Property Tax Relief: Helping Homeowners but Hurting Schools & Students

One of the areas in the Silicon Valley that has been hit the hardest by the mortgage meltdown is the East Side of San Jose while areas like Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, Los Gatos and Cupertino are still holding strong in value.

With property values coming down in some areas, their assessed value has also come down. This has made it possible for homeowners that got into the real estate market beginning in 2005 to receive a reduction in Read more

April 16th, 2008 · Filed Under Real Estate Information

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Predatory / Subprime Advertisement #2

Here is another submission for the series on “Predatory / Subprime Advertisement.”

The advertisement has been modified so that it won’t show names or phone numbers.

This advertisement has a much common message found in the Spanish magazines. It states Read more

April 15th, 2008 · Filed Under Predatory - Subprime Advertisement

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Income Tax Due Date April 15th

For all of you procrastinators (I’ve been guilty of this myself), the last day to file you income tax forms is TODAY!

If you are one of the many people that waited until the last minute to file your income taxes, the United States postal service will have several offices open until 11:59pm today. This was done so you can Read more

April 15th, 2008 · Filed Under UnReal Estate posts

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Buying a Short Sale or Pre-Foreclosure Property

Although several news reports state that the number of mortgage-defaults has continually gone up and that interest rates have not come down as expected keeping buyers wary about buying a home, they fail to mention that actually this is a great time to buy.

With property values already low, great number of properties available for sale, programs like: FHA and CalHFA (which we can qualify you for) helping buyers finance up to 97 percent and in some instances up to 102 percent with the option of having the seller cover for their down payment and closing cost, this is truly a buyer’s market.

Today more and more buyers are asking about buying foreclosed homes, but Read more

April 2nd, 2008 · Filed Under Real Estate Information

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Buying a Home at Foreclosure Auctions

As explained on the previous post about “Buying Short Sales or pre-foreclosure homes,” an NOD (Notice of Default) will be recorded against the property of a delinquent homeowner and a Trustee sale date will be set. If the homeowner is unable to sell the home before such date, the lender will try to sell the home at a foreclosure auction, generally held on the steps of the county courthouse or in a designated room in a government building or city hall.

Anyone can attend these auctions and bid to buy these properties. Generally the minimum bid is set to Read more

April 2nd, 2008 · Filed Under Real Estate Information

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Buying an REO (Real Estate Owned) Property

As I explained on the previous post about “Buying Short Sales or pre-foreclosure homes,” these types of homes offer some benefits but not without some delays. And as I mention on my other post about “Buying a Home at Foreclosure Auctions,” there are more risks for a regular buyer than there are benefits.

Another option available is an REO purchase. Even thought an REO purchase may not take as long as a Short Sale or be as risky as Foreclosure auction, there are a few things that you should be aware of when Read more

April 2nd, 2008 · Filed Under Real Estate Information

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