Last year I did the Santa Clara Citizens Police Academy class. It was a 13 week program open to SC residents or people who work in the city. The Police force of SC do a great job through this program of educating local people on what a great job they do.
The program basically has speakers from each department with in the police force explaining what and how they go about their job. The speakers range from Chaplaincy to First Responders, from Traffic Patrol to Emergency Preparedness. Every area is covered and explained and there are lots of hands on activities and involvement by the participants. There is an evening called "Red Man" and a visit to the County Goal and best of all a chance for you to go out with an officer on his/her patrol. I took the swing shift and got to know parts of Santa Clara I never knew existed and most of all got to see some fine officers deal with some unusual circumstances from kids stealing alcohol at Safeway in Rivermark to Domestic violence. However, I think everyones highlight was Police Academy Saturday. Can you imagine 10 hours of fun, driving police cars, shooting police firearms and role playing scenarios. Plus having the Police chief serve you burgers!
You might read this as Santa Clara PR exercise. Yes that may be true but at the same time it's a good exercise and we as residents should be proud of our police men and women of Santa Clara. Fortunately, for us we have the monies to ensure that we hire the best.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Fairfield Santa Clara - disgust
It amazes me the greed that developers can have or should I say cities? It's hard to say what came first the developer or the city council? Chicken or the egg scenario though sometimes I think it is a case of them both lining their own pockets and sometimes being one of the same thing.
Tonight I got a letter from the Fairfield group who are going to develop the old Kaiser location on Kiely & Kaiser Drive. There are plans to develop over 800 residential buildings - apartments, townhomes, town houses and houses! Clearly 280 of them are for sale and it looks like the rest are for rent! Charming a Ghetto in our own neighborhood and clearly no decisions made about environmental impact on schools, parks and traffic. Let us not forget the poor brown owl or the ground squirrel - how will they survive?
I recommend if you live near this proposed project, which seemed to have been bulldozed through Santa Clara council you get involved - here is a good link to some concerned citizens
http://liveforeverodt.com/santaclara/2008/01/17/fairfield-residential-meets-with-residents/
Tonight I got a letter from the Fairfield group who are going to develop the old Kaiser location on Kiely & Kaiser Drive. There are plans to develop over 800 residential buildings - apartments, townhomes, town houses and houses! Clearly 280 of them are for sale and it looks like the rest are for rent! Charming a Ghetto in our own neighborhood and clearly no decisions made about environmental impact on schools, parks and traffic. Let us not forget the poor brown owl or the ground squirrel - how will they survive?
I recommend if you live near this proposed project, which seemed to have been bulldozed through Santa Clara council you get involved - here is a good link to some concerned citizens
http://liveforeverodt.com/santaclara/2008/01/17/fairfield-residential-meets-with-residents/
Monday, March 24, 2008
Valley of Hearts content
I had a friend who listed a property before Easter, they put it on the market at Easter and had so many people come through this last weekend.
Over 55 one day and 75 another day. Some with agents some without. Doesn't matter a lot of traffic and you tell me there is nothing out there! I don't think so . I believe there is a firm offer on the house and one the sellers are happy with and there is still another offer coming through as a back up. How awesome is that? Perfect, actually sweet.
I liked what my agent friend told me - he asked his clients in an ideal world what would he really want as his selling price. It pays to tell the universe what you are looking for, I believe. Let the universe know because if you don't tell it how will it know what to deliver. Well a price was said and as ridiculous as it sounds - that is what was offered. So Yippee. You may ask about contingencies? Well they sound pretty tight and even if something were to go wrong there is a back up offer on the books. Again like I say SWEET.
Over 55 one day and 75 another day. Some with agents some without. Doesn't matter a lot of traffic and you tell me there is nothing out there! I don't think so . I believe there is a firm offer on the house and one the sellers are happy with and there is still another offer coming through as a back up. How awesome is that? Perfect, actually sweet.
