Tom,
I don’t know how to say thank you enough for all of your help. I hope you know we appreciate it and wish the best to you and your family. I can’t say we have ever made it really easy for you…but I hope in the end this worked out ok for you.
Jana

It’s my pleasure Jana.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

My optimistic side has taken over the blog for the moment, and wants to convince the rest of me that we’re on the downhill side of the mortgage meltdown mountain that the real estate market and the US economy have had to climb.

A couple of things have happened in the last week that have convinced me that we are really in the second half of this market.

First, Standard and Poor’s came out and said that the end of the write-downs is in sight. I’m choosing to hang my hat on this prediction, although I know it’s certainly a subjective analysis. But when I compare it to my calendar, which says we’re at least a year and a half into this mess, it makes sense. In another eighteen months we’ll be three years removed from the blind lending that created the problem, and the banks should have a handle on what’s left to come down the pike.

And the Fed has finally stepped in in a meaningful way.They’ve opened the discount window to investment banks, they’ve financed JP Morgan’s bailout of Bear Stearns and essentially indicated to the market that they’re going to be the safety net that insures (buys) these garbage loans. Is there a price to pay for that? Sure there is (they’re printing money and lowering interest rates in order to facilitate this increased liquidity - creating serious inflation concerns, but that’s a post for the economics blogs).

Add to the recent news the simple fact that buyers are back, financing is coming back, and the prices of these foreclosed properties are getting low enough to make sense again - and I think I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. As the saying goes, I just hope it’s not the oncoming train.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

David and Sanae had simply outgrown this beautiful Siena townhome in Pleasanton. So we were able to take advantage of a move-up market to get their unit sold quickly and get them into an ideal next home. The whole process only took about 45 days, thanks to great teamwork and commitment to the result.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Sure, the softening real estate market is driving prices way down in some areas, but the fact is it cuts both ways. There are some markets, and some investors, that are going to benefit significantly from the current environment.

I have buried my head in the sand for a long time in regard to prices in my hometown of Brentwood. Working primarily in the Tri-Valley, it was (for a time) a luxury I could afford. But then I met Rick and Paige,  buyers referred by a good friend, who had already set their sites on Brentwood, and I got the opportunity to take a look at my neighborhood through my Realtor eyes.

First of all, I can’t even begin to describe how fun it was to “sell” my town. The neighborhoods, the schools, the development plans - I realized how much a part of the community I am, and that I should be doing much more business here.

But then it hit me: these prices make sense again! Sure, my equity has evaporated, but that’s OK ’cause I’m not going anywhere.

On the other hand, for those investors who were going out of state to Arizona and Nevada, even New Mexico and Georgia looking for investment opportunities, your trip has just been cancelled! Follow me here… Read the rest of this entry »

Bookmark It

Hide Sites