Fantastic real estate investment opportunities are available in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The declining U.S. housing market with the resulting foreclosures have resulted in a large inventory of bank owned properties in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. These properties represent the type of investment properties that foreign investors have been hoping for.

The U.S. real estate market is one of the most sought after investment opportunities for international buyers. Today’s bargain prices in the San Francisco Bay Area is resulting in more and more foreign investment activity in the Bay Area housing market.

One Realtor in the East Bay community of San Ramon recently announced she had a Chinese investor arriving in a couple of weeks that was interested in buying up to 100 homes in Antioch and Brentwood, CA.

It seems every street in Antioch and Brentwood has at least one home for sale on it. In some of the neighborhoods we have been through, you find 4 or five homes for sale on some streets. Many of these properties are vacant and bank owned.

The situation is far from over. You can find continuing signs of more homes going into the foreclosure process. Lawns are dying and home maintenance is suffering.

Homes that sold for $800K+ a few years ago are now being priced in the $300K range. Rents are rising and this is increasing the potential for positive cash flow investment properties in the East Bay Area – something very hard to accomplish with the high property values in California.

Some golf course homes in Brentwood, Ca. are listed at prices that reflect almost no appreciation for the past several years. These are great buys for waiting for golf enthusiasts. Our recent tour through Antioch and Brentwood, confirmed our belief that these communities offer great retirement opportunities for baby boomers in San Ramon, Danville and other I-680 corridor communities.

We wrote about: Now is the Time to Buy that Retirement Home

Antioch and Brentwood represent a perfect buying opportunity for young couples looking for their first home. Housing this affordable is hard to come by in the Bay Area. The housing market will recover and when it does, the same affordable housing dynamics will push property values in Antioch and Brentwood back up.

When BART extends into Antioch, this will bring more upward pressure to home prices in the area. Population increase in the area is expected to be in excess of 40,000 in the next 20 years.

When the bottle-neck on Highway 4 in Antioch is removed, another positive factor for home value increase will be in place.

All-in-all Antioch and Brentwood currently offer some of the best real estate values for buyers and investors in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area.

Buying real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area is always a local experience. The San Francisco Bay area is rife with real estate micro-markets. In our region of the East Bay, we have local real estate markets where the drop in home values can vary by 30% or more – and these communities are only 30 miles apart. This is one reason why international buyers need local professional real estate agents to assist them with their purchase of U.S. eal estate.

Even when the buyer is from out of the area or out of the country, real estate is always a local affair. Many buyers and investors from China, Korea, The Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Canada and many other countries are in the process of buying or investing in U.S. real estate.

The National Association of Realtors reports that in the Spring of 2007 7.3% of homes sold in Florida were to foreign nationals. 65% of Florida real estate agents reported at least one transaction with a foreign buyer.

Nationally, almost one third of Realtors are reporting sales to international clients. 25% of responding Realtors report that their international business is increasing.

A rough profile of the typical international home buyer:

• the typical international buyer purchased a single-family home or townhouse
• the buyer’s primary purpose in purchasing the home was as a vacation venue for family and friends
• the median sales price paid by the typical foreign buyer was $299,500 and was financed through a mortgage loan
• the typical foreign buyer in the U.S. spends 4.2 months in their U.S. property

Sixty-nine percent of international home buyers used mortgage financing, while 28 percent purchased their home with cash. One positive consequence for U.S. housing markets – especially those that boast a significant share of foreign home buyers – is that such purchases lower the risk of mortgage defaults. As a result, cash purchases lessen the foreclosure risk against this group of buyers. Lower foreclosure risk, in turns, lessens the possibility of a price decline in a market. In the wake of the subprime mortgage fallout in the spring of 2007 and the subsequent increase in mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures, the healthy share of cash purchases by foreign buyers is a good sign for the future of those markets.

The reasons international buyers purchase U.S. real estate.

California is the #2 destination for international homebuers with 16% off all foreign real estate purchases. Asian buyers accounted for 44% of all international buyers purchasing California real estate.

