Doug Buenz
Real Estate Broker
Alain Pinel Realtors
(925) 463-2000
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I am a local Real Estate Broker with Alain Pinel Realtors serving the Pleasanton and the Tri-Valley area. I am an avid watcher of the local real estate market, as well as cultural and political events. But that is what I do, not who I am... » read more
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Well, not really. But it looks pretty tempting, especially after looking at Cafayate, Argentina, a new 1300 acre luxury home enclave that will ultimately have 360 homes built. It’s a bit remote though. After flying to Buenos Aires, you are still another two hour flight and three and a half hour drive away.
Estancia …
The California Public Employees Retirement System lost a whopping $500 million on one transaction alone in New York City. It is the biggest deal ever in the United States for a single piece of residential property
According to the Los Angeles Times:
The owners of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, a complex of 56 buildings …
The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced new rules on Wednesday that will make it harder and more expensive for first time homebuyers to get an FHA backed loan. Some potential buyers will be priced out of the market altogether.
The new rules are designed to help the agency reduce the number of foreclosures …
New federal regulations went into place on January 1 requiring lenders to issue new Good Faith Estimates (GFE) regarding loan fees and closing costs. The lender is now required to provide estimates on lender related charges that are the same as or nearly the same as the actual fees charged at closing. There …
Should you walk away from your home if the value is below the mortgage you owe on it? There is a growing chorus of academics and advisers who suggest you should. The so-called “strategic default” is becoming more commonplace. A strategic default is one where the borrower can afford to make the …
Forbes magazine just released a list of the top 10 cities it says are showing the most improvement in home prices. San Francisco was rated second, just behind Minneapolis, Minn. San Diego and Los Angeles came in at numbers 6 and 7, respectively. The west, in general, was well represented, with Phoenix …
Real estate investment by Bay Area residents has increased sharply, with the Sacramento, Las Vegas, Stocton & Tracy markets being the prime targets, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Statistics show that the purchase of out of area property by Bay Area residents is up 58% from last year at this time.
The wave …
Auctions are being used more by sellers for non-bank owned-properties in some cities. It’s an interesting and novel way to market a home.
It has been an interesting week on the national home sales front, as home sales have been reported as both up and down. First, sales of existing homes in November surged to a three year high. Then, sales of newly built single family homes fell 11%, to the lowest level in six months. …
Let’s face it. There are worse things in life than having a small house. But these Manhatten apartments are stretching the definition of small. The smallest is a 55 sq ft apartment in Hell’s Kitchen (courtesy of the New York Post):
When freelance event planner Eddie Rabon talks about his itty-bitty pad — …
A home in Encinitas, CA, that was remodeled as part of the “Extreme Makeover” television show is in risk of falling into foreclsure. It follows several other such properties, whos families received the “Makeovers” and then were not prepared for the bigger lifestyle that the new homes provided.
The Obama adminstration announced a new plan to help streamline the process for a short sale by creating uniform documentation and offering various incentives to the parties involved.
More people moved into the San Francisco Metroplitan Area last year than moved out, according to a report issued by the Brookings Institute. If that trend continues, it is bound to help improve the economy and housing market.
Alameda County had a 17.4% decline in foreclosures from one year ago and a 6.8% decrease in notices of foreclosure, while Contra Costa County saw a 41.2% increase in foreclosures and a 95.5% increase in notices of foreclosure.
In a quarterly survey of East Bay businesses commissioned by the Bay Area Council, 35% of respondents in Contra Costa/Solano County and 27% of respondents in Alameda County said they expect to cut jobs in the next six months. Those were the two worst results in the Bay Area.
Image by Getty Images via Daylife
The …
