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Location, Location, Location
The problem with living in a desirable location is that everyone else wants to live there as well. Of course, when you visit open houses on the weekend, everything looks great because you never see the...
View ArticleBelow Market Housing: Buy Low, Sell Low
Would you believe that you can find a place in Palo Alto for under $100,000? Yes, it’s true. Under the Below Market Rate Program, a buyer purchased a 2 bedroom 1-1/2 bath residence for $98,800 back in...
View ArticleInterest Rate Cut
The Fed’s second interest rate cut in just over a week really confused me. Instead of being merely aggressive, it appeared a bit desperate. Perhaps, the national economy is faring much worse than I...
View ArticleThe Price of a Luxury Home
And luxury homes — properties listed for more than $3.5 million… BusinessWeek just made me laugh. The above quote was from In Silicon Valley, Real Estate Remains Strong. I think a luxury house is one...
View ArticleNo Need to Panic
The financial meltdown on Wall Street “is like deja vu all over again,” to misquote Yogi Berra. Somehow, these once in a lifetime or once in a century financial crises keep occurring, well before the...
View ArticleReal Estate Bubble
Back in 2001, a person told me that the San Francisco Bay Area real estate market was appreciating too quickly. With thoughts of the dot.com stock deflation fresh in mind, he told me that he had sold...
View ArticlePrivate Mortgage Insurance
Something just doesn’t make sense. Even if a bank extended an adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) to a borrower with imperfect credit and required less than 20 percent down, isn’t the bank “protected” by...
View ArticleReal Estate Bubble Signs
For those who were waiting for the real estate bubble to pop, the time has come. I recently glanced at some home listings from one ZIP code in San Jose, California. The listings told it all. Short Sale...
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Sign of the Times: Not Hiring
Spotted the “Not Hiring” sign during the weekend. You think a few people have already stopped by to ask about job openings? From what I hear, construction work has come to a dead halt. So, any...
View ArticleBad Housing Market
Last week, I heard someone complain that the housing market was “bad.” Well, when housing appreciated 10-20% per year, I heard other people complain that the market was “ridiculous.” The truth is that...
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