Livermore Real Estate

3 Most Cost Effective home improvements!

Recently, Remodeling Magazine published its annual list of Cost Vs Value for home improvements. Some of the findings were very surprising, did you know for example that a new roof for your Livermore home will only bring you a 79% return upon sale, or that adding a master suite to your Pleasanton home will bring 77.3% when you sell. The survey covered the entire country but for this report we are looking at California and the SanFrancisco Bay Area.

Here are the 3 most cost effective home improvements you can make to your Livermore home.

• 1. Deck addition. The assumption was that the deck was a 16 by 20 foot deck using pressure treated joists supported by 4 by 4 posts anchored to concrete piers. It included railings and balusters. Typical price was found to be $13,509 giving a resale value of $17,665 a return of $130.8%!

• 2. Window Replacement. Average cost in San Francisco for window replacement (10 windows) 3 x 5 double hung wood exterior clad in vinyl was $14,102 with a recoup on sale of the house at $15,877 a potential return of 112.6%

• 3.Minor kitchen remodel. Key here is the word minor in this case less than $25,000 spent. A typical minor remodel may include items like cabinet refacing with new hardware, new oven, replacing laminate counters and installing mid priced sink and faucet. An average cost of doing this was $23,865 with a resale value of $27,099 a return of 113.6%!

New this year! FREE CITY REPORTS once you register at www.costvsvalue.com. A map on the site shows cost comparisons by region.

Livermore Real Estate

Sales Volume Up in Livermore and Pleasanton!

Inventory DOWN…SALES Increase!

Thats right,

November month to date saw an increase in sales Volume in the Valley.

Homes for sale in Livermore decreased from 525 to 496 in November and pending sales were at 35 mongh to date.

In Pleasanton there currently are 234 properties for sale and there were 31 sales this month.

Perhaps buyers who have waited are now a little more confident and see an opportunity to move into a new home before Christmas.

Now I am not saying that this heralds a new and dramatic change in this market but if the trend continues it indicates a move albeit a small one toward a more balanced Real estate market in Livermore and Pleasanton.

I know that this is not what you have been hearing or reading in the press, but the numbers

tell a different story, and the media is usually several months behind in its reporting.

Livermore Real Estate

Investors returning to the market!

Q. How do you know when it is a good time to buy or sell a house?

A. Watch what investors do, and do what they do.

Make no mistake, most of the smart investors sold at the peak of the market, well before the credit crunch hit, but now with prices down, a wide selection of properties and no shortage of ready tenant applicants, the market looks rosy for investors again. In fact in some areas like Brentwood and Antioch it is possible to find a 3 bedroom 2 bath single detached home which with 20% downpayment will provide a break even or positive cash flow and that has not been possible for years. Wise investors who have been through this type of market before understand that it is temporary. They buy when others sell and vice versa.

There has not been a better time to buy a home in well over a decade. First time buyers are nervous and rightly so. They want to wait until the market bottoms out. However the only way to know when that is is after prices have began to rise again. As long as you buy a house today and have a medium to long range ownership plan, say 3-5 years, you cannot be hurt!

What will hurt you is paying close to $2000/mth in rent for a property that is not yours, help your landlord payoff his loan and receive no shelter from Uncle Sam at Tax time!

Investors are buying NOW…shouldn,t you?

Livermore Real Estate

Interest Rates Fall

Fixed rate mortgages fell to 6.45% on average, the lowest in 5 months. As rates fall and house prices fall, the market will self correct, it happened in the early 90s and it will happen again.

Soon families who make the monster commute on freeway 580 from towns to the east will tire of paying $4/gallon soon to be gas prices and start looking very seriously at Pleasanton homes for sale, and Livermore homes as a very viable option. Interest rates will stay low and should remain that way for nextyear as it is an election year.

I believe that the last two months have seen us in recovery mode. Inventory has fallen this month and sales volume is up. Livermore houses which have sat on the market for several months have sold signs on them. A recent Brokers open house I held had a record for me 62 visitors that day! Slowly but surely buyers are cautiously re-entering the market.

