Are you a slave to driving the kids everywhere and worry that they aren't safe either walking or riding bikes from your home to school or sport activities? Would you prefer to live where you can walk to church, the grocery or the local Coffee spot? While some clearly adore living behind secure gates in an exclusive enclave, increasingly "Walkability" is becoming a factor that savvy Real Estate Buyers are considering.
Source: The following is excerpted from www.walkscore.com Go to this website and put in your address to see how "walkable" your residence is!!!
What makes a neighborhood walkable?
A center: Walkable neighborhoods have a discernable center, whether it's a shopping district, a main street, or a public space.
Density: The neighborhood is compact enough for local businesses to flourish and for public transportation to run frequently.
Mixed income, mixed use: Housing is provided for everyone who works in the neighborhood: young and old, singles and families, rich and poor. Businesses and residences are located near each other.
Parks and public space: There are plenty of public places to gather and play.
Pedestrian-centric design: Buildings are placed close to the street to cater to foot traffic, with parking lots relegated to the back.
Nearby schools and workplaces: Schools and workplaces are close enough that most residents can walk from their homes.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
House of the Week...
A perfect home for adults just came on the market! Located at 216 Selby Lane in Atherton, it is a small home by Atherton standards, but it is well priced at $1,695,000 and offers many amenities and loads of privacy...
Please call me at (650) 543-1215 DIRECT or (650) 888-6628 CELL to see this property.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
House of the Week...
Well, currently there are several new homes on the market in Menlo Park and Atherton. One that I think is really special is located at 1080 Lassen Drive in Menlo Park. Beautifully done Interior Design by Joanne James, this home is filled with light and lovely finishes.
Priced attractively at $3,540,000.
To see this home please give me a call at (650) 543-1215.
Mortgage Rate Outlook
Oct. 2, 2009 -- With September now
behind us, stock markets started
October in a fashion similar to other
Octobers: they sold off to some
degree. After a pretty good third
quarter's profits were booked, at
least some of those gains from
equity sales have been stashed
back into Treasuries, driving yields
down. This is turn is pressuring
mortgage rates down to the lows of
earlier this year.
The overall average for 30-year
FRMs declined by almost a tenthpercent
this week, and HSH's FRMI
closed Friday with five-day average
of 5.40%. Five-one hybrid ARMs
also eased back, shedding eight
basis points to close the national
survey at 4.74%. At 5.07%, conforming
30-year FRMs sported their
lowest average rate since the late
March to late May period gave us
nine consecutive weeks just over
(and under) the 5% mark.
A bright spot was Construction
Spending rose by 0.8%, its second
positive reading of the year. More
impressive was the 4.7% rise in
spending for residential projects,
which was more than enough to
offset drags from the troubled commercial
sector (-0.1%) and the 1.1%
drop in the public sector. Stimulus
money isn't making it out to lowerlevel
projects all that quickly, and
cash-strapped states and counties
are simply putting projects on indefinite
hold.
Low mortgage rates continue to
provide support for housing markets,
and the gains in residential
construction spending could be one
of the keys to getting a firmer recovery
underway. However, credit
conditions remain tight, and while
home prices have begun to firm to
some degree, it may be a long time
until most underwater homeowners
will be able to take advantage of
those low rates to recast their balance
sheets.
Does October continue to live up to
its reputation as a wicked month for
stocks? To the degree that it does,
mortgage rates should benefit.
Spring lows ignited a fair bit of refi
activity, but building lasting refi
waves requires low (if not continually
declining) interest rates for a
period of weeks, even months. We'll
continue to have low rates, but
significant declines are unlikely. If
you're considering refinancing, don't
hesitate too long or a fickle October
market may catch you napping.
Treasury yields dipped at week's
end, so mortgage rates should start
next week on a softer note.
behind us, stock markets started
October in a fashion similar to other
Octobers: they sold off to some
degree. After a pretty good third
quarter's profits were booked, at
least some of those gains from
equity sales have been stashed
back into Treasuries, driving yields
down. This is turn is pressuring
mortgage rates down to the lows of
earlier this year.
The overall average for 30-year
FRMs declined by almost a tenthpercent
this week, and HSH's FRMI
closed Friday with five-day average
of 5.40%. Five-one hybrid ARMs
also eased back, shedding eight
basis points to close the national
survey at 4.74%. At 5.07%, conforming
30-year FRMs sported their
lowest average rate since the late
March to late May period gave us
nine consecutive weeks just over
(and under) the 5% mark.
A bright spot was Construction
Spending rose by 0.8%, its second
positive reading of the year. More
impressive was the 4.7% rise in
spending for residential projects,
which was more than enough to
offset drags from the troubled commercial
sector (-0.1%) and the 1.1%
drop in the public sector. Stimulus
money isn't making it out to lowerlevel
projects all that quickly, and
cash-strapped states and counties
are simply putting projects on indefinite
hold.
