“Appraisal” doesn’t mean “Approval” anymore.

Contingencies

Contingencies are key checkpoints that are inserted into the Residential Purchase Contract to protect the buyer …or more specifically, the buyer’s deposit, in the event that something happens outside of the buyer’s control that prevents the sale from proceeding.  And that’s important, because customarily the good faith deposit that the buyer submits with the offer is usually 3% of the purchase price — that’s no small chunk of change on any home in San Carlos!

The most common contingencies that buyers invoke are usually Title, Property Condition, and Finance.   The information needed to remove Title and Property Inspection can be obtained in relatively short order — title reports are readily available, and property inspections are usually completed in a matter of days (if you have a good inspector.)

The Final Checkpoint

So that leaves us with the Finance Contingency.  Because it typically takes the lender longer to gather the information that they need to approve the loan to fund this purchase, the Finance Contingency is usually the last one to be removed, and consequently the last “safety net” for your hefty deposit check.  You’ll notice that a good buyer’s agent will always request a longer removal period for this contingency than all of the others.

So what is a Finance Contingency?  The PRDS Residential Purchase Contract defines it as:

“…this contract is made contingent on Buyer’s obtaining a loan commitment for the financing described in Paragraphs 1D and/or 1E, and shall have ___ days from Acceptance within which to remove or otherwise act on said contingency.  (Buyer agrees to verify all loan terms directly with Lender prior to removing this contingency.)”

The most important sentence in this entire contingency is the last one.   Here’s why…

It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over..

When you are “pre-approved” for a loan, you do most of the work with the bank up front, prior to making an offer on a home.  Consequently, when you get a pre-approval letter from the bank and you’re ready to go shopping, there are only a few conditions attached this approval — the biggest of which is that the bank requires a satisfactory appraisal which justifies the purchase amount.  This is where things get tricky… … Continue Reading

The San Carlos Real Estate Week in Review: 2/13/10

Inventory Analysis

Finally, a significant surge in inventory — and what do you know….it’s the week after the Super Bowl!   This week’s surge was the biggest one-week increase that we have seen in new listings for months, and it didn’t take very long for some of these to sell.   This is great news for buyers, but multiple offers are still happening, and prices are being driven over list price .   This is a strong indication that there’s still no balance in this market.

Here’s a snapshot of the San Carlos single family home market, as of 2/13. The previous week’s stats are in parentheses:

Single-Family Homes Sold in San Carlos:

Below are the single-family homes that sold this past week in San Carlos. Click on the respective addresses to get all the details.

… Continue Reading

White Oaks BlogCast: The San Carlos Real Estate Report Card — January 2010

A New Format

Welcome to the first installment of the “San Carlos Real Estate Report Card” series for 2010.   Much like I did last year, I’ll use this series to give you a high level recap of what happened in San Carlos for the prior month.  But I decided to change the format a bit this year, with some new graphs that yield better information than before.   The biggest change, though, is that I’ll be doing the report cards in a Blogcast format.  This will allow me to go in more depth into the market conditions, buyer and seller behavior, and other commentary that’s difficult to capture in print.

So check click on the “Play” arrow below, and follow along on the chart.  I hope you find the new format useful and interesting!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The San Carlos Real Estate Week in Review: 2/6/10

Inventory Analysis

Virtually all of the inventory churn continues to happen in the sub-$1M range.  This past week, with the exception of the new listing at 813 Tamarack, all of the other listings, pendings, and sold properties were below $1M.     The entry-level market once again is carrying the market in San Carlos.

Here’s a snapshot of the San Carlos single family home market, as of 2/6. The previous week’s stats are in parentheses:

Single-Family Homes Sold in San Carlos:

Below are the single-family homes that sold this past week in San Carlos. Click on the respective addresses to get all the details.

… Continue Reading

Does the Super Bowl Have an Impact on San Carlos Real Estate?

“The Super Bowl Effect.”

Happy Friday, everyone.  On the eve of Super Bowl weekend, I thought I’d pose this question:  Does the Super Bowl have an effect on the San Carlos real estate market?  As it turns out, many Realtors actually have a pretty strong opinion about this.  Most agents I spoke with swear that Super Bowl weekend marks the real start of the spring buying season, since sales activity makes a big “hockey stick” (to use another sports analogy) upward right after the big weekend.  It’s almost as if the Super Bowl is an honorary milestone that must be passed before the real buying and selling can begin.  Go figure…

The effect seems to be even more noticeable when there’s a local team playing… (but you’d have to go back quite a few years to substantiate this, if you know what I mean…)  But regardless of who is playing, the Super Bowl phenomenon was noticeable enough that many years ago a former colleague of mine began to track the general activity (listings, sales, open house attendance) before and after the Super Bowl, and she absolutely swears by it.  She’s been at this way longer than I, and I respect her opinion, so I therefore submit it as empirical evidence… or something like that.

Are You Ready For Some….Real Estate?

