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You’ve found a house, it has the right schools and it’s in your established budget.  Now comes the hard part. How much should you offer? Ask yourself the following 5 questions and you’ll find you’re in a strong position when it comes to writing a compelling and fair offer. 1. What will the market support?  First […] Read more

Spurred by a recent blog from Altos Research suggesting that top end homes are on the market longer but take fewer price reductions I decided to see if this holds true in the Los Gatos market. As you can see, home prices tell you a lot about the market and in this particular case it […] Read more

How do you choose between Conventional and FHA approved financing when buying a new home? That’s a question your loan agent is more than qualified to answer. However, there are some general guidelines that indicate which way is probably more advantageous to each situation. First and foremost, if you want to borrow more than $729,500 […] Read more

We hear a lot of talk these days about the effect of shadow inventory (also known as pending supply) on the housing market. Statistically a large percentage of American homes in distress (in default on their loan payments) will eventually be foreclosed upon or go through a short sale. A recent report suggests that the […] Read more

I read a blog post today (entitled “Selling House Porn to Gen X and Y” but that’s another story) and it got me thinking about how different generations of buyers approach the purchase of a new home. Think about the Boomers who grew up without the internet and, generally, with a defined job role. If […] Read more

3 years ago I could have asked 100 people if there was any disadvantage to refinancing their home loan to get a better rate and I’m sure at least 99 of them would have told me no.     Fast forward 3 years and the distinction between purchase money loans and non-purchase money loans (refis) […] Read more

Whether you are actively looking to buy or sell your home or just trying to keep up with this adrenalin fueled ride of a market, you need stats and info to clearly understand how the market is moving. If you look around or jump on google you can find huge amounts of data out there […] Read more

Move up buyers should make hay while the sun shines. I’m sure you’ve heard the news, July saw the biggest plunge in housing sales in years dropping a staggering 25.5 percent below the same time last year and driving fear into the hearts of even the bravest of sellers. Analysts have long been touting the […] Read more