A Personal Emergency Preparedness class is being hosted by Liz Wormer at 2917 Biddleford Drive in San Ramon. The purpose of the PEP program is to educate residents about all-hazard disaster preparedness and to help our citizens become more self-sufficient in major disasters. More details are available here.

The recent rise in reported cases of West Nile Virus in Contra Costa County is being linked with the recent rise in home foreclosures. The Contra Costa Mosquito and Vector Control District says that a mosquito can lay her eggs in just two tablespoons of standing water. The recent rise in foreclosures in the state has resulted in many unattended spas, pools, fountains and other sources of standing water.

Reported cases of the West Nile Virus are on the rise. Last year there were 96 reported cases of human infection by this time. This year there are 137 reported cases.

On August 7, the CCMVD reported test positive mosquitoes for the West Nile Virus in Oakley and Antioch. Since that time, both communities have been sprayed twice to help reduce the mosquito population.

Related Post: West Nile Claims 2 in Contra Costa

From Owen Hennefer, our in-house lender:

Indymac yesterday completed two trades for mortgage-backed securities with Private Investors.

These are the first non-GSE trades in the last 36 days. So, this is a good sign that the panic may be subsiding and private money could bring liquidity back to the mortgage market. I still wouldn't expect a quick turn-around, but it's a start. As things come back it will unfold from quality prime loans first and eventually we'll see some movement in some of the riskier products as they start to open up a bit again. Don't hold your breath for option arms or stated w2 to get aggressive again, but we could see some of the other alt-a products that make sense and have historically performed well come back, but likely at reduced loan-to-value.

People are going to have to be able to afford their home now. That's the new market and that's the mentality you have to embrace to continue to survive this market. The quicker you move to build your business, marketing and clientele around that concept the quicker you will ramp up start to take advantage of what is there.

Current real estate market conditions in the San Ramon Valley favor move-up buyers. Move-Up Buyers with good credit ratings and a significant equity are in the driver’s seat these days at the negotiating table. These power buyers are the people facing the least hassles and resistance in today’s challenging real estate market.

The cooling housing market in Danville, San Ramon, Dublin and Pleasanton coupled with the effects of the upheavals in the loan industry have combined to position move-up buyers into their strongest negotiating position in the TriValley area in the last 12 years or so. Though housing prices have not fallen significantly in this part of the East Bay, housing sales have cooled - see the charts.

The greatest asset a move-up buyer can have in this volatile housing market is a professional real estate agent with the following:

• Strong Negotiating Skills
• Intimate Knowledge of the Area
• Concise Understanding of Current Real Estate Trends and Conditions

Bringing together the assets of a move-up power buyer and a skilled real estate agent can result in significant savings on price as well as producing other concessions on the part of the seller that add up to increased bang for the buyer’s buck.

Some of the incentives we are seeing these days in San Ramon Valley real estate are:

• Seller paying for more repairs
• Seller paying for upgrades
• Seller paying points on loan
• Seller offering “get-away” trips for buyer

Move-Up buyers interested in purchasing a new home from a builder can also benefit from using a professional real estate agent with experience in new home sales. These agents know the game new home builders play with buyers. Agents with new home sales experience can often get a buyer the house they want with upgrades they didn’t know they could ask for.

Needless to say, our team covers all of these bases. Check out our skill set and give us a call to help you take advantage of this incredible market opportunity for move-up buyers in the TriValley area of the East Bay.

Home sellers are falling into the money pit trap left and right and it’s costing them more than money. I’m not talking about remodeling, renovation or upgrades. I’m talking about pricing it right from the “get go” when deciding to sell.

Once again, I find myself in a situation where good advice and experience have been sacrificed to hope and fantasy. The casualty in this affair will be my reputation as it is often difficult for the seller to own their part in the whole affair.

Which affair, you may ask? Let me give you the quick outline.

• Seller wants to sell and move up
• We tell them what is happening in the local real estate market and suggest a price in line with current market conditions.
• Seller believes their house is worth more based on the past market and the fact that they want more regardless of what is happening in the local real estate market.
• 6 weeks go by as traffic and interest dwindle, the local housing market continues to move downward and the whole loan industry goes into meltdown.
• The seller, having resisted numerous suggestions to reprice the house, agrees to lower the price.
• Instead of pricing the house at the price we suggest that is in line with current conditions, the seller prices it at the price we originally suggested 2 months ago.

You see where this is going?

The seller is following the market down despite our best attempts to get them in front of the market. The seller is losing money and unfortunately and worse for us is they think it is a lack of marketing, advertising or effort on our part.

They think this in spite of the fact that there were several “very interested” parties who thought the property was appealing, but was over priced and needed more upgrading.

More could be said to outline the whole affair, but the bottom line is – the biggest challenge in real estate is getting a property priced right.

AND the biggest hurdle to this is getting the seller to look at their house not through their eyes, but through the eyes of the buyer.

We had a similar situation about nine months ago, it didn’t work out for us (except in the reputation hit mentioned in the second paragraph above). The house eventually sold after we fought the pricing battle and lost the listing war. The agent that followed in our footsteps was able to lower the price significantly (to where we were trying to get it from the “get go”). He also lowered his already discounted commission to get the listing.

Now I’m not trying to be “Woe is me” and tell you a sad real estate agent tale. On the contrary, this is part of the business and despite our best efforts, we seem to get into this situation once or twice a year as we do our best to work with people. What I’m trying to accomplish here is to create some space for the seller to entertain the thought that “market trends and conditions” have a significant impact on what a house will sell for today – not yesterday, last week, last month, or last year.

If you are selling or planning to sell your house, grill your agent on real estate trends in your area. If they can’t pull out the data to show you what’s happening in your market – move on. If they can – listen up, they are probably trying to help you get the best deal possible in a changing world. This will save you money, time and lots of aggravation.