It makes sense, if you think about it.  Football is arguably the most popular televised sport in America, and the playoff games that lead up to the Super Bowl  are played in January and February usually at the same time as open houses.  So people aren’t out en masse looking for homes.  And some sellers don’t get serious about selling until after they can trash their house one more time with a Super Bowl party.

So enjoy the spectacle that is the Super Bowl, replete with its $3M commercials.   And then lets get ready for some real estate starting next week.  Believe me, the economy could use it!

The San Carlos Real Estate Week in Review: 1/30/10

Inventory Analysis

The number of homes for sale in San Carlos finally pushed back above the 20’s for the first time in several weeks.  And unless a bunch of these 30 homes suddenly go into contract, the inventory count should stay above 30 for awhile — there are a couple of additional new listings just around the corner on Cedar Street and Greenwood Avenue.  Finally, the spring buying season is heating up.   That’s good news, because January was a dud compared to expectations.  Stay tuned later this week for January’s Report Card on the site.

Here’s a snapshot of the San Carlos single family home market, as of 1/30. The previous week’s stats are in parentheses:

Single-Family Homes Sold in San Carlos:

Below are the single-family homes that sold this past week in San Carlos. Click on the respective addresses to get all the details.

… Continue Reading

3 Reasons Why You Should Follow the White Oaks Blog on Facebook…

Become a Fan!

There’s no argument that Facebook is an amazing tool for people to keep in touch with each other. Some experts have been so bold to predict that Facebook will someday replace email as the chosen communication medium. Now THAT’S a big statement. Despite the fact that Facebook can be frustratingly counter-intuitive to use, there’s no doubt it has changed the face of social media forever — after all, hundreds of millions of subscribers can’t be wrong, right?

But much like my analysis of Twitter, it took some head scratching for me to figure how I could use Facebook to add value to The White Oaks Blog.   Enter the Fan Page.   If used properly, Facebook’s Fan Page is much like Twitter in that doesn’t just replicate a blog, but it’s a perfect supplement to it. Think of it as a way to post additional information that wouldn’t necessarily warrant a full-blown blog article.

So here are the three reasons why you should become a fan of the White Oaks Blog on Facebook:

1. Get ALL of the posts from the White Oaks Blog.  Each post that’s written on the White Oaks Blog is automatically syndicated over to the Fan Page, so you don’t miss anything.
2. Real-time information on San Carlos Homes Sold, Pending Sales, and New Listings.   You know all of that great information you get in Saturday’s “San Carlos Real Estate Week in Review” series?  Now you don’t have to wait until Saturday to get it — I post the same info each day as it happens, so they’ll automatically show up in your News Feed.
3. News articles on Real Estate and San Carlos.   I read a ton of information each day on what’s happening in San Carlos, and real estate trends in general.  The fan page is the perfect place for me to post interesting articles that may not warrant a full blog post.

Convinced?  Just click on this link to become a fan of the White Oaks Blog on Facebook, or see click on the “Become a Fan of the White Oaks Blog” widget in the right sidebar.   Happy reading!

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How Safe Are We in San Carlos?

San Carlos is known for being a relatively safe community.  It’s one of the big reasons that people choose to settle here and raise families — it’s still very much a “bedroom community” that until recently enjoyed relative obscurity.   When I used to work in Silicon Valley, most people I talked with had no idea where San Carlos was even located!  And that’s fine for most residents of San Carlos — a big part of the charm of this city is that it has been a hidden gem on the Peninsula for many years.

But the public safety of San Carlos isn’t something we can take for granted anymore, especially during this period of financial crisis.    Have you gotten the feeling recently that there are more crimes being reported in San Carlos?  Do you know someone who has been a victim of a crime in San Carlos?  It’s not your imagination that crime is on the uptick — because it is.

“Part 1 Crimes” Increased by 25% in 2009.

In tonight’s San Carlos City Council Meeting, Police Chief Greg Rothaus will present some alarming statistics to the City Council in his Annual Report on Police Services.  In a period of time where our police budget is being slashed, headcount reduced, and services being outsourced, Part 1 Crimes (murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft, arson, and motor vehicle theft) have increased by 25% from 2008.   Here’s the graphic that he will present this evening:

With the huge budget deficit that the Council must resolve this year, there’s no guarantee that police services won’t be slashed further.  To download Chief Rothaus’ complete report, click here:  San Carlos Police Report-2009

Fire Department Update

In tonight’s Council meeting, Fire Chief Douglas Fry will also be presenting his quarterly update to the Council and City Manager.  The Fire Department has fared a bit better in the funding area, as they have recently secured grants that will enable them to upgrade their radio system to be compliant with FCC mandates.  But department staffing and equipment allocation remains a big concern within the Department, because it has a direct impact on speed and quality of their response.

You’re probably aware of the fatal home fire that happened just a few days ago in Devonshire Canyon.  According to a source close to City Hall, Chief Fry will also discuss this incident in detail at this evening’s Council Meeting, with the current budget cuts as the underlying theme.  Should be a very compelling presentation.

If You’re Interested…

Tonight’s City Council meeting starts at 7:00 PM at the San Carlos City Hall, 600 Elm Street.    The meeting is open to the public.