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June, 2009:

Reinvigorating the Housing Market

Jun 13th, 2009
by Kathy Rain.
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Just received this information from Rick Turley, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage President, San Francisco Bay Area.  We hope that the suggestions that Realogy President, Richard Smith made, are taken to heart.  Glad to be a part of a company that is working hard for the American consumer, which means you and me.

This week Realogy (Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s parent company) President Richard Smith met with legislators regarding the need for policy initiatives concerning the real estate industry and the economy as a whole.  Specifically, the Business Roundtable (an association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. corporations)— of which Richard is the chair—issued a set of recommendations for the White House and Congress that are aimed at jump starting the housing market in order to stimulate a broader economic recovery.

The Business Roundtable’s recommendations are as follows:

•         Keep mortgage interest rates at historically low levels (below 5 percent) for at least one year;
•         Expand the current First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit incentive from the lesser of 10 percent of the purchase price of the home or $8,000 to a higher limit of either 10 percent or $15,000 for all homebuyers, remove the income restrictions and include all primary residence purchases for one full year;
•         Conduct a thorough review of current foreclosure mitigation and loan-modification programs in light of rising loan-modification re-default rates;
•         Make permanent the current temporary conforming loan limits; and
•         Continue to review and strengthen government efforts already underway to review and refine mortgage lending practices.

We believe targeted, demand-side solutions—such as the ones Business Roundtable is recommending—will provide a critical next step for a housing recovery that will help create jobs and boost the economy as a whole. To obtain a copy of the Business Roundtable press release and its Housing Working Group’s detailed recommendations, click here. To read an article that appeared in today’s online edition of The Wall Street Journal containing an interview about the Business Roundtable’s recommendations and why they are crucial to jumpstarting the housing market, click here.  We will communicate with you as any legislative opportunities occur for you to contact members of Congress and voice your support—but for now, just know that we appreciate your support and are proud to be part of this initiative.

One reason why we practice real estate with Coldwell Banker

Jun 8th, 2009
by Kathy Rain.
1 comment

Just got this from our President, Rick Turley. Thought this was really timely since Michael had mentioned this exact fact to a Home Owner the other day.

From the desk of Rick Turley.
“While a few brokerages offer in-house attorneys, no other real estate brokerage legal team has had the profound influence within the California real estate community than that of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Legal Dream Team. With five in-house, full-time attorneys, the brokerage’s Dream Team is working to better inform principals about the potential pitfalls in real estate transactions and has been influential in shaping a wide array of real estate forms and practices not only here in Northern California but statewide as well.
A Company of Firsts
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Legal Team is known for many industry firsts, including:
• First to recognize and then correct the voids in many disclosure practices by creating forms that were ultimately adopted industry wide.
• First to introduce a Supplement to the Real Estate Transfer Disclosure Statement and was instrumental in creating Supplemental Seller Questionnaires printed by various local Associations of Realtors; 15 years after Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage first introduced its Supplemental form, the California Association of Realtors created their own Supplemental Seller Disclosure form.
• First to introduce a Market Conditions Advisory which warns buyers and sellers that there are market fluctuations and that regardless of market conditions, buyers should be protecting their interests with inspection and appraisal contingencies in their purchase contracts.
• First real estate brokerage legal team to work towards standardizing disclosures in all areas serviced by our branch offices.
• One of the first to introduce in-house training seminars to ensure ongoing Agent training as it relates to best practices in real estate.
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s Legal Team is truly one of our brokerage’s best kept secrets and an influential team of legal dynamos that I am very proud to call colleagues. Our Legal Team has influenced the entire real estate industry and they continue to work with local Associations of Realtors to create standardized local disclosures that relate to unique issues within specific cities and counties. The influence that our team has had within the industry is compelling and truly a source of pride for our entire Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage family.
Legal. Marketing. Technology. It’s a triple threat combination of support that Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage offers that very few companies can match.”

What most buyers and sellers need to know is that this team trains us and supports us like no other Realtors in the business. So why hire any other Realtor that doesn’t have the benefit of a Dream Team of Legal Experts.

Monday Morning Market Update-June 8, 2009

Jun 8th, 2009
by Kathy Rain.
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PACIFICA, CALIFORNIA

Active Listings-48 Single Family Homes. 11 listed for over $1,000,000 and 8 listed between $999,000 to $700,000. Declining for the third week with new listings not keeping pace with Only 3 New Listings this week.

Pending Sales-61 Single Family Homes with 4 listed over 1 Million and 32 listed under $500,000.
12 Properties went Sale Pending this week. All 12 were listed between $500,000 to $800,000.

89 Closed Sales since January 1, 2009 with the highest list price of $1099,000 that closed at the year to date high of $999,000. 67 homes have sold for $600,000 or less.
7 Homes Closed this week. All 7 were listed at $728,000 or less which shows price ranges are moving up.

With the current number of Active Listings divided by the average number of homes sold YTD, there is a little less than 2 months of inventory of Active listings. This reflects a Sellers market. It seems that most of the short sales have sold, and this weeks pending sales have taken a big jump up in price range.

HALF MOON BAY through MONTARA, CALIFORNIA

Active Listings-148 Single Family Homes
9 New Listings this week. Active listings continue to keep steady at around 150.

Pending Sales-22 Single Family Homes with 3 listed for over $1,000,000 and 12 under $700,000.
3 Properties went Sale Pending this week. List prices were varied at $525,000, $774,000 and $1,095,000.

35 Homes Closed since January 1, 2009 with only 5 that closed over $1,000,000 and 20 under $699,000.
2 Homes Closed this week both over 1 Million.

74 Active Listings are listed at over $1,000,000. New listings and pending sales are keeping pace each week. So it looks like very little change from week to week. With approximately 5 months of inventory, this is looking like a buyers market.

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