Monday, August 25, 2008

Is now the time to buy real estate?

In a recent article written by the Contra Costa tax assessor, Gus Kramer, he proclaims now is probably the best time to buy (or start looking to buy) a home. Read his article, he makes some pretty compelling arguments...

http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_10281259

With the huge glut of REOs and short sales, prices have come down, especially in the $1M and below price range. Obviously in Lamorinda, there are few homes under the $1M price threshold, but that is not to say that they don't exist. Moreover, you shouldn't be opposed to looking in Walnut Creek and even in parts of Pleasant Hill and Concord. If school district is a huge concern, parts of Walnut Creek feed into Lafayette schools. And some of the Walnut Creek schools test pretty well too (i.e. W.C.I. & Northgate High School).

Side note:
If you are just starting a family (or thinking about starting a family), you still have some time (3 years or more) before you truly have to worry about living in a good school district. This is not to say that it doesn't matter where you live, because I will be the first to tell you that it is all about "location, location, location!" But what I am trying to say is, don't dwell on the school districts if you don't have children that are attending. Focus on the neighborhood, the house condition, proximity to local transportation, hwys, parks, etc. Those are all key elements that you will need when and if you resell in the future. Lastly, if you do have children that are a year away from starting kindergarten, then you can start focusing on schools and where your child will be attending. As the article points out, prices in the area aren't going to get much lower and interest rates will not continue to be this low either. So if you can afford to buy now, it is probably a good time to start looking.

If you want to know some of the great buys out there, just drop me a line and I will be happy to send you a list. Happy Househunting!

Monday, August 18, 2008

Donald Trump to the rescue?!?

No, don't worry, I am not changing the purpose of this blog, but in recent news, Mr. Donald Trump (yes, the one with the bad comb-over) has decided to step up and purchase Ed McMahon's foreclosed mansion. No, he is not going to tear it down and build another high rise condominium skyscraper, but instead he is being the good Samaritan that we all believe him to be; and is going to lease the property back to McMahon, so Ed doesn't have to leave...

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2008081804?OpenDocument

From Ed's standpoint, I guess the saying is, "It's all about who you know!" The funny part is Donald has never even met McMahon. He only grew up watching him and Johnny Carson on Late Night and felt that this was the right thing to do... I guess, even the Donald, has a little compassion in him (of course you would never know it by the way he acts in the Apprentice).