Low mortgage rates continue to
provide support for housing markets,
and the gains in residential
construction spending could be one
of the keys to getting a firmer recovery
underway. However, credit
conditions remain tight, and while
home prices have begun to firm to
some degree, it may be a long time
until most underwater homeowners
will be able to take advantage of
those low rates to recast their balance
sheets.
Does October continue to live up to
its reputation as a wicked month for
stocks? To the degree that it does,
mortgage rates should benefit.
Spring lows ignited a fair bit of refi
activity, but building lasting refi
waves requires low (if not continually
declining) interest rates for a
period of weeks, even months. We'll
continue to have low rates, but
significant declines are unlikely. If
you're considering refinancing, don't
hesitate too long or a fickle October
market may catch you napping.
Treasury yields dipped at week's
end, so mortgage rates should start
next week on a softer note.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Doing Your Real Estate Homework: The New York Times Rent vs. Buy Calculator
A common question for all first-time home buyers is -- Does it make sense for me to buy or rent?
It’s likely that you’ll receive as many different answers to this question as people you ask it to. The majority of Realtors are going to tell you it’s a great time to buy because interest rates are low and numerous media outlets are reporting that the US is at the tail end of the recession. At the other end of the spectrum, there are people who feel like it never makes sense to buy and that you will always come out ahead financially if you con-tinue to rent. The reality is that determining if it’s a good time to buy requires a full review of the buyer, from their finances to their life goals.
Most first-time home buyers want an easy, non-intrusive way to figure out if it’s the right time for them to buy. Cirios has searched the Web for the best rent vs. buy calculator that combines ease of use with a valuable output.
The one we recommend can be found on The New York Times’ website. The basic form of the calculator only requires 5 inputs (Monthly rent, Home price, Down payment, Mortgage rate and Annual property taxes) to give you a reading on when (if ever) buying is better than renting.
Here are our tips and precautions regarding this calculator which will allow you to get the most out of this web-based tool:
Use a rental rate for a home similar to the home you are looking to purchase. If you input the rent of your one-bedroom apartment and want to see if it makes sense to buy a 3-bedroom home, the calculator will tell you it’s never a good time to buy.
Do not use an annual home price appreciation of more than 3%. At this point, its unreasonable to expect more than 3% annual appreciation.
Use a higher than a 1% increase in annual rent increase/decrease. If you are thinking about buying a home, it is likely that you are looking to upgrade your current living situation. If you don’t buy a home now, over the next 10 years you are very likely to be renting a larger home. As a re-sult, you’ll probably be paying more than just your standard 1% rent increase.
(NOTE: There are advanced settings on the right side of the calculator which allow you to make the calculator more reflective of your personal situation.)
Source: Cirios Trends -- Getting to the Bottom of the Housing Market
It’s likely that you’ll receive as many different answers to this question as people you ask it to. The majority of Realtors are going to tell you it’s a great time to buy because interest rates are low and numerous media outlets are reporting that the US is at the tail end of the recession. At the other end of the spectrum, there are people who feel like it never makes sense to buy and that you will always come out ahead financially if you con-tinue to rent. The reality is that determining if it’s a good time to buy requires a full review of the buyer, from their finances to their life goals.
Most first-time home buyers want an easy, non-intrusive way to figure out if it’s the right time for them to buy. Cirios has searched the Web for the best rent vs. buy calculator that combines ease of use with a valuable output.
The one we recommend can be found on The New York Times’ website. The basic form of the calculator only requires 5 inputs (Monthly rent, Home price, Down payment, Mortgage rate and Annual property taxes) to give you a reading on when (if ever) buying is better than renting.
Here are our tips and precautions regarding this calculator which will allow you to get the most out of this web-based tool:
Use a rental rate for a home similar to the home you are looking to purchase. If you input the rent of your one-bedroom apartment and want to see if it makes sense to buy a 3-bedroom home, the calculator will tell you it’s never a good time to buy.
Do not use an annual home price appreciation of more than 3%. At this point, its unreasonable to expect more than 3% annual appreciation.
Use a higher than a 1% increase in annual rent increase/decrease. If you are thinking about buying a home, it is likely that you are looking to upgrade your current living situation. If you don’t buy a home now, over the next 10 years you are very likely to be renting a larger home. As a re-sult, you’ll probably be paying more than just your standard 1% rent increase.
(NOTE: There are advanced settings on the right side of the calculator which allow you to make the calculator more reflective of your personal situation.)
Source: Cirios Trends -- Getting to the Bottom of the Housing Market
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)