In just a few years Oakland, San Leandro and other East Bay homes have become affordable to many first time home buyers. The median price of Bay Area homes has continued to drop from $720,000 in the spring of 2007 to the current $295,000 median price of homes sold in Feb 2008.  The majority of these homes have been REOs(bank owned) and short sale (pre- foreclosure) listings but these have also brought down the price of surrounding owner occupied homes as well. Additional changes in lending practices and the $8000 federal tax credit have also stimulated buying in many neighborhoods. Maxwell Park, Laurel, and Dimond neighborhoods have seen plenty of buyers looking to get into these areas.  Some houses are selling for over $200,000 less than they were just…

2023 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

Oakland has always a diverse city but never more so than now. There are now three different homes in Oakland listed for $45,000 and less and 3 homes listed for more than $3.5 million. One of the Million dollar listings has breathtaking views of Oakland, San Francisco as well as the $33,000 home in the flat lands, though you might need a telescope to see it.

1504 92nd is a cute 2 bedroom 1 bath bungalow that is listed at $33,000. This same home would sell for 10 times this amount and more in many Oakland neighborhoods but as they say, ' location, location, location". In reading the MLS further, the $33,000 listing price is actually the opening bid at auction later in the month but I will keep you posted for what it actually sells for.

 

Another house on…

2165 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

I have received two different, very official looking letters wanting to "help me" with adjusting my county property taxes on my home. One is from the Homeowners Tax Review (HTR) and another from Property Tax Reassessment Co. Both letters try to resemble an official document from the county or state and come in envelopes that mislead.


Because of falling home prices in the last few years, Alameda county and others counties are willing to reassess the assessed value of your home. This can result is a significant savings on the property taxes you pay on your home.


The problem arises when these letters start appearing in my mailbox with headlines like ESTIMATED SAVINGS $438.74 or $1812.50!! That seems great, but the fine print says that they are going to…

4649 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post

I read an interesting article about former Golden State Warrior Latrell Sprewell suing his old real estate agent in regards to disclosure of water damage at a home he sold in Hayward CA back in 2002.

We all remember Latrell and the talented but troubled Warrior guard who choked his coach P.J. Carlesimo at practice back in 1997. While this was a black eye for both the team and the city, it seems that the Warriors have moved on to field another entertaining team, albeit on out of the playoffs.

Latrell is suing his agent for not disclosing a water damage problem costing Latrell $540,000 in repairs bills when an arbitrator decided in favor of the new owners. He is suing his agent to recover the $540,000. Wow. 

 

…

2033 Views, 0 Comments

Read Full Post