The NAR’s conclusion from the survey:

We live in a global economy where there are virtually no trade borders. The Internet is accessible from nearly all countries around the world. Web sites display information about U.S. real estate to any potential home buyers regardless of where they live. And as more and more people in different nations recognize the value of owning property, the opportunities and challenges for real estate professionals to broker U.S. property to foreign home buyers are numerous.

While U.S. housing markets are no longer performing at record-breaking levels, U.S. real estate is still considered a prime investment opportunity for foreign buyers and a “safe haven” in which to put their money. Whether they use their U.S. home as rental/investment property, as a vacation home or both, non-U.S. residents account for a significant share of home buying activity. It is likely they will continue to do so. With the weakened U.S. dollar against foreign currencies, those currencies buy a lot more than in previous years. For example, the British Pound Sterling was worth $1.44 in 2001; by 2004 it was worth $1.83. As of mid-year 2007, the pound was worth nearly $2.00. The euro has also increased in value against the U.S. dollar. More purchasing power for foreign buyers mean they can afford “more house” – particularly in a stabilizing U.S. housing market.

Another factor drives international participation in U.S. residential real estate markets. The U.S. market contains a large supply of real estate. It is also fairly easy to purchase a home in this country; the U.S. does not restrict or scrutinize most property purchases by foreigners, as happens in other countries. There are few barriers to owning a property. Except to the extent necessary to enforce U.S. laws and regulations (including immigration and homeland security), foreign participation in the U.S. housing market is largely free. Foreign investors have the same property rights in the U.S. as Americans do.

Foreign nationals purchasing real estate in the U.S. benefit from engaging the services of professional Realtors with international experience like our own Paul Mees. Paul is a native of The Netherlands. He has an international business background and owns homes in the U.S., Holland and Italy. You can contact Paul at (925) 963–4246

Related Article:

Dollar, real estate slump make American property appealing to foreigners 

Portable Toilets and Temporary Fencing in the San Francisco Bay Area is booming! From Monterey California, to San Jose, to Oakland, San Francisco, Danville, Palo Alto, Gilroy, Carmel, Concord, Pleasanton, Freemont, San Leandro… Well you name it -if it’s in the San Francisco Bay Area or the East Bay Area – Hanson & Fitch probably has their temporary fencing or portable toilets in the vicinity.

This 30 year old business is moving onto the Internet in a big way to help build and expand their business in the SF Bay Area.

I met up with Todd Fitch today at Peet’s in Danville, CA where we shared a cup of coffee and reviewed the progress made this last week with his Internet Marketing efforts. His goal is none other than complete domination of the Internet for Temporary Fencing and Portable Toilets in the Bay Area.

Todd’s putting in 12 to 14 hours a day between his home in Danville, his business location in Gilroy, and all of the job sites he visits. Currently the monster job is at Pebble Beach Golf Course where Hanson & Fitch is installing a variety of temporary fencing and portable toilets for the upcoming AT&T Pro Am Golf Tournament.

Over coffee, Todd told me about the monster scoreboard – located on the 18^th green at Pebble Beach in Monterey,CA. This monster scoreboard is a monster job for Hanson & Fitch. The monster scoreboard will be the focus of much media attention and will be seen many times by tens of millions of viewers worldwide.

So, it’s a monster job for Todd, to make sure everything is perfect. BTW – the monster scoreboard is not electronic – real human beings have to post the scores! Now there is a monster job!

Todd told me that Hanson & Fitch has over 40 miles of temporary fencing in their yard. Usually about half is out on sites leaving them plenty of material to work with for those last minute parades, parties, rock concerts, sink holes or earthquakes that sneak up on us.

And I shouldn’t forget the portable toilets! Hanson & Fitch has over 100 portable toilets of the “port-a-potty” type. They also have 2 dual and 2 quad trailer units of their VIP temporary restrooms.

If you have a monster job in need of temporary fencing or portable toilets – give Todd a call - 1-800-847-7037