I liked what my agent friend told me - he asked his clients in an ideal world what would he really want as his selling price. It pays to tell the universe what you are looking for, I believe. Let the universe know because if you don't tell it how will it know what to deliver. Well a price was said and as ridiculous as it sounds - that is what was offered. So Yippee. You may ask about contingencies? Well they sound pretty tight and even if something were to go wrong there is a back up offer on the books. Again like I say SWEET.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Keeping Records
My current clients have kept every record of every project they have done on their house. All I can say is
SWEET ....
It's so nice to be able to talk to the guy who installed the roof and discuss the details of the type of roof they have.
I also spoke to the company that monitors termites and pest control of their company!
Makes it much easier to sell and I dare say easier to talk about because we have records.
Sweet
SWEET ....
It's so nice to be able to talk to the guy who installed the roof and discuss the details of the type of roof they have.
I also spoke to the company that monitors termites and pest control of their company!
Makes it much easier to sell and I dare say easier to talk about because we have records.
Sweet
Monday, March 17, 2008
Happy St Patrick's Day
Well it's the one day of the year I can say I'm Irish! With such an Irish family name I need to have some Irish in me!
Truth is I married into an Irish family - it's nearly pure Irish with a little Scottish tainting in there to make it not too in-breed! My German/Dutch heritage just strengthened the pot I guess.
It's one of my boys favorite day - he loves his Irish heritage and takes great pride in his bloodline.
So to y'all "Top of the Morning and have a great St Paddy's Day"
Truth is I married into an Irish family - it's nearly pure Irish with a little Scottish tainting in there to make it not too in-breed! My German/Dutch heritage just strengthened the pot I guess.
It's one of my boys favorite day - he loves his Irish heritage and takes great pride in his bloodline.
So to y'all "Top of the Morning and have a great St Paddy's Day"
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Buyers out and about
I held an open house in Sunnyvale at a cute little property on Taylor Street. It wasn't my listing it was another agents listing. I did want to hold it open to get a feel for the market and also because it's such a darling place. If I was a young single gal it would be the type of place I would love to live in. Three bedrooms, one bathroom, large backyard - big enough for a dog. There was more to it but I don't want to go on. You can find it on the MLS listings service if you are interested or curious or go to Don's website http://donaldtanner.com/
I held it open because it was an easy place to talk about and easy to talk to visitors to the property. What I learnt was that there are loads of interested buyers out there looking. However, a common complaint I have is buyers don't take the time to go talk to a lender before looking. As a result they don't know really what dollar value they can go look at. For all I know the three of four people that expressed some interest in the property were actually not able to buy or might even be better off looking at something more than $650K.
If you are going to buy and are serious take time to talk to a lender and find out how much it is going to cost you to buy. What's it going to hurt you? It's not as though you are getting a shot in the arm. Find out if you even want to be in the market looking. Don't waste your gas driving around properties till you know how much you can afford.
My two cents - and I hope it makes SENSE!
I held it open because it was an easy place to talk about and easy to talk to visitors to the property. What I learnt was that there are loads of interested buyers out there looking. However, a common complaint I have is buyers don't take the time to go talk to a lender before looking. As a result they don't know really what dollar value they can go look at. For all I know the three of four people that expressed some interest in the property were actually not able to buy or might even be better off looking at something more than $650K.
If you are going to buy and are serious take time to talk to a lender and find out how much it is going to cost you to buy. What's it going to hurt you? It's not as though you are getting a shot in the arm. Find out if you even want to be in the market looking. Don't waste your gas driving around properties till you know how much you can afford.
My two cents - and I hope it makes SENSE!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Fifty living
I have a new listing coming up in the Sunnyvale area. What a great gem of a house, with wonderful large windows that make the place to bright and breezy.
One of my pet peaves when I came to the US was that a lot of the homes do not have living rooms with overhead lights. There must have been a time when having lamps was considered 'cool' or 'novel'. I find it dark and inconvenient. This home has large windows from the ground up. Not only does it give a light and breezy appearance it also saves you having to turn on your lights when you don't need to.
This little gem also has wonderful hardwood floors under the carpet. Currently only one room has the hardwood floor on show - so you know that the others are going to be gorgeous because they have been protected by carpet for years. Again another fad that came into being; cover the hardwood floors.
