunted house for sale, while 38 percent would not. Of the respondents that would consider purchasing a haunted home, 12 percent reported that they would pay full market value or over for a haunted house; 34 percent shared that they would purchase a haunted home if it was discounted 1 to 30 percent; 22 percent indicated that they would purchase a haunted home if it was discounted 31 to 50 percent; and 19 percent revealed that they would purchase a haunted home if it was discounted 51 percent or more.

However, of the respondents that would contemplate purchasing a haunted home, the following spooky occurrences would stop them from buying a home:

• 75 percent would be scared off by levitating objects from purchasing a home
• 63 percent would be deterred by objects being moved from where they were placed
• 63 percent would be dissuaded by ghost sightings
• 61 percent would be discouraged by supernatural sensations
• 61 percent would be scared off by flickering lights/appliances
• 60 percent would pass on a home with strange noises (footsteps, doors slamming)
• 34 percent would be deterred by warm or cold spots.

In terms of the most popular "warning signs" a home could be haunted, 61 percent of respondents thought a cemetery on the property may be an indication; 50 percent shared that homes over 100 years old could be haunted; 45 percent thought quick transitions in owners might be a sign; 45 percent believe that an unexplainable low price on the home is alarming; and 43 percent felt that homes in close proximity to a battlefield may be haunted.

Francis
Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

How long to own a home?

Most people don't buy or sell a home very often. 
 

In fact, a recent National Association of Realtors® study found the median length of time that people who sold a home in 2012 had owned that residence was nine years, two years longer than the proverbial seven-year time frame. 

What's more, recent buyers had even longer time horizons in mind: first-time purchasers expected to own their newly bought home a median of 10 years. For repeat buyers, the median was 15 years. 
 

Sure, many people move more frequently, often due to the birth of a child, marriage or divorce, job loss or relocation, retirement, someone passing away, or other major life event. Yet there's still no doubt that a move is pretty hard on anyone… and avoided if possible.

How long have you owned your home in average?

Thanks for reading,
Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

Grand Opening at the San Antonio shopping center

It has been a while since I wrote a note about the San Antonio shopping center, and the transformations happening there. 
Since then a new Safeway opened, apartment buildings opened, a Starbucks and a few other well known franchises.  Tomorrow Saturday there is an event worth mentioning here for those who live close by, and especially dog lovers:
the Grand Opening of the Village Green Park and Dog Park.  Tomorrow Saturday October 19th, 10:30 to 3 pm.

Francis
Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates
A place worth noting: Our Brother's Home in MountainView

Housing shortage in the Bay Area .. Facebook takes note.

Facebook to Build Apartments for Employees

A mockup of a new housing complex in Menlo Park for Facebook employees has been released. The project will cost $120 million and will create 394 units. The entire complex will be 630,000 square-feet.

Along with apartments, the area will have shops, a sports bar, a doggy day care, as well as an outdoor community pool. Designed primarily to house Facebook employees, the complex will be within walking distance or a five-minute bike ride from the corporate campus.

The majority of units will only be available to Facebook employees and sold at market rate. Fifteen units will be open to non-Facebook employees who are low-income. Construction begins this month and is expected to be completed in 24 months.

Source: Silicon Valley Association of Realtors.

Thanks for reading,
Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates
A place worth noting: Our Brother's Home in MountainView

Micro apartments...

Micro apartments. In some major metropolitan areas, people are living large in smaller spaces.

So-called micro apartments—which are often less than 200 square feet—are becoming popular in San Francisco, New York, Seattle, Boston, Providence, R.I., and Portland, Ore., reports CNN Money (by Les Christie).
But it’s not only those just-out-of-college grads flocking to these tiny units. In some “micro buildings,” the average tenant is 33 years old and makes less than $35,000 a year, according to Reuters. 

 

On a separate (real estate) note, not quite the same size, you can have a look at what’s inside the ultimateman cave … (by Anastasia Anashkina @CNNMoney)  - Ok, this is not your typical home. But I know many who are going to dream.

Thanks for dreaming! - huh... reading!

Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

non-profit organization worth noting: Partners for New Generations

California: fastest rising list prices

As of July 2013...
This is not new information, but it is not going to be much different today, and it gives a good perspective on the market, as we currently witness a slowing down, attributed to much higher prices and higher interest rates.  The market locally is still quite good by all measures...

 Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

The Growth of Single Households: Singles Make Up Quarter of All Buyers

The Growth of Single Households: Singles Make Up a Quarter of All Buyers
Source: REALTOR® Magazine

Whether people marry later, divorce more frequently, and/or live longer, more people are living alone.
In fact, single buyers comprised a quarter of all home purchases last year, according to the NATIONAL

ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®  (from 17% in 1970). The living solo trend is evident in the country’s 33 million one-person households. Young adults ages 18 to 34 are the fastest-growing group of people living alone.

• Solo households are also mostly women: 18 million women live alone versus 14 million men. Twice as many single women bought homes as did single men in 2012.
• A single buyer can face challenges in this post-recession market, especially when it comes to qualifying for a mortgage because a single buyer cannot rely on the advantages of dual incomes or shared responsibly that a two-person household does. That being said, single buyers are not dragged down by a partner's credit score, loans, or credit card debt.
• Single households are prominent in other countries as well, with Sweden having the largest proportion of solos (47 percent). The United Kingdom has a rate of 34 percent, Japan’s is 30 percent, and Norway’s is 40 percent.
• Around 11 million Americans living alone are elderly, and the majority of solo households are in cities and metro areas.
• Purchasing a home can be a means of self-expression for singles, and they can express their lifestyles and values while focusing on the exact communities, home styles, and features that cater to their individuality with much less compromise.

More details on this article from the Realtor Magazine.

Thanks for reading,
Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates
A place worth noting: Our Brother's Home in MountainView

Properties for sale "off MLS"

The market is so "hot" in the Valley that it is easy to sell a property without putting it in the MLS (multiple listing service). While it may be the way to go for very specific situations or sellers' requirements, statistically the vast majority of agents agree that it may not bring the best deal overall for the seller.  If you are thinking of selling your property "off market", I'll be glad to go over the advantages and disadvantages of such a strategy.  But unless you have very specific needs to address, it will be hard to find any benefits to doing it without the vast exposure of the MLS.

• Real estate agents marketing a property for which they have obtained a listing generally will place that listing on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). At times, however, listings are not placed into the MLS. These listings are commonly referred to as off-MLS or pocket listings.
• While not a new concept, pocket listings are growing in number – as many as 10 percent to 15 percent of homes offered for sale today are “off-MLS” listings, according to one MLS.     
• Sellers should strongly urge their agent to place their home on the MLS. A property that is listed on the MLS has the advantage of being marketed to every real estate agent who belongs to the MLS and, through those agents, to their vast network of potential buyers.
• Active marketing on the MLS usually includes open houses, broker tours, and inclusion of the seller’s property in the MLS’ download to various real estate Internet sites commonly used by the public to search for properties.
• A pocket listing generally is marketed by a single agent to one or a select few potential buyers. The marketing pool can be so small that in some cases, other agents within the same brokerage or brokerage office may not even be aware that a fellow agent has the listing.
• While pocket listings sometimes are requested by sellers who wish to maintain their privacy, the downsides to off-MLS listings outweigh the advantages. Primarily, the pool of real estate agents and potential home buyers who will know the property is for sale and make an offer to purchase may be limited. With fewer offers, sellers may not receive the best possible price for their home.

 

Thanks for reading!

Francis

 

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
Current mortgage rates

What do Real Estate Investors buy?

I have been working with investors as well as homeowners in the past few years, through the crisis, and I do agree that investors had a very good and favorable role in the recovery.  This is why I am always curious to see the exact role and impact investors have on the market.

The California Association of Realtors just released a survey of the types of purchases investors have been making.  Here are some of the interesting point:

Investors have played a key role in the California housing market recovery for the past four years. 

Two-thirds (66 percent) of investors who worked with a REALTOR® indicated they are going to keep the property for more than a year, while about one-fourth (26 percent) of investors intend to flip the property within a year.

Additionally, three-fourths of investors are of the small mom-and-pop type, owning 1-10 other investment properties, with 15 percent owning just one property, 46 percent owning 2-5 properties, and 14 percent owning 6-10 properties.  
      
Of the properties purchased by investors, single-family homes were the preferred property type, with 78 percent of transactions involving single-family homes.  Multifamily properties comprised 14 percent, 7 percent were other property types, and bulk sales made up only 1 percent.
More info  on this C.A.R.'s 2013 Investor Survey Results.

Thanks for reading,
Francis

Silicon Valley real estate specialist
Detailed, local trends etc...
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Homeowners and their yard.

 

 

Thank you for reading,
Francis
Silicon Valley Real Estate

Smart stats
Current mortgage rates