Today, I’ve upped the caffeine to bring you the most current news from DataQuick (yesterday’s was a day late and a dollar short, so to speak). DQ’s monthly report was released and the headline is a mix of good and bad news: “Bay Area home sales climb above last year; median price falls hard.” Home sales appear to be hitting their stride, making July the big winner over previous months of 2008. July is traditionally a month with big sales, as people like to make their moves in the summertime when the kids are out of school and it is less disruptive (not to mention less rainy). DQ reported a total of 7,586 new and resale houses and condos sold across the nine- county Bay Area in July, up 5.7% from June and up 2.2 % from July 2007. That ought to make the real estate agents happy! As in June, many of those sales came from foreclosed homes. In fact, 33% of all the homes sold in the 9-county area were foreclosures, with the low ...
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What Makes a Great Silicon Valley Bachelor Pad?From: blog.redfin.com
Post Date: 2008-02-29 23:25:10
This week, I queried all my single young male friends as I know that the majority of the “newbies” to Silicon Valley are single young males. I wanted to know what the key components of the ideal bachelor pad were, for the Silicon Valley Male.
First of all, the Silicon Valley Male is a completely different breed from most American bachelors. For starters, he is typically an engineer with a 12-14 hour per day work commitment, very different from the ski bums of Colorado ...
more Not Your Average Suburbia: Marinites are Walking and BikingFrom: blog.redfin.com
Post Date: 2008-02-29 22:21:04
As a Marinite and a fairly devout cyclist and tree hugger, I confess that while I tell all out of towners that I’m from “San Francisco,” I have never lived in SF proper. Part of me definitely is a city dweller - I detest driving, I am convinced I was an urban transit planner in a prior life and I find myself walking to the neighborhood coffee joint more often than not to hang out and people watch.
Surprisingly, I live in Marin. For those of you who don’t know...
more Lower Your Property Tax and Maybe Catch a BargainFrom: blog.redfin.com
Post Date: 2008-02-29 11:00:04
For those of us who are watching the value of our homes ebbing away, here’s a silver lining: as prices drop, your home may become worth less than the current assessment, and it’s possible to appeal that value and possibly lower your property taxes. Nearly a third of all people who appeal their property assessments end up with lower taxes, according to the National Taxpayers Union.
You usually have 30 to 60 days after you get a notice of assessment to appeal; in some towns...
more Dare I Say “Stubborn”?From: blog.redfin.com
Post Date: 2008-02-29 08:36:04
That was the first question I asked myself when I saw one of today’s Daily Stat leaders . A 645 square foot 2/1 on a 2500 sf lot in Oakland, it has been on Redfin 115 days and has not received one price reduction. Not one! While the listing states that the owner (a bank?) will look at all offers, it is very unusual for a home to sit this long without cutting at least 3-5% off the price. Even at $290,000.
Love to tell you more about the house, but the agent, William Smith...
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