There is a definate "Eichler" feel about this little gem.
ahh the past ... the wonderful fifties and sixties ... don't you just love it.
One of my pet peaves when I came to the US was that a lot of the homes do not have living rooms with overhead lights. There must have been a time when having lamps was considered 'cool' or 'novel'. I find it dark and inconvenient. This home has large windows from the ground up. Not only does it give a light and breezy appearance it also saves you having to turn on your lights when you don't need to.
This little gem also has wonderful hardwood floors under the carpet. Currently only one room has the hardwood floor on show - so you know that the others are going to be gorgeous because they have been protected by carpet for years. Again another fad that came into being; cover the hardwood floors.
There is a definate "Eichler" feel about this little gem.
ahh the past ... the wonderful fifties and sixties ... don't you just love it.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Short Sale Waiting Game
Right now the biggest issues regular Sellers are facing is competing against the short sale price.
But let's think about this? Is it really a competition or an inconvenience to buy a short sale? Here are some facts about short sales that might change your mind.
Most of the short sales I visited this week looked like they had never had any work done to them, and for some reason there is a build up of 'trash' around the house from the outside. Forget about the inside. Why is this? I guess depression sets in and care flies out the window.
Short Sales now involve the mercy of the bank to negotiate with the intended buyer. You already seem to have a deal and the bank has already stated in a sense they are willing to take a loss. It's as if the bank should move on cut to the chase and do the deal. But the bureaucracy of banks (and any other institution) now involves 'departments'. As each department signs off and passes on their slip of paper to another minion the paper trail gets longer. The time in getting accepted takes .... forever.
I mentioned to another realtor, who works out of Sacramento, that it may take 5 to 8 weeks before you here something here in the Bay Area. Her response was here in Sac it's 5 to 8 months! Great, you get the picture of the future here in the Bay Area right?
So you think you've got yourself a bargain? Maybe but you've also got yourself a waiting game. Perhaps during this game you realize there are better deals and what's even more sweet at the moment is that the houses that don't involve short sales are priced according to the Short Sale - so look at those and skip the short sale and the hassle. Be a smart buyer not a smarta$$ buyer would be my tip. It's like the spaving theory. You buy more to save! Get 3 for 2 deal. Right now your short sale buys you paper work anguish, dealing with bank minions in India, and a house that has had no or little maintenance by it's previous owner due to the fact they had no extra cash to maintain it.
Save yourself the hassle and buy a regular listing in a currently low market. Go shopping and get a bargain but avoid a short sale - be a smart shopper.
But let's think about this? Is it really a competition or an inconvenience to buy a short sale? Here are some facts about short sales that might change your mind.
Most of the short sales I visited this week looked like they had never had any work done to them, and for some reason there is a build up of 'trash' around the house from the outside. Forget about the inside. Why is this? I guess depression sets in and care flies out the window.
Short Sales now involve the mercy of the bank to negotiate with the intended buyer. You already seem to have a deal and the bank has already stated in a sense they are willing to take a loss. It's as if the bank should move on cut to the chase and do the deal. But the bureaucracy of banks (and any other institution) now involves 'departments'. As each department signs off and passes on their slip of paper to another minion the paper trail gets longer. The time in getting accepted takes .... forever.
I mentioned to another realtor, who works out of Sacramento, that it may take 5 to 8 weeks before you here something here in the Bay Area. Her response was here in Sac it's 5 to 8 months! Great, you get the picture of the future here in the Bay Area right?
So you think you've got yourself a bargain? Maybe but you've also got yourself a waiting game. Perhaps during this game you realize there are better deals and what's even more sweet at the moment is that the houses that don't involve short sales are priced according to the Short Sale - so look at those and skip the short sale and the hassle. Be a smart buyer not a smarta$$ buyer would be my tip. It's like the spaving theory. You buy more to save! Get 3 for 2 deal. Right now your short sale buys you paper work anguish, dealing with bank minions in India, and a house that has had no or little maintenance by it's previous owner due to the fact they had no extra cash to maintain it.
Save yourself the hassle and buy a regular listing in a currently low market. Go shopping and get a bargain but avoid a short sale - be a smart shopper.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
