Santa Clara Valley Living

The last few weeks I have been writing about the market conditions around Rivermark, Santa Clara.  Citing a number of short sale homes and condos, at significantly reduced prices.  In the last week there has been a slight shift in the market with increased buyer activity that has resulted in some Rivermark home sales.  Although [...]

First, CNNMoney.com reported a sudden, unexpected surge in U.S. housing starts. According to the Commerce Department, housing starts rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000 last month, up 22% from a revised 477,000 in January. The big surprise: Economists were expecting starts to decline to 450,000, according to consensus estimates [...]

It’s no surprise that any newer developments in the Santa Clara County as of the past 5 years are going to experience a high number of Short Sales and REO or Bank Owned properties. Rivermark in Santa Clara is no exception.
Rivermark is a master planned community developed in 2002 by Lennar, Centex and Shea Homes [...]

Tax Credit for Homebuyers
First-time homebuyers who purchase homes from the start of the year until the end of November 2009 may be eligible for the lower of an $8,000 or 10% of the value of the home tax credit. Remember a tax credit is very different than a tax deduction – a tax credit is equivalent [...]

This week I submitted two offers for REO properties for two separate clients.  One was a single family 3 bedroom 2 bath home in Santa Clara that was listed at $400,000.  The home was in poor condition but the price reflected it.   My experience with REOs (bank owned properties) is that they are seldom i [...]

Time to take a hard look at the beginning numbers this year and see what we can tell about the market.  For those of you who are not aware, inventory is a big factor in price performance and home values.  As inventory increases and buyers are unable to keep up with the supply of homes [...]

I always review the Santa Clara County home sales at the end of the week by checking the pending sales.  This is a good way of checking the strength of the market in terms of buying activity.  I usually compare from the previous year’s figures to gauge performance.  It appears that 2009 has started out [...]

Between all the news hype about foreclosures, government bail out, TARP, Henry Paulson, bankrupt auto industry, how is this really effecting the real estate industry in the Santa Clara Valley.  Now I understand that layoffs are imminent.  Some tech insiders, past clients, have told me that their firms are down sizing and some have already [...]