Archive for January, 2010

Raymond Stoklosa

Condition of Bank Owned Homes Eliminates Most Buyers

Condition of Bank Owned Homes Eliminates 75% of Buyers Bank owned foreclosure homes in San Mateo County represent a small subset of the overall housing resale market, and most are in need of rehabilitation. The serious damage to most bank owned homes that often exists pretty much eliminates 75% of all qualified buyers as only [...]

Raymond Stoklosa

Is Buying a Condo with FHA Financing About to Become History?

Effective December 2009, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) implemented a new stricter approval process for condominiums to be eligible for FHA financing. Why Should a Condo Buyer Care? More borrowers qualify with FHA financing than with conventional loans due to the low down payment (3.5% down) program and the looser credit standards. Even the mortgage [...]

Chela Stoklosa

Hallmark Belmont Homeowners Association Meeting

January 2010 Meeting Minutes Lt Daly from the Belmont Police Department joined our meeting and gave an update on the Al Korn murder case. Tyer Hutchinson is now in San Mateo County Jail and is expected to be arraigned on Thursday Jan 21st. Hallmark Traffic Study Update Lt Daly also updated us on the traffic [...]

Rebecca Williamson

What Sold in San Mateo Park and El Cerrito Park?

When you are looking to buy and/or sell a San Mateo home, it is important to know what other buyers were willing to pay for similar homes in the last 90 days. This is the only way you can determine how much a similar home is worth in today’s market. If you are considering making [...]

Raymond Stoklosa

How Markets are Affected by Foreclosures

The Tale of Two Markets The local real estate market – any market area – is really the story of two categories of homes.  The first is the traditional, conventional market of homes for sale, and the second is the distress marketplace of homes owned by people in the midst of a financial crisis.  Foreclosure [...]