Livermore Real Estate

What to expect in 2011

I keep getting asked when will house prices start rising, will it be next month, the spring perhaps well to answer that one we need to look at some cold hard facts.

Currently in Livermore CA we have well over 300 homes for sale, with an average sell rate of @ 40 -50 per month. In Pleasanton CA the picture is a little more balanced with @ 200-250 available homes for sale and the same sell rate. What this means is that we still have an oversupply of both new and resale properties for sale in and around the Tri-Valley area.

Historically slowdowns affect the Real Estate market in this area every 7 – 8 years and this one is long overdue. However since the Fed has relaxed rates I sense that we should see a flatter market developing next year with a turnaround and price appreciation starting in spring of 2012 – 2013.

Click here for homes for sale in Livermore CA and Pleasanton

Livermore Real Estate

Fed Lowers Rate

Pretty soon we will see the effect of lower interest rates on the Realty market. Just like Aug 2006 this has been a quiet month, but by all predictions sales should pick up from October onward.
Specifically it is expected that several new families will be transferred in to the town who will work at Lawrence Livermore Lab. It is hoped that those transferees will want to own a home near their work, and with prices having fallen those folks will have lots to choose from.

39 sales in Livermore August to date.

Livermore Real Estate

Inventory Creeps higher

At the moment there are 535 properties for sale in the town of Livermore, this is close to an all time record high and so with 60 or so sales a month we have several months of inventory to get through before the market gets into balance.
You can search all listings available at www.thescotsman.com, scroll down to the map, pick a town and click.

Mortgage lenders have overeacted to the lending crisis by, in some cases eliminating certain loans completely, and tightening standards for buyers and raising interest rates. This has directly affected move up buyers negatively. However August is usually the slowest month of the year and I would expect sales to pick up soon.

Want to know what your house is worth? visit www.livermorehomeprices.com.

Livermore Real Estate

Have we hit bottom?

Buyers continue to be cautious, understandable, but have we hit bottom as far as prices are concerned? I am not sure of that yet, but I will say that gradually finally after several months, buyers are beginning to come back to the market. More showings and more offers on properties in the valley are being written, albeit at lower prices that sellers hoped for. CNN reports that there are still 7.5 Million sub-prime loans whuich are set to adjust over the next 2 years so it will be a while yet till the market stabalizes.
I am told that in 2008, 9 out of every 10 sales will be a short sale ie; a property on which the loan amounts are higher than the value of the home. To this end it may be a good idea to begin now to negotiate with your lender if you know you will be in this position. Your lender will already have a dept and specialists installed to negotiate with you. You can always contact your Realtor and have them do this on your behalf.

Check homes for sale at www.thescotsman.com

Livermore Real Estate

Whats in a name?

What have we learned about this business?
The loan business is kinda slippery. Remember negative amortization loans? In the 1980s buyers hated those and would not touch them as since the lower monthly payments involved with them actually were insufficient to amortise the mortgage. As a result these loans became unpopular.
Fast forward 20 years and now lets introduce the neg am loan and call it…the Option Arm!
Buyers like this name, gives them the option to pay after all…..

Livermore Real Estate

How to save money on repairs when you sell

We recently sold a house in Livermore on Arlene Way and as is normal the buyers had a structural pest control inspection which resulted in a $4000 bill for dry rot to the exterior wood siding.After the seller calmed down he asked me what we could do about this. We looked at our options for cutting the cost. Did you know that you do not have to use the same company to do the work, well you don’t but we were in escrow and only had 2 weeks before closing so here is what we did.

I had the termite inspector come back out to the house at no charge and show the seller and myself exactly what was needed. The seller being a handy guy and working nearby at LLnL
decided he could do the removal of the dry rot himself and so he did, it took him a day and a half.
We then had the termite co come back out and reinspect, give us a clearance then they replaced the damaged boards and painted. Result was a final bill for $2200 a $1800 savings for the seller for a day and a half of labor!

If you as the seller get the pest inspection up front BEFORE you place your property for sale
then

a/ you get to choose the inspector
b/ you get to bid out the work usually at a substantial savings!

« Previous Page — Next Page »