Escrow in California
Escrow is a neutral, impartial third party that acts on the instructions of the principals in a real estate transaction. Most California real estate Purchase Agreements (CAR or PRDS contracts) are also escrow instructions, that give authority to the escrow company to transfer title when all terms of the Purchase…
Saratoga 2010 Real Estate Market In Review
Price Trends: Median prices in Saratoga, CA have fluctuated inversely with inventory – they reached a low after the recession in Spring 2009, recovered by January 2010; dropped again and are on the rise again. Buyers Market: As the chart above shows, according to Altos Research, Saratoga CA has been…
How’s The Real Estate Market?
Image via Wikipedia Recent media news reports trumpet that sales of existing homes plunged by 29 percent in July 2009. Is this the whole story… or is this the beginning of election year rhetoric? Further, do the national statistics have any bearing on how the real estate market is doing…
Closing Costs in Santa Clara County
Image via Wikipedia Each county in California has customs as to who pays for closing costs in a real estate sale transaction. In Santa Clara County it is customary for the seller to pay for escrow charges/fees, title fees (Owners Policy) and County transfer tax of $1.10 per thousand. Buyer…
Trustee Foreclosure Sales
I am not a foreclosure expert, but I have received training from Alain Pinel Realtors that empowers me to represent buyers of distressed properties. As I have previously noted on this blog, Saratoga, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos are now experiencing some distressed property sales, but they are generally random…
Distressed Property Educated Buyers Agent
Short sales, (sales of homes for less than the amount of their outstanding mortgage debt) have tripled since 2008, particularly in California, according to a recent article in the Los Angeles Times. The number of transactions rose to more than 160,000 in 2009 from roughly 96,000 in 2008, with more…
Los Gatos, CA Interactive GIS Maps
I love interactive maps and potential homebuyers can get lots of important information online at the official Los Gatos City website about property they are considering purchasing. Â You can search by street address or assessors parcel number and get maps showing topography, zoning, general plan designation, buildings, lot size and…
Strong Saratoga Sales in $2-3 million Price Band
Saratoga, CA has seen good real estate sales activity as well as new listings over the past 7 days: New listings: 10 List price decreases: 3 Pending contingent sales: 6 Sale pending: 4 Closed escrows: 2 Earlier, the mid-upper market priced from $2-3 million was slow, but this reversed this…
Foreclosures in Saratoga, CA
Foreclosure home are not a significant part of the real estate market in Saratoga, CA 95070. However, there are currently 2 REO (real estate owned) and 9 short sales properties available for sale on the multiple listing service. The low end of the distressed market in Silicon Valley has been…
Blogging: HyperLocal Engagement
This past week I was immersed in three conferences for real estate professionals in San Francisco – all of which included discussions of blogging. I spent the morning of July 12th at Inman’s Agent Reboot and Monday afternoon at REBarCamp. Agent Reboot was designed to bring real estate agents and…
Saratoga Housing Market Inventory Rises Seasonally as Sales Moderate
People always ask me “How’s the market?” and I usually respond that real estate is very micro-localized and varies with price range. With that qualifier, it is fair to generalize that the real estate market in Saratoga, CA 95070 has been somewhat cooler for several weeks as demand has waned…
Interest Growing For Village Movement in Silicon Valley
Interest in starting a village movement in the south bay of Silicon Valley is growing. I blogged about it three months ago and everyone I talk with thinks it is a good idea. Most women in their 70′s and 80′s instantly understand the village movement concept, which is a voluntary…
Strong First Half 2010 Saratoga Home Sales
The first half of 2010 of home sales in Saratoga, CA 95070 highlighted by the following: There were 109 Single Family Homes that closed escrow that were listed on the multiple listing service. The highest price was $5 million and the lowest was $451,000 For more information call me. Related…
Strong May 2010 Home Sales in Saratoga Keeps Inventory Low
Inventory: Saratoga homes for sale remains low at 107 homes. New pending sales are offsetting new additions to available inventory. There are relatively few distressed properties listed for sale in Saratoga, CA, but there are more coming as owners face 5 year ARM call dates. New Pending Sales: May 2010…
